Travel mode choice preferences of urban commuters in Kuching City, Malaysia based on stated preference data

Abstract

One aspect of Kuching City that has not progressed in tandem with the rest of the city is the public transport system, which is relatively old and almost non-existent. Transport and City planners seem to be at their wit’s end in coming up with satisfactory solutions to Kuching’s public transportation woes. In current situation, many proposals, but none have proven workable. As a result, representative buses remain a rare sight on Kuching city’s roads. To achieve a sustainable public transport industry, the old buses need to be regenerated and replaced with modern buses. The objectives of the intended study are to explore the consumer’s travel behaviour by employing mode choice modelling. Consequently, a study was conducted in Kuching City Area by using stated preference technique, analysed and compiled by using SPSS.17 multiple linear regressions analysis. In this context, discrete choice analysis was used to examine the relationship between independent variables (travel time, waiting time, fares and comfort) and dependent variables (choice of respondent whether to consume old bus or choose new bus services). A total of 2000 respondents were interviewed. The findings showed that for the trips purpose, fares and comfortability were the primary factors that reflected the decision or behaviour of the respondents asked. It was discovered that there is a significant relationship between the choice of the respondents and comfortability. It also appeared that longer travel time did not affect for the traveler’s choice at this stage. Hence, the study suggests that the local authority and the bus operators should establish a “quality partnership” and working together in order to come out with a much better and appropriate transport policy and schemes for the existing public transportation systems, especially bus services.