Car ownership and attitudes towards transport modes for shopping purposes in Singapore

The heightening of issues, such as sustainable development and environmental pollution have resulted in many governments pursuing transport policies which aim to promote the use of public transport modes, including walking, as well as discourage the use of the car for various activities, such as shopping, work, recreation, etc. However, little has been done on understanding shoppers' perceptions of transport modes for shopping purposes. Particularly, not much research has been done on examining the attitudes of car owners and non-car owners towards transport modes for shopping purposes. Using Singapore as a study area, this study has attempted to analyse car owners and non-car owners' perceptions of the different types of transport modes (i.e., car, taxi, bus, mass rapid transit and walk) in their shopping trips. The research found that each transport mode has its own unique set of attributes. In addition, car owners and non-car owners portray different attitudes towards the public transport modes and the car. This calls for different strategies for these two groups of shoppers in encouraging them to use the public transport modes and restrain the use of the car.     

Multimodal travel groups and attitudes: A latent class cluster analysis of Dutch travelers

For developing sustainable travel policies, it may be helpful to identify multimodal travelers, that is, travelers who make use of more than one mode of transport within a given period of time. Of special interest is identifying car drivers who also use public transport and/or bicycle, as this group is more likely to respond to policies that stimulate the use of those modes. It is suggested in the literature that this group may have less biased perceptions and different attitudes towards those modes. This supposition is examined in this paper by conducting a latent class cluster analysis, which identifies (multi)modal travel groups based on the self-reported frequency of mode use. Simultaneously, a membership function is estimated to predict the probability of belonging to each of the five identified (multi)modal travel groups, as a function of attitudinal variables in addition to structural variables. The results indicate that the (near) solo car drivers indeed have more negative attitudes towards public transport and bicycle, while frequent car drivers who also use public transport have less negative public transport attitudes. Although the results suggest that in four of the five identified travel groups, attitudes are congruent with travel mode use, this is not the case for the group who uses public transport most often. This group has relatively favorable car attitudes, and given that many young, low-income travelers belong to this group, it may be expected that at least part of this group will start using car more often once they can afford it. Based on the results, challenges for sustainable policies are formulated for each of the identified (multi)modal travel groups.     

Reducing car dependence in the heart of Europe: lessons from Germany,Austria, and Switzerland

Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, and Zurich – the largest cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – have significantly reduced the car share of trips over the past 25 years in spite of high motorisation rates. The key to their success has been a coordinated package of mutually reinforcing transport and land-use policies that have made car use slower, less convenient, and more costly, while increasing the safety, convenience, and feasibility of walking, cycling, and public transport. The mix of policies implemented in each city has been somewhat different. The German cities have done far more to promote cycling, while Zurich and Vienna offer more public transport service per capita at lower fares. All five of the cities have implemented roughly the same policies to promote walking, foster compact mixed-use development, and discourage car use. Of the car-restrictive policies, parking management has been by far the most important. The five case study cities demonstrate that it is possible to reduce car dependence even in affluent societies with high levels of car ownership and high expectations for quality of travel.     

Urban transport in Germany: providing feasible alternatives to the car

With the second highest level of car ownership in the world, and the third highest population density in Europe, Germany has adopted a range of policies to balance the many private benefits of car use with its serious social and environmental problems. In order to ‘tame’ the car, most German cities have implemented a twofold strategy of expanding and improving pedestrian, bicycling and public transport alternatives simultaneously with restricting car use and making it more expensive. That has increased political acceptability since the car‐restrictive measures are not perceived as mere punishment of car drivers. The results of this coordinated urban transport strategy have been impressive. Germany, as a whole, has managed to increase public transport use and to stabilize the car share of modal split. Some cities, of course, have been more successful than others, and this paper examines three of the most successful cities: Münster, Freiburg and Munich. In each of the cities, the percentage of travel by bicycling, walking and public transport has been raised over the past 20 years, while the car's share of modal split has fallen. This article documents the range of policies used to restrict car use, both in Germany as a whole, and in the three case‐study cities in particular. The key to success is found to be mutually reinforcing transport and land‐use policies. It is the combination of a whole set of coordinated policies that explains the dramatic success in changing travel behavior.     

