The paper Commuter value perceptions in peak avoidance behavior: An empirical study in the Beijing subway system cooperated by Professor Wang Yacan, Associate Professor Zhou Huiyu and PhD student Wang Yu was recently published in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, the top journal of transportation economics.

An Integrated Choice and Latent Variable Model (ICLV) composed of O-Logit Model and Structural Equation Model was constructed in this study. Observable demographic variables, commuting characteristic variables and unobservable psychological latent variables of perceived value are included in this utility model to explore the formation mechanism of the perceived value of travelers peak avoidance choice and to study how perceived value and observable variables jointly affect the travelers peak avoidance willingness. The result shows that when travelers make choices on peak avoidance, there is a general psychological trade-off process between perceived benefit and perceived losses. Social norms, habitual behaviors, subjective feelings and peak avoidance experiences all have a significant impact on the travelers perceived value. At the same time, the smaller the gap between the perception of new and habitual travel behavior, the easier it is for travelers to make choices on peak avoidance, further more, peak avoidance experience can effectively reduce this perception gap.

In this study, the classic perception value theory of commercial theory was introduced into the field of transportation to explore the decision-making mechanism of subway travelers under the incentive of peak avoidance fare in Beijing, which is helpful to reveal the psychological black box that induces changes of travelers behavior and to provide a theoretical framework and empirical reference to the improvement of the behavioral response effect of subway demand adjustment policies.

Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice is the top international journal in the field of transportation research, with an impact factor of 3.992. It is the three-star journal of ABS (Association of British Business Schools) and the four-star journal of ABDC (Australian School of Business Deans Council). The first author of the thesis is Wang Yu, a Ph.D student at the Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, tutored by Professor Wang Yacan. Wang Yu has published three SSCI papers, among which, one was published on Transportation Research, Part A and one on Transportation Research, Part F. The research collaborators also include Professor Dick Ettema from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Associate Professor Mao Zidan from Sun Yat-sen University and Professor Samuel G. Charlton from the University of Waikato in New Zealand.  

This research is the crystallization of the sincere cooperation of the international scientific research cooperation team lead by Professor Wang Yacan of our school. In recent years, by making full use of the unique scientific research advantages of our school, introducing a large number of top international experts, reasonably using the advantages and expertise of team members, Professor Wang has created an elite scientific research team with pioneering ability and international vision and has achieved fruitful scientific research results.