The 12 common survey items for the senior officials and the public are shown in Table 6.1, and the results of the Rasch analysis are presented on Table 6.2. To test for uni-dimensionality, analytical results show that the first factor explains roughly 33.5%
of variance and meets the criterion of 20% (Reckase, 1979). As before, the average of all item parameters was fixed at zero logit as a common reference for the relative interval scale, and the average of the policy beliefs across all respondents was 1.05 logit. The result indicates the respondents generally had strong beliefs in sustainable transportation policies.
Table 6.1 Common items with significance for the senior officials and the public
Items to explore self-rated perception Type
Item 1 Construct rail transport systems (e.g., MRT, HSR, Train, etc.) to promote public transportation
5-point scale
Item 2 Build public transport centers to facilitate transfer between different public transportation modes
5-point scale
Item 3 Integrate schedules and tickets for public transportation (e.g., EasyCard, One Day Pass, etc.) to make transfer easier
5-point scale
Item 4 Provide instant traffic information to reduce driving time and, thus, reduce oil consumption and improve air quality
5-point scale
Item 5 Develop new energy sources (electric cars, fuel-batteries, etc.) to substitute for the use of fossil fuel
5-point scale
Item 6 Establish bicycle lanes to promote the use of bicycles 5-point scale Item 7 Build a friendly walking environment to reduce the use of private modes 5-point scale
Item 8 Increase gasoline prices to reduce car use 5-point scale
Item 9 Increase parking fees to reduce car use 5-point scale
Item 10 Encourage public and private firms to use public transport to slow the use of cars and motorcycles
5-point scale
Item 11 Implement electronic toll collection (ETC) on highways to alleviate congestion and, thus, reduce emissions
5-point scale
Item 12 Total vehicle volume control by limiting authorization of licenses (set quotas) to reduce auto growth
5-point scale
The item reliability and person reliability are 0.99 and 0.83, respectively.
Analytical results show that both the item separation index (13.7) and person separation (2.21) exceed 2, which indicates the items are sufficiently spread out to define distinct levels of policy beliefs measured in logits (Duncan et al., 2003).
Table 6.2 Model estimation and fit statistics obtained from Rasch analysis for both the senior officials and the public a
Items 12 Input 12 Measured Raw
Persons 629 Input 629 Measured Raw Standardized Residual Variance (in eigenvalue units)
Empirical (%)
Modeled (%)
Total variance in observations 33.5 100 100
Variance explained by measures 21.5 64.2 63.4
Unexplained variance (total) 12.0 35.8 36.6
Unexplained variance explained by 1st factor 3.0 9.0 Unexplained variance explained by 2nd factor 1.5 4.6
aSE, standard error; Infit, information-weighted fit; Outfit, outlier-sensitive fit; Zstd, Z-standardized fit statistic.
Estimates of the item parameters are presented in Table 6.3. All item estimates have an Infit MNSQs and Outfit MNSQs of 0.79~1.15 and Zstd fit statistics between
±2 (except for Item 7 “build a friendly walking environment” and Item 10 “Encourage public and private firms to use public transport”). For comparison purposes, we ordered the items in Table 6.3 by their estimated values.
Items 8 and 9 have the two highest values of 1.32 and 1.16 logit, respectively, and that applies to both the senior officials and the public. These values indicate that Items 8 and 9 have the highest inherent resistance and result in the lowest levels of confidence that those strategies can be used to achieve sustainable transportation policy. On the other hand, the item with the lowest estimates is Item 1 (bi = –1.04).
These results show that all respondents (both the senior officials and the public) believe that constructing rail transport systems would be the most effective strategy and are confident in its benefiting sustainable transport.
Items 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 also have negative estimates. Those values indicate that promoting public transport strategies of building public transport centers (Item 2), building a friendly walking environment (Item 7), establishing bicycle lanes (Item6), integrating schedules and tickets for public transportation (Item 3), and developing new energy sources (Item 5) are accepted by all respondents with confidence. On the other hand, Items 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 (i.e., those with positive estimates) indicate the senior officials’ and public’s lack of confidence in their usefulness.
It can be concluded from Table 6.3 that only three items (8, 9, & 12) with lower ranking were viewed as restrictive strategies to limit private car usage, while others were thought of as encouraging strategies to emphasize the supply of better transportation alternatives. The results also indicate that all respondents are disinclined to be restrictive of driving in order to implement sustainable transportation development.
The results from this study indicate, based on practice and experience, both the senior officials and the public believe implementing a more efficient and friendly public transportation service to attract patronage would be a better strategy than limiting private car use by increasing costs. Thus, to avoid infringing on personal preferences and individual freedoms of people, they will support strategies that provide the option for people to use public transportation, but will not support strategies that force people to use public transportation.
Table 6.3 Estimates of item measures and fit statistics from Rasch analysis for both the senior officials and the public (ordered by item parameters)a
Item Estimate
( )
Infit Zstd Outfit Zstd
MNSQ Zstd MNSQ Zstd 1 Construct rail transport systems (e.g., MRT, HSR,
Train, etc.) to promote public transportation
-1.04 0.99 -0.1 0.98 -0.3
5 Develop new energy sources (electrical cars, fuel-batteries, etc.) to substitute for the use of fossil fuel
-0.84 1.11 1.6 1.02 0.3
2 Build public transport centers to facilitate transfer between different public transportation modes
-0.79 0.98 -0.3 0.91 -1.2
7 Build a friendly walking environment to reduce the use of private transport modes
-0.54 0.85 -2.1 0.79 -3.1
6 Establish bicycle lanes to promote the use of bicycles
-0.44 0.93 -1.0 0.91 -1.4
3 Integrate schedules and tickets for public transportation (e.g., EasyCard, One Day Pass, etc.) to make transfer easier
-0.42 1.02 0.3 0.93 -0.9
4 Provide instant traffic information to reduce driving time and, thus, reduce oil consumption and improve air quality
0.30 0.97 -0.5 1.00 0.0
10 Encourage public and private firms to use public transport to slow the use of cars and motorcycles
0.36 0.98 -0.4 1.15 2.3
12 Total vehicle volume control by limiting authorization of licenses (set quotas) to reduce auto growth
0.45 1.07 1.2 1.11 1.8
11 Implement electronic toll collection (ETC) on highways to alleviate congestion and, thus, reduce emissions
0.48 1.00 0.1 1.05 0.8
9 Increase parking fees to reduce car use 1.16 1.04 0.8 1.04 0.8 8 Increase gasoline prices to reduce car use 1.32 1.00 0.0 1.01 0.2
bi