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Based on the above-mentioned research gap, this paper proposes nine hypotheses. The research framework is illustrated in Fig. 1.
Conceptual model and proposed hypotheses
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In this study, financial policies refer to the measures taken by the government or providers, which could encourage people's participation in MaaS by travel discounts or subsidies.
Non-financial policies, on the other hand, involve the carbon coin or carbon incentives through mechanisms such as total control and free quotas.
Information policy refers to 'the degree to which users are prefer to the information offered by the MaaS platform'. People can obtain information about travel planning, estimated time, and estimated cost from the platform. This comprehensive travel information shows the various possibilities of travel in front of users, which may encourage people to participate in MaaS.
Convenience policy can be defined as 'Compared with traditional travel services, MaaS has a convenience policy'. Since MaaS is a one-stop travel service platform, the platform will bring the technical convenience and policy convenience besides the travel service itself, which may also affect the participation degree of users.
H1. Financial incentive policy is positively related to the attitude toward MaaS (H1a) and behavior toward MaaS (H1b).
H2. Non Financial incentive policy is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H2a) and behavior to MaaS (H2b).
H3. Information policy is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H3a) and behavior to MaaS (H3b).
H4. Convenience policy is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H4a) and behavior to MaaS (H4b).
Innovation trait refers to 'the degree to which users are willing to actively try new travel modes'. When users can actively face new technology products, it can be assumed that they will also be willing to explore MaaS in advance or try them out more actively.
Habit schema congruence can be defined as 'The similarity of the user's current travel pattern to the MaaS'. As a new transportation mode, MaaS need users to be familiar with mobile phones, such as navigation softwares. If users have a similar travel habit, their willingness to take part in MaaS will also increase.
Environment trait refers to users' environmental awareness, which includes their concerns about environmental pollution and their participation in environmental behaviors. MaaS as a representative of low-carbon travel, we guess that users with higher environmental awareness will be more willing to participate in it.
Social influence specifically is defined as 'the degree to which users are influenced by the surrounding group when accepting MaaS', especially authoritative media, relatives, and governments that will have an impact on individual behavior. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H5. Innovation trait is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H5a) and behavior to MaaS (H5b).
H6. Habit schema congruence is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H6a) and behavior to MaaS (H6b).
H7. Environment trait is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H7a) and behavior to MaaS (H7b).
H8. Social influence is positively related to the attitude to MaaS (H8a) and behavior to MaaS (H8b).
The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) believes that, to some extent, the individual's attitude and subjective criteria can affect one's behavioral intention, and the individual's behavioral intention can reasonably infer the final behavior. Therefore, based on the conclusions of previous scholars, this paper proposes hypothesis H9:
H9. Attitude to MaaS is positively related to the behavior to MaaS.
Survey design
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This study employed a combined online and offline questionnaire survey to collect data. The questionnaires were distributed in Beijing, China. The main reason for selecting Beijing was that it launched China's first integrated green travel MaaS service platform in November 2019, making it the first demonstration city for promoting MaaS in China. So users in Beijing would have a better understanding of MaaS-related policies. Additionally, as one of China's mega-cities, Beijing has a well-developed public transportation infrastructure, which provides a larger pool of potential MaaS users. To enhance the effectiveness and validity of the questionnaire, a pre-survey was conducted with 40 participants representing different demographic characteristics, and the questionnaire was modified and optimized accordingly.
The questionnaire in this study consisted of four parts. The first part was about MaaS travel acceptance and questionnaire screening, including 'Have you heard of MaaS travel?' or 'Have you participated in MaaS travel?'. If the respondent answered 'yes' to either of these questions, they were considered to have a certain understanding of MaaS. Otherwise, the questionnaire was considered invalid. The second part was about personal characteristics, including gender, age, monthly income, education level, and commuting characteristics. The third part focused on perceived information, aiming to understand the respondents' awareness of existing financial incentive policies (FIP), non-financial incentive policies (NFIP), information policies (IP), and convenience policies (CP) related to MaaS. The fourth part gathered information about the respondents' characteristics, exploring the heterogeneity under innovation traits (IT), habit schema congruence (HSC), environmental traits (ET), and social influence (SI). The respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement on a Likert scale ranging from '1 = strongly disagree' to '5 = strongly agree' about all the measured items. Table 1 contains the complete scale. Additionally, to ensure data quality, deception questions were included in the questionnaire. Ultimately, 64 questionnaires that did not pass the screening were removed, resulting in a final sample of 456 respondents.
