Transportation policies and the readiness of local public for sustainable transportation - A perception study of Shah Alam, Malaysia

Transport policies may be designed to influence travel patterns of road users and pave the way for their willingness to realize the particular travel behavior desired and expected of them. This article examines how transport policy measures have influenced the willingness and readiness of an urban population to reduce car usage in order to promote sustainable transportation. Data were collected through a survey of 384 vehicle users randomly sampled to represent the 36 sections of urban Shah Alam . The main findings point to the fact that the majority of the surveyed road users stated that while increased petrol prices and toll hikes would be the key factors for them to reduce car use, substantially improved provision of public transport would encourage them to use public transport instead. However, the Chi-square test results reveal that such willingness of the road users to use public transport has a significant inverse relationship with the frequency of their driving a vehicle. In other words, the level of Shah Alam’s road users’ willingness to use public transport is lower when they can drive a car more frequently. Results also suggested that the majority of the road users were not ready to consider cycling and walking as alternatives.