Behavioral Intentions of Urban Rail Transit Passengers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tianjin, China: A Model Integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Theory

Xinyuan Zhang,Diyi Liu,Huibin Du,Yuning Wang,Tomio Miwa

doi:10.1155/2021/8793101

Abstract

Understanding the behavioral intentions of public transit passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic is important for transmission control interventions oriented towards public transport system travel behavior. This paper studies the relationship between passengers’ intentions to use public transport, a set of psychological variables, and the influence of transport management policies (POLs) under COVID-19. Specifically, this study presents a framework integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and customer satisfaction (CS) theory and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) applied to the survey responses of 983 residents of Tianjin, China. The empirical results support the validity of this integrated model of public transit use intentions by confirming several hypothesized relationships among the psychological variables studied. Moreover, POLs under COVID-19 are shown to enhance commuters’ intentions primarily via subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavioral control (PBC), perceived service quality (PSQ), and CS. These findings reveal the psychological mechanism through which passengers adjust their public transport travel intentions during the COVID-19 period. Based on the results, some feasible suggestions are proposed to help restore confidence in public transport after the pandemic.

Highlights

With the development of urbanization and, the growing urban population in China, increasing car use in urban areas has negative impacts, such as traffic congestion and environmental pollution
The characteristics of prevention and control measures for public transport in China allow us to generalize our findings from this case study in Tianjin to other areas of China. e POLs implemented for public transport systems in most Chinese cities in addition to Wuhan are very similar, mainly with differences in the time period of implementation
Beijing launched body temperature screening at all urban rail stations on January 31, 2020, while this policy was implemented in Shanghai 3 days later

Summary

Introduction

With the development of urbanization and, the growing urban population in China, increasing car use in urban areas has negative impacts, such as traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Compared to individuals choosing public transport, such as bus, rail, and metro travel, car users are associated with a higher risk of accident involvement, causing greater damage to the environment by contributing to CO2 emissions [1]. Transportation is considered one of the most high-emission sectors, accounting for 23% of total CO2 emissions in 2013 [2]. It is critical to reduce private transport use and promote the use of public transport as an alternative to reduce environmental problems and the risk of road accidents. Occupation Owning a private car Total Male Female.

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