Mapping the reasons for resistance to using public transportation in Ho Chi Minh City

Tóm tắt

Traveling by bus brings many benefits to passengers. However, the growth of passengers using the bus as a means of transport remains slower than that of population and private transportation. This places a strong pressure on urban traffic in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). This study aims to explore the attributes of the bus system in HCMC, affecting various values that prevent passengers from using the bus. The study employs the Means-end chain theory as the frame and soft-laddering interview to collect data. Data collected from 36 interviewees, including 25 passengers and 11 experts, is analyzed by Association Pattern Technique (APT) and presented in a Hierarchical Value Map (HVM). The findings show that there are 18 attributes, 27 consequences, and seven individual values preventing passengers from traveling by bus in HCMC. Six key attributes are identified, including not convenient and far bus stations, many stops during the trip, not accurate schedule as planned, ticket collector’s poor behaviors, too many passengers on a bus, thief, or sexual harassment. These attributes lead to a negative impact on key (individual) values, such as Safety, Time control, Health problem, Convenience, and Respectfulness. From these findings, some suggestions are proposed to improve the frequency of bus using in HCMC.