Public transportation-based crowd-shipping initiatives: Are users willing to participate? Why not?

An emerging stream of Crowd-Shipping (CS) solutions focuses on existing momentum in Public Transportation (PT) to ship viable delivery packages by PT passengers. Few studies have explored the package delivery acceptance behavior of passengers engaged in PT-based CS initiatives while passengers' behavioral intention to participate (i.e., engage) is not studied. It is requisite that newly introduced CS platforms explore their potential crowdshippers' behavior on intention to participate and set efficient marketing strategies. Given survey data collected from 2208 PT passengers in Sydney metropolitan area, this study explores the intention of PT passengers as crowd-shippers to participate in PT-based CS initiatives, as well as prohibiting factors in way of participation. Accordingly, a binominal logit model is developed whereby the variables impacting the intention to participate are identified. Then, using an inductive thematic analysis, 917 reasons (text responses) for not participating are scrutinized, and the prohibiting factors are identified and categorized. Considering demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, the study reveals to what degree passengers with different characteristics are sensitive to prohibiting factors. This research provides several practical insights that can assist in successfully defining, launching, and advertising a new PT-based CS initiative. As a key finding, it is observed that women, full-time employees, elderly, retirees, and low-income PT passengers hardly participate, while the youth, individuals with a positive attitude towards sustainable freight initiatives, and those who experienced working with parcel lockers would participate with a higher probability. Moreover, it is observed that factors relating to time availability/flexibility and physical health condition/importance of passengers are much more important than the compensation level for passengers to accept to participate in PT-based CS initiatives.