Six items of the questionnaire dealt with traffic conditions. Administrators were asked how current traffic conditions compare with those five or six years ago, what is the state of present traffic congestion. lf congestion is a problem, they were asked what were its major causes and what the city is doing to deal with the traffic problems.

Table 15
Admimistrators' Perceptions of Vehicle Increase
and their Views of the Problem of Traffic Volume

In only one case (in Japan) of the 128 who responded, did the administrator see no Change in tramc volume. One hundred, or 78 percent fbund that vehicle volume had increased considerably, and another 27, or 21 percent found that it has increased slightly. The validity of these perceptions can be partly assessed by asking whether they are at all related to the rate of growth of the city. In fhct the relationship is quite strong (r=+.43 for 101 cases, p<.000). The higher the city's growth rate, the more likely the admimistrator is to perceive a significant increase in the volume of vehicles.

Both the city's growth rate and the perception of an increase in vehicle numbers are clearly related to the admimistrators' views of the problem of traffic volume. Table 15 shows the relationship between the two sets of perceptions. When vehicle increase is perceived as high, almost two-thirds (65%) perceive the problem to be an urgent and major one. On the other hand where vehicle increase is perceived to be only moderate, almost two thirds (63%) perceive the problem to be only minor, or even satisfactory.

As the administrators see it, there is substantial traffic congestion, but the congestion tends to occur primarily at rush hours. Only 22 (17%) of the administrators reported traffic congestion all day, and only in Pakistan did a majority of the administrators (5 out of 9) report this condition. The great majority, 96 (75%) reported congestion during rush hours or only sometimes. Ten administrators (8%), including 1 in China, 7 in Indonesia, and 2 in Thailand, reported that traffic flows smoothly.

The perceived cause of the congestion lies prlmarily, but not completely in the increased number of vehicles. Although the city's growth rate is related to the perCeption of vehicle increase, it is not related overall to the administrators'pcrception of congestion (r=.13 for 101 countries p<0.182). Other important conditions relate to the capacity to mobilize resources to deal with the problem. This is seen in two ways in Table 16. First,"other" important causes than vehicle volume include delay in road construction (20%), weak mass transit systems (6%), weak traffic regulation (3%), and "other" causes (15%). Moreover, as might be expected, there is a substantial difference among the countries in the perceived causes of the problem. In Japan the largest single response (13, or 46% of the 28 reporting) indicates that delays in road construction were the main problem, while 8 Said the cause was the increase in the number of vehicles. As Table 16 shows, Korean administrators almost unamimously (97%) see the cause in the increase of vehicles. In the other countries just over half (58%) find this the major cause. The speed of development in the Korean miracle, and espeCial1y in growth of the vehicle populatjon, clearly has its costs. For the other low income countries there is a greater mix of causes. Increase in vehicle volume is cited as the main cause of congestion by more than three-quarters of administrators in India, Malaysia and Pakistan, and by just over half in the Philippines and Thailand. Only half of the admimistrators in China and 30% in Indonesia cite increase in vehicles as the major cause of congestion.

When administrators were asked what was being done to relieve traffic congestion, to reduce the volume of traffic or to solve the traffic problem in general, all countries showed a wide range of responses. The most common response to the problem of congestion dealt with construction: wideming roads, constructing overpasses, expressways and other such measures. To control the volume of trafnc cities were trying to do such things as control entry into the central city (38%), develop park and ride systems (15%), construct new parking lots (34%), and develop mass transit systems (13%). Only one city was attemptimg to limit vehicle ownership. To deal with the overall traffic condition cities are developing urban railways (10%), bus systems (40%), or other mass transit systems (8%). On thjs issue, a substanlial minority of administrators (15%) found their policies to be satisfactory. This was true in all countries except Malaysia and the Philjppines. In China almost half (43%) found the policie ssatisfactory, and a quarter of the admimistrators in India and Thailand shared this view.

Table 16.
Perceived Cause of Traffic Congestion
in 108 Asian Cities