A Psychological Investigation on Public-transport Users’ Intention to Use Routes with Transfers

One of the most common strategies used by authorities to promote ridership of public transport (PT) has been to provide travelers with an integrated multimodal transport system. Effective interconnections are a key element in the success of integrated transport systems. This study seeks to explore the cognitive factors which influence travelers’ willingness to make transfers. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was adopted to investigate the role of perceived behavioral control (PBC) in travelers’ intentions to use PT routes with transfers. PBC was measured by being decomposed into its constituting elements: self-efficacy and perceived controllability. The effect of travelers’ trip characteristics and socio-demographics on their PBC and intention was assessed. A survey was undertaken in two major transport centers in Auckland, New Zealand. Overall, the analysis demonstrated that the TPB is capable of explaining PT users’ intention to use routes with transfers. Travel patterns related to gender, frequency of PT use and current use of transfer routes were seen to have an effect on intention. PT users need to feel capable (strong PBC) of making the transfers. Authorities need to focus on developing attractive transfer routes with comfortable transfers, from a user perspective, to encourage ridership of PT.