Investigation of the Effects of Traffic Safety and In-vehicle Criminality on Commuter ’ s Mode Choice Behaviour

This research investigates the effect of traffic safety and in-vehicle criminality on the commuter’s mode choice preference. Modelling the mode choice behaviours of travellers is a key to design effective transport management policies, particularly in shifting travellers to public transport. Abundant studies have analysed the impact of level of services, such as travel time, fare, waiting time and delays, on mode choice preferences, but the effects of safety aspect have been overlooked. In Jogjakarta, Indonesia, majority of travellers choose private vehicle, such as motorbikes, for their daily travel, which increases traffic congestion levels and traffic accident risks. A mass transit system, Transjogja Bus, has been in operation for nine years, intending to shift the travellers from motorbikes by offering the safer and more reliable transportation mode. Nevertheless, people tend to choose motorbikes due to the criminality issues, like thieves in the public transport. This research aims to quantitatively evaluate the impact of the road traffic safety and the in-vehicle criminality on choosing the transportation modes. The study is performed in two cities for comparison: Jogjakarta in Indonesia and Matsuyama in Japan. A stated preference (SP) survey is conducted, in which respondents choose Bike or Bus under hypothetical situations. The scenarios consider the frequency of traffic accidents and invehicle criminality as the factors in addition to general factors, such as travel time, travel cost, average waiting time, maximum delay time and access time. A binary logit model is applied to the data from the SP survey. The results revealed that travellers involved in traffic accidents prefer the safer transportation modes – Bus in both cities. In Jogjakarta, experience of the in-vehicle criminality also affects the preference of the passengers. The findings suggest that ensuring the in-vehicle public safety is essential to attract travellers to mass transit systems in developing countries.