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CILTHK Newsletter issue 8 11
3. Attitudes to car
ownership
In order to gauge what future car
ownership rates would be amongst
young people as they grow older
and what their attitudes to car
ownership were, respondents were
asked to say which of four
statements best describes their
situation. Responses were as
follows:
Table 1. Intentions of owning a car
Statement Number Percent
I intend to buy
a car one day, but 133 41
it is not a priority
I have no intention
of buying a car in 78 24
the next 10 years
I will buy a car
as soon as I can 86 27
afford one
I would buy a car
now, but parking is 26 8
difficult/expensive
The results of this table are
simultaneously comforting and
dangerous. On the comforting side,
24% of respondents stated that
they had no intention of buying a
car in the next 10 years. This is
quite a high percentage. Afurther
41% replied that buying a car was
not a priority. However, 27% said
that they would buy one when they
can afford one and 8% said they
would buy one only parking is too
difficult/expensive. Overall then,
three quarters of respondents
showed some intention of owning
a car.
When further asked about the
likelihood of their buying a car in the
next 5 years, 10% answered very
likely, 35% quite likely, 35% not very
likely and 19% not at all likely. Thus,
45% stated that it was either very or
quite likely that they would buy a car
in the next 5 years. Again, the
prospects for Hong Kong’s traffic and
environment, as well as the impact
on the economy of congestion, look
bery grim if car ownership among
this cohort were effectively to
increase by ten fold in the coming
years. This would take car ownership
amongst the young to the same level
as that in western countries.
The likelihood of buying a car
varied significantly with area.
Fifteen percent of respondents
living in the New Territories think it
is very likely that they will buy a car
in the next 5 years, compared to
only 3% of those living on the
Island and conversely, only 15% of
respondents in the New Territories
think they are not at all likely to buy
a car compared to 21% on the
island. Explanations for this are
probably the same as those
discussed above in relation to
family car ownership.
Likelihood of buying a car in the
next 5 years also differs significantly
between men and women. Fifty
two percent of men said they
would be cither quite likely or very
likely to buy a car in the next five
years compared to 42% of women,
and 25% of women said they were
not at all likely to buy a car
compared to only 9% of men.
Analysis of the results also showed
that 39% of respondents agreed
they would be much happier if they
had a car. Only 32% disagreed. On
a more positive note, 47% agreed
that public transport was so good
they did not need a car. Just over
50% of respondents disagreed that
people suffer without a car.
4. Conclusions
Car ownership is currently very low
amongst the young people of Hong
Kong and young people are
consequently very dependent for
their travel on public transport.
However, there appears to be quite
a substantial pressure for car
ownership to increase in the future.
Forty five percent of young people
in the survey stated that they are
either very or quite likely to buy a
car in the next 5 years. This
pressure is particularly obvious in
the case of men and non-students
as well as for those living in the
New Territories. In general, only
32% of young people in the survey
disagreed that public transport was
so good that they did not need a
car. It appears, therefore, that it is
not that young people need a car
as such, most of them are pretty
satisfied with public transport. They
would, however, be happier with
one. This suggests that if the
government wants to maintain car
ownership at its current low level, it
should consider running a
campaign to de-advertise the car
whilst simultaneously promoting
the image of public transport.
References
Hong Kong Transport Bureau, 2001.
www.info.gov.hk/tb
Acknowledgements:
The author would like to
acknowledge the financial support
of The Kowloon Motor Bus
Company (1933) Limited for this
research. Full copies of the report
can be obtained from the author
(price $HK50) at:
CUPEM,
The University of Hong Kong,
8/F Knowles Building,
Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
E-mail: slcullin@hkucc.hku.hk
Fax: 2559 0468