Exploring public opinion on personal mobility vehicle use: A case study in Palermo, Italy

Abstract

The Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) process deals with barriers to improve accessibility and quality of life in urban mobility. Public opinion is highly essential for this process because it presents the real needs of road users. This paper illustrates the influence of public opinion on using Private Mobility Vehicle (PMV) in urban. A survey was carried out with 400 participants in Palermo, Italy. The results suggested that there was heterogeneity in gender and age groups in subcategories which represented people who use, do not use, and completely reject, using PMVs in urban. In addition, it was explored that there was a statistically significant relationship at 95% confidence level between sociodemographic characteristics (gender and age groups) and public opinion on PMV using. Employment status was found as an important parameter in transport planning. It was also showed that there was an inconsistency between local and national results. The results suggested that sociodemographic characteristics and public opinion should be investigated in further studies. In addition, a participatory planning process should be carried out to monitor for reliable evaluation in urban transport planning.