Commuters' attitudes towards travel demand management in Bangkok

Abstract

A methodology has been developed using ordered probit models to evaluate commuters' attitudes toward Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies. Such models can determine users' preferences for different TDM strategies and help planners to investigate the effect of individual socio-economic characteristics on these preferences. The proposed approach was used to develop models based on stated preference responses obtained from 1210 daily commuters in Bangkok, Thailand. Among four broad categories of suggested measures, public transportation improvement was found to be the most popular and fiscal restraint to be the least desirable approach. Of all the ten possible ways to reduce travel demand investigated in the study, introduction of rapid rail transit was voted as the most desirable approach whereas increasing parking fees in government offices was found to be the least welcome solution to the respondents. Ordered probit models revealed that commuters working in private companies and those who used cars to commute were less supportive of TDM measures. Through stated preference survey, this type of study can help policy makers to identify particular segments of commuters likely to oppose or favor implementation of specific demand management strategies. Upon identification of the specific groups, transportation planners can design appropriate policies catering to the need of the target group. Thus, the proposed methodology can be used in metropolitan regions of both developing and developed countries to design and implement more effective and appropriate transportation solutions for relieving congestion.