Evaluating Transportation Sustainability of Universities in Pakistan

Abstract

Transportation modes like single occupancy automobiles and private cars are not only contributing to the global environment and climate deterioration but also causing social and health complications. Universities are fully capable of changing the commuting behaviour of its stakeholders, hence, by harmonizing sustainable modes of transportation in campus development policies and practices, the forthcoming generation can orient their travel customs towards more environmentally friendly and socially inclusive mobility systems for the rest of their lives. Transportation sustainability is considered as an important hurdle in achieving the sustainability goals and any university, in an attempt to adopt sustainability, must face the issue of transportation. Particularly three types of transportation modes i.e. walking, bicycling and public transit has been considered as sustainable options in literature with the advantage of providing social benefits in addition to environmental preservation, congestion reduction and achieving physical activities for health improvement. The first part of the study focuses on establishing a scale for measuring transportation sustainability within a university campus by targeting the facilities and infrastructure for walking, bicycling, shuttle bus service and movement of persons with disabilities. Practices and policies, to be initiated by campus administration for promoting sustainable transportation, are also considered. The scale, fabricated by extensive literature review, expert’s interviews and exploring the practices in international universities, is applied to two large-scale universities in Islamabad namely Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) to distinguish which university is hanging back in which particular area. The results reveal that both the campuses are far from fulfilling the complete sustainable transportation criteria but, have implemented diverse sustainable practices in their campuses. The second part of the research is the perceptive study utilizing 421 questionnaire surveys to identify the motivators and barriers which affect the usage of sustainable modes of transportation within these campuses using Mean Value Method and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Administrative and serviceability along with mass transportation-related factors as motivators and safety along with infrastructural factors as barriers have been identified as the most influencing aspects which also pave the way for campus planners and policymakers to orient their policies by incorporating these highlighted factors to promote sustainable transportation usage in the campus. The established scale from the first part and factors influencing the usage of transportation modes in second part can also serve as a guideline for planners and policymakers while developing new campuses and revising policies for campus transportation.