A study on the analysis of ridership improvement on circular railway in yangon, myanmar

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

THU YEIN MYINT THEIN

A STUDY ON THE ANALYSIS OF
RIDERSHIP IMPROVEMENT ON
CIRCULAR RAILWAY IN YANGON,
MYANMAR

MASTER'S THESIS


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

THU YEIN MYINT THEIN

A STUDY ON THE ANALYSIS OF
RIDERSHIP IMPROVEMENT ON
CIRCULAR RAILWAY IN YANGON,
MYANMAR

MAJOR: INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING
CODE: 8900201.04QTD

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR:
PROF. HIRONORI KATO, JAPAN (A)
DR. NGUYEN NGOC VINH, VIETNAM (B)

Hanoi, 2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my grateful thanks to Professor. Hironori Kato,
Associate Professor. Shinichi Takeda and Doctor. Phan Le Binh for their
encouragement, motivation, understanding, helpful suggestions, true-line guidance,
and supervision. I strongly believe that my thesis has a huge contribution from them.
I wish to extend special thanks to Professor. Nguyen Dinh Duc for not only his
lectures and valuable bits of knowledge but also for giving the opportunities to study at
Vietnam Japan University.
I am grateful to Japan ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) organization for the two-years
full scholarship to study at Vietnam Japan University.
I would like to convey heartfelt thanks to Yangon Technological University and
Doctor Thiri Aung for letting me use data in the thesis.
I would also like to thank Associate Professor. Vu Hoai Nam, Associate Professor.
Nguyen Hoang Tung, Doctor. Nguyen Tien Dung and Doctor. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh
who have always given me valuable lectures and knowledge, great advice,
suggestions, comments in the thesis.
Besides, I am grateful to our program assistants: Mr. Bui Hoang Tan and Mrs. Bui Thi
Hoa for their supports.
Last but not least, I wish to express my great gratitude to all teachers for their kind,
help, and discussion during the two-year study period. And also, beloved parents and
friends for their support and encouragement to complete my thesis without any
trouble.


DECLARATION
I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my
own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not
been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified.

Thu Yein Myint Thein


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................i
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ ii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale of the Study ........................................................................................... 1
1.2. Location of the Study ............................................................................................ 2
1.3. Background of the Study....................................................................................... 3
1.4. Statement of the Problems .................................................................................... 3
1.5. Research Questions ............................................................................................... 5
1.6. Objectives of the Study ......................................................................................... 5
1.7. Structure of the Study ........................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................. 8
2.1. Railway Transportation in Southeast Asian Countries ......................................... 8
2.1.1. Railway Transportation in Myanmar .............................................................. 8
2.1.2. Railway Transportation in Thailand ........................................................... 9
2.1.3. Railway Transportation in Cambodia ........................................................... 10
2.1.4. Railway Transportation in Indonesia ............................................................ 11
2.2. Trends in the Ridership of Public Transportation ............................................... 12
2.3. Accessing Descriptive and Causal Analyses of Transit Ridership ..................... 13
2.4. Factors Influencing on Transit Ridership............................................................ 14
2.5. Consideration of Travel Demand ........................................................................ 15
2.6. Feeder Service Transit ........................................................................................ 16
2.7. Type of Stations .................................................................................................. 17
2.7.1. Light Rail Stations ........................................................................................ 17
2.7.2. Heavy Rail Stations ...................................................................................... 17

2.7.3. Commuter Rail Stations ................................................................................ 17
2.7.4. Intermodal Terminals.................................................................................... 18
2.8. Park and Ride Facilities at Stations..................................................................... 18
2.8.1. The Facilities for Bicycle Parking ................................................................ 19
2.9. Pedestrian Facilities at Stations........................................................................... 20
2.10. Safety and Security at Stations.......................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 3. DATA COLLECTION AND RESEARCH METHOD ......................... 21
3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 21
3.2. Plan of the Study ................................................................................................. 21
3.3. Selecting and optimizing of Bus-stop location ................................................... 22
3.4. Survey Process of the Study................................................................................ 22
3.4.1. Objective of the Survey ................................................................................ 22
3.4.2. Pre-Survey implementation .......................................................................... 23
3.4.3. Implementation of the On-Site Survey ......................................................... 23


