Choice of Commuting Modes in an Urban Sector: a Case Study of Nairobi City

Abstract

is paper studies.the demand for transport services in Kibera/Woodley area in the City of Nairobi. Commuters choice of travel modes among government and privately owned means of transport is studied. The means of travel studied are Kenya Bus Services buses, Government city buses, Matatus, Commuter trains and Walking. Commuter travel decisions are analyzed in relation to socio-economic characteristics of commuters and attributes of the transport modes. A multivariate logit model is developed and estimated to study the effects of certain variables on the odds of one mode of transport being chosen over another. The results of the study show that/trip fare, income, safety, corr:for and the availability of the mode are in general the most important determinants of the probability that a commuter will choose one transport mode over another. It is demonstrated that certain variables, particularly trip fares, can be changed to shift demand for transport services from one mode to another. It is also shown that the newly introduced Government bus has captured a significant share of the market for transport services in the study area, but its impact on commuter congestion has not been assessed. Two interesting findings emerge from this study. One is that in the study area, personal attributes - age,sex and education. do not significantly affect commuters decisions to choose one transport mode over another. The second finding. of the paper is that the income elasti-cties of demand for transport services are positive, and consistently less than unity.