This paper analyzes preference for the urban metro network transportation. The result reveals that seat availability, time, and cost reduction of the trip with metro robustly incite users to utilize this transportation service. | 116 Nguyen Thanh Son & Nguyen Duy Chinh / Journal of Economic Development, 24(3), 116-136 Travel demand for metro in Ho Chi Minh City: A discrete choice experiment analysis NGUYEN THANH SON sonnguyenkth@ NGUYEN DUY CHINH duychinh@ ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: By employing discrete choice experiment with face-to-face survey data of 135 local inhabitants in Ho Chi Minh City, this paper analyzes preference for the urban metro network transportation. The result reveals that seat availability, time, and cost reduction of the trip with metro robustly incite users to utilize this transportation service. Passengers of metro are willing to pay and thousand VND for one minute reduction of travel time and seat availability on the train cart, respectively. Furthermore, monetary welfare gained for a switch to metro is thousand VND for each individual. Some implications regarding ticket prices and policy are also discussed. Received: Jan., 16, 2017 Received in revised form: May, 22, 2017 Accepted: June, 30, 2017 Keywords: Discrete choice experiment Urban transportation mode Metro travel demand Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thanh Son & Nguyen Duy Chinh / Journal of Economic Development, 24(3), 116-136 117 1. Introduction Urban traffic congestion is one of the most frequently confronted issues in developing countries in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam. Owing to the inability of urban transportation infrastructure development to keep pace with the growing number of private vehicles, the congestion situation in major cities, namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (HCMC), has been further aggravated in recent years. With the population of nearly 8 million in HCMC in 2013 (General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2013), vast travel demand arises and accompanies a large number of motorbikes and cars. Reportedly, the volume of registered vehicles in HCMC witnessed a fivefold increase from to million in the period of .
