Abstract

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Title:: Passenger loyalty of urban shared transportation based onmultigroup structure equation

Author(s):: HUANG Kai1; 2; MA Fei2; HOU Yurong2; GUO Yanru2; YANG Silin2; (1. Xi’an Traffic Information Center, Xi’an 710005, Shaanxi, China; 2. School of Economics andManagement, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, Shaanxi, China)

Keywords:: traffic engineering; shared transportation; passenger’s loyalty; structural equation modeling; multigroup analysis

Abstract:: To explore the key factors influencing the loyalty of sharing passengers in urban transport, data on vehicle condition, vehicle search time, and personal attributes were collected from 325 subjects. A structural equation model was adopted to describe the loyalty and solved by AMOS (including quality perception, switching cost, substitutability, passenger’s satisfaction, passenger’s loyalty, 5 latent variables and 15 observed variables). The model was constantly optimized based on the modified index, and the relationships between the variables that characterization urban shared transportation loyalty were obtained according to the final version. The results show that the factors affecting sharing passengers’ loyalty can be divided into three main categories including switching costs, substitutability, and passengers’ satisfaction. Switching costs and substitutability may hurt passenger loyalty, while passengers’ satisfaction has a positive impact. In addition, passengers’ perceptions of quality (safety and reliability, convenience and comfort) can contribute to their satisfaction. The model is further validated by the fact that data from different groups fit the model and have different effects on passenger loyalty and satisfaction. The model helps to determine the factors affecting passengers’ loyalty of urban shared transportation and to develop appropriate incentives to further increase it. 4 tabs, 3 figs, 32 refs.