Table 1. Factor statements.
Constructs Items Item descriptions Financial incentive policy FIP1 For adopting MaaS, direct financial subsidy is attractive to me. FIP2 For adopting MaaS, subsidy for travel is very attractive to me. FIP3 For adopting MaaS, getting the discount coupon available to supermarket is very attractive to me. Non-financial incentive policy NFIP1 For adopting MaaS, participating in charity donation (Ant Forest from Alibaba) is very attractive to me. NFIP2 For adopting MaaS, getting the carbon coin is very attractive to me. Information policy IP1 For adopting MaaS, the information about route planning is useful to me. IP2 For adopting MaaS, the information about predicted travel time and cost is helpful. IP3 For adopting MaaS, the Information related to the real-time free parking space is helpful to me. IP4 For adopting MaaS, the information related to my carbon footprint is valuable to me. Convenience policy CP1 For adopting MaaS, one-code pass (a QR code can scan all public transport services) is essential. CP2 For adopting MaaS, connect with other travel platform(such as taxi system)is essential. CP3 For adopting MaaS, reducing the queuing time makes sense for me. Innovation trait IT1 I am always curious about new things. IT2 I usually take the lead in trying new technologies compare to people aroud me. IT3 I think it's very interesting to try out the new travel service mode. Habit schema congruence HSC1 MaaS system is similar with my current way of travel. HSC2 MaaS system is similar to the product or service that I am used to. HSC3 I am familiar with using my smartphone for payments and I always take it with me outside. HSC4 I am familiar with the use of journey planning apps (for example Google Map) Environment trait ET1 I am very concerned about the environment, and I feel that environmental problems have become more and more serious. ET2 I think the harmony between man and nature can promote sustainable development. ET3 I think that everyone has the responsibility to protect the environment. ET4 I am worried about the future shortage of natural resources. Social influence SI1 I am willing to adopt MaaS if the government evaluation is good. SI2 I am willing to adopt MaaS if the media evaluation is good. SI3 I am willing to adopt it if MaaS can get support and praise from people around me. Attitude to MaaS ATM1 I think it is necessary to travel with MaaS. ATM2 I think the government should encourage the use of MaaS mode. ATM3 I think once I use the MaaS, I will reduce my car usage. Behavior to MaaS BTM1 I plan to be involved in the MaaS travel mode in the future. BTM2 I am looking forward to take part in the MaaS travel mode in the future. -
Among the 456 questionnaires, the proportion of males and females was 50%. Respondents aged between 18 and 24 accounted for 31.1% of the total sample, followed by those aged 25−34 (30.7%). 49.7% of the respondents had a bachelor's degree, and students represented 27.4% of the sample. The proportions of respondents who were employees in companies, government agencies, and institutions ranged from 16% to 19%. Additionally, over 50% of the respondents had a monthly income between 5,000 and 20,000 CNY, while the remaining 55% had a monthly income below 10,000 CNY.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that 76.9% of the respondents owned private cars, but the public transportation mode had the highest proportion in the sample (43.2%), followed by private car usage (30.0%). Table 2 provides an overview of the respondents' demographic characteristics.
Table 2. Sample demographic profile.