3.5. Data Collection at Selecting Bus-Stops .............................................................. 23
3.6. Method of the Study ............................................................................................ 24
3.6.1. Step 1: Development of Hypotheses ............................................................ 24
3.6.2. Step 2: Statistical Tests ................................................................................. 25
3.6.3. Step 3: Discussion on Policy Recommendations to Local Government ...... 28
3.7. Definitions of Variables ...................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND ESTIMATION RESULTS .......................... 30
4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 30
4.2. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents .................................................... 30
4.2.1. Gender ........................................................................................................... 30
4.2.2. Age ................................................................................................................ 31
4.2.3. Incomes ......................................................................................................... 33
4.2.4. Causes of Lowering in Ridership ................................................................. 34
4.2.5. Travel Modes of the Respondents ................................................................ 35

4.2.6. Solution - 1 Providing Feeder Service .......................................................... 36
4.2.7. Solution - 2 Providing Right Time Scheduling ............................................ 37
4.2.8. Solution – 3 Providing Increase Speed of Train ........................................... 39
4.2.9. Solution - 4 Ticket Price Reduction.............................................................. 40
4.2.10. Solution - 5 Providing Better Amenities and Cleanliness at the Stations .. 41
4.2.11. Solution - 6 Providing Park and Ride Facilities at the Stations ................. 42
4.2.12. Solution - 7 Providing Better Pedestrian Facilities of the Stations ............ 44
4.2.13. Solution - 8 Providing Safety System......................................................... 45
4.2.14. Ridership Percentage for Each Solution ..................................................... 46
4.3. Estimation Results of Statistical Test – Test 1.................................................... 47
4.4. Estimation Results of Statistical Test – Test 2.................................................... 47
4.4.1. Results for Hypothesis 1 ............................................................................... 47
4.4.2. Results for Hypothesis 2 ............................................................................... 48
4.4.3. Results for Hypothesis 3 ............................................................................... 49
4.4.4. Results for Hypothesis 4 ............................................................................... 50
4.5. Discussion on Policy Recommendation to Local Government .......................... 51
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................... 54
5.1. Discussion and Conclusions ................................................................................ 54
5.2. Limitation of the Study ....................................................................................... 56
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 57
APPENDIX ................................................................................................................... 61


LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1.1 Ridership of Yangon Circular Railway in Years ............................................ 4
Table 4.1. Percentage of Gender of the Respondents.................................................... 30
Table 4.2. Percentage of Age subgroup of the Respondents ......................................... 32
Table 4.3. Percentage of Incomes of the Respondents based on Type of Jobs ............. 33
Table 4.4. Causes of Lowering in Ridership ................................................................. 35

Table 4.5. Percentage of Riders Based on Mode of Travel ........................................... 35
Table 4.6. Percentage of Respondent for Feeder Service Solution ............................... 37
Table 4.7. Percentage of Respondent for Right Time Schedule Solution ..................... 38
Table 4.8. Percentage of Respondent for Increase Speed of Train Solution ................. 39
Table 4.9. Percentage of Respondent for Ticket Price Reduction Solution .................. 40
Table 4.10. Percentage of Respondent for Having Better Amenities and Cleanliness of
Stations Solution ............................................................................................................ 41
Table 4.11. Percentage of Respondent for Park and Ride Facilities at Station Solution
....................................................................................................................................... 43
Table 4.12. Percentage of Respondent for Better Pedestrian Facilities at Stations
Solution .......................................................................................................................... 44
Table 4.13. Percentage of Respondent for Safety System Solution .............................. 45
Table 4.14. Ridership Percentage for Each Solution..................................................... 46
Table 4.15. Results of Kruskal-Wallis Test .................................................................. 47
Table 4.16. Results of Binary Logit Model for Feeder Service Solution (H1) .............. 47
Table 4.17. Results of Binary Logit Model for Safety System solution (H2) ............... 48
Table 4.18. Results of Binary Logit Model for Increase Speed of Train solution (H3) 49
Table 4.19. Results of Binary Logit Model for Right Time Schedule solution (H4) .... 50

