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Car dependence in a public transport dominated city: Evidence from

Hong Kong

Article  in  Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment · January 2003

DOI: 10.1016/S1361-9209(02)00037-8

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 Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138
www.elsevier.com/locate/trd

Car dependence in a public transport dominated city:

evidence from Hong Kong
a,* b
Sharon Cullinane , Kevin Cullinane
a
Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Hong Kong, 8/F Knowles Building,
Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
b
Department of Shipping & Transport Logistics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Abstract

Reducing car traffic to improve transport sustainability has become a major goal of transport policy.
This is also the case in Hong Kong where car ownership and use is, by international standards, very low.
The objectives here are first to determine why people own cars in Hong Kong, second to explore how
dependent car owners are on their cars and third to identify the policy implications. Based on a survey of
401 car owners, the finding is that despite the existence of excellent public transport, once a car has been
acquired, people become dependent on it for virtually all journey purposes. To achieve greater sustain-
ability, therefore, car ownership and use must be controlled.
Ó 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Car dependence; Hong Kong; Traffic reduction

1. Introduction

Sustainable transport has become a key global transport objective. One of the major ways of
improving sustainability is to reduce car ownership and use and encourage a modal shift towards
public transport (Banister, 1999; Commission of the European Communities, 2001). Like many
other cities, Hong Kong has instigated policies that attempt to contain car ownership and use, the
main rationale for which is to exert some control over both congestion and pollution. Hong Kong

*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +852-2859-2721; fax: +852-2559-0468.
E-mail address: slcullin@hkucc.hku.hk (S. Cullinane).

1361-9209/03/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 1 - 9 2 0 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 3 7 - 8
130 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138

differs, however, from most other cities in the developed world in that it has never become car-
dependent.
As Kenworthy and Laube (1999) argue, despite appearances, many Asian cities are not heavily
dependent on cars. Car ownership and use in Hong Kong are lower than in every city in the de-
veloped world (Cullinane, 2002). It could be said, however, that Hong Kong is car-saturated (a
term coined by Newman and Kenworthy, 2000) since it has one of the highest vehicle densities in
the world. In 1998, there were 268 motor vehicles per kilometre of road in Hong Kong, compared
with 219 in Singapore (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2001) and 187 in London (UK De-
partment of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1998). In addition, there is very limited
space for the construction of additional roadspace. It is in Hong KongÕs interest, therefore, to
maintain these low levels of car ownership and use.
Relatively little is known about the travel behaviour and attitudes to transport of Hong Kong
residents. Probably because car ownership is so low, little is known about the type of people who
own a car, the reasons why they do and how and when they use them. The objectives of this paper,
therefore, are (i) to determine why people own cars in Hong Kong, (ii) to determine how de-
pendent car owners are on their cars in a city where not only are they in a minority, but also where
the public transport alternatives are so good, and (iii) to discuss the policy implications both for
Hong Kong and other major cities in the developed world.
To date, three surveys have been carried out by one of the authors on the attitudes of students,
young people and residents in general towards cars and public transport in Hong Kong (Cull-
inane, 2001, 2002, 2003). All three surveys have shown that despite very low car ownership, there
is a considerable desire to own a car on the part of many Hong Kong people, particularly young
men. If congestion and pollution are a concern, however, car ownership is only one part of the
equation; car use is another important aspect. By focusing on car owners, this paper sheds light on
the car-dependence debate as well as informing policy in Hong Kong. Through an understanding
of the behaviour and attitudes of car owners, car ownership and use may be easier to deter in the
future.

2. Background to transport in Hong Kong

A comprehensive overview of transport in Hong Kong is given in Cullinane (2003). To sum-

marise, car ownership is very low at 49 cars per thousand population, although the number of cars
increased by 68% between 1990 and 2000. Public transport is hugely important, accounting for
around 90% of motorised journeys. It consists of a mixture of road and rail based modes. The
main rail-based modes are the Kowloon–Canton Railway (the KCR) and the Mass Transit
Railway (the MTR). The KCR is an overland railway linking Kowloon to the New Territories
and through to the Chinese Mainland. It accounts for around 10% of public transport journeys.
The MTR operates largely underground and links the main urban areas. It accounts for around
20% of public transport journeys. Franchised buses are the single major form of transport, ac-
counting for 36% of journeys (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2001). The remaining per-
centage is accounted for by a combination of minibuses, taxis, trams, ferries and non-franchised
buses. Payment for practically all transport (except taxis) is usually made through the use of a
rechargeable, contactless, plastic smart-card called the Octopus card.
 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138 131