Characteristics Items Frequency
(n = 456)Percentage
(%)Gender Male 228 50 Female 228 50 Age (years) 18−24 142 31.1 25−34 140 30.7 35−44 98 21.4 45−54 54 11.8 55−64 15 3.2 ≥ 65 7 1.5 Education High school or below 79 17.3 Bachelor's degree 227 49.7 Master's degree or above 150 32.8 Employment status Enterprise employees 84 18.4 Administrative staff 75 16.4 Institution staff 75 16.4 Students 125 27.4 Freelancer 47 10.3 Others 50 10.9 Monthly income
(CNY)< 2,000 80 17.5 2,000−5,000 92 20.1 5,001−10,000 129 28.2 10,001−20,000 108 23.6 > 20,000 47 10.3 Own private car Yes 351 76.9 No 105 23.1 Trip mode Public transport 197 43.2 Private car 137 30 Taxi 20 4.3 Carpooling 26 5.7 Bike-sharing 49 10.7 Walk or bicycle 17 3.7 Others 10 2.1 Reliability and validity test of the measurement model
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The data were analyzed by AMOS 24. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the measurement model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses proposed in this study.
The results of the calculations are presented in Tables 3 & 4.
Table 3. Results of confirmatory factor analysis.
Construct Item Estimate CR AVE Cronbach α Financial incentive policy FIP1 0.788 0.778 0.540 0.779 FIP2 0.721 FIP3 0.692 Non-financial incentive policy NFIP1 0.778 0.741 0.588 0.74 NFIP2 0.756 Information policy IP1 0.855 0.896 0.682 0.894 IP2 0.772 IP3 0.821 IP4 0.853 Convenience policy CP1 0.831 0.867 0.686 0.867 CP2 0.823 CP3 0.83 Innovation trait IT1 0.745 0.784 0.548 0.782 IT2 0.754 IT3 0.721 Habit schema congruence HSC1 0.883 0.882 0.652 0.879 HSC2 0.79 HSC3 0.783 HSC4 0.768 Environment trait ET1 0.838 0.898 0.687 0.897 ET2 0.829 ET3 0.835 ET4 0.812 Social influence SI1 0.882 0.870 0.691 0.869 SI2 0.816 SI3 0.793 Attitute to MaaS ATM1 0.831 0.836 0.630 0.839 ATM2 0.789 ATM3 0.76 Behavior to MaaS BTM1 0.855 0.796 0.661 0.794 BTM2 0.769 Table 4. Discriminant validity analysis.
FIP NFIP IP CP IT HSC ET SI ATM BTM FIP 0.735 NFIP 0.473** 0.767 IP 0.532** 0.384** 0.826 CP 0.507** 0.398** 0.436** 0.828 IT 0.429** 0.364** 0.432** 0.414** 0.740 HSC 0.414** 0.350** 0.399** 0.425** 0.417** 0.807 ET 0.535** 0.424** 0.519** 0.506** 0.497** 0.468** 0.892 SI 0.409** 0.357** 0.499** 0.540** 0.315** 0.374** 0.457** 0.831 ATM 0.564** 0.415** 0.574** 0.535** 0.435** 0.520** 0.535** 0.509** 0.794 BTM 0.662** 0.567** 0.616** 0.632** 0.551** 0.584** 0.650** 0.548** 0.708** 0.813 ***, **, and * represent significance levels of 1%, 5%, and 10% respectively. The diagonal numbers (in bold) represents the value of √AVE. The overall fit of the model was evaluated using fit indices. All indices (χ2/df = 1.779, CFI = 0.965, TLI = 0.958, RMSEA = 0.041) were within the recommended threshold ranges[42]. The reliability of the scales is typically assessed by Cronbach's α and composite reliability (CR). As shown in Table 3, Cronbach's α and CR values for each dimension of the model were above 0.7, indicating good reliability[43].
The content of the scales was derived from research findings in the relevant literature, combined with the current development of MaaS both domestically and internationally, ensuring good construct validity. As shown in Table 3, the average variance extracted (AVE) was above 0.5 for all dimensions, and factor loadings were above 0.65, indicating good convergent validity of the model. For discriminant validity, the correlation coefficients between the dimensions of the scales were lower than the square roots of their respective AVEs, supporting the discriminant validity of the measurement model (Table 4). Overall, the scales passed the tests for reliability and validity and can be used for subsequent analysis.
