ACCEPTANCE OF CAR USE RESTRICTION IN JAPAN AND THAILAND

In this study determinants of moral obligation of car use reduction and acceptance of car use restriction were investigated. This was based on attitudinal image variables for cars and public transport, including symbolic/affective, instrumental, and social orderliness attitudinal-aspects. Attitudinal data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey in Japan and Thailand, specifically in the cities of Tokyo (n = 402), Bangkok (n = 100), and Ubon Ratchathani (n = 76). Results from structural equation modeling indicated that image variables had no effect on the acceptance of car use restriction in Thailand; however, some image variables had certain impacts in Japan. The findings imply that communicative strategies to change the image of car and public transport would be effective in increasing public acceptance of coercive transportation measures in Japan, but such strategies might not be promising in Thailand. In addition, it was found that fewer attitudinal-aspects of car use had significant effects on a moral obligation to reduce car use and acceptance of car use restriction in Thailand than in Japan. This finding also implies that it might not be easy to reduce car use in Thailand by utilizing communicative measures such as mobility management that have proven to be effective in Japan. (A)