Assessing commuter’s intentions to use public transportation in mid-sized Indian cities: a PLS-SEM approach

This paper examines the determinants of behavioural intentions of commuters to use public transport in a mid-sized city in India (population 2-4 million), using Bhopal as a case study. The conceptual model of the integration of service quality, perceived value, and passenger satisfaction is constructed and empirically tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) based on the data of 1,450 respondents. The results indicate that service quality has a strong positive effect on perceived value (β = 0.764, p < 0.001), satisfaction (β = 0.296, p < 0.01), and behavioural intention (β = 0.203, p < 0.05). Perceived value has a significant impact on both satisfaction (β = 0.405, p < 0.001) and behavioural intention (β= 0.376, p < 0.001), with satisfaction also having a positive effect on behavioural intention (β = 0.311, p < 0.01). The model has a significant explanatory power (R2 = 0.62 on behavioural intention). The results indicate that enhancing service attributes such as fare transparency, travel information, and cleanliness increases the perceived value and satisfaction, which in turn raises the ridership intentions. This paper adds context-driven empirical data to mid-sized cities in India and provides practical implications for enhancing sustainable urban mobility.