Understanding the Attitude of Generation Y towards Transport Apps: the case of Dubai - Rengi J. Kachora Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh, Ph.D.
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Understanding the Attitude of
Generation Y towards Transport Apps:
the case of Dubai
Rengi J. Kachora
Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh, Ph.D.
American University of Sharjah
Sharjah, UAE
WASD 16th International Annual Conference | Geneva, Switzerland
1
Background
o Dubai gov. recently rolled out initiatives to make all
Transport services ‘smart’, to ‘change travel behavior
o Many transport-related mobile apps
o Transition had only a slight impact on travel behavior
YEAR 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
TOTAL 1,055,412 1,137,750 1,264,315 1,395,491 1,526,667
Vehicles registered on the road, Emirate of Dubai 2011 – 2015 (DSC, 2015; Shahbandari, 2015)
TITLE 2012 2013 2014
Number of permanent residents
2,105,875 2,213,845 2,327,350
population
Number of workers from other
1,043,040 1,073,375 1,081,000 Screenshot of online news articles proving the increase in
Emirates and temporary residents
RTA app users
TOTAL 3,148,915 3,287,220 3,408,350
Active individuals’ movement during the day, Emirate of Dubai 2012 – 2014 (DSC, 2015) 2
Research Objective
o Investigate the impact of the RTA’s mobile apps on travel
behavior Generation Y in Dubai.
Have the RTA’s mobile-based apps brought about a ‘change
in travel behaviour’ of the Generation Y in Dubai?
3
Significance
o 43% (~ 991,000) of Dubai’s pop. is Gen Y
o Globally, the UAE is first in smartphone use
o Gen Y (18 to 34 y) first in UAE, in smartphone
usage, at 91.1%.
Population Pyramid, Emirate of Dubai 2014 (DSC, 2015)
4
o Current travel behaviour of Gen Y not sustainable
o Studies: mobile apps can enhances Gen Y’s travel behavior
o Dubai: ‘A Sustainable and Smart City’ by 2021
o Little is known about attitude of public towards this vision
o What about Gen Y?
5Drivers & Car Owner
Drivers
and Vehicle RTA
RTA’s Mobile Apps Dubai
o 4 categories, 10 mobile apps, 173 services Smart Taxi Salik App
o Free Wi-Fi, 450 locations & 100 bus stops. Smart
Parking App
Public Transport User
Public
Transport Sharekni
Wojhati
Corporate
Corporate
Services
Navigation
RTA Smart
Drive Makani
List of RTA mobile applications 6Research Methodology
o Formulate relevant hypotheses
o Collect data
o Test hypotheses
o Interpret results
75 Hypotheses formulated …
Hypothesis 1:
Gen Y in Dubai are smartphone users & aware of RTA’s
mobile apps
Hypothesis 2:
Mobile apps play important role in transport sector; provide
real-time public transport, location and timing information
8Hypothesis 3:
Services provided by the apps may have a positive
impact on Gen Y’s travel choices (managing their
travel demands & reducing unnecessary trips,
especially during peak hour traffic)
9Hypothesis 4:
Travel-related apps may serve as an appropriate tool for
communicating with Gen Y by encouraging use of smart
services for trip planning thereby reducing use of cars
10Hypothesis 5:
Factors as weather, urban form, social-demographic variable,
psycho-social variable and convenience in public transport
promote preference for use of private cars over public
transport
11Data Collection
o Self administrated online survey questionnaire
o Quantitative/qualitative data
o Google Forms
o Sent via social media platforms
12Analysis and Results
1. ‘Summary statistics’ was generated to visually compare and
communicate the data.
2. ‘Contingency tables’ or ‘Pivot tables’ created to study the
correlation between , identify patterns and trends
3. ‘Statistical analysis’ (chi-sq.) tests to check significance of the
patterns and trends
4. Textual data analyzed by ‘content analysis’.
13Hypothesis 1:
Gen Y in Dubai are smartphone users and are aware of
RTA’s mobile-based apps
applications.
Count of respondents’ by smartphone ownership
Count of respondents’ by their reason for not using RTA’s apps
Count of respondents’ by RTA app use Chi-square probabilityHypothesis 2:
Mobile apps play an important role in
the transportation sector by providing
real-time public transport, location and
timing informations.