3. Methodology

This paper presents the results of an interview survey of 401 car-owning residents of Hong
Kong conducted in the summer of 2001. The content of the questionnaire was informed by focus
group discussions held prior to the survey. A non-probability sampling technique was adopted
because it proved impossible to obtain the contact details of car owners in Hong Kong. Since car
owners are a relatively small group compared to non-car owners, the effectiveness of a general
household survey would be highly questionable. Great care was taken to try and ensure that the
sample was as representative as possible. Respondents were approached mostly in residential and
commercial areas throughout Hong Kong in order to achieve a wide geographical coverage and to
reduce the bias associated with approaching only car owners who were using their cars at the time.
The time of the day and the day of the week of the survey was also varied. Since there is no way of
determining precisely the representativeness of the sample, some caution must be exercised in the
interpretation of the results. A filter question was used to determine whether or not the respon-
dent had a car. The survey was designed in English and translated into Cantonese to minimise bias
caused by misinterpretation of the questions.

4. Results

4.1. Background statistics

Only 19% of respondents were female, reflecting a similar bias in licence holding within Hong
Kong. According to figures provided by the Licensing Division of the Transport Department
(Hong Kong Transport Department, 2002), only 25% of licence holders are female. Fifteen
percent of the respondents had a company car. This compares with 19% in a large scale survey of
32,000 households carried out in 1992 by the MVA for the Hong Kong Transport Department
(MVA, 1993). These two sets of statistics go some way towards confirming the representativeness
of the sample.
Thirty-four percent of respondents were educated to University level, indicating a strong re-
lationship between education and car ownership (probably with wealth being an intervening
variable). The area of residence of respondents was distributed as follows (with actual population
percentages in parentheses): 11% (20%) lived on Hong Kong Island, 22% (30%) in Kowloon, 67%
(48%) in the New Territories and 0% (1.5%) on the outer islands (Hong Kong Census and Sta-
tistics Department, 2001). However, statistics from the 1992 Travel Characteristics Survey (MVA,
1993) shows that car ownership is higher in households in the rural New Territories, so the over-
representation of respondents from the New Territories is not unjustified.

4.2. Reasons for owning a car

Most households (69%) had only one car, 24% had two, 5% had three and 2% had more than
three. As would be expected, the number of cars in the household was closely associated 1 with the

1
All the statistical relationships are based on Chi-squared tests at the 0.05 level of significance.
132 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138

number of adults in the household. The percentage of households with 2+ cars rose from 15% in
one adult households to 44% in 4+ adult households. There was no relationship between the
number of children (<18 years old) in the household and the number of cars in the household.
As stated in the introduction, car ownership and use is very low in Hong Kong compared to
most other countries or cities in the world, and use of public transport is concomitantly high. In
order to broaden our understanding of why people own a car under such circumstances, re-
spondents were asked to state the three main reasons why they own a car.
The results, shown in Table 1, show that the single most important reason why respondents
owned a car was because it was ‘‘helpful for carrying things’’. This was followed in order of
importance by it ‘‘saves time’’ and is ‘‘more comfortable’’. ‘‘Helpful for carrying things’’ was
mentioned almost twice as often as the next most important reason. Reasons that were explicitly
linked to the inadequacy of public transport were seen as relatively unimportant (ranked 7 and 9).
Of those households with children, 44% quoted the need to ‘‘take children to school and other
activities’’ in their top three reasons for owning a car.
The fact that the ability to carry things in a car emerged as the single most important reason for
owning a car in Hong Kong is an important result and suggests that if public transport is to
compete more effectively with the car, measures must be implemented to improve the situation for
people with items of baggage. With a very few exceptions, Hong KongÕs transport modes posi-
tively discourage the carrying of baggage. One possible disadvantage of a well used public
transport system is that the volume of people, and hence the pressure on space, can be intense at
peak times––both in vehicles and in waiting areas. It is difficult to envisage, therefore, how
baggage facilities could easily be incorporated into the existing public transport system. Some-
what surprisingly there was no significant relationship between whether the ‘‘helpful for carrying

Table 1
The three main reasons why respondents have a car
Reason Importance ranking Total Weighted Rank of
1st 2nd 3rd scorea weighted
score
DonÕt like public transport 23 10 13 46 102 9
Helpful for carrying things 105 62 55 222 494 1
Take children to school and other 45 45 29 119 254 4
activities
Public transport not available 18 32 25 75 143 7
Improves status 2 0 4 6 10 11
Personal freedom 30 54 32 116 230 5
More comfortable 31 65 72 168 295 3
Saves time 59 89 93 241 448 2
Just a habit 17 19 35 71 124 8
Disability in HH 9 1 3 13 32 10
Company car 43 4 7 54 144 6
Total 382 381 368 1131
a
Weighted scores are arrived at by multiplying ‘‘most important’’ responses by 3, ‘‘second most important’’ responses
by 2 and ‘‘third most important’’ responses by 1.
 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138 133

things’’ reason was given a top three ranking by respondents and the absence or presence of
children in the household.

