Pursuing Higher Acceptability and Compliance For Electri 2023 Transportation

Transportation Research Part A 167 (2023) 103557
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Transportation Research Part A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tra
Pursuing higher acceptability and compliance for electric

two-wheeler standardization policy in China: The importance of
socio-demographic characteristics, psychological factors, and
travel habits
Xintong Li a, c, Chunyang Han b, *, Helai Huang a, Amjad Pervez a, Guangming Xu a,
Cheng Hu a, Qianshan Jiang a, Yulu Wei a
a
School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Smart Transport Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha
410075, China
b
Department of Automation, Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
c
Shenzhen Urban Transport Planning Center Co., Ltd, Shenzhen 518057, China
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: To improve non-motorized traffic safety, electric two-wheelers (ETWs) standardization policies
Non-motorized traffic management have been recently introduced in some major Chinese cities. However, their mandatory nature
Electric two-wheeler standardization policy raises concerns about their public acceptability and intention of compliance. This study aims to
Public acceptability
investigate the factors influencing users’ acceptability and intended behavioral reaction to the
Intended behavioral reactions
two major types of ETW standardization policy schemes in the Mainland, China. Based on the
Value-Belief-Norm Theory combined with policy-specific perceptions, a Structural Equation
Model (SEM) was proposed to analyze the determinants of users’ acceptability under each policy
scheme. Furthermore, a Multinomial Logit (MNL) model was applied in each scheme to identify
key factors affecting users’ decisions on their compliance behaviors. To achieve these objectives, a
sample of 830 responses was collected from China using a questionnaire survey. The results of the
SEM showed an identical psychological mechanism of acceptability in the two schemes. In the
mechanism, factors regarding policy-specific perceptions were strong direct determinants of
policy acceptability, and perceived policy effectiveness was affected by general environmental
beliefs. The MNL model’s estimation revealed similar findings for the two schemes: higher levels
of acceptability and household income increase users’ propensity to engage in compliance be
haviors, whereas higher levels of education and frequent use of ETWs reduce it. However, there
exists one significant difference between the two schemes as well. The positive effect of the
acceptability on intended compliance behaviors in the high and low-income groups would only be
equal in a scheme that provides a subsidy. The findings can help improve public acceptability and
social compliance, resulting in greater policy effectiveness.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sandiant@foxmail.com (C. Han).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.11.017
Received 13 September 2021; Received in revised form 13 November 2022; Accepted 26 November 2022
Available online 8 December 2022
0965-8564/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Li et al. Transportation Research Part A 167 (2023) 103557
1. Introduction
Electric two-wheelers (ETWs), generally referred to as electrically assisted two-wheelers, are regarded as energy-efficient and
environment-friendly alternatives to fossil-fueled vehicles (Brand et al., 2013; Fisherman and Cherry, 2015; Pielecha et al., 2015). In
addition, ETWs offer convenience, flexible mobility, and accessibility to the users (Langford et al., 2013; Şimşekoğlu and Klöckner,
2019). The commercially available ETWs generally include electric bicycles (e-bikes) and mopeds (e-mopeds). The former is equipped
with bicycle pedals, whereas the latter is solely electric-powered and can reach speeds higher than e-bikes using motor assistance.
The growing deployment of ETWs has raised safety concerns worldwide. The higher speed of e-mopeds increases the road speed
deviation, induces risk-taking behaviors among riders, and causes frequent traffic conflicts (Bai et al., 2017; Leyva et al., 2018;
Schepers et al., 2014; Twisk et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2019). E-mopeds use bicycle lanes alongside slower-moving bicycles and pe
destrians, making them particularly dangerous to vulnerable road users (Siman-Tov et al., 2017). In addition, compared to the e-bikes,
scooter-style e-mopeds were found to increase the likelihood of concussion injury by three times and that of fracture injury by almost
one and a half times (DiMaggio et al., 2020). The facts mentioned above provide evidence of the alarming safety risks related to e-
mopeds.
