Summary:

The paper compares the transport infrastructure potential of two neighbouring municipalities in Dębica County (Podkarpackie Voivodeship) that differ in administrative status and in their position relative to the A4 motorway and the national road network: Jodłowa (a rural municipality served only by county and municipal roads) and Pilzno (an urban-rural municipality traversed by national roads DK73 and DK94 and lying near the A4, but without an interchange on its territory). Infrastructure-based measures are applied: network density relative to area, density relative to population, and a weighted mean density, calculated for the total road network from highway-authority records for 2010-2020 and official Statistics Poland (GUS) data. These indicators are complemented by a convenience-sample CAWI survey (N=50+50) covering assessments of road condition, access to the higher-order network and ancillary roadside infrastructure. In 2020 the Jodłowa network totalled 54.50 km and the Pilzno network 213.16 km, including 20.69 km of national roads. Spatial density was 91.0 and 129.1 km per 100 km², respectively; demographic density was 10.3 and 11.7 km per 1,000 inhabitants. Residents' assessments follow network rank rather than demographic density: good and very good ratings of roads and network access predominate in Pilzno, whereas medium ratings are more frequent in Jodłowa. Road infrastructure is more often named as a strength in Pilzno (40%) than in Jodłowa (34%); weaknesses, opportunities and threats are dominated by socio-economic factors rather than roads. Proximity to the A4 does not equalise the two municipalities.