4.3. The car-dependence of respondents

Thirty-eight percent of respondents considered their car to be Ôtotally necessaryÕ to their life-
style, 46% considered it to be Ôquite necessaryÕ and only 15% deemed it Ônot very necessaryÕ. The
percentage of respondents who considered a car to be totally necessary is lower than the results of
a survey of households in the UK undertaken by one of the authors in 1990 which found that 69%
of households with a car considered it to be essential (Cullinane, 1992). The Lex Services (1995)
report found that the percentage of drivers who agreed with the statement ‘‘I would find it very
difficult to adjust my lifestyle to being without a car’’ remained around 80% between 1989 and
1995. The level of perceived necessity of the car in Hong Kong, although high, appears not to be
as high as similar studies have found in the UK.
The level of perceived necessity of the car was not significantly related to gender, household
income, area of residence, number of adults in the household or the absence or presence of
children in the household.
It might be hypothesised that there would be some positive relationship between respondentsÕ
views on the necessity of their car and their annual mileage as was found to be the case in the
Cullinane (1992) UK survey. As is illustrated in Table 2, this indeed was also found to be the case
in Hong Kong.
In total, 72% of respondents drive more than 8000 miles a year. This is surprising in a territory
which measures approximately 30
25 miles and where the possibility of driving into Mainland
China (the only area bordering the Hong Kong SAR) is confined to those very few drivers who
have a permit. Eight thousand miles a year equates to 22 miles a day, every day of the year.
Transport Department data, however, confirms that the average annual mileage per car in Hong
Kong is 8440 (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2002). This illustrates the extent to which car
use becomes a habit once a car has been acquired and thus how important it is to try to dissuade
people from becoming a car owner in the first place.
Goodwin et al. (1995), Begg (1998), Banister (2001) and Dargay (2001) argue that once a car
has been acquired, it becomes less of a luxury and more a necessity as the owner becomes in-
creasingly dependent on it. Wootton (1999) suggests that once a car has been acquired, the
number of journeys increases substantially and some existing journeys transfer from public
transport to the car. Finally, Kitamura (1989) concludes from his analysis of households in the

Table 2
Necessity of car by annual mileage (miles) (figures in brackets are percentages)
<1000 1000–2999 3000–4999 5000–7999 >8000 Total
Totally necessary 0 (0) 2 (20) 7 (20) 15 (27) 129 (46) 153
Quite necessary 0 (0) 4 (40) 22 (63) 31 (55) 123 (44) 180
Not very necessary 9 (100) 4 (40) 6 (17) 10 (18) 30 (11) 59
Total 9 (100) 10 (100) 35 (100) 56 (100) 282 (101) 392
2
v ¼ 72:234, df ¼ 8, p ¼ 0:00.
134 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138

Netherlands, that ‘‘a change in car ownership leads to a change in car trips, which in turn leads to
a change in transit use’’.
The survey being reported in this paper was not sufficiently detailed to determine whether
respondents made more trips or longer trips once they owned a car, but the fact that car mileages
were so high suggests that this is likely to be the case. Table 2 also illustrates that 46% of those
who drove more than 8000 miles a year considered a car to be totally necessary compared to 0%
who drove less than 1000 miles. Table 3 also shows that there is a positive relationship between the
length of time respondents had a car and the level of necessity attached to it.
Fifty-five percent of those who have had a car for more than 11 years considered a car a ne-
cessity compared to 35% who had one for less than a year. Of those who had a car for more than
11 years, only 8% considered it not very necessary compared to 23% of those who had one less
than a year. Stokes (1996) also found that length of driving experience was an important factor in
how necessary people view their cars. It can be seen that the relationship between the two is not
linear, however, with fewer people who owned a car for between 1 and 5 years considering that a
car is totally necessary than those who owned a car for less than 1 year. The reason for this is
unknown.
Finally, if we look at the relationship between annual mileage and length of car ownership,
there is also a positive relationship between the two, as shown in Table 4.
Of those who owned a car for more than 11 years, 83% did more than 8000 miles a year
compared to 68% of those who owned a car for less than 11 years.
The results seem to confirm, therefore, that the level of necessity attached to the car is de-
pendent on the length of time the person has had a car, which in turn is positively related to
annual mileage. Once a person has a car for a while, it changes from being a luxury to a necessity.
This effect is particularly prevalent as ownership passes the 10 year threshold. The reason for this
seems to have little to do with the availability or quality of the public transport facility.