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LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1.1. Map of the Yangon Circular Railway ........................................................... 2
Figure 1.2. Transportation mode share in Yangon in 2014 ............................................. 4
Figure 1.3. Flow of Research .......................................................................................... 7
Figure 2.1. Passengers carried by Railway in Myanmar (million passenger-km) .......... 9
Figure 2.2. The Percentage of SRT Passengers ............................................................. 10
Figure 2.3. Passengers carried by Railway in Cambodia (million passenger-km) ....... 11

Figure 2.4. Passengers carried by Railway in Indonesia (million passenger-km) ........ 12
Figure 2.5. Annual Public Transportation Ridership .................................................... 12
Figure 3.1. Flow Chart of the Study .............................................................................. 21
Figure 3.2. Implementing the Questionnaire Survey at Bus Stops (Aung, 2013) ......... 24
Figure 4.1. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage Classified Based on Gender .............. 31
Figure 4.2. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage Classified Based on Age Types ......... 33
Figure 4.3. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage Classified Based on Income .............. 34
Figure 4.4. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage Based on Modes of Travel ................. 36
Figure 4.5. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Feeder Service Solution ............... 37
Figure 4.6. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Right Time Schedule Solution ..... 38
Figure 4.7. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Increase Speed of Train Solution . 39
Figure 4.8. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Ticket Price Reduction Solution .. 39
Figure 4.9 Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Having Better Amenities and
Cleanliness of Stations Solution .................................................................................... 42
Figure 4.10. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Providing of Park and Ride
Facilities at Station Solution .......................................................................................... 43
Figure 4.11. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Better Pedestrian Facilities at
Stations Solution ............................................................................................................ 44
Figure 4.12. Pie Chart of Passengers Percentage for Providing Safety System Solution
....................................................................................................................................... 46

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CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the Study
Transportation may be described as a service to transfer passengers and goods
from one place to another. Transportation cannot be separated from society, and it has
a very close relationship to life’s style, location range, goods, and services for
consumption. Transportation can be said as a kind of production because the delay of

transport can affect production. Easy transportation will cause saving on the market
price as raw materials are needed to transfer to their destination within a suitable time,
and cheap transportation will reduce the cost of the product. Therefore, price stability
and economic development depend on transportation.
The public transportation sector has been playing an essential role in the
development of both developed and developing countries today. If the transportation
system is powerful, it can provide economic and social opportunities such as citizens
can travel efficiently and effectively. High quantity transportation infrastructure and
networks are dependent on a good level of development.
Although many people usually travel to their destinations by public
transportation, others use private vehicles. If the public transportation system cannot
attract travelers, private automobiles will be increased and it can cause air pollution,
energy consumption, and traffic congestion. These problems provide negative impacts
on the environment and will be harmful to the users’ health. Therefore, good public
transportation is a solution for those problems and it may shift people’s mode of
transportation from private to public transportation because of safe, time-saving,
convenient, and reliable systems.
There are many modes of transportation systems such as in-land, water, railway,
and air. Among them, the railway transportation system is the most suitable to support
the compact city model for the long term. Goods and passengers can be transferred on
rail line via trains is called railway transportation. Rail transit can carry more
passengers and goods over a long distance than other modes of transportation.
Furthermore, high levels of investment from the private sector can be attracted by rail
transit.

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As a comparison of road transportation, rail transit is the cheapest and most
convenient transportation for low-income people, especially in developing countries.

Moreover, railway transportation is a sustainable transport system if it is organized
efficiently, rail transportation will be a solution for many problems such as public
health, ecosystem hazards, etc. Further, it can solve traffic congestion which is the
most facing problem in developing countries. In the modes of transportation, only
railway transportation is under the control of the government even though other
transportation modes are operated by both the public and private sectors. In Myanmar,
the rail system is the largest transportation service according to the report of the
Pyithuhlutaw in 1989 and is the state-owned transportation operating 18 freight trains
and 379 users per train, using about 100,000 passengers daily.
1.2. Location of the Study

Figure 1.1. Map of the Yangon Circular Railway
Source: (Yangon Day Tours, 2016)

