Behavioural determinants of metro usage intention among Ho Chi Minh City residents in the context of climate change

Abstract

Addressing sustainable public transport provision within the context of urban expansion and climate change has become increasingly critical. This study examines the behavioural determinants of residents' willingness to utilise the newly implemented metro service in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). A theoretical framework was developed by integrating the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), incorporating eight constructs: Environmental Concern (ENV), Price Value (PV), Subjective Norms (SN), Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC), Performance Expectancy (PE), Trust (TRU), Advantages of Personal Vehicles (APV), and Behavioural Intention (BI). The dataset comprised 257 valid responses, analysed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Following exploratory factor analysis, five constructs demonstrated significant contributions to the model: ENV, PV, SN, APV, and BI. The findings reveal that ENV, alongside SN and PV, significantly influences BI, collectively accounting for 52.4% of its variance. Notably, SN mediates the relationships between demographic variables (gender, distance to metro station, and previous metro experience) and BI. Environmental concern emerged as the strongest predictor, underscoring the salience of environmental considerations in transport decision-making. These findings provide valuable insights for developing targeted communication strategies and informing pricing policies within behaviourally informed policy frameworks. Future research should employ longitudinal or experimental methodologies whilst expanding geographical scope to better capture behavioural dynamics across temporal and spatial dimensions in diverse urban contexts.