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ISSUES UNDERMINING PUBLIC TRANSPORT UTILIZATION IN
DAMMAM CITY, SAUDI ARABIA: AN EXPERT-BASED ANALYSIS
Journal of Sustainability Science and Management
Volume 14 Number 2, April 2019 : 157-171
2016). This is evident as most of the cities are
more concerned with expanding their transport
infrastructure to accommodate private vehicles,
with little investment in public transport. Thus,
this current trend will definitely increase carbon
emission, thereby compounding the challenges
faced in reducing the global average temperature
by 2°C (UN News, 2016).
In Saudi Arabia, the utilization of public
transport continues to remain minimal. This has
led to a car ownership rate of 219 cars per 1000
persons (Gately
et al., 2013). The country’s
land-use policy and
layout designs are among
the major reasons behind this increase, with
sizeable spaces allocated for roads and roadside
parking (Muller, 2004; Glaeser & Kahn, 2004).
Saudi Arabians have bought approximately 40
% of the vehicles sold in the Middle East, and
it has the largest auto and auto parts market in
the region. The country imported approximately
one million vehicles in 2016 (US Department
of Commerce, 2017). Therefore, coupled with
economic and population growth, Saudi Arabia
is witnessing an incessant increase in the use of
private cars.
Dammam city, the third-largest conurbation
in Saudi Arabia, is
similarly experiencing the
same challenges in its transport system. The
city has one of the largest numbers of
expatriates
attracted
to
its
excellent
infrastructural facilities. This is one of the
reasons the city is experiencing a continuous
increase in the number of private cars. Absence
of public transport utilization is, therefore,
apparent in Dammam.
The negative impact associated with the
lack of utilization of public transport has been
widely recognised. Meanwhile, more motorized
transport is reported to increase climate-active
pollutants, such as a nitrous oxide (NO), CO
2
and methane (Woodcock
et al., 2009; WHO,
2015; Pojani & Stead, 2015). The poor air
quality has been
estimated to cause seven
million deaths annually, besides bringing
ailments like heart disease, asthma, bronchitis
and brain damage (UN News, 2016).
Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, road accidents
alone has been rated as the second major health
and economic challenge that cost around 21
billion riyals in losses annually (Ansari
et al.,
2000). Moreover, road accidents had been
reported to kill more than 4,100 people and
injure 28,000 every year (General
Directorate
of Traffic, 2003). That figure increased between
2008 and 2009, when a website revealed that
6,485 people had died and more than 36,000
injured in more than 485,000 cases of road
accidents in Saudi Arabia (Green Prophet,
2010). This shows how the increase in the
use of private cars is negatively affecting the
citizens’ lives, health, and socioeconomic
wellbeing. The importance of using public
transport and reduction of private cars on the
road to improve the wellbeing of society and
promoting sustainable cities is outlines in the
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG). The third goal highlights theimportance
of reducing road accidents to preserve life. It
states that half of the world’s mortality rate is due
to road accidents. Similarly, Goal 13 highlights
the importance of combating climate change,
thereby focusing on minimizing pollutants from
vehicles.
Currently, sustainable developmenthas firmly
established the pillars of a public policy agenda
by looking at development issues through the
lens of sustainable shift (Hezri, 2014). Thus,
one of the sustainable ways of achieving the
noble SDG is by promoting public transport.
However, this is not possible without identifying
the factors undermining the objective. Such
factors include travel time, lack of accessibility,
high cost, lack of comfort, lack of security, long
waiting time, and lack of privacy (Cascetta &
Cartenì, 2014; Kim
et al., 2017).
Current
literature reveals
that
public
transport is under-utilized in both developed
and developing countries (Banai, 2006; Daniels
& Mulley, 2013; Duleba
et al., 2013; Cascetta
& Cartenì, 2014; Pojani & Stead, 2015; Kim
et
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