Due to the safety concerns, governments in many countries have taken measures to manage the use of e-mopeds. For example,
many European countries have constructed an exclusive lane to isolate the e-mopeds flow from other types of vehicles (Twisk et al.,
2021). In the US, Geofencing technology has been applied to warn riders of scooter-style e-mopeds to slow down or stop in certain
areas (City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, 2019). However, these countermeasures require people to have a high level of self-
discipline. The effectiveness faces a huge uncertainty when applying them to regions with a high population density and large ETWs
market. Thus, the possibility of these countermeasures having a strong group effect is not guaranteed.
In China, ETWs ownership has exceeded 300 million, which will continue to increase with a predicted annual average sale of about
30 million before 2025 (Navigant Research, 2016). Scooter-style e-mopeds have a dominant share of the Chinese market (Fisherman
and Cherry, 2015). With such a huge and growing market, improving ETWs traffic safety has become a significant challenge for the
Chinese government. In 2018, China updated its national standard for the speed, weight, motor capacity, and other parameters of
ETWs (Safety Technical Specification for Electric Two-Wheeler, 2018: after this, referred to as the “New National Standards”). At the
same time, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has promulgated a set of policy instruments (Notice on Strengthening the Man
agement of Electric Vehicles, 2018). This policy requires people to use ETWs that conform to the New National Standards and is thus
named the “ETW standardization policy”.
In the current market of China, there are two primary types of ETWs, including electric bicycles with bicycle pedals and scooter-
style electric mopeds (as shown in Fig. 1). As shown in Table 1, the e-moped has a higher weight and stronger motor assistance, which
enable it to accelerate up to 60 Km/h (Fyhri et al., 2019). According to the New National Standards, e-mopeds are classified as illegal
ETWs. After implementing the ETW standardization policy, illegal ETWs users are obliged to either buy the electric bicycles that
conform to the New National Standards (defined as legal ETWs) or shift to other travel modes.
The ETW standardization policy prevents the in-road use of illegal ETWs and is expected as the most effective way to solve the
safety problems in a large market like China. However, the mandatory nature may lead to low public acceptability and even resistance
to the policy. To increase public acceptability, many local authorities in China have adopted schemes that appropriately settle the
transport mode transition process for the policy target group. For example, in many cities (e.g., Beijing and Changsha), a specific time
period (i.e., three years) has been provided to give the users a buffer time to substitute their illegal ETWs into legal ones. Also, during
the specified period, an illegal ETW was permitted to be driven on the road after registration and application for a temporary license
plate (Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, 2018; Provisions on Regulating the Administration of Electric Bicycles in Changsha, 2020).
While in other cities (e.g., Fuzhou), the local authorities have adopted a depreciation subsidy scheme to encourage users to actively
scrap their illegal ETWs. Under this subsidy scheme, the illegal ETWs were banned entirely from in-road use after six months (Fuzhou
Electric Bicycle Management Measures, 2019). In this study, the first form of local policy is defined as “Scheme I”, which provides the
users with a long buffer time to make a substitution. In comparison, the second local policy is defined as “Scheme II”, which provides a
subsidy but only allows a fleeting time for the substitution.
Fig. 1. An electric bicycle and electric moped.
2
Table 1
Parameters of electric bicycles and electric mopeds.
Electric bicycles Electric mopeds
Maximum speed 25 Km/h Maximum speed 60 Km/h

Vehicle quality ≤ 55 Kg Vehicle quality > 40 Kg
Rated continuous output power of the electric motor ≤ 400 W Rated continuous output power of the electric motor > 400 W
Maximum battery output voltage ≤ 48 V Maximum battery output voltage ≤ 72 V
The ETW standardization policy is a mandatory Travel Demand Management (TDM) policy in terms of its strategy that aims to
restrict the illegal ETWs from the demand side. Users’ attitudes and intended responses towards policies are deemed important factors
affecting the effectiveness of the TDM policies (Eriksson et al., 2008). Moreover, since the difference in psychological states, policy
perceptions, lifestyles, and social backgrounds affects how users mentally and behaviorally react to a policy, it is reasonable to
speculate that the acceptability and intended compliance are highly related to the users’ socio-demographic and psychological
characteristics. Thus, a thorough understanding of the key factors affecting users’ acceptability and intended compliance is essential
for policymakers to formulate a more appropriate policy and achieve higher policy effectiveness.