Several times a Several times a Grand
Primary purpose for using RTA’s apps Daily Rarely Weekends Count of respondents’ by
month week Total
Live traffic updates 1 3 1 5 their primary purpose for
Others 2 2 using RTA’s apps
Public transport route and timing
2 15 6 8 2 33
information
Route and location navigation 6 9 8 5 28 Contingency table
RTA’s transaction services 15 10 8 33 between the variables
Taxi booking and tracking services 1 1 Q2 and Q3
Grand Total 3 42 25 24 8 102
Chi-square probabilityCount of respondents’ by
mode choice for work
related trips
Gen Y rarely use the RTA’s mobile apps,
prefer using private auto over Dubai’s
public transportation
Count of respondents’
by mode choice for
leisure/weekend trips
16Hypothesis 3:
Apps may have a positive impact on the Generation Y’s
travel choices by managing their travel demands, especially
during peak hour traffic. Data proves the first
part of both the
Hypothesis 4: hypotheses, but
Travel-related app may serve as an appropriate tool for conflict with the
communication with the Generation Y by encouraging them second parts.
to use smart services for trip planning thereby reducing use
of private autos.
17Count of respondents’ by their
primary purpose for using
RTA’s apps
Data proves the first part of both
the hypotheses, but conflict with
the second parts.
Count of respondents’ by level of
agreement with the statement
‘RTA’s apps encourages lesser car
use during peak hours
18Hypothesis 5:
Factors such as (1) weather conditions, (2) urban form, (3) social-demographic variable,
(4) psycho-social variable and (5) convenience in public transport, promote preference for
use of private autos over public transport
Level of agreement No Yes Grand Total
Strongly Disagree 5 10 15
Disagree 5 11 16
Neutral 11 23 34
Agree 13 41 54
Strongly Agree 21 69 90
Grand Total 55 154 209
Count of respondents’ by level of agreement with the factor ‘local Contingency table between the variables Q9 and Q11a
weather condition’ which might promote preference for using car
Chi-square probabilityHypothesis 5 (cont.):
Factors such as (1) weather conditions, (2) urban form, (3) social-demographic variable, (4)
psycho-social variable and (5) convenience in public transport, promote preference for use
of private autos over public transport
Level of agreement No Yes Grand Total
Strongly Disagree 4 12 16
Disagree 3 9 12
Neutral 12 39 51
Agree 17 42 59
Strongly Agree 19 52 71
Grand Total 55 154 209
Contingency table between the variables Q9 and Q11b
Chi-square probabilityHypothesis 5 (cont.):
Factors such as (1) weather conditions, (2) urban form, (3) social-demographic variable,
(4) psycho-social variable and (5) convenience in public transport, promote preference for
use of private autos over public transport
Level of agreement Female Male Grand Total
Strongly Disagree 6 7 13
Disagree 19 16 35
Neutral 39 33 72
Agree 27 27 54
Strongly Agree 23 12 35
Grand Total 114 95 209
Contingency table between the variables Q9 and Q11c
Chi-square probabilityHypothesis 5 (cont.):
Factors such as (1) weather conditions, (2) urban form, (3) social-demographic variable, (4)
psycho-social variable and (5) convenience in public transport, promote preference for
use of private autos over public transport
Level of agreement No Yes Grand Total
Strongly Disagree 9 18 27
Disagree 7 23 30
Neutral 19 60 79
Agree 12 33 45
Strongly Agree 8 20 28
Grand Total 55 154 209
Contingency table between the variables Q9 and Q11d
Chi-square probabilityHypothesis 5 (cont.):
Factors such as (1) weather conditions, (2) urban form, (3) social-demographic variable, (4)
psycho-social variable and (5) convenience in public transport, promote preference for
use of private autos over public transport
Level of agreement No Yes Grand Total
Strongly Disagree 4 12 16
Disagree 3 9 12
Neutral 12 39 51
Agree 17 42 59
Strongly Agree 19 52 71
Grand Total 55 154 209
Contingency table between the variables Q9 and Q11e
Chi-square probabilitySummary
o Less than 50% (48.8% percent) are aware of RTA’s mobile apps
o Apps users’ find them useful for transportation related services
o But 40% of app users rarely actually use them
o About 75% either owns or have access to a car; 50% use car for
work, 70% for leisure/weekend.
o 60% w access to a car, use RTA’s apps for driver’s and vehicle’s
related services but not public transport related services.
24Conclusions
Have the RTA’s mobile-based applications brought
about a ‘change in the travel behaviour’ of the
Generation Y in Dubai?
o No but,
o The apps have the potential to change the travel
behaviour of the Gen Y
25Conclusions (cont.)
o Factors as weather, urban form, social-demographic
variables, and inconvenience in public transport, promote
ownership & use of private atuo
26Thank you
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