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ANALYSIS OF USERS' PERCEPTION TOWARDS METRO RAIL IN DHAKA: A

CASE STUDY OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

Conference Paper · December 2022

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 6th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2022)
21-23 December 2022
CUET, Chattogram, Bangladesh
[Link]/icace

ANALYSIS OF USERS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS METRO RAIL IN DHAKA: A

CASE STUDY OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

M. Tasnim1*, S.I.K. Raad2, P. Chakraborty3

1Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh,
email: mushirahtasnim@[Link] 🖂
2Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,

Bangladesh, email: mushirahtasnim@[Link]

3Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,

Bangladesh, email: mushirahtasnim@[Link]

*Corresponding Author

Abstract

A shift towards public transport especially BRT MRT has been seen worldwide. The viability of a public
transportation system, such as the MRT, is greatly dependent on the perception of its users. Several studies have
examined accessibility and safety at Metro stations, but no study has determined the user's point of view for Metro.
This study developed an empirical model based on a questionnaire survey of potential Metro passengers using
SPSS. To determine the user's view of Metro Rail perception, related attributes were chosen and modeled.

Keywords

Metro Rail; EFA; Users’ Perception

1. Introduction

Bangladesh will open the country's first elevated metro rail line in the capital to relieve traffic congestion and
improve city dwellers' mobility which has been the bane of this country for a long time. The metro service is one
of the largest and most important projects the country has undergone in the last decade. Feasibility studies have
been undertaken before starting the construction, however more research needs to be done to assess the user
perception toward this new mode of transport. Several researchers have conducted studies on Metro rail1,2 after
the invention of it in our country. Still, no study has walked in this path of addressing the view of the users of a
3rd world economy towards a new mode of transport i.e., the metro-rail till now according to the best of the author’s
knowledge. That’s why this study nobly attempted to identify the significant attributes that will make the journey
of a potential metro user more amiable. Policymakers would be able to understand which factors are needed to be
improved for an efficient and well-accepted metro-rail service from this study.

Some researchers have looked into the acceptance of the metro rail program in Dhaka city, (Alam, 2010)
concludes that due to high population densities, transport users favor metro rail construction. Another study
undertaken by (Alom, 2022) investigating attributes that could affect metro ridership found that quality footpaths,
crowded coaches, queuing to buy tickets and fares exceeding expectations were the main concern of the
respondents most likely to be future users of the mode. Ahasan (2020) investigated the potential changes in
accessibility and mobility through the implementation of the metro rail. The authors suggested that ensuring the
accessibility to the metro rail station itself should be given proper importance in the planning and implementation
process. However, a regression model to estimate the user's point of view for Metro in Dhaka city is yet to be
investigated. This paper targets to fill this gap in the literature and further enhance our understanding of the user
perception of Dhaka Metro rail before its inauguration.

(Pratap et al., 2020) aimed to develop binomial logistic regression mode based on the stated preference
questionnaire response regarding the mode shift choice of commuters of Line 3 of Indore (M.P, India) metro
which is under construction. The various independent variables they used were Gender, Age Category, Income
Category, Purpose of the Trip, Vehicle Owned, Current Mode Being Used, occupation and the level of Discomfort
faced in the current mode. They found a negative correlation with respondents who face less of discomfort during
day-to-day travel. A negative correlation was also seen with respondents higher up the income ladder.
 6th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2022)
21-23 December 2022
CUET, Chattogram, Bangladesh
[Link]/icace

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Study Area

Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh, also known as the city of traffic jams. Several transport modes are available
in the city like public buses, rickshaws, autorickshaws, CNGs, demand-responsive travel modes etc. The
introduction of Bus Rapid Transit and Mass Rapid Transit is going to be implemented soon here. The
questionnaire survey was conducted is in Dhaka since this is where the metro will be launched first.

2.2 Questionnaire Design and Administration

With the study's objectives in mind, a stated preference(SP) questionnaire was created. (Basbas, 2008) concluded
that using of SP surveys provides valuable information in the planning process for an efficient transport system.
The questionnaire is divided into three sections: 1. Socioeconomic and demographic factors such as age, income,
gender, and so on. 2. Trip frequency and modal share 3. Attribute priority while using the Metro. The final section's
questions were evaluated on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1=lowest to 5=highest). Due to a paucity of human resources
in collecting offline data, an online survey was done to acquire the necessary data. The survey did not collect any
personal information. In the third part, reduction of travel time, air-conditioned interior, comfortable waiting area,
well-organized ticketing system with the smart card, sufficient boarding time with well-maintained queues,
smooth alighting, walking or rickshaw distance from the station to workplace and home, increased safety of travel,
hygiene environment, onboard food beverage access, free Wi-Fi, charging facility under every seat, easy to use,
modern and well-maintained washroom facility at every station, facilities for older people and disabled
reservation, assistant people not familiar with the metro rail system getting manual guidance by staff, female and
children reserved seats etc. were the variables.
Before being distributed, the questionnaire was prepared and tested in a pilot study. The study area yielded a total
of 513 responses. However, after cleaning the data, only 486 records were fit for the study. This questionnaire
was distributed using a convenience-based random selection method that included persons of all ages.