The public acceptability and compliance with TDM policies have long been a hot topic. However, most of the TDM-related research
focuses on policies that manage private car use, including road pricing (Bueno et al., 2017; Milenković et al., 2019; Nordfjærn and
Rundmo, 2015; Schade and Schlag, 2003; Sun et al., 2016), fossil fuel tax-raising (Eriksson et al., 2008) and license plate restrictions
(Jia et al., 2017; Luo et al., 2022). There has been scant research focusing on the policies managing non-motor vehicle usage. To fill this
gap, the present study investigates the effects of users’ socio-demographic characteristics, psychological factors, and travel habits on
their acceptability and intended compliance with the ETW standardization policy. The role of acceptability in the intended compliance
is also explored. Moreover, the influential factors in the two different local policies (Scheme I and II) are compared to reveal whether
users have similar reaction patterns when they face different acting mechanisms. Findings under this distinct TDM policy context will
contribute to policymakers’ guidance in cultivating a sound basis of public support for non-motorized safety management.
In this study, a questionnaire survey is conducted to collect the data reflecting users’ socio-demographic characteristics, psycho
logical factors, travel habits, attitudes, and future decisions regarding the policy. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is employed for
each scheme to investigate the influential factors of users’ acceptability of the policy. A Multinomial Logit (MNL) model is then applied
to identify key factors contributing to their intended behavioral responses to the policy. Finally, the potential implications of the model
estimation results are discussed, and suggestions about how to enhance the public acceptability and the associated behavioral
compliance are provided.
2. Literature review
In existing studies (Verhoef et al., 1997; Eriksson et al., 2008; Odeck and Bråthen, 2008; Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015; Luo et al.,
2022), psychological factors and personal background features are often regarded as important influencers for policy acceptability.
Psychological factors generally include general environmental beliefs and policy perceptions. The former represents a person’s original
values and beliefs, which do not change with the policy implementation, while the latter represents users’ perceived effectiveness,
fairness, and freedom toward the policy (Eriksson et al., 2006; Stern et al., 1999). Studies have confirmed that both general envi
ronmental beliefs and policy perceptions significantly affect users’ acceptability of a certain policy (Jakobsson et al., 2000; Joireman
et al., 2001; Ittner et al., 2003; Schade and Schlag, 2003). Eriksson et al. (2006) first proposed a hierarchical model where people’s
policy perceptions were found to be influenced by their general environmental beliefs. This hierarchical relationship showed good
performance in explaining the psychological mechanism of acceptability of road pricing policy.
Based on the hierarchical model framework, Eriksson et al. (2008) compared the psychological mechanism of the acceptability of
push (raising oil tax) and pull measures (improving public transport). The findings revealed that push and pull measures had their
respective direct determinants of acceptability. For instance, personal norms directly affect acceptability in push measures, while
problem awareness function as a direct determinant in pull measures. In addition to the general environmental beliefs and policy
perceptions, some other psychological factors were recently found to contribute to policy acceptability. Nordfjærn and Rundmo (2015)
found that people’s priorities on transport-related considerations and resistance to change directly affect their acceptability of road
pricing. Sun et al. (2016) argued that users’ stronger social norms and behavioral control could help increase their acceptability for
road pricing policy by increasing their perceived policy effectiveness.
Studies on some other TDM policies reported a similar psychological mechanism of acceptability. In Eriksson et al. (2008), re
lationships between the underlying psychological factors of oil tax-raising acceptability were the same as that of road pricing. License
plate restriction (LPR) policy is a globally implemented TDM policy that allocates the daily road use for motor vehicles. Jia et al. (2017)
found that perceived effectiveness, social norms, attribution of responsibility, problem perception, and perceived cost-benefit were
essential for the acceptability of LPR policy in Tianjin, China. Luo et al. (2022) proved that policy cognition and perceived value were
important influencers for LPR acceptability. These findings indicate a similar pattern of formulating higher acceptability for policies
with mandatory nature. In this pattern, both general environmental beliefs and policy perceptions are essential elements for increasing
acceptability, with policy perceptions affected by general environmental beliefs.
