Effects of potential modes on mode choice behaviour for travel between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

A new transport mode or service is bound to change the travellers' behaviour and may induce new demand for the route. The situation becomes more complex if more than one potential mode is compared for border transport. Consideration also has to be given on the induced demand because of higher level of service or different characteristics of the new mode or service. This study reviews the present trends in border mode choice decisions of travellers between Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Kingdom of Bahrain. The changes in mode choice behaviour of travellers because of the potential future train and ferry services and their induced demand are also presented. Logit models have been used to study the travellers' behaviour on this route. The study indicated that either one of these future modes might reduce the market share of car by a considerable amount. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine the optimum fare values for car and ferry services. It was found that the fares at which train and ferry service have higher probability to be chosen than car, are SAR 52 ($14) and SAR 78 ($21), respectively.