investigating the effects of psychological factors on commuting mode choice behaviour

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1 Investigating the Effects of Psychological Factors on Commuting Mode Choice 1 Behaviour 2 3 4 Ahmed O. Osman Idris 5 Ph.D. Candidate 6 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 7 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 8 Tel: (416) 978-5049 9 Fax: (416) 978-5054 10 Email: [email protected] 11 12 13 Khandker M. Nurul Habib * 14 Assistant Professor 15 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 16 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 17 Tel: (416) 946-8027 18 Fax: (416) 978-5054 19 Email: [email protected] 20 21 22 Alejandro Tudela 23 Associate Professor 24 Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Concepción 25 P.O. Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile 26 Tel: (56 41) 220-3601 27 Fax: (56 41) 220-7089 28 Email: [email protected] 29 30 31 Amer Shalaby 32 Associate Professor 33 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 34 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 35 Tel: (416) 978-5907 36 Fax: (416) 978-5054 37 Email: [email protected] 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 * Corresponding author

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1

Investigating the Effects of Psychological Factors on Commuting Mode Choice 1 Behaviour 2

3 4

Ahmed O. Osman Idris 5

Ph.D. Candidate 6 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 7 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 8 Tel: (416) 978-5049 9 Fax: (416) 978-5054 10

Email: [email protected] 11 12

13 Khandker M. Nurul Habib

* 14

Assistant Professor 15 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 16 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 17

Tel: (416) 946-8027 18 Fax: (416) 978-5054 19

Email: [email protected] 20 21

22 Alejandro Tudela 23 Associate Professor 24

Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Concepción 25

P.O. Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile 26 Tel: (56 41) 220-3601 27 Fax: (56 41) 220-7089 28

Email: [email protected] 29 30

31 Amer Shalaby 32 Associate Professor 33

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto 34 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A4, Canada 35

Tel: (416) 978-5907 36

Fax: (416) 978-5054 37

Email: [email protected] 38 39 40 41 42

43 44 45

46 47

* Corresponding author

2

Abstract 48

49

This paper utilizes socio-psychometric survey data to investigate the influence of 50

attitudes, affective appraisal and habit formation on commuting mode choice. The 51

dataset was collected in 2009-2010 in Edmonton, Alberta. In addition to common 52

socioeconomic, demographic and modal attributes, the survey gathered psychological 53

information regarding habitual behaviour, affective appraisal and personal attitudes. 54

Different psychometric tools were used to capture psychological factors affecting 55

mode choice. Habitual behaviour was measured by using Verplanken’s response-56

frequency questionnaire. Affective appraisal was indirectly estimated using the 57

Osgood's semantic differential. Five-point Likert scales were used to measure attitude. 58

The Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was used to investigate the 59

effects of psychological factors on mode choice behaviour. SEM captures the latent 60

nature of psychological factors and uses path diagram to identify the directionality as 61

well as intensity of the relationships. The investigation reveals that passengers have 62

positive emotions towards their chosen mode. Further, evidence of the superiority of 63

the car as a travel alternative was established in terms of strong habit towards it, such 64

that passengers would use the car for almost every single trip. 65

66

Keywords 67

68

Affective Appraisal, Attitudes, Habit, Mode choice, Structural Equation Models. 69

70

71

1. Introduction 72

3

73

Random Utility Maximization (RUM)-based mode choice models are extensively 74

used to analyze the choice of an alternative mode from a set of mutually exclusive 75

options. The underlying assumption of such models is that a traveller chooses the 76

mode that maximizes his/her utility. Utility in RUM-based models is specified by 77

assigning weights to the different attributes characterizing each of the available 78

options as well as those of the individual traveller (McFadden 1974; Banister 1978; 79

Barff et al. 1982; Ben-Akiva and Boccara 1995; Eriksson et al. 2008). Among such 80

characteristics, auto ownership, auto availability, travel time and travel cost are 81

considered the major determinants of mode choice (Quarmby 1967; Williams 1978; 82

Barff et al. 1982). The simplest choice model is a multinomial logit (MNL) model, 83

which assumes that the random errors of the utility functions are independently and 84

identically distributed (iid). More advanced models include the nested logit (NL) 85

model, tree logit model, GEV model and mixed logit models (Barff et al. 1982; Chih-86

