Does Silence Mean Agreement?

Abstract

The decline of response rates in attitude surveys and the nonparticipation of residents are big issues in decision-making processes for transportation planning. The existence of individuals who do not state their opinions, the silent group, disrupts smooth consensus-building processes. It is often claimed that the silent group or so-called silent majority relies on policy makers or proposed plans. This research analyzes the silent group's character in a traffic calming project conducted in a residential area. To understand the silent group's level of awareness, attitude, and preference would help identify better ways of including them in planning processes in the future. Data obtained from questionnaire surveys were used for this analysis. Nonrespondents to the surveys were defined as the silent group. First, the difference of opinions between the silent group and the nonsilent group was investigated. The result showed that the silent group was less aware of the traffic situation in the area and did not easily agree with the proposed plans. Second, the reasons for the silent group's attitude were analyzed. The result suggested that the silent group members felt less danger on roads near their houses, so they do not recognize the traffic situation of the whole neighborhood as serious. Because of the lack of awareness, the group tended to refuse questionnaire surveys. Moreover, the logistic regression analysis concluded that the silent group was less involved with survey topics that dealt with specific traffic problems and countermeasures.