Do driving restriction policies effectively motivate commuters to use public transportation?

Driving restriction policies have been implemented in some large Chinese cities to cope with severe urban smog pollution. We explored the roles of policy acceptance and other factors in commuters' transport mode decisions, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Tianjin, China. A structural equation model was developed to test eight hypotheses, two of which were rejected. The results indicate that a driving restriction policy alone cannot effectively motivate commuters to use public transport if the policymakers fail to improve public transport, enhance commuters' awareness of consequences, increase commuters' perceived behavior control, and encourage car owners to change driving behavior. Comparisons between car owners and non-owners indicated that car owners view driving restriction policy and public transport more negatively. These negative views could be a barrier for the promotion of public transport among car owners. In addition, attitude toward public transport was found to have positive correlation with commuting time. - Highlights: • Attitude towards public transport has an impact on policy acceptance. • Driving habit indirectly affects policy acceptance and perceived behavior control. • Driving restriction policy and public transport are not popular among car owners. • Attitude towards public transport correlates positively with commuting time.