Contemporary trends are focused on the development of the so-called smart, connected and multimedia cars as well as actions in the field of driving autonomy, and these trends may lead to changes in the structure of the industry through the emergence and growth of the importance of new entities. The article presents the concept of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the way it is perceived by users of traditional cars. Surveys were carried out in various age groups on the possibilities of developing AVs in Poland. The group of respondents were inhabitants of a rural area, small towns and cities with over 300,000 inhabitants. Based on our own research, it can be concluded that, due to many different factors, including costs, legal regulations and conviction, among others, AVs will not appear so soon in common use on Polish roads. The results of the research showed that the majority of respondents consider hybrid vehicles (HVs) and then electric vehicles (EVs) to be the dominant type of vehicles in the near future in Poland, at the same time pointing at the long process of adopting AV technology.

New technologies reaching out for meeting the needs of an aging population in developed countries have given rise to the development and gradual implementation of the concept of an autonomous vehicle (AV) and have even made it a necessity and an important business paradigm. However, in parallel, there is a discussion about consumer preferences and the willingness to pay for new car technologies and intelligent vehicle options. The main aim of the study was to analyze the impact of selected factors on the perception of the future of autonomous cars by respondents from the area of Southeastern Poland in terms of a comparison with traditional cars, with particular emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of this concept. The research presented in this study was conducted in 2019 among a group of 579 respondents. Data analysis made it possible to identify potential advantages and disadvantages of the concept of introducing autonomous cars. A positive result of the survey is that 68% of respondents stated that AV will be gradually introduced to our market, which confirms the high acceptance of this technology by Poles. The obtained research results may be valuable information for governmental and local authorities, but also for car manufacturers and their future users. It is an important issue in the area of shaping the strategy of actions concerning further directions of development on the automotive market.

Although consumption is one of the most important elements of any economy, including those that are developing, excessive consumerism is becoming increasingly common today, often resulting in the phenomenon of food waste. Food waste is a multi-aspect issue. It is a topical problem of varying nature and intensity, particularly for the environment, the economy, and society. In this context, efforts were made to emphasize the importance of the idea of a circular economy, due to the fact that the positive effects of its implementation and correct application may be the minimization of the problem of food waste, which can be seen from an economic, social, or environmental point of view. To obtain this goal, consumer research was conducted among the inhabitants of Eastern Poland. Their principal task was to define social attitudes and explain a problem known as household food waste. The results were subjected to the cluster analysis method and correspondence analysis, and the corresponding calculations and figures made it possible to draw conclusions from the research. Consumers seem to be aware of the dilemma of excessive food discarding in their households. They also recognize their active role in preventing this socio-economic problem. Despite the concerns expressed by consumers, food waste is still very high. This may most likely be because of a declarative approach rather than to the actual attitudes of respondents.

It is very important to reduce harmful emissions in rural areas. One of the ways is to replace old tractors and farm machinery with the modern, equipped with engines of the highest standards. However, the cost of such replacement is very high and not always acceptable, especially for smaller farmers, nevertheless, due to the needs of sustainable agriculture it should be kept up. This work focuses on exhaust harmful emission during a start-up of a diesel engine installed in a small agricultural tractor. Based on measurements and recorded data, calculations of exhaust gas emission were carried out. The results indicate that the engine starting process, and its initial temperature, have a considerable impact on the emissions during the analyzed operation period. The most important is cold start process which is responsible for most harmful pollutants emission during the initial period of engine work. The temperature of cold start is also noticeable for cold starts and for worm starts as well.

AbstractAutonomous vehicles are gaining more and more followers and are becoming a reality. Although the total change of the transport system to an autonomous one still remains a big challenge, the development of navigation, control and supervision systems for vehicles gives hope for an autonomous future. The article describes the rules for choosing a route and the process of outsourcing transport tasks. The formulas for calculating the values of indicators characterizing the transport process are provided in the simple case when vehicles move along a fixed route where there are no disturbances. Additionally, the theory of Markov random systems was used to determine the system capacity, average queue length for servicing and the average number of requests.