published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / abstract / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

It has been noticed that the government and bus operators in Hong Kong has constantly failed to implement plans to reduce, cancel or re-organize franchised bus routes with low patronage, essentially due to objections from District Councils, no matter how beneficial to the environment and traffic conditions these plans are claimed to be. In view of such phenomenon, this study set off to investigate what really has taken place at the core of the problem, i.e. the consultation process of Route Development Plan (RDP) with District Councils. The theories of community engagement (CE), deemed necessary in all areas of public policy making, have been borrowed to conceptualize such process in this study in terms of adequacy and sufficiency. The objectives of this study are: to review the current CE practice for bus route planning; to investigate the views of the stakeholders, such as the government, bus operators, district councilors and passengers towards such practice; and to suggest improvement to it, if possible. This study has employed both qualitative as well as quantitative methods, i.e. questionnaire surveys for the passengers (114 surveyed) and district councilors (11 replied out of 71 questionnaires sent out); and in-depth interviews for Transport Department (TD) officials, bus operator representatives (from Citybus/ New World First Bus) and district councilors (totally four). Some key findings from the questionnaire surveys include: more than half of the passengers (54%) do not know of the proposed changes to the bus routes they are using; only 1% and 12% of them have expressed their views to the government and district councilors respectively concerning the proposed route change, and none to the bus operators; as for district councilors’ questionnaire survey, most of them (8 out of 11) stated that they have been continually communicating with the government; but still, most of them (8 out of 11) believed that the RDP items would be implemented even without reaching consensus. On the other hand, from the in-depth interviews, some details of the CE process for RDP not previously published are revealed, including; an annual cycle of RDP preparation and consultation; the interaction between TD, bus operators and district councilors, among bus operators, and among district councilors; the various bargaining tactics employed between the stakeholders during the process. Though TD officials see no room of improvements to the existing practice, bus operator representative request for more objective decision-making; whereas district councilors demand for more information to be shared and more communications to be held with TD and the bus operators. In conclusion, the existing CE practice for bus route planning has not been well received by most of its stakeholders. It should be given a higher recognition for its role in a comprehensive bus route planning that not only needs to balance the conflicting claims of community, but also between transport and other social benefits. / published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / abstract / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The importance of consumer preference in transportation as a key to the forecasting of modal choice has received a growing recognition in the last ten years among transportation researchers in North America. Numerous studies of consumer attitudes toward transportation systems have been conducted in order to disclose the motivation underlying transportation consumer behavior. In Hong Kong the situation is different. In the last decade, several city-wide transportation studies have been conducted, with detailed description of aggregate travel characteristics such as trip purpose, income, and origin-destination. Yet, relatively little is known about consumer values relevant to transportation mode selection decisions. There is a scarcity of information concerning the factors that affect consumer behavior in transport, and the relative importance of these factors. The need for research designed to find information which will help fill this void of information is substantial. The objective of this thesis is to analyze, by means of an interview survey, the travelling behavior of the Tunnel-Bus passengers, and thereby to establish the relative importance of the different factors which lead to their mode selection decision. Two pieces of analysis have been undertaken. First, an analysis of the personal, socio-economic and trip characteristics of the passengers is performed. Secondly, an analysis of the passengers' mode-choice decision is made. The passengers' mode-choice decision is related to their personal, socio-economic and trip characteristics. In the light of the findings of these two steps, an appraisal of the predictions of patronage made by the government before the Tunnel Bus was introduced is undertaken. It is found that convenience and time-saving are the most important determinants that cause the passengers to use the Tunnel Bus. People are generally willing to pay more for a better, faster, more convenient transport mode for their cross-harbor journeys. Their grounds for choice of mode, however, vary with different groups of personal, socio-economic and trip characteristics such as, personal income, sex, trip purpose, frequency of use and previous transport mode. The implications of the findings are that more refined estimates of both time and convenience are needed in the transportation analysis in Hong Kong, and that modal split models should be made sensitive to mode convenience, users' age and work characteristics as well as time and cost. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning