Psychological Factors Influencing Speeding Intentions of Car Drivers and Motorcycle Riders in Urban Road Environments

The aim of this study was to examine and compare psychological factors influencing car drivers’ and motorcycle riders’ speeding intentions (IN), using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The psychological factors modules included Attitude (AT), Subjective Norm (SN) and Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC). These were employed to explain speeding intentions in urban road environments. A sample of 188 car drivers and 174 motorcycle riders were collected from the two universities within Khon Kaen, Thailand. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to examine and explain speeding intentions. The results indicated that the TPB could explain 33% and 41% of the variance of intentions by car drivers and motorcycle riders, respectively. The most significant psychological factor for car drivers was determined by attitude (AT), while the speeding intention of motorcycle riders was attributed to perceived behavioural control (PBC). The authorities in Khon Kaen Province should determine safety policies that can improve these psychological factors, which could have various effects or outcomes on changing car drivers’ and motorcycle riders’ speeding intentions. The outcome of this study could help to understand car drivers’ and motorcycle riders’ speeding intentions in urban road environments and it could be useful for development of safety measures

A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM IN ASIAN DEVELOPING CITIES

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has increasingly become an attractive urban transit alternative in many Asian developing cities due to its cost-effective and flexible implementation. However, it still seems to be difficult to introduce BRT to these cities because almost all of their city structures have been developed under solely a road transport development city plan and weakness of land use control gives rise to many problems, such as urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and air pollution. The purpose of this study was to introduce several strategies to support BRT implementation in Asian developing cities, such as a strategy to appropriately integrate the paratransit system into BRT system as being a feeder along a BRT corridor to supply demand. These proposed strategies were evaluated by applying demand forecasting and emission models to the BRT project plan of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in Thailand. It was demonstrated that the proposed strategies could effectively improve the BRT ridership, traffic conditions, and air pollution emission of the entire system in Bangkok. This study could be further extended to include strategy recommendation if a BRT system were to be introduced to other Asian developing cities. Document type: Articl

Track-quality index and degradation of railway track structure: The construction track doubling project of northeast line from thanon chira junction to khon kaen station, Thailand

In the past, the railway network has not been developed, and new construction added has been mostly degraded caused by long useful life, and lack of maintenance due to a budget constraint. Currently, 93% of railway in Thailand is single track which results in delays due to low capacity and low average speeds, delayed train on a single track will also delay the train passing it. In some areas of the network, the amount of travel and transportation exceeds the capacity received, so delays in travel and transportation is quite high. Due to this above reason, the service of railway is not effective in terms of convenience and speed of service. Punctuality and cost is high compared with road transport. The biggest challenge that railways faces is the insufficient number of tracks and outdated or old trains. Most the trains cannot travel at their optimum speed because they do not get clearances on time. Thai government has a policy to develop railway track network and services to improve transportation efficiency and save fuel energy used in the transportation sector of the country. Thus, it is necessary to develop the rail transportation system from the existing network as a single track to the current double track network. This study focuses on investigating the degradation of the existing railway structure during the construction track doubling Project. Data were inspected by Track Inspection Car EM120N before the commencement of construction for analysing the condition with the Track Quality Index / TQI) in order to predict the degradation of the railway to plan maintenance and further renewal of the railway. The study found that the TQI value of the existing track structure during the two years of the doubling track construction (2017-2018) has changed significantly

Cross-cultural Differences in Speeding Intentions of Drivers on Urban Road Environments in Asian Developing Countries

The aim of this study was to examine and compare the psychological factors influencing driver speeding behavior in 3 cities in Southeast Asia, focusing on developing counties, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Data was collected from 570 respondents in the urban areas of Khon Kaen in Thailand, Vientiane in Laos and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The psychological factors of TPB include attitude (AT), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC). These factors were employed to explain speeding intentions in urban road environments. The Structural Equation Models (SEM) was used to examine and explain speeding intentions. The results indicated that the TPB could explain the variance by intentions of drivers in Khon Kaen, Vientiane and Phnom Penh at 33%, 46%, and 84%, respectively. The most significant of the psychological factors for Khon Kaen drivers was determined by AT, while the speeding intentions of Vientiane drivers and Phnom Penh drivers were determined by PBC. From this data, the authorities of each city should create and implement safety policies that can improve these psychological factors, which could have a positive effect on drivers’speeding intentions in urban road environments. The outcome of this study could be useful for understanding the speeding attitudes of drivers in three different countries and would be beneficial for the development and introduction of preventative safety measures in these countries as well

A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM IN ASIAN DEVELOPING CITIES