Evaluation of the structural model
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Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between incentive policies, personal characteristics, and respondents' participation in MaaS. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 5. Overall, the structural model showed a good fit to the data (χ2/df = 1.779, IFI = 0.965, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.06), indicating that all proposed structural paths were statistically significant. Except hypotheses H2a, H5a, H7a, and H8b, all other hypotheses were supported.
Table 5. Results of the hypotheses.
Hypothesis Path Coefficients p-value Test results H1a FIP→ATM 0.232 0.004** Supported H2a NFIP→ATM 0.012 0.847 Rejected H3a IP→ATM 0.210 0.000*** Supported H4a CP→ATM 0.130 0.04** Supported H5a IT→ATM 0.055 0.353 Rejected H6a HSC→ATM 0.213 0.000*** Supported H7a ET→ATM 0.057 0.35 Rejected H8a SI→ATM 0.141 0.014** Supported H1b FIP→BTM 0.187 0.004** Supported H2b NFIP→BTM 0.190 0.000*** Supported H3b IP→BTM 0.085 0.07* Supported H4b CP→BTM 0.130 0.008** Supported H5b IT→BTM 0.103 0.024** Supported H6b HSC→BTM 0.118 0.003** Supported H7b ET→BTM 0.098 0.035** Supported H8b SI→BTM 0.036 0.423 Rejected H9 ATM→BTM 0.292 0.000*** Supported ***, **, and * represent significance levels of 1%, 5%, and 10% respectively. The results of this study indicate that financial incentive policies (β = 0.232, p = 0.004), information policies (β = 0.210, p < 0.01), and convenience policies (β = 0.130, p = 0.04) are significantly positively correlated to participate in MaaS. Therefore, hypotheses H1a, H3a, and H4a are supported. Although non-financial incentive policies are also positively correlated to participate, the results are not significant, thus rejecting H1b. Furthermore, financial incentive policies, non-financial incentive policies, information policies, and convenience policies all have a significant positive impact on participation behavior in MaaS, thus supporting hypotheses H1b to H4b. Additionally, this paper found that financial policies and information policies have a more significant incentive effect. One possible explanation is that financial policies, as a material reward, can directly stimulate users' participation motivation. Furthermore, providing transportation subsidies and other forms of incentives can reduce the cost burden for users who have to travel longer distances. Non-financial incentives did not yield significant results in this study, possibly because the study only considered carbon credits and carbon coins as non-financial incentive measures. Another possible explanation is that non-financial incentives are closely related to carbon emission calculations, and travelers may lack detailed knowledge of them, leading to distrust and unfamiliarity. Moreover, the existing redemption models for non-financial incentives are relatively limited, which may also contribute to their inability to attract travelers.
In terms of individual characteristics of travelers, innovative traits (β = 0.055, p > 0.05), habit schema congruence (β = 0.213, p < 0.001), environmental influence (β = 0.057, p > 0.05), and social influence (β = 0.141, p < 0.014) are all positively related to attitude, but only H6a and H8a are significantly supported. Additionally, personal characteristics have a positive and significant impact on participation behavior in MaaS, except for social influence (β = 0.036, p > 0.05). Thus, H5b, H6b, and H7b are also supported. Attitudes to participate in MaaS also has a significant positive impact on participation behavior, thus supporting H9. Contrary to the study expectations, environmental factors do not have a significant impact on users' attitudes to participate but show a positive relationship with participation behavior. This could be due to MaaS being a relatively new concept that has not been well promoted and publicized, resulting in limited awareness of its green and low-carbon features. Additionally, although the influence of media and government can enhance users' willingness to participate, there are no significant behavioral outcomes. Therefore, in the future, combining media promotion with actual incentives will be necessary to encourage more users to participate in MaaS travel.
Furthermore, to further analyze the willingness of individuals to participate in MaaS based on the incentive policies and personal characteristics, the Bootstrap method was used to estimate the mediating effects in a sample of 2,000 observations at a 95% confidence interval (as shown in Table 6). The results indicated that the mediating effects of financial incentives, information incentives, habit schema congruence, and social influence were significant, suggesting that these factors indirectly influenced the willingness to participate in MaaS through attitudes towards behavior.
