Urban residents’ intention to use low-carbon transport modes: an integration of the transtheoretical model and the theory of planned behavior

The increasing number of private vehicles on road has brought a wide range of negative problems to the environment, society, and urban development. In contrast, various low-carbon transport modes including walking, cycling, and public transit are believed to effectively reduce the annoying consequences caused by car-use, e.g. decreasing carbon emissions, improving public health, enhancing social inclusion, as well as relieving traffic congestion. Integrating the transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavior change and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study endeavors to examine the socio-cognitive determinants of urban residents’ intention to use low-carbon transport modes, with a particular focus on the differences among TTM-formed latent car-use stages achieved by the latent class modeling method. Following the TTM concept, individuals are endogenously classified into three groups (i.e. differing car-use stages) based on indicators measuring their current state with car-use, while the stage membership is explained by observable socio-demographic variables. At the same time, stage-specific determinants of people’s intention to use low-carbon transport modes are achieved on the basis of the TPB, demonstrating that critical determinants significantly differ across car-use stages. Collectively, this study highlights the importance of considering both behavioral and psychological perspectives within the same paradigm to understand low-carbon travel choice. From a practical perspective, interventions to motivate low-carbon transport modes must be tailored for heterogeneous groups in specific car-use stage.