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1.3. Background of the Study
In Myanmar, The Yangon Circular Railway plays an important role in public
transportation and is the local commuter rail network for serving the Yangon
metropolitan area. The Yangon Circular Railway was built by the British government
during colonial times. There is a double-track railway and the operation was started in
1959 by Government. It is 45.9 kilometers long and a total 38 stations loop system
connects suburban to the downtown area, Yangon. However, the network of railway
transportation does not extend into the main commercial district. The operating speed
of the circular railway is 15 miles per hour and it takes about 3 hours to complete one
loop. There are about 200 coaches, runs 20 times and 100,000 to 150,000 tickets are
sold out daily. Circular Railway is the cheapest public transportation in Yangon. The
ticket price is 100 Myanmar Kyats (MMK) for one loop in the ordinary class, 200
Myanmar Kyats (MMK) in the upper class, and 400 Myanmar Kyats (MMK) in the

RBE train.
1.4. Statement of the Problems
In 2014, JICA reported that only 1 percent of local people used Yangon
Circular Railway as Figure 1.2. According to the statements by the Ministry of Rail
Transportation in 2018, only two percent of the population in Yangon used Yangon
Circular Railway as Table 1.1. Most people prefer to use buses, automobiles, and other
modes of transportation. Therefore, it seriously causes road traffic congestion in
Yangon. Traffic congestion has negative impacts such as commuter costs (travel time,
vehicle maintenance, stress, etc), environment and public health costs (greenhouse gas
emission, air pollution), safety costs (insurance cost, traffic accident: medical and legal
costs), and freight costs (delivery time shipping costs, fuel cost, etc).

3


Figure 1.2. Transportation mode share in Yangon in 2014
Source: (JICA, 2019)
Table 1.1 Ridership of Yangon Circular Railway in Years
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Jan

2,602,075

2,691,444

1,963,441

1,765,896

1,761,680

2,132,793

2,278,779

1,300,074

Feb

2,501,565

2,462,618

1,820,358

1,537,571

1,636,438

2,097,706

2,011,933

1,262,708

March

2,676,854

2,758,898

1,990,788

1,751,742

1,794,546

2,253,462

2,062,202

1,331,829

April

2,385,335

2,421,729

1,738,735

1,474,426

1,454,980

1,928,984

1,716,249

1,135,834

May

2,708,266

2,725,852

1,957,813

1,751,738

1,683,869

2,109,960

1,897,432

1,209,674

June

2,493,467

2,607,189

1,838,994

1,679,770

1,660,890

2,035,774

2,035,595

1,109,091

July

2,490,429

2,781,120

1,866,752

1,710,481

1,795,475

2,103,414

2,123,144

1,080,734

Aug

2,556,702

2,829,808

1,921,252

1,648,311

1,866,183

2,175,282

2,175,282

1,055273

Sept

2,533,471

2,710,519

1,916,502

1,615,986

1,867,058

2,123,370

2,123,360

1,082,564

Oct

2,585,514

2,943587

2,035,439

1,719,861

2,008,473

2,106,184

2,109,134

1,099,541

Nov

2,469,239

2,811,209

1,636,758

1,556,650

1,867,194

2,044,401

1,923,831

988,015

Dec

2,642,632

3,008,615

1,787,673

1,756,351

2,014,612

2,203,609

1,647,307

1,056,249

Source: Ministry of Rail Transportation (Myanmar)
Existing studies mentioned that eight potential solutions were proposed to
improve the ridership of the Yangon Circular Railway. They are as follow:
4


1. Feeder Service: Introduction of first/last-mile transport service between the bus
stop and rail stations.
2. Safety System: Introduction of security service, CCTV, and improvement of
lighting.
3. Increase Speed of Train: Speed up of train.
4. Right Time Schedule: Improve the punctuality of Yangon Circular Railway
service and time schedule.
5. Cleanliness Facilities: Improve cleaning service at trains and stations.
6. Park & Ride Facilities: Installation of Park & Ride Facilities for bike and
trishaw at stations in urban areas and motorcycles in a sub-urban area.
7. Well Pedestrian Facilities: Installation of more pedestrian bridges to cross rail
track and safe platform.
8. Ticket Price Reduction: Introduction of price discount, especially for students,
government staff (Aung, 2013).

