Why Do People Use Their Cars: A Case Study In Malaysia

Abstract

In Malaysia, the rapid increase in the use of own transport prompted by inadequate public transport has resulted in increased traffic congestion, accidents, inadequate parking space and air pollution among other evils. This study sought to identify the factors preventing own transport users from shifting to public transport and to develop model shift from car to public transport in order to formulate the policies to achieve this. A survey was carried out on users of private and public (both bus and urban train transport) (n = 1350). Multinomial legit models were developed for the three alternative modes, Car, Bus and Train. This study found that the most important variables found likely to encourage the use of public transport were reduced travel time and subsidized fares. As expected, for the commuter to switch to public transport he would have to be incentivated to do so.