Table 3
Necessity of car by length of ownership (years) (figures in brackets are percentages)
<1 1–5 6–10 11+ Total
Totally necessary 14 (35) 44 (29) 30 (34) 60 (55) 148
Quite necessary 17 (43) 77 (50) 50 (57) 40 (37) 184
Not very necessary 9 (23) 32 (21) 8 (9) 9 (8) 58
Total 40 (101) 153 (100) 88 (100) 109 (100) 390
2
v ¼ 27:523, df ¼ 6, p ¼ 0:00.

Table 4
Annual mileage (miles) by length of ownership (years) (percentages in parentheses)
<11 11+ Total
<3000 14 (5) 3 (3) 17
3000–4999 27 (10) 8 (8) 35
5000–7999 47 (17) 7 (7) 54
8000+ 190 (68) 88 (83) 278
Total 278 (100) 106 (101) 384
2
v ¼ 9:313, df ¼ 3, p ¼ 0:025.
 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138 135

4.4. The car-dependence of trips

Goodwin et al. (1995) states that a distinction should be made between car-dependent people
and car-dependent trips. It has already been shown that many people in Hong Kong have become
car-dependent. Turning now to an analysis of trips, respondents were asked to state for different
activities, what proportion of trips they made by car, public transport and foot.
Table 5 shows that, for example, 52% of respondents always used a car for commuting and 76%
of respondents used a car for at least 50% of commuting trips. For trips to the countryside, the
percentages increased to 80% and 96% respectively. A large scale survey in Hong Kong (MVA,
1993) found that 50% of cars were used for commuting. Unfortunately, it is not clear from the
report whether this meant Ôused all the timeÕ, or Ôused some of the timeÕ. Although not directly
comparable, a survey of car drivers by Lex Services (1995) in the UK found that 90% of re-
spondents used a car for grocery shopping, 58% for travel to and from work and 89% for visiting
family and friends. The survey was not specific on whether use meant ‘‘use all the time’’ or ‘‘use
some of the time’’.
The results shown in Table 5 again reinforce the notion that once a car has been acquired, it is
used a great deal for all types of activity. In Hong Kong, it is often suggested that people with cars
use them only for non-work trips and use public transport to commute. The results of this survey
show otherwise. Although a car is used for a greater proportion of work-related than non-work
related trips, the majority of respondents used their car for all trip purposes once they acquire a
car and a much greater proportion of respondents used their car for at least 50% of trips. The
survey results suggest, therefore, that it is both people and trips that are car-dependent.

4.5. Driving deterrents

Having established that car owners become dependent on their cars, it is important for policy
formulation to determine whether there are measures which would prevent this. Respondents
were asked which factors deterred them most from driving. The responses to this question are

Table 5
Use of car, by activity type
Trip purpose Percentage of trips for which a car is Percentage of trips for which a car is
always used used on at least 50% of occasions
Commuting to work 52 76
Trips during course of work 55 77
Visiting friends 63 90
Visiting relatives 64 92
Taking children to school 66 82
Escorting children to other places 68 91
Escorting other family members 66 92
Shopping trips 60 88
Trips to the countryside 80 96
Sports trips 59 82
Cinema/theatre trips 59 82
Restaurant trips 59 87
136 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138

Table 6
Extent of deterrence from driving in Hong Kong
Very much Quite a lot Neutral Not very Not at all Average
much (rank in
brackets)
Traffic congestion 129 (32) 118 (29) 20 (5) 63 (16) 71 (18) 3.43 (1)
Parking costs at destination 60 (15) 138 (34) 19 (5) 93 (23) 91 (23) 2.96 (4)
Parking availability at destination 88 (22) 142 (35) 21 (5) 73 (18) 77 (19) 3.23 (2)
Unreliability of parking availability 54 (13) 146 (36) 32 (8) 85 (21) 84 (21) 3.00 (3)
Tunnel costs 21 (5) 75 (19) 37 (9) 119 (30) 148 (37) 2.26 (5)
Petrol costs 18 (5) 71 (18) 27 (7) 135 (34) 149 (37) 2.19 (6)
Route unfamiliarity 19 (5) 69 (17) 25 (6) 116 (29) 170 (43) 2.13 (7)
Stress of driving 2 (1) 24 (6) 14 (4) 125 (31) 5 (59) 1.01 (8)