1.5. Research Questions
Although the effectiveness of solutions has been examined in the previous
studies, their acceptability has not been discussed yet. Therefore, the research question
of this research is “What types of people prefer the above four effective solutions?”.
1.6. Objectives of the Study
The specific objectives of the study are as follow:
1. To analyze the user’s preference of potential solutions to improve ridership of
Yangon Circular Railway.
2. To derive the recommendations to local government to improve appropriate
services and facilities for Yangon Circular Railway from the findings.
1.7. Structure of the Study
This study is organized and presented in five chapters.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The research background, location of the study, statement of the problems, objectives
of the study including research questions will be mentioned.
Chapter 2: Review of Literature
5


Chapter 2 will show some existing research papers related to this thesis’s topic. In
those research papers, they also pointed out the factor influencing the ridership of
public transportation, especially in rail transit. This chapter also explains how to
design and plan for potential solutions proposed to Yangon Circular Railway in the
past study.
Chapter 3: Data Collection and Research Method
Chapter 3 will introduce the data collection process in this study such as selecting the
location of the study, plan of the study, making a questionnaire survey, and
implementation of the survey process. Besides, the methodology for statistical test and
model analysis will be shown in detail.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Estimation Results

In this chapter, the demographic data of the study will show at first. Then, estimation
results for the hypotheses of this study will be described with the explanation and give
the recommendation to local government to consider the factors in policy-making for
ridership improvement of Yangon Circular Railway.
Chapter 5: Conclusions
Chapter 5 will conclude with the discussion from the summary of the findings and
finally, research limitations and further research direction will be discussed.

Introduction

Review of Literature

Data Collection and
Research Method

Data Analysis and
Estimation Results

6


Conclusions

Figure 1.3. Flow of Research

7


CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1. Railway Transportation in Southeast Asian Countries

2.1.1. Railway Transportation in Myanmar
The first Myanmar railway line between Yangon and Pyay Regions was
operated on the 1st of May 1877 by a private organization, called the Irrawaddy Valley
State Railway Company and was ended on the 31st of December 1928. It was 161
miles long and was placed under the Indian Railway Board. In 1937, Myanmar and
India were separated and the Government of Myanmar formed the Myanmar Railway
Board and organized the affairs of the Myanmar Railways. During World War II, the
Myanmar railway network was damaged and this golden age of Burmese railway
construction ended abruptly in 1942 by Japanese military forces. The Japanese
removed about 500 km of the existing track of the railway network to build railway
lines from Myanmar to Thailand. In 1942, the British colonial government took over
the powers and functions of the Myanmar Railway Board and it continued to function
until the 31st of December 1947. On the 4th of January 1948, Myanmar gained
independence and the new Myanmar authorities rebuilt the rail infrastructure of
Myanmar and in 1961, the railway network included 3,020 km of track and it was
nearly the same as had been in place before 1942. Then, the Myanmar government
increased the length of the railway network from 3,162 km in 1988 to 5,068 km in
2000 and the number of train stations increased from 487 to over 800.
Myanmar railway carries a lot of freight to the suburban area and longdistance passengers. The total numbers of passengers in the main network are about 21
million in 2013, around 16 million between 2014 and 2018. The number of passengers
in a suburban area is more than in an urban area which is about 30 million per year.
Although the number of ridership became increased, it was very low before 2013 as
shown in Figure 2.1.

8


Figure 2.1. Passengers carried by Railway in Myanmar (million passenger-km)
Source: (The World Bank)
2.1.2. Railway Transportation in Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is the only one and main operator of
railway transportation in Thailand. King Chulalongkorn founded SRT as the Royal
State Railways of Siam in 1895. In 1930, the railway system became growth, reaching
about 3.000 km and in the last 80 years, the rail network has grown by about 35
percentages. Five main routes are covering about 4,043 km. The network serves 42
provinces of the country including main lines from Bangkok into northern, southern,
northeastern, eastern, and paths (Asia Development Bank, 2013).
The railway system is heavily used to transport 45 percentages of intercity
passengers and average 62 freight trains per day. Although recent overall demand
(mostly in container traffic) has been increasing at 5.3 percentages per year, other
products are still decreasing. The rail transit is only 2 to 2.5 percentages of the total
mode share because it is low availability of locomotives and poor service time pushing
shippers to other modes of transportation. The fare on the Bangkok Mass Transit
System Public Company Limited (BTS) is more than the fare on the State Railway of
Thailand (SRT) to travel 200 km. SRT passenger has decreased average 41
percentages during the period 1993 to 2009, but the operating number of trains has not
changed. The share of the intercity passenger of SRT become decreased from 78

9


percentages in 1993 to 55 percentages in 2009 as shown in Figure 2.2 (Asia
Development Bank, 2013).

