Factors influencing Bangkok commuters to switch from driving cars to using buses

Nowadays, Bangkokians are facing very serious traffic problems due to the city’s outdated planning and poor public transportation. The number of cars on the road is increasing every year while the supply of roads remains limited. There are many attempts from the government to reduce car usage on the road by building networks of sky train – BTS, MRT and Airport Link. Yet, little to no efforts have been put in improving or increasing bus services which in a way will help reduce the number of cars if drivers choose to turn to buses as an alternative. Bangkok commuters now have a very negative perception towards bus services. Marketers and policy makers from Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) and the Ministry of Transportation were having difficulty in improving bus service quality as well as Bangkokian perception. This study was done for car drivers in Bangkok to explore factors that will encourage these drivers to use more buses. The research has also determined the level of importance of each factor as well as negative factors that discouraged Bangkok drivers from using cars. The research will help policy makers to target the right segment of car drivers and carry out the right policy in order to turn them into bus users, and provide recommendations on the segment that policy makers should target as well as the optimal strategy to convert these drivers to bus users.This research used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Respondents in the qualitative research were both car drivers and bus users whose age ranged from 22 – 40 years old. In the quantitative research, data from 247 respondents were collected via an online survey. All of them drive a car in Bangkok at least once a week and the majority of these drivers are between 26 to 45 years old with a monthly income range from 10,001 – 40,000 baht. The research used the Statistical Package for the Social Science Program (SPSS) to analyze the data.The results suggested that the original 15 attributes to encourage car users to switch to bus users can be grouped into 6 factors while respondents should be segmented into 3 groups – light car user, medium car users and heavy car users. The difference in terms of demographics as well as perceptions towards users between the three groups is not significant. However, their behavior and perceptions towards bus services as well as their tolerance towards the increasing cost of driving a car are what differentiate them from one another. The findings suggest that marketers and policy makers should focus on the light car users first by increasing the supply of new air-conditioned buses on the road. The Ministry of Transportation should introduce parking lot taxes as well as increase toll fees while keeping the petrol fees the same to discourage people from using cars. BMTA should change its corporate objectives of serving the poor to a more serviced oriented institution and increase the price while improving the quality of buses and bus stations.