Wen 2005). 87

88

All conventional mode choice models have been criticized for their inability to pay 89

appropriate attention to some psychological constructs such as habit, attitude and 90

affective factors. In most cases, such psychological factors are not directly observable, 91

but they greatly influence individuals’ choices (Heinen et al. 2010). There have been 92

compelling arguments to consider behavioural psychological factors directly in the 93

mode choice models (Banister 1978; Aarts et al. 1997; Gärling et al. 1998; Fujii and 94

Kitamura 2003; Gärling and Axhausen 2003; Mackett 2003). Numerous research 95

attempts have been made to capture the intricacies of the choice process by including 96

socio-psychological aspects as explanatory variables within the traditional mode 97

4

choice models in addition to the conventional socioeconomic and service variables 98

(Morikawa 1994; Bradley and Daly 1997; Cantillo et al. 2007). 99

100

It is clear that mode choice is a complex process, which is strongly influenced by 101

different socio-psychological factors. It is also established that incorporating 102

psychological factors in the utility functions of the mode choice model improves its 103

goodness of fit (Domarchi et al. 2008). Although a number of attempts have been 104

made to incorporate psychological factors directly within the mode choice analyses, in 105

most cases the direct effects of psychological variables are incorporated through the 106

inclusion of alternative-specific constants or dummy variables without any causal 107

relationships between latent variables (Johansson et al. 2006; Temme et al. 2008; 108

Habib et al. 2010; Galdames et al. 2011). In order to address this critical issue, this 109

paper adopts a multivariate statistical modelling approach to investigate the causal 110

relationships between the underlying psychological aspects affecting mode choice 111

such as habit, attitude and affective factors. Further, the Theory of Interpersonal 112

Behaviour (TIB), by Triandis (1977), is utilized as the theoretical foundation of the 113

adopted approach. 114

115

The remainder of the paper is arranged as follows: the next section provides a review 116

of the psychological aspects affecting mode choice and a description of the 117

methodology used in the analysis. Section three includes a description of the data used 118

in this research. This is followed by the modelling process in Section four. Finally, 119

conclusions are reported in Section five. 120

121

2. Utilizing the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour as the theoretical Foundation 122

5

of SEM Analysis 123

124

Structural equation models (SEMs), also known as simultaneous equation models, 125

refer to a statistical technique for linear-in-parameters multivariate (i.e., multi-126

equation) regression models representing causal relationships between variables in the 127

model. In addition, the response variable in one regression equation may appear as a 128

predictor in another equation. Hence, variables in SEM can affect one another either 129

directly or indirectly. Further, in addition to the inclusion of observed exogenous and 130

endogenous variables, a SEM can incorporate unobservable latent variables, also 131

called constructs or factors, that are not measured directly but rather indirectly 132

through their effects (indicators) or observable causes. Such latent variables are 133

modelled by specifying a measurement model and a structural model. The 134

measurement model specifies the relationships between the observed indicators and 135

the latent variables while the structural model specifies the relationships amongst the 136

latent variables themselves. Furthermore, what differentiates SEM from other 137

conventional multivariate linear models is that it requires specification of a model in 138

terms of a system of unidirectional effects between variables based on theory and 139

research. Therefore, SEM is considered a confirmatory rather than exploratory 140

method (Hoyle 1995; MacCallum and Austin 2000). 141

142

In general, a full SEM consists of three sub models; namely, a measurement model for 143

the endogenous variables, a measurement model for the exogenous variables and a 144

structural model for latent variables. Nevertheless, one or both of the measurement 145

models can be eliminated in practice. Hence, SEM analyses can be classified in one of 146

the following three categories. An SEM with both measurement and structural models 147

6

is called an SEM with latent variables. On the other hand, an SEM with no 148

measurement models is called an SEM with observed variables, whereas a 149

measurement model alone is typically a confirmatory factor analysis (Golob 2003). 150

151

Within the structural equation modelling framework, cause and effect relationships 152

are commonly expressed in the form of a causal graph or a path diagram. Path 153

diagrams provide a graphical representation of the SEM such that circles or oval 154

shapes enclose the unobservable (latent) variables. Rectangular boxes, on the other 155

hand, enclose directly observed variables, whereas the disturbances and error terms 156

are not enclosed. Further, unidirectional straight arrows are used to represent the 157

structural parameters indicating a linear impact of the exogenous variable at the base 158

of the arrow on the endogenous variable at the head of the arrow. Bidirectional curved 159

arrows represent non-causal linear covariance (correlation) between exogenous 160

variables and also between disturbances/errors. Compared to other modelling 161

techniques, the SEM has major advantages in behaviour modelling given its 162

capabilities in dealing with latent variables with multiple indicators, modelling 163

mediating factors and dynamic phenomena such as habit and inertia in mode choice 164

