Voluntary Program to Reduce Car Use

Abstract

Evaluation of travel demand management (TDM) programs is important to their success, in that it helps policy makers establish proper approaches toward policy implementation. A study attempted to assess the effectiveness of the Weekly No-Driving Day program in Seoul, South Korea, an ongoing attempt to reduce car use. Volunteer participants select days on which to refrain from car use. For the assessment, a field survey to investigate compliance rates, that is, assessing whether 6,000 vehicles or less are driven daily, was designed; at the same time, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to determine which drivers are more likely to participate in the program. Results of the field survey suggested that daily car use was reduced by 1.3% in the Seoul area. Although this outcome seems insignificant, it is significant in that the program is voluntary and is implemented over the whole metropolitan area, with more than 2 million vehicles targeted. However, the questionnaire-based survey indicated that car-dependent drivers, who spend more time driving and operating vehicles on a regular basis, are less likely than others to participate in the program. A concern is that success could be significantly diminished if those car-dependent citizens were not encouraged to participate in the program. It is anticipated that findings from this study will contribute to improved development and implementation of future TDM programs.