Issue 4 May 2010 - LTA Academy

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Household Interview Surveys from 1997 to 2008 – A Decade of Changing Travel Behaviours Household Interview Surveys from 1997 to 2008 – A Decade of Changing Travel Behaviours CHOI Chik Cheong and Raymond TOH Abstract The Land Transport Authority (LTA) conducts the Household Interview Travel Survey (HITS) every four to five years to give transport planners and policy makers insights into residents’ travelling behaviours. About one percent of all the households in Singapore are surveyed each time, with household members answering detailed questions about their trips. A decade of such travel surveys has provided vital insights about the commuting behaviours of Singapore’s residents and their evolving travelling patterns. The analyses from 1997 and 2004 HITS (which was subsequently confirmed by the 2008 HITS results) were helpful in understanding some of the challenges and policy issues that Singapore’s transport landscape faces going forward. An ambitious Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP) was consequently unveiled in 2008 to address these challenges. Introduction Travel is an integral part of life. People choose to travel for various reasons – work, education, recreation, leisure and other social activities. However, travel behaviour is strongly influenced by a country’s social and economic development, and understanding the way people travel and their reasons for travelling is vital for transport professionals to formulate transport strategies and policies. Thus, the Household Interview Travel Survey (HITS) is an important information-gathering tool of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to acquire feedback on the travel behaviour of Singapore residents. HITS is an intensive process of studying the travel behaviour of every member above the 52 JOURNEYS May 2010 age of four in the households surveyed. It is conducted regularly, once every four to five years1 , with about one percent of Singapore households distributed across the island surveyed each time. 2 Detailed questions about the characteristics of trips made in a typical day are asked and these include questions on transport mode, frequency of trips, travel purpose and time of travel, along with other questions pertaining to the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics. Though the HITS is a time consuming exercise, it provides essential information for the transport planners and policy makers in their ongoing work. The information gathered from the surveys gives feedback about residents’ travel needs and the adequacy of
Household Interview Surveys from 1997 to 2008 – A Decade of Changing Travel Behaviours the existing infrastructure, and helps transport professionals understand travel behaviour. Analysis of the results gives insights as to how the travel behaviours evolve and allows planners and policy makers to develop strategies and policies to meet these challenges. HITS is an intensive process of studying the travel behaviour of every member above the age of four in the households surveyed. This paper presents a decade of travel survey results from the HITS and highlights some of the changes in Singapore residents’ travel behaviour that have been observed. We will conclude with a review of the Land Transport Masterplan which was unveiled by LTA in 2008 and highlight how the earlier survey results influence the development of the master plan and how it addresses some of the challenges arising from the changing travel behaviours. Singapore Residents’ Travel Behaviours Trip generation With an expanding economy and increasing population in Singapore, it is not surprising to see that travel demand had increased tremendously over the past decade (Figure 1). In 2008, an average of 9.9 million trips were generated daily – a growth of 32 percent from 1997, which saw only 7.5 million daily trips. Between 1997 and 2004, the growth rate was only 10 percent (1.3% per annum), while 2004 and 2008 saw a growth rate of 20 percent (4.8% per annum), suggesting accelerated growth in travel demand. In the same figure, the growth rates of different transport modes were given. Private transport (PV) trips grew steadily; from 2.7 million daily trips in 1997 to 3.4 million in 2004, and 4.3 million in 2008 – an average growth rate of 25 percent between survey years. In the same period, public transport (PT) trips did not as grow much; PT trips grew marginally between 1997 and 2004, and grew by 16 percent between 2004 and 2008. The overall impact of the different growth rates is that PT mode share has actually declined over the past decade. Figure 1: Daily Trips Generated No. No. of of Daily Trips (‘000) 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Total Trips: 7,500 PV 2,700 HITS 1997 Total: +10% PV: +26% PT: +1% PT 4,800 Total Trips: 8,200 PV 3,400 PT 4,800 Total: +20% PV: +25% PT: +16% Total Trips: 9,900 PV 4,300 PT 5,600 HITS 2004 HITS 2008 (Note: Numbers are rounded off) The number of trips grew rapidly over the decade with private transport trips growing faster than public transport There are many reasons for the rapid growth in trips. Key factors affecting trip generation are the pace of Singapore’s economic development and the growth in population. According to Table 1, Singapore’s population had grown from 3.8 million to 4.8 million between 1997 and 2008, a 26 percent increase. Economic activity also grew tremendously during the period, as seen from the second and third columns of Table 1. More significantly, Singapore’s real GDP per capita JOURNEYS May 2010 53
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Issue 4 May 2010 - LTA Academy

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