Figure 2.2. The Percentage of SRT Passengers
Source: (Asia Development Bank, 2013)
2.1.3. Railway Transportation in Cambodia
The railway transportation in Cambodia is state-owned and Royal
Railways of Cambodia (RRC) under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport
(MPWT) operated. Two rail lines are running parallel in Cambodia: National Roads 3

and 4 to Sihanoukville and National Road 5 to Poipet. The first one is the total length
of 254 km, the Southern Line linking Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia with the
country’s main seaport in Sihanoukville, and the second one is the Northern Line
which is 388 km linking Phnom Penh with Battambang in northwestern Cambodia and
Poipet on the border with Thailand connecting with the railway in Thailand and from
there extends to Malaysia and Singapore (Asia Development Bank, 2006).
Railway transportation of Cambodia was a quite good condition, especially
between 1969 and 1970, the railway system in Cambodia was operated 37 trains per
day, with 69 locomotives, about 900 freight cars of all types, carried about 2 million
passengers (Moly, 2008). The railway transportation becomes poor physical condition
because of war. The last 48 km of track in Northern Line transit were destroyed during
the war. Railway traffic is decreasing due to poor condition of rail track and equipment
such as unreliable and slow although the road network has been improved substantially
over the past decade. The employees are underpaid and professional skills and staffing
10


levels are disintegrating. The result is that rail transit is operating as a deficit because
of poor ridership (Asia Development Bank, 2006).

Figure 2.3. Passengers carried by Railway in Cambodia (million passenger-km)
Source: (The World Bank)
2.1.4. Railway Transportation in Indonesia
The railway system in Indonesia was built by Dutch Colonial Government 150
years ago. Although the total length of it was 6,458 originally until 1939, it became
down to 4,814 km in 2014: 3,464 km on Java and 1,350 km on Sumatra Island
according to the World Bank. The rail transit was to optimize freight operation
between inland farming producers in Java and the ports to allow Indonesian products
to enter the international market (Woroniuk, Aditjandra, & Zunder, 2014). The share
of the railway in Indonesia is 7 percentages of passenger and 0.6 percentages of freight

while road dominates the transport network with 84 percentages passenger and 91%
freight (Muthohar, Sumi, & Sutomo, 2010). The share of rail and road is more than
shipping (Sheem, 2012).

11


Figure 2.4. Passengers carried by Railway in Indonesia (million passenger-km)
Source: (The World Bank)
2.2. Trends in the Ridership of Public Transportation
According to the data of the American Public Transportation Association, the
ridership of public transportation decreased by 3% annually between 2014 and 2016
(American Public Transportation Association, 2017).

Figure 2.5. Annual Public Transportation Ridership
Source: (American Public Transportation Association, 2017)
Accompaniment transportation such as owning and operating costs of
automobiles affect the public transportation system (Buehler & Pucher, 2012). Other
studies have been found that personal vehicles can be influent to ridership of public
transportation (Taylor, Miller, Iseki, & Fink, 2009). In some places, while automobile
ownerships became dropping because of dropping driver licensing for younger people
because of federal policies to promote license of drivers, shared-use mobility such as
bike-sharing, carsharing, ride-sourcing became increased (Sivak & Schoettle, 2016).
Roughly 10 to 20 years in the future, the population growth and the public
commitment to supplying transit will decide the demand for public transportation.
Ridership will be increased or decreased base on gas prices rising and falling, and
other factors such as traffic congestion, parking’s price, fares, speed, reliability, and
12