Table 6. Results of the mediation effect.
Path Effect value LLCI ULCI FIP→ATM→BTM 0.068 0.016 0.160 NFIP→ATM→BTM 0.003 −0.038 0.050 IP→ATM→BTM 0.062 0.022 0.122 CP→ATM→BTM 0.038 −0.008 0.112 IT→ATM→BTM 0.016 −0.029 0.066 HSC→ATM→BTM 0.062 0.021 0.134 ET→ATM→BTM 0.017 −0.025 0.068 SI→ATM→BTM 0.041 0.003 0.097 Latent profile analysis
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To better explore the heterogeneity of different user groups in MaaS and their main demographic characteristics, and to provide more targeted incentives for different populations to participate in MaaS, this paper uses Mplus 8.3 to use the 10 dimensions in Table 1 as observed variables for latent category analysis and characterized each category[44].
To investigate the potential latent classes of users' participation in MaaS, starting with one class as a baseline, the number of profiles was gradually increased. According to Table 7, the AIC, BIC, and aBIC values progressively decreased with the increase in the number of clusters, and the Bootstrap Likelihood Ratio Test (BLRT) values were significant for all categories. By comparing the models, the five-cluster model showed lower AIC, BIC, and aBIC values than the four-cluster model, and the entropy value was greater than 0.9. Therefore, it is considered that the five-cluster model can better predict respondents' choices in MaaS participation.
Table 7. Model fit statistics.
Number of clusters LL AIC BIC aBIC Entropy LMR (p) BLRT (p) 1 −6,360.714 12,761.428 12,843.878 12,780.404 − − − 2 −5,517.477 11,096.963 11,224.750 11,126.366 0.939 0.000 0.000 3 −5,276.776 10,637.553 10,810.698 10,677.403 0.924 0.000 0.000 4 −5,088.362 10,282.723 10,501.216 10,333.011 0.957 0.090 0.000 5 −4,885.488 9,898.977 10,162.816 9,959.701 0.971 0.002 0.000 6 −4,718.805 9,587.610 9896.797 9658.771 0.952 0.007 0.000 To further analyze the relationship between each dimension and MaaS participation, this study conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to explore whether there are significant differences between the latent classes in each dimension. From Fig. 2 & Table 8, it can be observed that the five latent classes exhibit significant differences in the classification. Table 9 provides an overview of the final classification indices and demographic indicators, arranged in order of percentage shares. The results show that Cluster 1 has the highest level of positive intention and behavior in MaaS participation. According to post hoc tests, this group has the highest average scores in information incentives, environmental influence, and social influence. Cluster 2 shows reduced willingness compared to Cluster 1, while Cluster 3 has the lowest scores across all categories.Additionally, both Cluster 4 and Cluster 5 demonstrate relatively high intention and behavior in MaaS participation. However, they score the lowest in information incentives and convenience incentives, respectively. Moreover, Cluster 5 users have lower scores in the Innovation trait, indicating a lower acceptance of new technologies, making them more likely to reject MaaS travel.
Table 8. Latent profile feature.
Variable Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 F value
(p ≤ 0.001)Post hoc test
(p ≤ 0.001)Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD FIP 4.19 0.60 3.24 0.84 2.13 0.73 4.44 0.37 4.67 0.33 137.9*** 5 > 4 & 1 > 2 > 3 NFIP 3.99 0.76 3.27 0.82 2.50 0.75 4.50 0.36 4.37 0.68 63.509*** 4 & 5 > 1 > 2 > 3 IP 4.39 0.42 3.07 0.44 2.36 0.25 1.77 0.27 4.34 0.21 580.705*** 1 & 5 > 2 > 3 > 4 CP 4.42 0.35 3.08 0.51 2.29 0.23 4.83 0.23 1.64 0.38 676.122*** 4 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 5 IT 4.14 0.60 3.59 0.75 2.58 0.91 4.23 0.91 4.44 0.61 61.921*** 5 > 4 & 1 > 2 > 3 HSC 4.06 0.72 3.50 0.82 2.15 0.93 4.38 0.38 4.57 0.37 85.273*** 5 > 4 & 1 > 2 > 4 ET 4.23 0.62 3.52 0.76 2.13 0.70 4.20 0.75 4.46 0.46 118.395*** 5 & 1 & 4 > 2 > 3 SI 3.25 0.96 2.12 0.90 1.32 0.50 2.61 0.84 2.49 0.96 64.822*** 1 > 4 & 5 > 3 > 2 ATM 4.17 0.71 3.28 0.59 1.94 0.67 3.62 0.82 3.78 0.78 121.583*** 1 > 5 > 2 > 4 > 3 BTM 4.33 0.55 3.25 0.52 2.07 0.64 4.25 0.66 4.24 0.60 208.954*** 1 & 4 & 5 > 2 > 3 ***, **, and * represent significance levels of 1%, 5%, and 10% respectively. Table 9. Profile of the final model.