Urban passenger transport in the United States and Europe: a comparative analysis of public policies

This is the second part of a two‐part series that examines recent developments in urban passenger transport in the United States and Europe, focusing on the roles and impacts of the public sector as these have varied by country and over time. The first part of the series described public policies for roadway systems and private car use, whereas this second part concentrates on public transport. After a review of demand and supply trends, the article evaluates government policies in terms of public vs private ownership and operation, public regulation, financing responsibility by government level, types and amounts of subsidy, and impacts of ownership, regulation, and financing arrangements on costs and productivity. This second part concludes with an overall comparison between Europe and the United States, and considers how Europeans and Americans might learn from each other's successes and mistakes in order to improve transport policies.     

Development and Deployment of Public Transport Policy and Planning in Taiwan

Over the past decade, the escalating roadway congestion and environmental deterioration due to heavy use of private vehicles have provoked the Taiwan government to realize the importance of public transport systems. Under the “carrot-and-stick” rationales, the government has formulated public transport policies and exercised a series of related initiatives by providing sufficient and higher quality of public transport services so as to attract more private vehicle users. In this paper, the planning philosophy and policy formulation of Taiwan’s public transport development are highlighted. The most important initiatives, including the Five-year Enhancement of Mass Transportation Program and the upgrading public transport schemes in the National Development Plan are examined. Based on previous experience and lessons, we point out the most challenging issues that the government will encounter. Suggestions for the future of public transport planning are also addressed.     

Measuring social effective speed to improve sustainable mobility policies in developing countries

Over the last few decades, many developing countries have experienced car fleet growth, which has contributed to congestion, increased travel times, and deteriorated public transport reliability and punctuality. However, alternatives to urban mobility can be found by creating policies to stimulate sustainable transportation modes with equal opportunities for all citizens. In this paper, measures of social effective speeds are presented to improve sustainable urban mobility policies in developing countries. Data from the 2018 Origin-Destination Survey of the Metropolitan Region of Recife (Brazil) were used to estimate social effective speeds. The results showed that motorized modes had lower effective speed than non-motorized modes. In addition, total external costs were $2 billion USD per year. The social effective speed will be valuable if inserted in sustainable urban mobility policies in developing countries.     

Car ownership and public transport use: Revisiting the interaction

At the beginning of the 1980s, it seemed that a consensus was emerging among researchers that public transport service levels, fares or quality had a small but possibly important effect on car ownership, and that this should be taken into account for those purposes where car ownership forecasts are used for developing policy on public transport or roads. Somehow, the findings faded away, and had little effect on policy thinking or on analytical techniques. The results of six surveys carried out in South Yorkshire over the period 1972 to 1991, during which there were extreme changes in public transport policy, tend to support a prima facie case for reopening the question. At the household level, car ownership rates are shown to be more volatile than is often assumed, especially in multiple car households. This volatility provides a context within which the quality of public transport provision appears to influence both the level of car ownership and the relationship between changes in the level of car ownership and changes in public transport use.     

Breaking car use habits: The effectiveness of a free one-month travelcard

Based on calls for innovative ways of reducing car traffic and research indicating that car driving is often the result of habitual decision-making and choice processes, this paper reports on a field experiment designed to test a tool aimed to entice drivers to skip the habitual choice of the car and consider using—or at least trying—public transport instead. About 1,000 car drivers participated in the experiment either as experimental subjects, receiving a free one-month travelcard, or as control subjects. As predicted, the intervention had a significant impact on drivers’ use of public transport and it also neutralized the impact of car driving habits on mode choice. However, in the longer run (i.e., four months after the experiment) experimental subjects did not use public transport more than control subjects. Hence, it seems that although many car drivers choose travel mode habitually, their final choice is consistent with their informed preferences, given the current price–quality relationships of the various options.     

