Analysis of travel pattern of a university community in a rural area: a case study of South Eastern Kenya University

Abstract

Travel pattern is a key element in transportation planning and policy formulation. Modal share analysis can provide useful information of university travel demand which is important in the development of transport policies. There is no existing research on travel pattern of university communities in kenya. This prompted analysis of transport pattern of SEKU using descriptive statistics. This study seeks to understand the travel behaviour of a university community in a rural area. Data was collected through online administration a structured questionnaire using an internal mail system. Comparison of travel pattern of students and university staff was undertaken based on mode choice and mode choice determinants. The results show a significant difference in travel behaviour of students and staff. Most staff prefer using cars (57.4 percent) while most students (50 percent) use public transport. Staff consider travel time to be the most important factor in choosing transport mode while students are mainly influenced by trip cost. This study provides knowledge on the transport behaviour of a rural university community in Kenya. This study was limited to descriptive analysis and can be improved through modelling and increasing sample size.