Institute of Transportation, MOTC

Yu-Chun Hsiao, 2008.06
Graduate Institute of Transportation Science, Tamkang University

　　For the purpose of shifting heavy intercity traffic volume to public transportation modes, the Taiwanese government has steadily lifted the restrictions on the market of the west corridor. However, studies show that the ridership of public transportation modes is still limited and different types of public modes are always competing to each other. To solve this dilemma, understanding and analyzing passengers’ behavioral intentions regarding public transportation and further increasing the use of public transportation becomes critical issues.

　　The previous related behavioral research is mainly focused on exploring the effects between price, service quality, and perceived value. It ignores the effects of individual experience and information. Therefore, this study attempts to mitigate this gap by constructing travelers’ psychological decision process based on consumer behavior theories and theory of planned behavior. This model attempts to integrate the concept of involvement, information source, perceived costs, service quality and perceived value to provide better understanding of behavioral intentions. The proposed model is confirmed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique.

　　This research finds that: (1) The demographic characteristics of the HSR and airline passengers’ are similar. Also, the characteristics of railway and highway passengers are similar. (2) Different modes’ passengers have different choice factors. (3) Passengers’ perceived cost and service quality are the main factors that affect perceived value. (4) The degree of involvement of the passengers affects the degree of information receptivity. (5) The information source affects the passengers except the airline passengers.

 　　Based on the findings, we present several suggestions: (1) Price and service quality are the keys to increase customer perceived value. (2) The priority of HSR is to improve convenience service. HSR should also design diverse traveling plans to attract more passengers. (3) The airlines should improve transfer and feeder service. (4) The railway company should increase schedule accuracy and increase workers’ crisis management abilities. (5) The highway bus companies should improve the service attitude of drivers.