Willingness to park and ride among private vehicle users of Kuala Lumpur conurbation / Anis Adibah Ibrahim

The rapid transformation of Kuala Lumpur and its wider urban region for the last decade has demanded a more significant increase in the overall economic growth of the country, as well as the demand for private vehicle ownership among the commuters of Kuala Lumpur city. This increase has led to a rise in the use of private vehicles for trips to the city centre. Morning and evening peak hours see major bottlenecks on major roads in and out of the city. Towards encouraging commuters to use public transport instead of private vehicles, one of the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies known as the park and ride scheme has been introduced. Although various transportation demand management (TDM) strategies have been implemented, including the park and ride schemes, the utilisation of the park and ride facilities still has not reached its optimum. Accordingly, this study examined the willingness of private vehicle users in using the facility, based on the relationship with socioeconomic, parking, trip, and technology characteristics. Using a structured questionnaire focusing on four major sections, which are socioeconomic, parking, trip, and technology characteristics, the focus targeted private vehicle users in private parking areas through the convenient sampling technique. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to predict which among the independent variables is the best predictor in predicting the variance of the dependent variable. The results from 199 valid respondents were analysed. The findings revealed that socioeconomic, trip, and technology characteristics have a significant positive relationship with the willingness to park and ride in the Kuala Lumpur conurbation. Parking characteristics, however, showed no significant positive relationship with the willingness to park and ride. Trip characteristics came out as the best predictor in predicting the variance of the willingness to park and ride (ß=0.392, p<0.05). The findings can perhaps assist planners and related stakeholders to provide additional input towards better planning for future facilities, as well as further understanding on the overall concept and implementation of the park and ride schemes.