Does online ticket booking system make people better off? An empirical study on railway service

Abstract

The Spring Festival Travel Rush (SFTR) as the largest annual migration on earth has been a serious challenge for the railway system in China. In order to reduce the difficulty of ticket purchase, Chinese government has adopted information and communications technology (ICT) include online ticket booking system so that more ticket channels are available for passengers to choose from. However, whether the online ticket booking system in transportation can improve passengers’ well-being with the Spring Festival experience remains unknown. In this study, a structural equation model is developed to investigate the impact of online ticket booking system, socioeconomic status and perceived control on passengers’ well-being during SFTR. Results show that online ticket booking system has a direct positive influence on passengers’ well-being. In addition, the application of online ticket booking system and perceived control play an important mediating role between socioeconomic status and passengers’ well-being of Spring Festival. In particular, online ticket booking system had made it easier for people of lower socioeconomic status to purchase tickets and thus significantly raised their well-being.