(Golob 2003). 165

166

In light of the above, the objective of this research is to identify the causal effects of 167

several psychological aspects on mode choice behaviour using the SEM approach. As 168

a first step for achieving this objective, the path diagram that represents the 169

hypothesized relationships between all latent and observed variables is specified using 170

a psychological theory as the theoretical framework describing the underlying 171

interaction between latent variables and final behaviour (mode choice). 172

7

173

In general, research in social psychology has suggested that the decision making 174

process underlying mode choice can be better understood by modelling the 175

relationship between attitude and behaviour. Numerous psychological theories have 176

studied such interaction between attitude and behaviour such as the Theory of Planned 177

Behaviour (TPB) by Ajzen (1985), and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour (TIB) 178

by Triandis (1977). 179

180

In essence, this paper utilizes the elements of the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour 181

as the socio-psychological theoretical framework for SEM analysis. This theory has 182

the advantage over other approaches of taking into account the role of the past 183

behaviour frequency (habit) on final behaviour. 184

185

According to Triandis (1977), observed behaviour is generally assumed to succeed 186

both intention and habit that respectively represent the motivation to perform a 187

specific action and the past frequency of a specific behaviour, while being mediated 188

by contextual facilitating conditions. 189

190

The theory of interpersonal behaviour assumes that intention is guided by three major 191

determinants; namely attitudinal, social and affective factors. First, attitudinal factors 192

refer to the degree to which an individual has a favourable or unfavourable appraisal 193

of the behaviour under consideration (Ajzen 1991). In other words, attitude is 194

considered as the accumulated evaluation of the choice which has a magnitude and a 195

direction. Based on the expectancy-value theory (Reeve 2005), the magnitude of an 196

attitude depends on two components which are the expectations that an individual has 197

8

regarding the results of the behaviour, and the values that he/she assigns to these 198

possible results. Furthermore, the direction of an attitude represents whether the 199

decision maker is for or against a specific behaviour (Triandis 1977; Gärling et al. 200

1998; Domarchi et al. 2008). 201

202

The second determinant of intention is the social factors which include social norm, 203

social role and self-concept. Social norms are the social rules about what should and 204

should not be done, whereas social roles are sets of behaviours that are considered 205

appropriate for persons holding particular status in a group. On the other hand, self-206

concept refers to the idea that an individual has of his/herself, the goals that it is 207

appropriate for the person to pursue or to eschew, and the behaviours that the person 208

does or does not engage in. 209

210

The third determinant of intention is the affective factors which refer to the emotional 211

response that an individual has towards or against a specific mode of travel. Affect is 212

more or less unconsciously evoked such that it is governed by instinctive behavioural 213

responses to particular situations (Anable and Gatersleben 2004). 214

215

Finally, facilitating conditions (contextual factors) refer to the ease or difficulty of 216

performing the behaviour in terms of several attributes representing the 217

socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the decision maker, and relative 218

attractiveness of the competing alternatives such as mode availability, level of service, 219

travel time and cost. 220

221

As discussed, the TIB provides a detailed description of the decision making process 222

9

starting from the initial determinants of the behavioural response and moving forward 223

till reaching the final observed outcome. The theory indicates that attitude and 224

behaviour are positively correlated and can be described such that the more 225

favourable the attitude, social and affective factors, the stronger should be an 226

individual’s intention to perform the behaviour in question. Such intention interacts 227

with habit and contextual aspects producing the final behaviour. 228

229

In light of the TIB, this research models the way decisions are made using the SEM 230

approach. However, the proposed approach starts from the final observed mode 231

choice behaviour and moves backward till reaching the determinants of such choice. 232

In other words, the suggested path diagram of SEM analysis models the relationship 233

and the correlation between the unobservable behavioural factors and their observable 234

indicators, as shown in Fig. 1. 235

Expectations

Values

Social Norm

Social Role

Emotions

Self Concept

Attitude

Social

Factors

Affective

Factors

Intention

HabitFrequency of

past Behaviour

Facilitating

Conditions

Mode Choice

Behaviour

236

Fig. 1. Path Diagram Inspired by the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour. 237

238

As shown in Fig. 1, intention is represented by a latent variable which in turn is 239

10

affected by a set of three constructs; namely, attitude, social and affective factors. 240

