Sustainable Urban Public Transportation: A Case Study of Chongqing Municipality

This research paper represents a study of the incredibly dramatic urban growth Chongqing City has undergone with special focus on Passengers’ satisfaction on Urban Public Transport. Depending on how well it is planned, handled, managed and administered, urban transportation has both merits and demerits. The aim of the research is basically to figure out the principal processes of urban transportation in Chongqing, identify the major impacts it poses not only on the lives of the urban dwellers but also on those who are living in the peripheral areas and finally draw some plausible and effective remedies to tackle the inevitable adverse effects of transportation, thereby ensure sustainable, smart, walkable and livable city where all of its residents enjoy a comfortable life. Realizing the importance of a fairly balanced development and equitable distribution of resources among rural and urban dwellers, the researcher has also endeavored to find out whether or not the rural dwellers have benefited from urban public transportation. The study has also attempted to find out the mechanisms employed by the local and central governments to alleviate the problems induced due to urban transportation and the concerted effort exerted to maintain a sustainable urban-rural development without jeopardizing the interests of the future generation. The research methodology employed includes gathering relevant data using questionnaires, interviews and in-depth case studies, focus group discussions and participant observation. The research methodology used to select the key informants including students, teachers, common people (that is civil servants) and government officials random stratified sampling. The researcher has also reviewed a great deal of relevant secondary data sources such as books, journals, internet etc. Data analysis was made with the help of SPSS and SWOT analysis wherever applicable. The results of research work indicated that owing to the promising social service provision opportunities, the city acted as a huge magnet in attracting the desperate rural migrants. Besides, Chongqing being one of the industrial, urbanized and motorized cities is vulnerable to congestion, pollution and socio-economic problems. The most important conclusion that can be drawn based on the results described in this paper is that sustainable urban public transportation and intergenerational equity can be easily achieved through modal integration and demand management. In addition, the skyrocketed urbanization and motorization growth rates of China have partly strained the urban transportation infrastructures, caused urban traffic congestion and worsened the urban air quality. Even though Chinese urbanization in general and the overall development of Chongqing in particular have been flourishing at a very rapid rate and great deal of the citizens have benefited tremendously, inequalities between rural and urban dwellers are an order of the day.