Incorporating habitual effects into mode choice modeling in light of Mobility-as-a-Service in tourism transport : An empirical analysis in China

Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) system becomes a significant part of urban transportation network system based on the information and communication technologies, but rarely received attention in tourism transport. This paper explored the impact of travel mode preferences on habitual choice behavior for MaaS in tourism, and an online survey and stated preference experiments were designed and carried out. Respondents were divided into three categories including strictly preference (SP) group, weak preference (WP) group, and no preference (NP) group, accounting for 25.09%, 72.24%, and 2.67% respectively. Estimation results of the mode choice random parameter logit (RPL) models indicate that explanatory variables of the alternatives (e.g., the total travel time, in-vehicle cost, and walking distance) only affect the travel mode choices for WP group, which are insensitive to the SP group and NP group. Marginal effect analysis shows that mode choice preferences for MaaS are influenced as tour experience and daily travel habits change.