Willingness to Shift to Walking or Bicycling to Access Suburban Rail: Case Study of Mumbai, India

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of willingness-to-shift study conducted in catchment areas of suburban rail stations in Mumbai, India, with the purpose of promoting walking and bicycling for rail access. The data was collected from two distance bands in rail catchment areas through household personal interview survey using a walking or bicycling specific questionnaire. The information included statements on “environmental benefits of use,” “limitations of use,” and “improvement in facilities” and respondents were asked to state their willingness/unwillingness at each statement as well as before and after going through the whole information. The commuters were categorized by access mode in use, personal income, occupation group, age, and by access distance. Two statistics were used to examine the willingness to shift: share in willingness and potential to shift. It was observed that the socioeconomic level of commuter and area characteristics affects the attitude of commuters. The commuters with better socioeconomic status were found less accommodative toward walking or bicycling modes, whereas, those at lower or middle economic level and residing at longer distances from the suburban rail stations were identified as potential shifters. In general, 10–12% potential to shift was observed in the study area.