How does environmental concern influence mode choice habits? A mediation analysis

Starting from the intuition that people with high environmental concern have a better perception of public transport and therefore a better perception of the utility of public transport, we construct a theoretical model in which the effect of environmental concern on mode choice habits is mediated by the indirect utility of travel. Travel procures the direct utility of providing access to activities, but it also offers an indirect utility that is inherently personal and perceptual. We approach the indirect utility of public transport by measuring perceptions of time and feelings. The indirect utility of the car is approached by measuring affective and symbolic motives. Taking into account car use habits and habits of public transport use, the results show that people who have a high environmental concern perceive public transport use as easier, more useful and more pleasurable than people who do not have that environmental motivation. Such positive attitudes foster public transport use. Conversely, low environmental concern generates non-instrumental motives for car use, such as affective and symbolic motives. However, the relationship between affective and symbolic motives and car use habits is not robust. We can conclude that environmental concern influences mode choice habits and that the effect is partially mediated by perceptions and feelings towards public transport but not significantly by affective and symbolic motives for car use.     

Restricted car-use and perceived accessibility

In order to plan for, and achieve, a sustainable and accessible transport system, research and policies alike recognize a need to implement and enhance alternative transport options in favor of the private car. Moreover, these sustainable alternatives need to offer sufficient levels of accessibility regardless of where people live or work. We present and discuss an approach for capturing and evaluating perceived accessibility, with the ability to differentiate between individuals. Levels of perceived accessibility are compared before and after a fictive car use restriction, and between residential areas, using data from 2711 residents of Malmö, Sweden. A main conclusion is that levels of perceived accessibility become significantly lower for car users when they are limited in their options for daily travel. The difference is more substantive for frequent car users, who already travel less by sustainable modes today. There are also significant differences in levels of perceived accessibility in the restricted scenario, depending on where individuals live. These novel findings may not come as a surprise, but they emphasize the importance of including and analyzing perceptions of car users when designing accessible and sustainable transport systems. The paper ends with a discussion on how to facilitate the transition from current transport systems to an inclusive and accessible system.     

What cognitive mechanisms predict travel mode choice? A systematic review with meta-analysis

Reduced private car use can limit greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health. It is unclear, however, how promotion of alternative transport choices can be optimised. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to identify potentially modifiable cognitive mechanisms that have been related to car use and use of alternative transport modes. A qualitative synthesis of measures of potentially modifiable mechanisms based on 43 studies yielded 26 conceptually distinct mechanism categories. Meta-analyses of associations between these mechanisms and car use/non-use generated 205 effects sizes (Pearson’s r) from 35 studies. The strongest correlates of car use were intentions, perceived behavioural control, attitudes and habit. The strongest correlates of alternative transportation choices were intentions, perceived behavioural control and attitudes. Implications for researchers and policy implementation are discussed.     

Driving to save time or saving time to drive? The enduring appeal of the private car

Use of the private car is often viewed as highly problematic. It is regularly associated with global physical, social and ecological harms such as climate change and the high incidence of lifestyle diseases, including heart disease. Attempts to address these problems generally include provision for day-to-day physical mobility based on alternatives to the private car. Labelled alternative transport, these modes include public transport, walking and cycling. Yet the private car continues as the preferred way to travel in many cities. A deeper understanding of this preference can reveal under explored sites of resistance to alternative transport modes.This paper contributes to these understandings by examining the role the car as a time saving device plays in sustaining automobility. Its central proposition is that individual decisions to drive are not necessarily motivated by the desire to save time. The paper draws on empirical evidence on the journey to work in Australia’s largest city, Sydney. Using a systematic process of trip substitution analysis, a group of people were identified who could use alternative transport to get to work in the same amount of time it currently takes them to drive. These people then participated in a series of in-depth interviews where deeper attachments and motivations for private car use were explored.This approach has enabled development of the multi-layered understanding that informs the central proposition that individual decisions to drive are not necessarily motivated by the desire to save time. Instead, automobility is sustained by appeals to flexibility and autonomy, as well as the interminable pull of the sensory experience provided by the cocoon of the car. This way of thinking about resistance to alternative transport exposes a series of inconsistencies between the expectations of those planning for, and those anticipated to one day use, alternative transport.     

