Modal choice for journey to work in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the modal choice for the journey to work in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria with a view to discern the pattern. Journey to work when unidirectional leads to a high congestion problem. This creates a great concern for urban transport planners. Most of the movements made in cities are dominated by journey to and from work leading to congestion problems in the two peak periods of morning and evening. Thus a study of modal choice of the people for journeys to work places is necessary in order to proffer workable solution to urban transport problems. The study used data collected from the traditional wards in the city through the administration of 640 questionnaires in a home interview survey using systematic sampling procedure. The study found that the journey to work in Ilorin were distributed between taxi cabs (37.5%); private cars (30.2%); motorcycles (13.6%) while trekking, public bus services and staff buses provided 18.7%.. Multiple regression method was then used to determine the pattern of journey to work in Ilorin. The results showed that the form of transport and the time taken for journey to work are significant variables in the explanation of journey to work pattern in Ilorin. The study recommended that in order to ease the transportation problem of the inhabitants of Ilorin, intra-urban mass transit services should be provided.

Keywords: Transport Modes, Mass Transit, Modal Choice, Private Transport, Public Transport