Understanding the Motivation and Satisfaction of Private Vehicle Users in an Eastern European Country Using Heterogeneity Analysis

Abstract

Transport service provision in many urban areas is dominated by car users, resulting in several traffic externality issues (e.g., noise, pollution, accidents). This paper investigates the perception and satisfaction of private vehicle (PV) users, including micro-mobility users, during their commute by car in an Eastern European country context. The study used empirical data from a sample of 500 commuters in Budapest, Hungary, between October and November 2020. To achieve a deeper understanding of the motivation and explore the perception of PV users towards using sustainable transport services. For analysis in this study, descriptive statistics and segmentation techniques were applied. The key findings indicate that PV users can be attracted to using sustainable transport by designing the travel service quality to provide the level of service desired by customers. Moreover, the majority (73%) of PV commuters were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality attributes of the car service, assessed on a scale of 1 to 5; at the same time, PV users agreed that using public transport helps towards improving the environment and serves to reduce problems derived from traffic. In addition, various elements influence transport choice; for example, results from ordered logit models (OLMs) indicate that security, relaxation, flexibility and comfort are the main significant attributes influencing PV users’ overall satisfaction with cars. The results suggest the necessity for a segmentation technique in the analysis of travel attitudes and satisfaction aimed at reducing the frequency of existing car use to enhance sustainable transportation.