Empirics of multi-modal traffic networks – Using the 3D macroscopic fundamental diagram

Traffic is multi-modal in most cities. However, the impacts of different transport modes on traffic performance and on each other are unclear – especially at the network level. The recent extension of the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) into the 3D-MFD offers a novel framework to address this gap at the urban scale. The 3D-MFD relates the network accumulation of cars and public transport vehicles to the network travel production, for either vehicles or passengers. No empirical 3D-MFD has been reported so far.In this paper, we present the first empirical estimate of a 3D-MFD at the urban scale. To this end, we use data from loop detectors and automatic vehicle location devices (AVL) of the public transport vehicles in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. We compare two different areas within the city, that differ in their topology and share of dedicated lanes for public transport. We propose a statistical model of the 3D-MFD, which estimates the effects of the vehicle accumulation on car and public transport speeds under multi-modal traffic conditions. The results quantify the effects of both, vehicles and passengers, and confirm that a greater share of dedicated lanes reduces the marginal effects of public transport vehicles on car speeds. Lastly, we derive a new application of the 3D-MFD by identifying the share of public transport users that maximizes the journey speeds in an urban network accounting for all motorized transport modes.     

Optimization of tunnel tolls in land use and transport planning

The task of transport planning is to determine cost-effective methods of providing and improving mobility, which can include minimizing traffic congestion. A cost-effective solution to transport problems should consist of a land use pattern, a transport system an a set of road pricing policies that together bring demand and supply into balance in an efficient and equitable way. The conventional approach aimed to produce comprehensive, long-term plans for land use and transport in considerable detail, but tended to ignore the role of road pricing policy, thus ending up with solutions that might not be efficient or economical. This feature of sub-optimal road pricing policy is accentuated by the overall growth in car use, which has generated problems with the efficient use of road space. This paper presents a computer analysis system (or model) which will enable the analysis of coordinated tunnel toll pricing policies by optimising an “objective function” while satisfying the associated and other constraints. The possibility of integrating the optimal road pricing policies in the land use and transport planning are discussed. A case study based on Hong Kong data demonstrates the efficiency of optimizing tolls on two of the three harbour crossing tunnels in Hong Kong.     

Speed behaviour of car drivers: A statistical analysis of acceptance of changes in speed policies in the Netherlands

Lowering the speed of car drivers will have positive impacts on environmental pollution and the number of road accidents. It is therefore a potentially interesting policy option for governments which want to reduce negative externalities of transport. In this paper, the acceptance of such policies is analysed by means of a survey questionnaire among car drivers and public transport users. First, an analysis is presented on the general speed behaviour, the behaviour on distinct road types, the acceptance of lower limits, and the acceptance and perception of electronic speed limiters. Next, a statistical analysis of subgroups is carried out. It is concluded that the speed of car drivers is, in general, not considered to be a main problematic issue by drivers and non-drivers; therefore, there is little scope for the acceptance of changes in speed policies. When speed policies are changed (lower limits), it seems to be most effective to emphasize safety aspects in order to increase the support of the public. However, psychological factors of speed behaviour may play an important role in this respect.     