2.3 Analysis Methods

At first the descriptive statistics were determined for the respondents. Then exploratory factor analysis was done
to determine the most significant factors against user perception towards Metro. EFA is generally used to discover
the factor structure of a model and several studies have used this factor analysis to reduce latent variables 3–5. The
IBM SPSS software version [Link](15) was used for statistical analysis. EFA is a factor analysis technique to
reduce variables. Eventually, binary logistic regression was done to determine the user’s willingness to use the
metro rail in Dhaka.

3. Results and Discussions

3.1 Descriptive Statistics

The descriptive analysis of the survey responses was determined. The female proportion was higher than the male
respondents which is justified by the fact that the overall population of Bangladesh has higher females than males.
The interesting outcome of the questionnaire survey is that more than 60% of people were willing to pay up to
100 BDT for using the Metro service. And about 30% of people were found who were not willing to pay anymore.

3.2 EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis)

The exploratory factor analysis has identified that two variables can explain almost 60% of the variance among
six variables. Safe- hygienic environment and facilities for disabled people were obtained to be as the most
significant factors from users’ perspective towards the metro.
 6th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2022)
21-23 December 2022
CUET, Chattogram, Bangladesh
[Link]/icace

Table 1. Total Variance Explained

Total Variance Explained
Extraction Sums of Squared
Initial Eigenvalues Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
% of Cumulative % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
Factor Total Variance % Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 9.740 60.877 60.877 9.398 58.735 58.735 6.033 37.704 37.704
2 1.146 7.165 68.042 0.838 5.237 63.972 4.203 26.267 63.972
3 0.862 5.385 73.426
4 0.721 4.506 77.932
5 0.569 3.555 81.488
6 0.465 2.905 84.393
7 0.428 2.673 87.066
8 0.348 2.173 89.239
9 0.333 2.083 91.323
10 0.291 1.816 93.138
11 0.235 1.469 94.607
12 0.211 1.317 95.925
13 0.202 1.265 97.189
14 0.178 1.110 98.299
15 0.152 0.950 99.248
16 0.120 0.752 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.

The correlation test indicates how strongly the variables are correlated. The KMO value is obtained to be 0.942
which is close to 1. The significance is 0,less than which is less that 0.05 indicating that the variables are strongly
correlated.

Table 2. Correlation Test Result

KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 0.942
Measure of Sampling
Adequacy.
Bartlett's Approx. 3168.358
Test of Chi-
Sphericit Square
y df 120
Sig. 0.000

3.3 Binary Logistic Regression

Binary Logistic Regression analysis was done in SPSS where the independent variables were the significant
attributes, and the Co-variates were the Socioeconomic and demographic variables. The dependent variable was
whether the public would use the Metro or not. The binary logistic regression model was used to determine
whether people use Metro. Table 3 explains the amount of variation in the independent variable explained by the
model which indicates a good model fit.

Table 3. Pseudo R-Square Value

Pseudo R-Square
Cox and 0.706
Snell
Nagelkerk 0.746
e
McFadden 0.419

The regression analysis provided the following equation:

𝑊 = 18.908 ∗ 𝑆𝐻𝐸 + 4.320 ∗ 𝐹𝐷 + 4.97 ∗ 𝐼 + 0.76 ∗ 𝑊𝑃
 6th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2022)
21-23 December 2022
CUET, Chattogram, Bangladesh
[Link]/icace

where,
W= willingness to Use Metro
SHE= safe and hygienic environment
FD= facilities for disabled
I= income level
WP= willingness to pay
It was observed that, the socio-economic and demographic factors (Income level and willingness to pay) were
also important for people’s willingness to use the MRT in Dhaka.

4. Conclusion

This study identified the significant factors of user perception towards Metro use. This is just a preliminary study.
More factors could have been able to encompass user perception. Other methods like the random forest,
multinomial regressions etc might have discovered hidden importance factors of attributes and how they influence
each other,which may be a study point for future research. Hygienic-safe environment and facilities for the
disabled were the most significant factors for potential metro users. The sample is skewed towards highly educated
people- which is the limitation of this study. Diversification regarding profession and literacy needs to be added
to the data to get more accurate results.

References

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dimensional criteria across user groups. IATSS Res. 36, 56–65 (2012).

Ahasan, R. (2020). Forecasting the impact of metro rail implementation on mobility and accessibility: Case of

Dhaka, Bangladesh Performance Evaluation of Public Transportation System: The Case of Dhaka,

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13–28. [Link]

Basbas, S. (2008). Stated Preference surveys and the valuation of urban transport systems. WIT Transactions on

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 6th International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering (ICACE-2022)
21-23 December 2022
CUET, Chattogram, Bangladesh
[Link]/icace

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