Potential demand for public transport in riyadh city, saudi arabia

• Main Author: Alotaibi, Omar
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Public transportation

In Riyadh City, as an effort to reduce the excess dependency on private vehicles, in 2012 city’s authorities have approved the construction of a public transport system and travel demand management strategies. On this basis, this study question is “what are the procedures and approaches that have to be undertaken to ensure public transport uptake in Riyadh City?” To answer the study question, a relevant literature has been reviewed in order to identify major successes of public transport services around the world. In addition, two empirical studies were conducted in Riyadh during the study course include a series of semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders and a web-based-general-public survey. The study findings were consolidated and discussed to provide concrete answers to the study question. The study found considerable support by stakeholders and the general-public for introducing public transport services and reshaping the existing travel strategies. It was also found that the future planning of the public transport system in Riyadh City has to pay considerable attention to social and cultural perspectives of its citizens; for safety and separate family carriages. The study also found that improving infrastructure to enhance accessibility to and from transit stations, selecting appropriate TOD sites, parking charges are effective strategies. Finding from a stated preference experiment showed that the likelihood of shifting people from private cars to public transport in Riyadh City would increase by a reduction in public transport cost, number of changes, and increase in the service frequency. Most importantly, there are cultural aspects involving perceptions towards public transport that play an important role in people’s intention to use public transport. For example, it found that highly qualified individuals were more likely to perceive public transport as a 'taking a step down into the World' and this is a point in which public transport authorities need to focus in order to ease this perception. Finally, this is the first time to derive estimates of the value of travel time savings for Riyadh City.