Satisfaction differences in bus traveling among low-income individuals before and after COVID-19

Although all cities in China have promulgated public transportation control measures to choke off the spread of COVID-19, it also has brought severe changes to low-income individuals’ bus traveling. However, the study focusing on satisfaction differences in bus traveling before and after COVID-19 is far under-researched, this paper therefore explored satisfaction differences among low-income individuals under socioeconomic attributes, traveling attributes, and psychological attributes by using the data consist of interviews addressed to 930 individuals in Taiyuan, China. Furthermore, the relationship between satisfaction levels and modes of traveling alone and traveling with companions by bus has also been deeply analyzed to reduce single-person driving problem. As a result, many exciting phenomena were discovered: the significant factors affecting low-income individuals’ satisfaction occur “shift” on a large scale after COVID-19; risk concern has a significant positive impact on risk perception, but risk concern and risk perception have only a minor impact on satisfaction before and after COVID-19; it was found that there is a significant relationship between satisfaction levels and modes of traveling alone and traveling with companions by bus. Understanding them can be a reference for improving the travel environment between low-income individuals.