| As COVID-19 continues to spread in China and around the world,especially in the field of public transportation,all cities in China have promulgated public transportation control measures to choke off the spread of the pandemic.Nevertheless,on the one hand,this policy can effectively stop the spread of the pandemic,but on the other hand,it also brings severe changes to people’s daily travel,such as reduce public transport travel by worrying about the risk of infection.Low-income individuals are heavily dependent on bus due to their economically disadvantaged status.Perhaps the implementation of these policies has a more significant effect on disadvantaged groups(such as low-income individuals).Bus travel satisfaction is an indicator that analyzes the perceived attractiveness of bus.It usually reflects the difference between actual public transportation service performance and expected perceived performance.However,the study focusing on the differences in bus travel satisfaction among low-income individuals before and after COVID-19 is far under-researched.Therefore,this paper uses Multi-Categorical and Ordered Logit Model,Structural Equation Model to explore the differences in bus travel satisfaction of low-income individuals before and after the COVID-19 based on 930 questionnaire data in Taiyuan City,China.In addition,In the past,the impact of traveling alone and traveling with companions on satisfaction has been studied,but whether satisfaction has an impact on independent-joint travel has not been studied in depth,this paper uses the Binary Logit model to study the effects of different levels of 10 satisfaction indicators on traveling alone and traveling with companions in bus traveling,and compares the heterogeneity of the results before and after COVID-19.(i)The definition of low-income individuals,survey areas and data collection,and the construction of satisfaction indicators are introduced and explained as the starting point of the research.For example,the international poverty line standard is used to define low-income individuals;10 satisfaction indicators based on macro concepts and COVID-19 environment are constructed;data collection is carried out based on the Shanxi Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project “Study on Travel Service Guarantee for Low-Mobility Individuals in the Case of Public Health Emergencies”.(ii)The differences in bus travel satisfaction among low-income individuals are explored from the socio-economic attributes(household registration,gender,occupation,etc.)and travel attributes(trvel purpose,trvel distance,trvel time).The results show that satisfaction is mainly determined by travel attributes before COVID-19,while after COVID-19,significant factors affecting the satisfaction of low-income individuals undergo “migration”,and significant factors show that the satisfaction of low-income individuals is determined by socio-economic attributes.(iii)The effect of risk concern and risk perception on bus travel satisfaction derived from the psychological potential variables derived from COVID-19 was revealed.Firstly,the data are analyzed by a confirmatory factor analysis,including the tests of composition reliability,convergence validity,and discriminant validity before structural equation model fits the data.Then,the potential variable models of risk concern,risk perception and bus travel satisfaction were constructed.The effects of risk concern on risk perception on psychological attributes were consistent with COVD-19,and all had significant positive effects of 0.59 and 0.41,respectively.But risk concern and risk perception before and after COVID-19 have only a weak impact on low-income individuals’ bus satisfaction.(iv)The relationship between bus satisfaction and traveling alone and traveling with companions in bus traveling before and after COVID-19 has been further analyzed.The results show that there was a significant relationship between the level of satisfaction and traveling alone and traveling with companions,and that this effect also varied around the time of COVID-19.Understanding them can be a reference for improving the travel environment,enhancing public transport travel satisfaction,and even motivating them to “green travel” and reducing “single driving” between low-income individuals in the later recovery stage of the pandemic or when similar major public health incidents occur in the future. |