Regarding whether the policy acceptability depends on personal background features (e.g., socio-demographic factors and travel
habits), no consistent conclusions have far been reached. Verhoef et al. (1997) found that higher-income users were more willing to
3
accept road pricing, while other studies failed to find this association (Harrington et al., 2001; Odeck and Bråthen, 2008; Rienstra et al.,
1999). Age is usually reported to be insignificant in shaping users’ acceptability (Jakobsson et al., 2000; Rienstra et al., 1999; Schade
and Schlag, 2003). However, Jaensirisak et al. (2005) found that older age contributes to lower acceptability of road pricing, pre
sumably because elder people are more resistant to new ideas of policy initiatives. Some other demographic characteristics, such as
gender and education, have also been found to be important for the acceptability of TDM policies (e.g., Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015;
Odeck and Bråthen, 2008).
More than merely an attitude, public acceptability has been found to influence users’ behaviors. Cools et al. (2011) empirically
analyzed the relationship between road pricing acceptability and travel behavior changes and found that higher acceptability facil
itated users to adopt environment-friendly travel behaviors. Jia et al. (2017) found a significant correlation between commuters’
acceptance of the LPR policy and private car use reduction. The findings of these studies uncovered the essential role of public
acceptability in promoting the societal behavioral transition toward the direction of policy goals.
3. Methodology
3.1. Analytical framework
This study aims to investigate the effects of users’ socio-demographic characteristics, psychological factors, and travel habits on
their acceptability and intended compliance with the ETW standardization policy. The overall analytical framework of this study is
displayed in Fig. 2, and the detail of each component is explained in the following paragraphs.
The Value-Belief-Norm Theory with policy-specific perceptions (expanded VBN theory for simplicity) proposed by Eriksson et al.
(2006) is used as the basis to analyze the influential factors of acceptability. This theory has been widely used in the studies of public
acceptability of a series of TDM policies (Cools et al., 2011; Eriksson et al., 2008; Liu, Lucas and Marsden, 2019; Sun et al., 2016). The
expanded VBN theory uses a two-stage hierarchical chain to illustrate the psychological mechanism behind policy acceptability. In this
chain, users’ general environmental beliefs and policy perceptions are assumed to either directly influence the acceptability of a policy
or indirectly do so through other factors within the chain (the details can be seen in Eriksson et al., 2006).
However, the ETW standardization policy differs from other TDM policies in terms of its implementation objectives and acting
Fig. 2. Analytical framework used in this study.
4
mechanism. The ETW standardization policy aims to improve non-motorized traffic safety by taking strict measures to restrict the
demand side. Its effectiveness relies significantly on government enforcement. This is distinct from most TDM policies, which focus on
private car users and emphasize economic interventions as the best means of demand management. Therefore, the effects and re
lationships of some factors within the VBN theory adopted in this study may vary from those used in previous TDM policy research.
For example, in VBN theory, the term “problem awareness” refers to the awareness of the adverse consequences of not reducing
private car use (Eriksson et al., 2008; Sun et al., 2016). However, the awareness of ETW-related traffic safety issues should be probed in
the context of the ETW standardization policy. In addition, the VBN theory argues that the activation of “personal norms” and the
existence of “social norms” are prerequisites of the willingness to act on “pro-social” or “pro-environmental” behaviors. The activation
of “personal norms” requires individuals to have a robust pro-environmental orientation. While for the ETW standardization policy,
the target is to improve the users’ safety. The electric two-wheeler itself is a kind of eco-friendly transport mode. Therefore, in this
study, “social norms” are incorporated into the model instead of “personal norms”.
The first part (at the top) of Fig. 2 displays the psychological mechanism of users’ acceptability. Following the expanded VBN
theory, the general environmental beliefs are linked to the policy perceptions, which are connected with the public acceptability
towards the policy. According to the current study’s adjustment to the original theoretical framework, the factor “safety problem
awareness” indicates the extent to which the respondent becomes aware of the severity of safety problems caused by illegal ETWs. The
meanings of other factors in the expanded VBN framework are kept constant. Expressly, “social norms” represent users’ perception of
social pressure. According to Cialdini, Kallgren, and Reno (1991) and Cialdini, Reno, and Kallgren (1990), social norms include
injunctive and descriptive norms. Injunctive norms refer to the respondent’s perception of what others approve or disapprove of, and
descriptive norms refer to the respondent’s perception of whether other users will perform the normative behaviors themselves.
