Encouraging the younger generation to use public transport can revolutionise the way that citizens commute in the future; hence, municipalities must provide good public transport services to encourage their use. A free bus service was introduced in Penang, Malaysia, to support the sustainable agenda and to provide transport for low-income groups. However, the lack of ridership resulted in the service being far from achieving its target. This study assessed young adults’ perceptions of the current free bus service in Penang to design a strategy to attract them to use the free bus. In this study, six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with young adults aged between 18 and 25 years old studying in three different higher institutions located along the route of the free bus. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis, in which four areas were identified—free service, reliability, information provision, and attractive service. Finally, this paper provides valuable input on initiatives to further encourage young adults to use the free bus service in Penang.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is one of the strategies to promote improvements in urban mobility. In this study, BRT scenarios, which integrate exclusive bus lanes and bus priority signal control in mixed traffic scenarios, were modelled using a VISSIM microsimulation. Three scenarios of BRT were modelled to represent 16:84, 38:62 and 54:46 modal splits between public transport and private vehicles. It was found that Scenario 4 (the 54:46 scenario) offers better benefits in terms of delay time saving and economic benefits. In general, it was found that the BRT system enhances the functioning of the transport system and provides people with faster and better mobility facilities, resulting in attractive social and economic benefits, especially on a higher modal split of public transport. It is regarded as one strategy to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce dependency on private vehicles. The finding of this study provides an insight on the effective concept of the BRT system, which may promote the dissemination of an urban mobility solution in the city. The results can help policymakers and local authorities in the management of a transport network in order to ensure reliable and sustainable transport.

Overtaking is one of many important behaviour considered in the analysis of road traffic accidents and performance of single carriageway road. This paper seeks to determine factors affecting the speed of an overtaking vehicle. The study was conducted for a single carriageway road section which is flat and straight so that there is no effect of sight distance on overtaking. Overtaking behaviour data were recorded using a video camera. The data extracted from the video recordings were the decision times, overtaking times, overtaking distances, safety margins, accepted and rejected gaps, headways at the start of the overtaking manoeuvres, headways at the end of the overtaking manoeuvres, speed of the overtaken vehicle, speed of the overtaking vehicle at the end of the overtaking and acceleration of the overtaking vehicle during the overtaking. The data were analysed statistically to establish relationships between the various overtaking parameters. This study found that the speed of overtaking vehicle was affected by the speed of overtaken vehicle, drivers’ decision times, safety margin, overtaking times and acceleration.