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Cluster size 50.90% 26.50% 11.40% 6.10% 5.10% Indicators (mean) FIP 4.19 3.24 2.13 4.44 4.67 NFIP 3.99 3.27 2.5 4.50 4.37 IP 4.39 3.07 2.36 1.77 4.34 CP 4.42 3.08 2.29 4.83 1.63 IT 4.14 3.59 2.58 4.23 4.46 HSC 4.07 3.50 2.15 4.38 4.57 ET 4.22 3.52 2.13 4.20 4.46 SI 3.24 2.12 1.32 2.61 2.50 ATM 4.16 3.28 1.94 3.62 3.78 BTM 4.33 3.25 2.07 4.25 4.24 Socio-demographics Gender Male 45.6% 61.9% 46.10% 46.4% 43.4% Female 54.4% 38.1% 53.80% 53.6% 56.6% Age 18−24 32.3% 29.7% 32.60% 39.2% 13.0% 25−34 34.0% 28.0% 21.10% 25.0% 39.1% 35−44 17.6% 23.9% 28.80% 25.0% 26.0% 45−54 9.9% 14.0% 13.40% 10.7% 17.3% 55−64 4.3% 2.4% 1.90% 0.0% 4.3% ≥ 65 1.7% 1.6% 1.90% 0.0% 0.0% Education High school or below 14.6% 12.3% 26.90% 21.4% 43.4% Bachelor's degree 48.7% 56.1% 48.00% 53.5% 26.0% Master's degree or above 36.6% 31.4% 25.10% 25.0% 30.6% Employment status Enterprise employees 20.6% 19.0% 9.60% 21.4% 8.6% Administrative staff 13.3% 15.7% 25.00% 21.4% 26.0% Institution staff 14.6% 18.1% 19.20% 7.1% 30.4% Students 31.4% 20.6% 26.90% 35.7% 13.0% Freelancer 8.1% 18.1% 3.80% 7.1% 8.6% Others 11.6% 8.2% 15.30% 7.1% 13.0% Monthly income (CNY) < 2,000 22.4% 9.0% 13.40% 21.4% 17.3% 2,000−5,000 19.8% 19.0% 25.00% 21.4% 17.3% 5,001−10,000 26.2% 33.0% 28.80% 28.5% 21.7% 10,001−20,000 22.4% 24.7% 25.00% 17.8% 34.7% > 20,000 9.0% 14.0% 7.60% 10.7% 8.6% Own private car Yes 71.1% 75.0% 80.1% 76.2% 82.6% No 28.9% 25.0% 19.9% 23.8% 17.3% Trip mode Public transport 42.3% 53.5% 33.8% 47.7% 39.1% Private car 28.8% 28.5% 39.6% 25.0% 34.7% Taxi 3.8% 0.0% 3.3% 5.6% 4.3% Carpooling 3.8% 3.5% 7.4% 5.1% 8.6% Bike-sharing 13.4% 3.5% 11.5% 10.7% 8.6% Walk or bicycle 7.6% 7.1% 2.4% 3.4% 0.0% Others 0.0% 3.5% 1.6% 2.5% 4.3% Distance < 3 km 9.6% 14.2% 8.2% 7.7% 8.6% 3−5 km 17.3% 25.0% 22.3% 28.0% 17.3% 5−10 km 19.2% 35.7% 36.3% 32.3% 34.7% 10−15 km 28.8% 17.8% 19.8% 16.3% 26.0% > 15 km 25.0% 7.1% 13.2% 15.5% 13.0% Purpose To and from work 23.0% 21.4% 30.5% 28.4% 21.7% To and from school 19.2% 35.7% 7.4% 9.9% 8.6% Entertainment 21.1% 10.7% 25.6% 23.2% 21.7% Shopping 17.3% 7.1% 14.0% 18.5% 26.0% Pick up others 5.7% 10.7% 5.7% 8.6% 8.6% Visiting relatives and friends 3.8% 0.0% 3.3% 0.8% 4.3% Own business 9.6% 10.7% 8.2% 6.8% 8.6% Other purposes 0.0% 3.5% 4.9% 3.4% 0.0% In addition, this study utilized the R3Step method and incorporated personal attributes as covariates in a logistic regression analysis. To ensure the robustness of the results, Cluster 1 was selected as the reference category for the regression. The results are shown in Table 10. The findings indicate that gender, age, education, and income all have significant impacts on the latent classes.
Table 10. Regression results.