Perceived policy effectiveness refers to the extent to which the respondent thinks the goals of the policy can be reached. Perceived policy
fairness means to what extent the measure is perceived to be fair. Perceived freedom of policy refers to the degree to which users feel that
a policy infringes on their freedom. These three policy-specific perceptions have been found to directly affect users’ acceptability of a
particular policy (Eriksson et al., 2008; Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015; Nordlund et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2016). Moreover, socio-de
mographic factors, including age, gender, education level, and income, may also be relevant to a certain degree to which a person
accepts the policy (Jaensirisak et al., 2005; Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015; Odeck and Bråthen, 2008; Verhoef et al., 1997).
The second part (in the middle) of Fig. 2 shows the factors that may affect users’ decisions on behavioral responses to the policy.
The level of acceptability is one of the main predictors. Specifically, this study assumes that a higher level of acceptability positively
affects users’ decision-making regarding compliance behaviors. Socio-demographic factors and individual travel characteristics are
also influential factors in users’ decision-making process (Bamberg et al., 2003; Guo et al., 2018; Guo et al., 2020).
In the third part (bottom of Fig. 2), a comparative analysis of users’ acceptability, future decisions, and underlying contributing
factors in the two policy schemes is conducted. In light of the existing literature (Choocharukul et al., 2006; Eriksson et al., 2008; Jia
et al., 2017), the effects of the factors on acceptability and behavioral reaction may vary between policy schemes due to the differences
in their acting mechanisms. This may further introduce differences in users’ psychological and behavioral responses. The investigation
of these disparities can provide insight into which scheme is better suited to a specific set of individuals and can also assist in better
understanding the relationships between factors and users’ attitudes towards the policy.
3.2. Analytical methods
3.2.1. Structural equation modeling

As shown in Fig. 3, a socio-psychological model representing the relationships between users’ psychological and socio-
demographic factors related to the ETW standardization policy is developed (the full form of the abbreviations is shown in the
Notes). It is posited that ETW users’ safety problem awareness and social norms have a positive relationship with their perceived effec
tiveness of the policy (Hypothesis 1 and 2). This is inspired by previous studies (Eriksson et al., 2006; Eriksson et al., 2008; Sun et al.,
2016), where the factors representing the general environmental beliefs of users were found to have a positive relationship with their
perceived effectiveness of a particular policy. Also, earlier research (Bamberg and Rölle, 2003; Eriksson et al., 2006; Ittner et al., 2003;
Sun et al., 2016) has demonstrated that a policy would be viewed as fairer if it is perceived to be effective and has less infringement on
individual freedom. Thus, it is postulated that both perceived effectiveness and perceived freedom are positively related to perceived
fairness (Hypothesis 3 and 4). These three factors regarding policy perceptions are posited to be positively associated with users’
acceptability (Hypothesis 5, 6, and 7) (Eriksson et al., 2008; Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015; Nordlund et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2016).
Also, socio-demographic factors, including age, gender, education level, and income, are hypothesized to affect users’ acceptability
(Hypothesis 8–11). Table 2 summarizes the abovementioned hypotheses.
The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach is employed to investigate the effects of the latent factors. The SEM has been
widely used to explain the endogeneity effects among variables by analyzing the relationships between the exogenous, endogenous,
interaction, and intervening constructs (Hair et al., 2011; Hair et al., 2014). A SEM model commonly consists of the measurement
model and the structural model. The measurement model expresses the correspondence between latent variables and their indicators.
In this study, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to evaluate the extent to which the latent variables (safety problem
awareness, social norms, perceived effectiveness, perceived fairness, perceived freedom, and acceptability) are composited by their corre
sponding observable indicators. The structural model expresses the relationships between exogenous and endogenous latent variables.
The path analysis method is applied to explore the effects of exogenous latent variables on endogenous latent variables. The estimable
path coefficient quantifies the degree of impact.
It should be noted that the hypothesized model in Fig. 3 can be adopted in a specific policy scheme only if it shows an acceptable
5
Fig. 3. Hypothesized model for the acceptability of ETW standardization policies Notes: SN: Social norms; SPA: Safety problem awareness; PFR:
Perceived freedom; PFA: Perceived fairness; PE: Perceived effectiveness; ACC: Acceptability.
