Factors influencing usage of rail transport by private motorists at park and ride station: a case of Syokimau railway project in Nairobi county, Kenya

Abstract

Traffic congestion in urban areas is one of the major bottleneck to free movement of people in urban areas. Transport engineers and economist have developed various strategies to address this challenge, among them is Park and Ride concept. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau Railway Station which is located in Nairobi County in Kenya. This is the first rail based Park and Ride facility in Kenya. The research objectives were:- to determine how parking cost differential between Nairobi Central Business District and Syokimau park and ride facility influence usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau park and ride station, to assess the extent to which train schedule at Syokimau railway station influences usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau park and ride station, to establish how passenger comfort influences usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau park and ride station and to establish how the catchment area influences usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau park and ride station. The target population was 255 comprising of 250 private motorists and 5 Syokimau station managers/supervisors. This was arrived at by taking the highest number of private cars that have ever parked at Syokimau station in any single day. Krejcie and Morgan table (1970) was used to arrive at a sample size of 155. The study used descriptive survey research design. Structured questionnaire were administered to the private motorists whereas interview schedules were administered to the five managers/supervisors at Syokimau park and ride station. Pretesting of research instruments was conducted on a sample size of 16 (10 percent of respondents) comprising of 14 private motorists and 2 managers of Imara Daima railway station, which is a park and ride station within Nairobi railway commuter network. The study utilised both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data was first coded so that it could be analysed quantitatively using SPSS and Microsoft excel. Tables, cross tabulations, Likert scales and percentages were used to present the research findings. 65.4 percent of respondents stated less parking charges at Syokimau station encourages them to use Syokimau Commuter train, 80.3 percent of the respondents observes that the train schedule at Syokimau station is reliable. However, 62.7 percent of the respondents claimed that Kenya Railways did not give feedback to complaints raised. 70.8 % of respondents stated comfort of Syokimau commuter train has a direct influence on their usage of Syokimau park and ride station. The study revealed that 78 percent of the respondents live within a radius of ten kilometres from Syokimau park and ride station, which is consistent with observations from most scholars that catchment area for park and ride facilities are parabolic in shape with most people living within 10 kilometres radius from the focal point. The study concludes that the major obstacles affecting usage of rail transport by private motorists at Syokimau railway station are dilapidated railway infrastructure, poor customer care services and inadequate train frequency. The study recommends that Kenya railways rehabilitate the dilapidated railway network and rolling stock in order to attract more private motorists to the train. This should be buttressed by improvement of customer care services so that there is timely handling of passenger complaints