Predictor variable Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Intercept SE Intercept SE Intercept SE Intercept SE Gender −0.688** 0.238 0.001 0.320 −0.037 0.043 0.091 0.447 Age 0.082 0.097 0.080 0.132 −0.136 0.171 0.233* 0.144 Education −0.063 0.163 −0.522** 0.239 −0.389 0.285 −0.748* 0.397 Employment status 0.000 0.074 0.035 0.097 −0.085 0.126 −0.008 0.132 Monthly income (RMB) 0.272** 0.093 0.079 0.122 −0.003 0.168 0.160 0.183 ***, **, and * represent significance levels of 1%, 5%, and 10% respectively. To conduct a more comprehensive analysis, we have included users' travel characteristics as covariates in the model and visualized the ownership of private cars, travel modes, travel distances, and travel purposes among different groups in Figs 3−7.
Based on the above analysis, the following names and specific explanations for the five clusters were provided:
Cluster 1 (Actively participating individuals): This cluster represents half of the sample and has values higher than other groups in terms of incentive policies and personal characteristics, indicating the strongest intention to participate in MaaS. In this group, except for non-financial policy and social influence, the average score for all other items is above four points. The average score in attitude to MaaS and behavior to MaaS is 4.16 and 4.33, which is the highest among all groups. So they are referred to as 'MaaS actively participating individuals'. The main age group in this cluster is 25−34 years old (34%) with over one-third of its members still being students. Compared with other clusters, the monthly income distribution of this group is more average, so more users will choose bus transportation (47.7%), most of which are commuting to work (28.4%), followed by leisure and entertainment (23.2%).
Cluster 2 (Mobility neutrals): This second cluster comprises 26.5% of the sample. All the average scores are between 2-3, most of them are near 3. Innovation trait is the highest average score in this group (3.59) and social influence is the lowest. There is not much difference between financial incentive policy (3.24) and non-financial policy (3.27). Compared to Cluster 1, the individuals in Cluster 2 are younger, with over 85% of them having received higher education. Notably, this cluster is the only one among the five clusters with a higher number of male respondents (61.9%) compared to female respondents (38.1%). In terms of travel characteristics, this cluster shows a stronger preference for private cars, with 39.6% of users choosing it as their primary travel mode. The majority of their trips fall within the distance range of 5−10 km (36.3%), and their travel purposes are primarily commuting to work (23%) and going to school (19.2%). Due to their relatively lower willingness to participate in MaaS compared to Cluster 1, they are referred to as 'Mobility neutrals'.