coverage of public transportation (Mallett, 2018). Changes that are independent of
funding increases can make improvements to services (Vock, 2017).
2.3. Accessing Descriptive and Causal Analyses of Transit Ridership
There are two general categories in the studies of transit ridership factors:
research focusing on passenger mode with both passengers and operators as the units
of analysis and studies examining the environment, system, and behavior associated
with ridership of transit (Taylor & Fink, 2003).
They are also called causal and descriptive analyses and these methodologies
have advantages and disadvantages. Qualitative data from surveys and interviews are
used in descriptive analyses. However, such kind of studies shows that concerns about
methodology and interpretation. That information is very important and reliant on the
perception and assumption of respondents about factors influencing transit ridership
(Transit Cooperative Research Program, 1998). Therefore, the data may be biased
based on limited or inaccurate information. There are no other studies to describe the
specific data collection processes used to get information (Bianco, Martha, Dueker, &
Strathman, 1998). Moreover, the relationship between acceptable factors and actual
users is questionable in some cases. A lot of studies are outdated and most of them do
not make the question about cause and the influence of internal and external factors.
Some studies showed that they are significant with ridership improvement (Sale, 1976),
(Taylor, et al., 2002).
The advantages of causal analyses are that researchers are allowed to apply
wider data than descriptive analyses, and more opportunity for models to develop their
concepts. However, it is generally limited to a few systems analyses. In the past
studies of causal analyses, more strong results can be produced by using data from
many agencies and outcomes. Besides, the results are more generalizable to other
systems (Taylor & Fink, 2003). Although there are many advantages in causal
analyses, the data sets have their own limitation. Many studies tend to include that data
are readily available, particularly Census data to measure external variables (Spillar &
Rutherford, 1998).
The studies of models differ extensively in the modes’ types examined. Some

studies focus on bus or rail transportation (Chung, 1997, Kain & Liu, 1996), and other
studies consider multimodal systems (Gomez-Ibanez J. A., 1996, Hendrickson, 1986).
13


Moreover, there are long-term problems of multicollinearity and a high correlation
between independent variables in the same model. This is one of the serious problems
between the service supply variable and demand. Transit service supply is widely a
duty of transit demand while using transit is a duty of transit service supply to a large
extent. Therefore, the conclusion is that the levels of service can explain transit
ridership a little bit about the underlying causality of transit use (Liu, 1993, Kohn,
2000, Kain & Liu, 1996, Gomez-Ibanez J. A., 1996).
2.4. Factors Influencing on Transit Ridership
The factor influencing on ridership of railway transportation can be categorized
into two parts: external factor and internal factor (Abdel-Aty, Jovanis & Mohamed,
1995). External factors include service area population and employment. On the other
hand, fares and service levels are consisting in the internal factor (Taylor & Fink,
2003)
There is no separation between external and internal factors. For instance, if
population growth increases, it may change the demand for transit services. While
many organizations are trying to attribute to increasing ridership by service expansions
and introducing new programs and facilities, it is essential to note that service
changing are important factors in demand because many studies report that the
obstacle of increasing ridership is lack of funding. Nevertheless, many past studies
mentioned that external and internal factors can be considered separately in both
descriptive and causal analyses.
According to the European Commission on Transportation Research (ECTR) in
1996, direct strategies and indirect strategies can be divided into two groups. The
objective of direct strategies is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of railway
operations including fare levels, marketing, quality and quantity of services, various

kind of facilities, and technologies. Indirect strategies aim to make public policies to
influence ridership including taxes on car ownership, road pricing, access restrictions,
parking costs, and other policies related to land use planning ( European Commission
Transport Research, 1996).
There are many studies to determine various factors affecting transit ridership
such as socio-economic, spatial, and public financial affairs factors. Among them,
socio-economic and spatial are the most important factors with variables accessing to
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and utility of automobiles directly or indirectly. Two transit travel modes become
grown due to the decreasing market of private vehicles in metropolitan areas:
passengers including children, elder, disable, and poor people with limited access to
automobiles and passengers to big employment centers, especially in downtown areas
where are limited parking. Therefore, employment variables measuring central
business areas are significantly related to transit ridership (Taylor & Fink, 2003).
Past studies showed that socio-economic factors are important for transit
ridership levels. It has been long thought that using public transportation is more
precise than private transportation to changes in levels of employment. For instance,
while over 25 percent of people declined transit to use, using private vehicles became
increased according to the American Public Transit Association (APTA, 2001). The
research result by (Chung, 1997) shows that employment and regional development
can affect ridership more than fares. Another analysis result is found out that in
Boston, external factors have the significant affect on ridership between 1970 and
1990 more than internal factors (Gomez-Ibanez J. A., 1996). In that report he analyzed,
each percentage decreasing in the employment rate was associated with dropping
ridership which is about 1.24 percent and it means that the employment rate is more
significant than individual income in transit ridership. According to (Hendrickson,
1986), he found that employment level in central business districts is more important
than the regional population for transit ridership. The level of income and car