Each of the three factors is indirectly measured through its indicators as suggested by 241

the theory of interpersonal behaviour. In addition, habit is represented by a latent 242

variable which is indirectly measured through the frequency of past behaviour as its 243

effect. Finally, intention, habit and facilitating conditions interact together to produce 244

the observed mode choice behaviour. 245

246

3. Data Description 247

248

A dataset gathered in 2009-2010 in Edmonton, Canada (Dogar 2010) was used in this 249

work, dataset oriented to investigate the behavioural factors affecting travel mode 250

choice. The survey follows an innovative procedure where habit, affective and 251

attitudinal factors were explicitly measured using different scales (Domarchi et al. 252

2008). The study was conducted using face-to-face random intercept interviews at 253

transit stops/stations, shopping malls and restaurants in the central business district 254

during the afternoon lunch period. 255

256

The survey had three sections. One of these gathered socioeconomic and demographic 257

data related to the respondent, whereas a second section referred to the home-to-work 258

commuting trip and gathered level of service and cost information for the used 259

transport mode. In a third section, respondents were asked to give information 260

regarding attitudinal, affective and habit factors that would affect their choices, using 261

specific psychometric tools which are explained hereafter. 262

263

11

Attitude is associated with the expectancy (being good) and value (importance) 264

related to an attitudinal object, following the Expectancy-value theory (Reeve 2005). 265

Hence, the force of an attitude will depend on these two elements. Attitude towards 266

car and transit were measured using five-point Likert scales for all the respondents 267

(i.e., regardless of being a user or not), measuring both expectancy and value. 268

Questions to measure expectancy regarding transit had the following structure: public 269

transport is a good mode for work trips, whilst to measure value with respect to transit 270

the wording was used: public transit service is important for work trips. Appropriated 271

questions were prepared for auto users. People were asked to state whether they 272

strongly agree or disagree with these sentences. 273

274

The affective factor is related to the emotional value assigned to an object, 275

considering the induced emotions associated with an action, such as using a transport 276

mode. This factor can be assessed indirectly using the Osgood's semantic differential 277

(Osgood et al. 1975), which corresponds to a rating scale aimed to capture the 278

connotative meaning of a concept. A set of two-end semantic scales is prepared to 279

capture the secret meaning of the concept, each scale containing perfect antonym 280

words in each end; for instance: good-bad, strong-weak. People must point out 281

quickly the location in each two-end semantic scale of the concept under analysis 282

(chosen mode). Edmonton survey contained 14 two-end scales, considering adjectives 283

related to the dimensions of evaluation, potency, control and activity. 284

285

Finally, habitual behaviour was measured in the Edmonton survey using Verplanken’s 286

response-frequency questionnaire (Verplanken et al. 1994). A list of nine hypothetical 287

activities was given to respondents, who were asked to choose the transport mode 288

12

they would use (auto, transit or another) to carry out these activities. An index can be 289

computed using respondents’ answers, counting how many times each transport mode 290

is stated as the preferred option. 291

292

A total sample of 176 records was initially collected. This number was reduced to 293

only 141 records with 88 records of car users and 53 records of transit riders that were 294

available for the model estimation after a process of cleaning the dataset. In addition, 295

people walking or using other means of transportation were excluded from the 296

analysis. With respect to gender, 79.4% were males and 20.6% were females. The 297

average age was 37.8 years old, with a standard deviation of 9.8 years. 298

299

4. Model Estimation and Analysis 300

301

This paper focuses on the interaction between the psychological precursors of the 302

observed mode choice behaviour, utilizing the theory of interpersonal behaviour as 303

the theoretical foundation of the analysis. In particular, the analysis models the 304

interaction between habitual inertia and those aspects affecting intention; namely 305

attitudinal and affective factors. Although social factors are not studied in this 306

research, it is suggested that they should be considered in future work. Alternative 307

SEM specifications were estimated and tested against one another till reaching the 308

final models. The covariance analysis method (method of moments) is used to 309

estimate the proposed models using the LInear Structural RELation (LISREL) 310

software version 8.80. 311

312

Furthermore, in order to determine the goodness of fit of the estimated models to the 313

13

observed data, several statistical tests were performed such as Chi-square statistics, 314

Normed Fit Index (NFI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and Root Mean Square Error 315

of Approximation (RMSEA) were examined. In practice, the recommended 316

acceptance of a good fit to a model requires that the obtained NFI and CFI value 317

should be in range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating better model fit and a 318

recommended value of 0.90 or greater for model acceptance. On the other hand, 319