Measuring the satisfaction of multimodal travelers for local transit services in different urban contexts

The importance of measuring customer satisfaction for a public transport service is apparent, even beyond more immediate marketing purposes. The present paper shows how satisfaction measures can be exploited to gain insights on the relationship between personal attitudes, transit use and urban context. We consider nine satisfaction measures of urban transit services, as expressed by a representative sample of Italian multimodal travelers (i.e. users of both private cars and public transport). We use correlations and correspondence analyses to show if and how each attribute is related to the levels of use of public transport, and how the relationship is affected by the urban context. Then we apply a recently developed method to combine ordinal variables into one score, by adapting it to work with large samples and with satisfaction measures which have a neutral point in the scale (i.e. “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied”). The resulting overall satisfaction levels and frequency of use were not correlated in our sample. We also found the highest satisfaction levels in smaller towns and the lowest ones in metropolitan cities. Since we focus on multimodal travelers, an interpretation paradigm is proposed according to which transit services must be well evaluated by car drivers in smaller towns in order to be considered a real alternative to cars. On the other hand, transit is more competitive on factual elements in larger cities, so that it can still be used by drivers, even if it is not very well evaluated.     

Non-motorised modes in transport systems: a multimodal chain perspective for The Netherlands

Non-motorised transport modes such as walking and biking are environmentally friendly, cheap and reasonably fast alternatives for trips up to a distance of some 3.5 km. Their importance for longer trips follows when a multimodal perspective is used: the use of the car implies short walking trips to a parking place. For public transport the same holds true for walking and biking to a public transport stop. Recognition of the multimodal character of these trips means that the number of moves made by pedestrians increases with a factor of about 6; the increase in distance is about 40%. Implications are discussed for average travel speeds, daily travel-time budgets, parking policies and policies to stimulate public transport.     

Optimal transport strategies for European cities

A new procedure for generating optimal transport strategies has been applied in nine European cities. A public sector objective function which reflects concerns over efficiency, environmental impact, finance and sustainability is specified and a set of policy measures with acceptable ranges on each, identified. Optimal strategies based on combinations of these policy measures which generate the optimal value of the objective function, are identified, and compared between cities. Resulting policy recommendations are presented. The results demonstrate the importance of an integrated approach to transport strategy formulation. They emphasise the role of changes in public transport service levels and of fares, and of charges for car use. By contrast, new infrastructure projects are less frequently justified. In the majority of cities the revenues from car use charges are sufficient to finance other elements in the strategy. However, private sector involvement either in initial financing or in operation may be desirable. Revised objective functions to reflect private sector involvement are specified, and optimal strategies with private sector operation of public transport are also identified. The requirement to meet private sector rates of return for public transport operation typically results in lower frequencies and higher fares; charges for car use then need to be raised to satisfy public policy objectives, but system performance is reduced. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Shifting towards environment-friendly modes: profiling travelers using Q-methodology

Due to a variety of reasons, the previous century is characterized by an extraordinary growth in car use that has continued into the current century. This has resulted in serious environmental repercussions. Despite technological advancements, the externalities remain an ecological threat that can not be discarded by policy makers. Therefore, it is essential that policy makers focus on reducing car use and on stimulating the shift towards more environment-friendly transport modes. In this study, Q-methodology is adopted as the technique to segment people, and to ascertain which approaches and determinants matter to medium distance travel. Segmentation is important, as policy measures will be more efficient and effective if they are fine-tuned on specific target groups. The analysis revealed that four discourses preponderate the paradigm of environmentally sustainable transport: travelers who use public transport as a dominant alternative, car-dependent travelers, travelers with a positive perception of using public transport, and travelers with a preference for car use. Concerning rational, economic motives, individuals evaluate travel time reliability as most important. To increase the reliability policy makers should consider the use of separate bus lanes and traffic light manipulation. In addition, public transport can be made even more attractive, when costs of cars are made more variable by road or congestion charging. When the s motives are discussed, the differences between the different groups of travelers were more pronounced. Next to increasing the benefits of using public transport, policy makers should also pay attention to removing psycho-social barriers.