Demand Factors for the Use of Public Transport to Reduce Congestion within the Colombo Region

Abstract

As congestion is a growing issue in Sri Lanka, a quick and efficient solution is required as it is causing many negative issues both economically and socially. This research was therefore carried out to find out the demand factors for public transportation to reduce congestion. The objectives of this research were to find out the demand factors of private transport users to switch over to public transport, and this research also focused on the shortcomings of the current public transport system. After the collection of data through primary and secondary methods, the gathered data were used to model a public transport system that will try to please all markets while generating more business for service providers. An online based questionnaire survey was conducted with an instrument of 28 questions. The target sample is both public and private transport users, although the sample size was 500, there were only 423 valid responses. Simple random sampling was used in this study and SPSS was used to analyse the data. A factor analysis was carried out to reduce the number of variables and grouping factors which have the same characteristics. Once this was completed the 28 variables were reduced to 10 variables. Hypothesis testing was carried out to validate the hypotheses. The research findings explain that the willingness of people to move from private automobiles to modes of public transport depends on the comfort ability and safety, where the comfort ability includes the availability of reserved seating, cushioned seats and air conditioning. Surprisingly the availability of technology on board the bus/train was deemed not so important although the level of service at boarding points was proved to be a crucial factor. Respondents who were already users of public transport, surprisingly created a very good picture of the existing public transport system. The basis of recommendations was to focus on customer service and comfort ability to have an efficient and effective public transport system.