The influence of fuel pricing on the mode of transportation of travellers in rural areas

Abstract

A great number of studies have consistently reported that people’s monthly incomes and salaries have a great influence on their mobility pattern. Fuel price increases have affected the monthly expenditure of certain people, which lead to the reduction of their travel frequency or change in their modes of transport. Rural people are believed to have fewer options for their mode of transportation in comparison to urban people, thus most of them use their own vehicles to travel. Therefore, there is a major difference in the travel patterns between rural and urban people, especially when travel costs increase due to the rising of fuel prices. This study aimed to examine the changes in mobility patterns of rural people as a result of fuel price fluctuations. The subject of this study were the respondents from rural Malaysia who lived in the state of Johor. The methodology was based on statistical analysis which had employed descriptive analysis and t-test. This study argued that the rising of fuel price did not give any significant changes (significance level, 0.05) towards the respondents’ mobility pattern.