RMSEA values below 0.05 indicate good fit, while those ranging from 0.08 to 0.10 320

indicate mediocre fit whereas those greater than 0.10 indicate poor fit (Long et al. 321

2011). However, it is important to note that although model fit is necessary, it is not a 322

sufficient condition for the validity of the hypothesis or theory. Goodness of fit within 323

reasonable values implies only that the data under consideration support the 324

hypothesis. Nevertheless, a conceptual model that guides the specification process, 325

especially the paths between latent and observed variables, is required. 326

327

4.1. SEM Measurement Models 328

329

In this research, two separate SEM measurement models were built separately for car 330

and transit users since their choice behaviours were different. The developed models 331

specified a set of four latent variables (i.e., habit, affective factor, attitude towards car 332

and attitude towards transit), as linear functions of other observed exogenous 333

indicators measured using semantic scales through an ad hoc questionnaire. Such 334

models are considered simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis such that the 335

measurement models contained the relationships between four factors and their 336

indicators. Path diagrams for car and public transit users, including habit, affective 337

and attitudinal factors, are shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively. 338

14

339

340

Fig. 2. Path diagram for the measurement model of car users. 341

342

In an indication that car users would use the car for almost every single trip, habit is 343

stronger and positive for the car, being negative for transit; they seldom will use 344

public transport. On the other hand, the model shows that car users give a stronger 345

weight to the activation and control dimensions of the affective factor compared to the 346

potential and evaluation ones, something that might be associated with the sense of 347

independence associated with private transportation. Further, the results show that car 348

users give more importance to the value (important) rather than the expectation (good) 349

component of attitude for car; whereas they give more importance to the expectation 350

(good) rather than the value (important) component of attitude for transit. This means 351

that they might know that transit is a good alternative but they do not perceive it as an 352

important mode for work trips. 353

354

15

It is interesting to notice the negative correlation between attitudes for transit and car, 355

for auto user. Certainly, this affects the possibility of promoting the use of transit 356

between auto users. Besides, there is a negative correlation between affection and 357

attitude and habit. There would not be a positive emotion towards the auto, when 358

compared to the habit and attitude. 359

360

The previous model has a chi-square value of 32.57 with 37 degrees of freedom. The 361

goodness of fit statistics indicates that the model has a good fit. Specifically, the 362

RMSEA value of 0.00 indicates a perfect fit and NFI value of 0.92 and CFI value of 363

1.00 are considered within the acceptable range of 0 to 1. 364

365

Fig. 3. Path diagram for the measurement model of transit riders. 366

367

A similar result was realized while examining the habitual behaviour of transit riders; 368

a negative relationship with the transit option and a positive relationship with the car 369

option. This might be interpreted as that transit riders are forced to use public transit, 370

16

however they might shift to the car option if it is available which is considered as 371

evidence to the superiority of the car as a mode of travel. On the other hand, transit 372

riders give a stronger weight to the potential, control and evaluation dimensions of the 373

affective factor compared to the activation one; that is, there is a low motivation for 374

using public transport. Furthermore, in contrast to car users, transit riders give more 375

weight to the expectation (good) rather than the value (important) component of 376

attitude for car, whereas they still give more weight to the expectation (good) rather 377

than the value (important) component of attitude for transit. In other words, they 378

might know that transit is good and that is the reason why they use it, although it is 379

not important for them. There is a sort of detachment toward the transit. 380

381

It is worth noticing the negative correlation between affection and habit and attitude 382

towards transit. This reinforces what has been expressed before. People use transit, 383

because they have to, but there is no attachment or positive attitude. 384

385

The previous model has a chi-square value of 34.69 with 33 degrees of freedom. The 386

goodness of fit statistics indicates that the model has a good fit. Specifically, the 387

RMSEA value of 0.031 is lower than the upper limit of 0.05 and NFI value of 0.840 388

and CFI value of 0.970 are considered within the acceptable range of 0 to 1. 389

390

4.2. SEM with Latent Variables 391

392

A joint SEM with latent variables is estimated such that a structural model for the 393

relationship between the latent variables, and two measurement models for both the 394

endogenous (i.e., mode choice) and exogenous indicators of the psychological factors 395

