Impact of Subjective and Objective Factors on Bus Travel Intention

Abstract

Given the lack of quantitative descriptions on the interaction between psychological factors and the built environment in existing urban bus travel behavior, this study examines the simultaneous influences of the objective-built environment and subjective psychological factors on bus travel intentions. An empirical study on the influence path of bus travel intention was conducted using structural equation modeling. Then, personal attribute factors were introduced, and a linear regression model was used to explore the influence of behavioral intentions. This study uses 410 investigated samples from the residents in Zhengzhou, China. The findings proved that psychological factors play mediating roles between the travel environment and its impact on travel behaviors and confirms the validity of the description of the measurement variable with respect to the bus travel intentions proposed in the study. We also found that the retirement factor among the personal attribute factors could significantly affect bus travel intentions, which means that the retired group prefers to use buses for traveling. This study shows innovations in catching the intermediary effect of psychological factors between the built environment and travel behavior while also quantifying the effects of both subjective and objective factors when choosing bus travel.