shown in Table 6 which illustrates that traffic congestion is the major factor in deterring re-
spondents from driving in Hong Kong.
Thirty-two percent of respondents stated that traffic congestion deterred them Ôvery muchÕ from
driving, more than twice that of the next largest deterrent, Ôparking costs at destinationÕ.
In order to deal with congestion, during the last 6 months 71% of respondents had changed
their route and 65% had changed their departure time. The actions of these respondents may have
alleviated their individual exposure to the congestion problem as well as the extent of the con-
gestion problem itself. However, they are still using their cars and contributing, therefore, to
environmental problems (albeit to a reduced extent). In contrast, 47% of respondents had left
their car at home and used public transport at some stage. Thus, congestion can actually induce a
substantial modal switch and is actually fulfilling the role of natural deterrent. This helps to
explain why building new roads is not the answer to improving transport in Hong Kong since it
leads to the release of a latent demand for car use and would actually generate new traffic. This
is a phenomenon that has been found world-wide (Cairns et al., 1998).
In Table 6, the second, third and fourth most important deterrents were all linked to parking
(notably parking availability, the unreliability of parking availability and parking costs). Parking
thus has a very large deterrent effect on car usage. The results lend support to the government
policy of restricting car parking availability in the CBD and Central area. If large companies
could also be persuaded to reduce their available car parking spaces or increase the costs of car
parking, this may reduce traffic further.
The effectiveness of reducing car parking spaces was realised long ago. Beesley and Kain (1964,
182) for instance stated ‘‘the chief present limitation on use of cars is seen as the restricted supply
of parking spaces’’. More recently, Newman and Kenworthy (2000) discussed the impact that
restricting parking in Copenhagen has had, not only on reducing traffic growth but also on re-
juvenating city streets. Goodwin (2001) discussed the importance of parking costs as a deterrent
and states that employer subsidies, whether direct or indirect, can encourage greater car use than
would otherwise be warranted.
There has been a recent trend towards the use of smart-cards for paying parking fees in Hong
Kong. In addition, some suggestions have been mooted that the use of the Octopus card (de-
scribed earlier) should be extended to parking meters. The results of this survey suggest that these
proposals may be counter-productive in terms of reducing traffic. There is some evidence that
 S. Cullinane, K. Cullinane / Transportation Research Part D 8 (2003) 129–138 137

Octopus card users will be less aware of the actual price they are paying for parking. This reduces
the deterrent effect of car parking costs on car use.
It is interesting to note how unimportant fuel and tunnel costs are in the deterrence rankings.
This suggests that at current price levels, the price elasticities of fuel and tunnel costs are very low.
Policies of deterrence that involve parking costs and availability may be more effective in reducing
traffic, therefore, than fuel and tunnel price policies.

5. Conclusions

The results of the survey of car owners discussed in this paper suggest that although car
ownership is not very widespread in Hong Kong, once people acquire a car, they perceive it to be
a necessary part of their lifestyle. The level of necessity attached to the car, however, is less than in
the UK. The main reasons for the initial car purchase are to carry things and to save time, but
then it is used for the majority of trips for all activity purposes (irrespective of the need to carry
things). The survey could not determine whether car ownership actually stimulated increased
mileage or trip making, but given the mileage driven in cars, it seems likely. Mileage also increased
with length of ownership, again reinforcing this notion.
The survey results suggest that if controlling car use is an objective of transport policy, the
single best direct option is simply not to improve congestion. This creates its own deterrent.
Unfortunately, congestion also affects bus use. In this case, the results imply that reducing the
road space allocated to car traffic and increasing that allocated to buses (through bus-only lanes
etc.) might be an appropriate measure. Making parking more difficult and expensive would also
help and, in this respect, it may be efficacious to persuade private sector companies not to provide
free or subsidised parking.
It has been argued elsewhere (Cullinane, 2002) that the existence of good public transport can
deter car ownership. This is certainly one of the explanations of the low car ownership levels in
Hong Kong. This paper asserts, however, that once a car has been acquired, there is a tendency
for it to be used irrespective of how good the public transport is. Once again, therefore, the
conclusion appears to be that to deter car use, it is car ownership that needs to be targeted. In the
case of Hong Kong, where most people have not yet become car-dependent, the opportunity
exists to prevent car ownership from becoming the norm. As a lesson for the West, however, the
results suggest a difficult future as, in contrast to Hong Kong, car ownership levels are already
high.

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