17

are integrated. The theory of interpersonal behaviour is utilized as the path diagram of 396

the corresponding SEM as shown in Fig. 4. 397

398

Fig. 4. Path diagram for the SEM with latent variables. 399

400

In general, the proposed model specifies the causal influences among the latent 401

variables by incorporating both a measurement model to deal with how indicators 402

load on the factors, and the structural model to deal with the causal relationships 403

among factors. 404

405

As shown in Fig. 4, intention is modelled as a latent variable which is indirectly 406

measured through three constructs; namely affective factor, attitude towards car and 407

attitude towards transit. Further, each of the three factors is indirectly measured 408

through its effects as indicated by the measurement models. In addition, habit is 409

modelled as a latent variable which is indirectly reflected by the frequency of past 410

18

use. Finally, both intention and habit affects the observed mode choice behaviour as 411

suggested by Triandis. 412

413

The SEM with latent variables shows similar relationships as that indicated by the 414

measurement model for car users. In an indication that car users would use the car for 415

almost every single trip, habit is stronger and positive for the car, being negative for 416

transit. On the other hand, the results show that Edmonton users give a stronger 417

weight to the activation and evaluation dimensions of the affective factor compared to 418

the potential and control ones. Further, users give more weight to the value 419

(important) rather than the expectation (good) component of attitude for car; whereas 420

they give more weight to the expectation (good) rather than the value (importance) 421

component of attitude for transit. 422

423

In addition, the SEM with latent variables shows the causal relationship among 424

factors such that intention is reflected by affective and attitudinal factors towards car 425

and transit. Interestingly, it can be shown that Edmonton users give a strong positive 426

weight to the attitude towards transit whereas a negative sign is associated with the 427

attitude towards car. It seems that intention is guided by the attitude towards transit 428

rather than the attitude to the car. 429

430

Further, both habit and intention integrate to influence the final observed mode choice 431

behaviour. In an indication of the superiority of the car as a mode of travel, the final 432

mode choice is associated with a negative habitual behaviour towards transit and a 433

positive one towards car usage. On the other hand, intention is associated with a 434

negative sign for car and positive sign for transit. This would be interpreted as that 435

19

Edmonton users know the importance of the transit service and might be motivated to 436

use it, although the strong frequency of car use does not allow that. 437

438

The previous model has a chi-square value of 104.36 with 51 degrees of freedom. The 439

goodness of fit statistics indicates that this model fits the data well. Specifically, the 440

RMSEA value of 0.086 is lower than the upper limit of 0.10 and NFI value of 0.920 441

and CFI value of 0.950 are considered within the acceptable range of 0 to 1. 442

443

5. Conclusions 444

445

This paper adopted the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate 446

the cause and effect relationships between the underlying psychological aspects 447

affecting mode choice. The proposed approach focused on the psychological 448

antecedents of mode choice behaviour following the theory of interpersonal behaviour 449

(TIB), by Triandis (1977), as the theoretical framework. 450

451

Different psychometric tools were used to measure the effects of psychological 452

factors such as habitual behaviour, attitudes and affective factors. Although such 453

psychological factors were measured using different semantic scales, the SEM 454

analysis allowed for the detection of correlation between latent variables and the 455

determination of the importance of each latent attribute. 456

457

Several structures were proposed and estimated using LISREL software for SEM 458

analysis. The results showed that the consideration of psychological attributes as 459

latent variables helped explain mode choice behaviour. In addition, it was shown that 460

20

users have positive emotions towards their chosen mode. Further, evidence to the 461

superiority of the car as a travel alternative was realized such that car users would use 462

the car for almost every single trip. 463

464

Although social factors were not studied in this research, it is suggested that their 465

effect on intention should be considered in future work. 466

467

The impact of these findings on policy issues is a matter that should be kept in mind. 468

The strong habit towards the auto use, associated with a positive attitude and affection 469

to it, and the lower attitude and affection towards transit, certainly constitute a 470

deterrent when trying to promote the use of transit facilities. Actually, demand 471

management schema, such as road pricing, might not have the expected result given 472

the found level of attachment to the car. 473

474

Acknowledgements 475

This study was funded by an NSERC DISCOVERY grant awarded to the second 476

author. Dataset used in this study was collected by the second author when he was an 477

Assistant Professor at the University of Albert. Authors acknowledge the help of 478

Nasrullah Dogar, Shariq Khan, Muhammad Munir and Raquibul Hasan, who helped 479

designing the survey, pilot testing the survey, collecting datasets and data recording 480

under direct supervision of Dr. Nurul Habib. However, views expressed in this paper 481

belong only to the authors of the paper. 482

483 References 484

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