Commuters' intention to choose customized bus during COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from a two-phase comparative analysis

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected individuals' health safety during commuting travel around the world. Therefore, a customized bus service was promoted to improve commuting health safety during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. This study intends to investigate the potential similarities and differences in terms of commuters' intention to choose customized buses at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (Phase I) and after adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic (Phase II). A survey was designed for this purpose and conducted twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,285 responses were collected in two phases in Shanghai, China. Structural equation models (SEM) based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) were developed to analyze the influential factors of the intention to commute by customized buses. Moreover, a multi-group analysis approach was used to determine the heterogeneity among commuters based on their socioeconomic and travel characteristics. Results show that "attitudes" in Phase I and "perceived behavioral control" in Phase II have significantly positive impacts on the intention to choose customized buses for commuting. In service quality, "comfort and convenience" and "public health safety" in Phase I and "operation and efficiency" and "comfort and convenience" in Phase II have a highly-significant positive impact on commuters' attitudes toward customized buses. Through the multi-group analysis, differences in car ownership and commuting mode after the pandemic in Phase I and gender in Phase II are explored. Model estimation results can be used to assist in formulating policies and prioritizing policies in different phases of the pandemic to develop customized bus services.