Marketing Public Transportation Services in Oman: People's perception towards introduction of a good Public Transport System

摘要

Public transportation services are vital for civic life, industry, and the government in every country. The use of public transport is growing in developed and developing countries alike. This paper highlights that countries such as Oman need good public transportation options for commuters where people either struggle for seats in the scantily available shared taxis or rely exclusively on their private cars. To offer any solution, the needs and expectations of the people have foremost to be taken into account. Following a survey approach, this paper attempts to secure the people's perception towards public transport services in Oman. The descriptive analysis of the respondents' behaviour reveals that a majority of them use their personal cars to get to work and only a few use public transport services. In general, the testing of hypotheses reveal that people consider public transportation important for society and believe that public transport is convenient and cost effective. People do not feel any discomfort in sharing taxis/buses with others. People find some socio-cultural barriers affecting the use of public transport in Oman. However, the female population do not find public transportation services convenient. They favour personal cars and dislike sharing taxis with males. The most common reasons for preferring personal vehicles are convenience, flexibility and manoeuvrability, privacy and safety, and the absence of public transportation. The study gains some suggestions for improving public transportation services, that an help the policy makers and the transport authorities to devise well-acceptable public transport services in Oman.