Attitudes and Behaviour towards More Sustainable Travel Options in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Emerging Social Change?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is known for its high car ownership and usage and its high GDP per capita. This, combined with a low provision of public transportation (PT) systems, has resulted in perceptual attitudes of high dependency on private car travel. The level of awareness of the benefits of reducing car use and increasing travel by more sustainable options has a great impact on social change and behaviour. The Kingdom is currently progressing towards a new phase of “national reform” through implementation of strategic sustainable programs. Riyadh city is constructing a massive metro-system, which is nearing completion and operation. The public is aware of the national agenda, the construction of transportation projects, and of the social changes needed to realize the new vision of the country. This paper aims to assess travel behaviours and attitudes of Saudi nationals towards public transportation. A discrete choice model of the intent to use public transportation is calibrated as a function of social and attitudinal factors, using online survey data. The analysis was carried out using an ordered logit model (OLR) which is derived from the theory of random utility. The results show that, overall, a higher support for public transportation modes was stated by young females, lower income groups, and university graduates. The level of awareness of the national agenda appears to be increasing the level of support for public transportation. The paper is the first investigation of willingness to use public transportation in Riyadh, at a crucial time of national reform; the choice of mode of travel appears to be determined by the travellers’ social and economic characteristics and the level of awareness of the country’s agenda.

[1]  A. Malibari,et al.  Saudi Women and Vision 2030: Bridging the Gap? , 2021, Behavioral sciences.

[2]  Habib M. Alshuwaikhat,et al.  Modeling the Modal Shift towards a More Sustainable Transport by Stated Preference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , 2021, Sustainability.

[3]  Kh. Md. Nahiduzzaman,et al.  Gender-Responsive Public Transportation in the Dammam Metropolitan Region, Saudi Arabia , 2020, Sustainability.

[4]  Jennifer Day,et al.  Commute responses to employment decentralization: Anticipated versus actual mode choice behaviors of new town employees in Kunming, China , 2017 .

[5]  Dimitris Potoglou,et al.  Perspectives of travel strategies in light of the new metro and bus networks in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia , 2017 .

[6]  Vanessa Stjernborg,et al.  The Role of Public Transport in Society : A Case Study of General Policy Documents in Sweden , 2016 .

[7]  Sara Tilley,et al.  The gender turnaround: young women now travelling more than young men , 2016 .

[8]  Roya Etminani-Ghasrodashti,et al.  Modeling travel behavior by the structural relationships between lifestyle, built environment and non-working trips , 2015 .

[9]  M. Kwan,et al.  Gender differences in commute time and accessibility in Sofia, Bulgaria: a study using 3D geovisualisation , 2015 .

[10]  Isam Kaysi,et al.  Modeling travel choices of students at a private, urban university: Insights and policy implications , 2014 .

[11]  Linda Steg,et al.  The effect of information and values on acceptability of reduced street lighting , 2014 .

[12]  Thomas Dietz,et al.  Bringing values and deliberation to science communication , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[13]  E. Choueiri,et al.  An Overview of the Transport Sector and Road Safety in the MENA Region , 2013 .

[14]  Johannes Ledolter,et al.  Data Mining and Business Analytics with R: Ledolter/Data Mining and Business Analytics with R , 2013 .

[15]  Jiangping Zhou,et al.  Sustainable commute in a car-dominant city: Factors affecting alternative mode choices among university students , 2012 .

[16]  Saleh Abdulaziz Al-Fouzan,et al.  Using car parking requirements to promote sustainable transport development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , 2012 .

[17]  D. Susniene,et al.  Quality approach to the sustainability of public transport , 2012 .

[18]  Juan de Dios Ortúzar,et al.  Modelling Transport: Ortúzar/Modelling Transport , 2011 .

[19]  Rakesh Belwal,et al.  Public Transportation Services in Oman: A Study of Public Perceptions , 2010 .

[20]  A. de Francisco,et al.  Rational Choice, Social Identity, and Beliefs about Oneself , 2009 .

[21]  Barbara McPake,et al.  How to do (or not to do) ... Designing a discrete choice experiment for application in a low-income country. , 2009, Health policy and planning.

[22]  A. Reynolds-Feighan,et al.  Employment Sub-centres and Travel-to-Work Mode Choice in the Dublin Region , 2008 .

[23]  L. Frank,et al.  Urban form, travel time, and cost relationships with tour complexity and mode choice , 2007 .

[24]  H. M. Al-Ahmadi,et al.  Travel Characteristics of Female Students to Colleges in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , 2006 .

[25]  M. Dijst,et al.  The influence of socioeconomic characteristics, land use and travel time considerations on mode choice for medium- and longer-distance trips , 2006 .

[26]  J. Dickinson,et al.  Local Transport and Social Representations: Challenging the Assumptions for Sustainable Tourism , 2006 .

[27]  Linda Steg,et al.  SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE. , 2005 .

[28]  Patricia L. Mokhtarian,et al.  What Affects Commute Mode Choice: Neighborhood Physical Structure or Preferences Toward Neighborhoods? , 2005 .

[29]  Faisal A. Mubarak Urban growth boundary policy and residential suburbanization: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , 2004 .

[30]  Henning Best,et al.  Division of labour and gender differences in metropolitan car use : an empirical study in Cologne, Germany , 2004 .

[31]  Guilherme Lohmann Palhares,et al.  The role of transport in tourism development: nodal functions and management practices , 2003 .

[32]  David A. Hensher,et al.  A latent class model for discrete choice analysis: contrasts with mixed logit , 2003 .

[33]  M. Polk Are women potentially more accommodating than men to a sustainable transportation system in Sweden , 2003 .

[34]  Randi Johanne Hjorthol,et al.  Same city—different options: An analysis of the work trips of married couples in the metropolitan area of Oslo , 2000 .

[35]  Mohammad M. Hamed,et al.  Travel-related decisions by bus, servis taxi, and private car commuters in the city of Amman, Jordan , 2000 .

[36]  Chandra R. Bhat,et al.  A generalized multiple durations proportional hazard model with an application to activity behavior during the evening work-to-home commute , 1996 .

[37]  M. Boarnet,et al.  Can Land Use Policy Really Affect Travel Behavior? A Study of the Link between Non-Work Travel and Land Use Characteristics , 1996 .

[38]  J. Coleman Social Theory, Social Research, and a Theory of Action , 1986, American Journal of Sociology.

[39]  Environmental Sociology , 2019 .

[40]  A. Chaudhry Evolution of the transportation system in Dubai , 2012 .

[41]  A. Ismail,et al.  Transportation and its Concerns in Africa: A Review , 2011 .

[42]  Jillian Anable,et al.  'Complacent Car Addicts' or 'Aspiring Environmentalists'? Identifying travel behaviour segments using attitude theory , 2005 .

[43]  Eden Sorupia RETHINKING THE ROLE OF TRANSPORTATION IN TOURISM , 2005 .

[44]  R. J. Salter,et al.  Highway Traffic Analysis and Design , 1974 .

[45]  John R Hamburg,et al.  OPPORTUNITY-ACCESSIBILITY MODEL FOR ALLOCATING REGIONAL GROWTH , 1965 .

[46]  Tourism in the Mediterranean Sea , 2022 .