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has increasingly become an attractive urban transit alternative in many Asian developing cities due to its cost-effective and flexible implementation. However, it still seems to be difficult to introduce BRT to these cities because almost all of their city structures have been developed under solely a road transport development city plan and weakness of land use control gives rise to many problems, such as urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and air pollution. The purpose of this study was to introduce several strategies to support BRT implementation in Asian developing cities, such as a strategy to appropriately integrate the paratransit system into BRT system as being a feeder along a BRT corridor to supply demand. These proposed strategies were evaluated by applying demand forecasting and emission models to the BRT project plan of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in Thailand. It was demonstrated that the proposed strategies could effectively improve the BRT ridership, traffic conditions, and air pollution emission of the entire system in Bangkok. This study could be further extended to include strategy recommendation if a BRT system were to be introduced to other Asian developing cities

An evaluation of speed limit measure: A case of the Mittraphap highway passing through Khon Kaen city

The objective of this study is to evaluate the speed control measure on the arterial road of Khon Kaen city. The 60 km/hr speed limit was posted on the urban arterial since 2012. To reveal the existing conditions, this study analyzed the accident data, speed data and enforcement data. Driver’s and government officer’s attitudes toward the existing speed control measures are captured through the questionnaires survey and interview processes, respectively. The study results reveal that under the existing road environment, the drivers disagree with the posted 60 km/h speed limit and it cannot be enforced by the police. However, 1-year of speed control program significantly reduces the number of traffic injuries and fatalities. Spot speed study revealed that most of drivers reduced their speed once they saw the police with the radar gun. 86% of drivers agree with the speed control measure and 93% of drivers aware that driving speed is related to safety. Therefore, to support the existing speed control measure, this study suggests that the responsible authorities should consider and study for the suitable speed limit for the area and modify the road geometries accordingly. Besides, installing automatic speed enforcement devices, and continuing public campaign directly to the risk groups could also increase the effectiveness of the program

A study of speed limits and speed control measures for the urban arterial road

Speed limits in accordance with environment and road functions have been used as a fundamental tool for speed management and road safety. This paper presents literatures review of speed limits measure and results from the study on speed limits problem and driver attitude toward the speed limit and speed control measure. Area of study is on the arterial road where the Mittaprab Highway passed through Khon Kaen City. The study found that improper designation of road functions is the main cause of complexity and difficulty on safety management. It suggests more researches on speed limit setting methods to accommodate the road conditions of the country. In order to increase effectiveness of speed limits measure, this paper suggests transportation-related authorities to classify this area to be the urban arterial road, to set proper speed limits, and to modify the road environment in accordance with its function. More measures to enhance speed limit effectiveness and to reduce accident are included automatic speed control devices, speed limits warning signs, and advertisement signs to use the bypass route. These could enhance the effective speed management program

Development of a Real-World Eco-Driving Cycle for Motorcycles

Climate change is a major issue all around the world. The transportation industry currently accounts for most CO2 emissions. The goal of this research is to develop a real-world eco-driving cycle for internal combustion engine motorcycles that can reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. This study developed onboard measuring equipment to measure the speed profile and fuel consumption of a motorcycle driving in real time. A total of 78 motorcycle riders rode a test motorcycle with the onboard equipment along a road network to collect real-world data. All of the collected real-world data were analyzed by cluster analysis based on fuel consumption (km/L) to divide riders into two groups, high-fuel-consumption riders and low-fuel-consumption riders. The collected real-world data of the low-fuel-consumption riders were used to develop a real-world eco-driving cycle, whereas the collected real-world data from the high-fuel-consumption riders were used to develop a real-world non-eco-driving cycle. The CO2 emissions were calculated by the speed profiles of the developed driving cycles. The findings reveal that the real-world eco-driving cycle provided a fuel consumption rate 39.3% lower than the real-world non-eco-driving cycle. In addition, the real-world eco-driving cycle provided a CO2 emission rate 17.4% lower than the real-world non-eco-driving cycle. The application of the developed real-world eco-driving cycle for motorcycles is proposed

Track-quality index and degradation of railway track structure: The construction track doubling project of northeast line from thanon chira junction to khon kaen station, Thailand

In the past, the railway network has not been developed, and new construction added has been mostly degraded caused by long useful life, and lack of maintenance due to a budget constraint. Currently, 93% of railway in Thailand is single track which results in delays due to low capacity and low average speeds, delayed train on a single track will also delay the train passing it. In some areas of the network, the amount of travel and transportation exceeds the capacity received, so delays in travel and transportation is quite high. Due to this above reason, the service of railway is not effective in terms of convenience and speed of service. Punctuality and cost is high compared with road transport. The biggest challenge that railways faces is the insufficient number of tracks and outdated or old trains. Most the trains cannot travel at their optimum speed because they do not get clearances on time. Thai government has a policy to develop railway track network and services to improve transportation efficiency and save fuel energy used in the transportation sector of the country. Thus, it is necessary to develop the rail transportation system from the existing network as a single track to the current double track network. This study focuses on investigating the degradation of the existing railway structure during the construction track doubling Project. Data were inspected by Track Inspection Car EM120N before the commencement of construction for analysing the condition with the Track Quality Index / TQI) in order to predict the degradation of the railway to plan maintenance and further renewal of the railway. The study found that the TQI value of the existing track structure during the two years of the doubling track construction (2017-2018) has changed significantly