Most motorists still prefer their cars to public transport: poll

Despite gas prices, close to 80 percent of motorists said they still prefer to commute by driving and will not consider taking advantage of public transportation, a survey by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said this week.

The survey found that only 22.5 percent of commuters are thinking about switching to public transportation, which is a 3.9 percent increase compared to two years ago.

When asked why they were hesitant to drop their cars, 24.3 percent of the interviewees responded that they simply live too far away from bus stops or train stations. About 17 percent said that it would take longer to get to work, and 14.9 percent said taking public transportation provided little flexibility.

Nevertheless, more than half of the motorists said they may curb the use of cars if the gas price continues to rise. And if the gas price exceeds NT$35 per liter, the accumulated percentage will then hit 95.2 percent.

Besides use of public transportation systems, the survey showed other significant findings. About 32 percent of the survey population reported that they need to find parking spaces whenever they drive to work during week days.

On average, it takes them 7.5 minutes to find a parking space. Kaohsiung City topped this particular category with 41 percent. It was followed by Taipei City, with 34 percent of motorists saying they need to look for parking spaces on work days.

However, motorists in Taipei have a hardest time finding parking spaces. On average, each has to drive around for 12.3 minutes before they can find one.

The survey also showed that a motorist on average spends NT$2,943 on fuel every month. Meanwhile, each motorist generally has to pay a monthly fee of NT$398 for parking during work days. When the expenses on car maintenance and other miscellaneous fees are added, the total comes to an average of NT$6,484 per month.

The survey sampled 20,000 car owners for the survey.