Cluster 3 (Indifferent individuals): This third cluster represents 11.4% of the total sample. Due to their lowest willingness to participate in MaaS among all clusters and relatively low scores on incentive policies, they are considered 'MaaS indifferent individuals'. The average scores are all around 2 and the scores of social influence and attitude to MaaS are below 2. Financial incentive policy (2.13) and habit schema congruence (2.15) and environment traits (2.13) all have low scores compared with other groups. This cluster has the highest proportion of members (53.8%) who travel more than 10 km among the five clusters, but their ownership of private cars is relatively low (71.1%). The majority of members in this cluster have travel purposes related to commuting to work (23%) or going to school (19.2%). In comparison to the first two clusters, this cluster has a higher percentage of members with a high school education or below (26.9%).
Cluster 4 (Public transport supporters): The fourth cluster (6.1%) is named 'Public transport supporters', and their willingness to participate in MaaS is second only to the 'Actively participating individuals' cluster. The average score of this category is mostly higher than that of the first category, except for information policy (1.77), which also brings this groups low attitude to MaaS (3.26). It is important to note that this cluster has lower scores on information incentive policies than any other cluster, which may be attributed to the fact that the majority of this group is aged between 18−24 years (39.2%) and their primary travel purpose is going to school (35.7%). Despite having private car ownership (75%), taking public transportation is still the most preferred mode for this cluster (53.5%). Therefore, information incentives related to parking spaces and similar aspects might not significantly influence this particular group.
Cluster 5 (Diversified travels): The final cluster represents 5.1% of the total sample. Although it has the smallest number of individuals, this cluster stands out for its significant diversity in travel purposes compared to other clusters. In terms of travel characteristics, shopping (26%), participating in entertainment activities (21.7%), and commuting to work (21.7%) are the top three travel purposes for this cluster. Additionally, this cluster has the highest proportion of individuals using carpooling (8.6%) as their preferred mode of travel. Furthermore, their average innovation trait score is the highest among the five clusters, indicating that they are more open to trying new things and are more likely to participate in MaaS travel. Therefore, this cluster is named 'Diversified travels'. This group shows a high interest in the incentive dimension of financial incentive policy (4.67), non-financial incentive policy (4.37), information policy (4.34), innovation traits (4.46), habit schema congruence (4.57) and environment traits (4.46). Despite showing strong interest in both the intention and behavior of participating in MaaS, this cluster scores relatively low in convenience incentives (1.63). This might be because a significant portion of this group consists of middle-aged individuals (65.1%) with diverse travel purposes. Despite having a high level of awareness for MaaS participation, 82.6% of users still own private cars, and 34.7% of them prefer private cars for their travels.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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About this article
Cite this article
Zhang R, Ouyang L, Xiao L. 2024. Will the perceptions to incentive policies have any effect on users' willingness to participate in Mobility-as-a-Service? Digital Transportation and Safety 3(2): 53−64 doi: 10.48130/dts-0024-0006
Will the perceptions to incentive policies have any effect on users' willingness to participate in Mobility-as-a-Service?
- Received: 02 February 2024
- Revised: 02 June 2024
- Accepted: 06 June 2024
- Published online: 27 June 2024
Abstract: With the increasing severity of urban traffic congestion and environmental pollution issues, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) has garnered increasing attention as an emerging mode of transportation. Thus, how to motivate users to participate in MaaS has become an important research issue. This study first classified the incentive policies into four aspects: financial incentive policy, non-financial incentive policy, information policy, and convenience policy. Then, through online questionnaires and field interviews, 456 sets of data were collected in Beijing, and the data were analyzed by the structural equation model and latent class model. The results show that the four incentive policies are positively correlated with users' participation in MaaS, among which financial incentive policy and information policy have the greatest impact, that is, they can better encourage users by increasing direct financial subsidies and broadening the information about MaaS. In addition, Latent Class Analysis was performed to class different users and it was found that the personal characteristics of users had some influence on willingness to participate in MaaS. Therefore, incentive policies should be designed to consider the needs and characteristics of different user groups to improve their willingness to participate in MaaS. The results can provide theoretical suggestions for the government to promote the widespread application of MaaS in urban transportation.
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Key words:
- Mobility-as-a-Service /
- Incentive policies /
- Personal traits /
- Latent class analysis