Behavioural norms or personal gains? – An empirical analysis of commuters‘ intention to switch to multimodal mobility behaviour

Abstract

Existing research has revealed that there is a growing dominance of multimodality in urban areas, which is frequently considered to be an important part of the solution to the burdens associated with heavy car use, such as traffic congestion, noise, and air pollution, as well as associated risks to human health. Yet, while the role of private motorized transport is decreasing in densely populated urban areas, monomodal travel patterns, as exemplified by single occupancy car use, are still dominating work-related mobility. To date, studies on modal shift have investigated the decision-making processes with regard to particular travel modes. However, the intention to switch to multimodal mobility in a commuting context, which may represent a first step towards car use reduction, remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, this paper aims to understand and identify the predecessors of car commuters’ intention to switch to multimodal commuting via an online questionnaire. Our theoretical framework is based on an extension of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with Lindenberg and Steg’s Goal-framing Theory (GFT), including a novel fourth goal frame, habit, and person-organisation fit (POF) as additional constructs. Contrary to our expectations, gain and hedonic goals, as well as POF and habit, were not found to affect switching intention. Instead, our findings suggest that a switch to multimodal mobility is strongly dependent on people's normative goals, underlining the need for employers to encourage and reward sustainable multimodal commuting. These findings can assist policy makers, corporate mobility, and HR managers to promote more sustainable, multimodal mobility behaviour.