ownership are other socio-economic factors including in analyses of transit ridership.
In the previous studies, the researchers described that the impact of rising incomes has
a positive effect on employment growth on ridership (Liu, 1993 & McLeod, 1991).
2.5. Consideration of Travel Demand
The demand of transit users can be estimated based on three basic factors:
current stations, new stations along an existing fast transit line, and stations. Several
specific factors are influencing highly correlation with access decision: cost of parking
and supply, service quantity and quality of feeder transit, land uses’ types and diversity,
the density of residential and employment, pedestrian facilities’ quality, demographics
of the station area, safety and travel time (National Academies of Sciences, 2012).
Residential development within a half-mile radius of a fast transit station is
important. People living within a 5-minute walk of transit stations are willing to use
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rail transit (Cervero, 1993). Most users are likely to walk up to a half-mile to access
stations but the probability of walking decreases 50 percent for 0.3 miles of walking
distance. Density, local retail are essential factors to influence walking to the station
with individual characteristics such as gender (Loutzenheiser, 1997). Based on the
international literature review, accessing bicycle increases up to 40 percent of transit
ridership but it depends on factors such as quality of bicycle facilities, topography,
weather, and bicycle cultures (National Academies of Sciences, 2012). Employment
and population densities are a positive correlation with increasing pedestrian access
trips. Work density is more strongly associated with a pedestrian than a simple
population (National Academies of Sciences, 2012).
2.6. Feeder Service Transit
The intermodal system is a challenging and questionable case in the public
transportation field because this system has benefits to improve complicated public
transportation. There are integrated rail transport and feeder service connected with the
station consisting of this system. The railway transportation will be effective and

efficient with feeder service from bus stops to the station and it can promote to
improve ridership of rail transit because users want to access their destination in the
service area (Almasi, Mounes, Koting, & Karim, 2014).
Feeder service transit is associated with the number of transit connections. If it
is higher population density, feeder transit access is also higher who live near the
stations (National Academies of Sciences, 2012). Pursing transit-oriented development,
providing park and ride facilities and feeder service were measured to shift modal from
motorbike to public transportation and to improve the number of potential ridership
choosing the bus rapid transit as their mode of transport in Da Nang City, Vietnam.
According to the result, as shown in Figure, motorbike users decrease several
percentages by providing feeder service but it may not immediately reduce fuel
consumption. Therefore, feeder service is one of the important factors to change the
modes of transport for users from automobiles to the public transportation system.
However, this kind of solution can be effective for residents who live near the stations
(Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, 2016).

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2.7. Type of Stations
There are many kinds of station based on the rail transit type: Light Rail
Stations, Heavy Rail Stations, Commuter Rail Stations and Intermodal Terminals.
2.7.1. Light Rail Stations
The typical length of a light rail station is 55 to 120 m. In this kind of station,
various kinds of platforms such as center platform, side platform, and/or split into
opposite sides of an intersection can be designed. Stations are possible both on-street
and off-street along the railroad. Even though platforms with intermediate heigh above
the top of the railway have been trending in recent years, high and low platforms have
been used. In the light rail station, sunshade above the platform, limited seating, and
ticket machines are included usually. But stations do not have the gates for the fare

because it is proof of payment system in light rail stations (Transportation Research
Board of the National Academies, 2013).
2.7.2. Heavy Rail Stations
The heavy rail stations are usually more detailed than others: light rail stations
or commuter rail stations. Heavy rail stations are typically 180 to 240 m long. In this
type of station, the platforms are high level to protect the users from entering the
trackway. Heavy rail stations use both center and side platforms and sometimes, there
are more than two tracks. Stations are designed mostly underground or elevated with
intermediate mezzanine levels between the streets and platforms. Cross-platforms are
allowed as the special configurations. Fare control supply and enclosed paid zones are
included in this type of station although proof of payments system is still used in some
European systems (Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, 2013).

2.7.3. Commuter Rail Stations
There are one or two platforms, limited services, and a small number of
passengers from suburban to urban in commuter rail stations. In these stations, people
use a center platform or side platform, or a combination of both. A higher volume
system is for high platforms and a lower volume system is to use either low or
intermediate height platforms. Sometimes, trains for passengers and goods use the
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