THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAR OWNERSHIP AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT PROVISION: A CASE STUDY OF HONG KONG

This paper attempts to determine whether the provision of good, inexpensive public transportation can discourage the purchase of a car. Many previous studies have suggested that traffic demand management measures designed to make public transport more attractive have little impact on car ownership and use, however, much of the work on this subject relates to piecemeal changes in public transport provision. This paper presents an attitudinal survey of 389 university students in Hong Kong, where public transport is both plentiful and inexpensive, and car ownership and use is extremely low. Results indicate that good public transportation can deter car ownership, with 65% of respondents stating that they are unlikely to buy a car in the next five years. Nearly 40% of respondents agreed with the statement that public transportation was so good that they did not need a car. However, among male students, there did appear to be a substantial latent demand for a car and favorable attitude towards car ownership. Overall results from this study suggest that individual traffic demand measures, especially when public transport is perceived to be of poor quality, may have little impact on mode choice because such measures are not sufficient in scale to have an impact on the choice decisions