Table 2
Summary of the hypotheses regarding the socio-psychological mechanism of the acceptability of the ETW standardization
policy.
Hypothesis Description
H1 Safety problem awareness positively relates to the perceived effectiveness of the policy.
H2 Social norms positively relate to the perceived effectiveness of the policy.
H3 Perceived effectiveness positively relates to the perceived fairness of the policy.
H4 Perceived freedom positively relates to the perceived fairness of the policy.
H5 Perceived effectiveness positively relates to the acceptability of the policy.
H6 Perceived fairness positively relates to the acceptability of the policy.
H7 Perceived freedom positively relates to the acceptability of the policy.
H8 Age affects users’ acceptability of the policy.
H9 Gender affects users’ acceptability of the policy.
H10 The education level affects users’ acceptability of the policy.
H11 The income level affects users’ acceptability of the policy.
data fitting performance in that scheme. Otherwise, modifications are needed to rebuild the model. If the models adopted in different
schemes have consistent structures, a multiple-group analysis can be conducted to examine whether the effects of a specific factor on
another factor vary between schemes. The overall SEM analyses were carried out with IBM SPSS AMOS 24 software.
3.2.2. Multinomial logit model

A multinomial logit model was built to investigate the effects of the users’ policy acceptability and other factors on their intended
behaviors in response to the policy. The probability of a person n choosing the decision i is expressed as:
( )
Pn (i) = P Uni ≥ Unj (3-1)
where Uni and Unj are utility functions of the choices i and j, respectively. i and j are included in a set of available choices with a total of
I. In general, the utility function is defined as a linear-in-parameters form and can be expressed as:
Uni = βi Xni + εni (3-2)
where Xni represents a vector of explanatory variables,βi is a vector of estimable coefficients, and εni denotes the random error term
representing unobservable impacts on decision outcomes. If εni is assumed to follow a Gumbel type 1 distribution, then the probability
of person n making the decision i can be expressed as:
exp(βi Xni )
Pni |βi = ∑I (3-3)
i=1 exp(βi X ni )
6
where I is the set of all available decision choices for person n.

When facing the ETW standardization policy, users generally have four options in response to the policy. The options are: (1)
opposing the regulations and continuing to use the illegal ETWs (non-compliance decision); (2) complying with the regulations by
substituting illegal ETWs into legal ones that conform to the standard after the given buffer time (purchasing after buffer time); (3)
complying with the regulations by immediately substituting illegal ETWs into legal ones that conform to the standard (purchasing a
legal ETW); and (4) abandoning the use of ETW and switch to other transport modes, such as a private car or public transport
(switching to other travel modes). In this study, the non-compliance decision is referred to as the base case.
According to Jaccard (2001), exp(βi ) is defined as the odds ratio of an explanatory variable. The odds ratio reflects a multiplying
constant by which the odds of the outcome decision are predicted to change, given a one-unit change in the explanatory variable.
The parameters of the proposed MNL model are estimated using the maximum likelihood approach with Stata 15.1 software. The
Akaike information criterion (AIC) that has been widely used in previous studies (Fabozzi et al., 2014) was estimated to assess the data
fitting performance of the MNL models.
3.3. Questionnaire design
A questionnaire survey approach is used to collect information on ETW users’ socio-demographic characteristics, psychological
factors and their possible acceptability and decisions regarding the ETW standardization policy. Among all the ETW users, those who
(and whose families) own an e-moped (illegal ETW) are the target group of this investigation.
The questionnaire was designed based on an extensive review of the existing literature and the results of pre-conducted discussions.
Before the formal survey, three pretests were conducted with 50 e-moped users. The purpose of the pilot studies was threefold: (1)
check the clarity of the questions; (2) collect information about the proportion of illegal ETW users; and (3) collect information about
the distribution of level of acceptability and decision choices. Results of the pilot studies indicated a high percentage of illegal ETW
users (over 90%). Surprisingly, the respondents reported a high degree of acceptability and intended compliance towards the policy,
with a proportion of supportive attitudes over 40% and stated compliance decisions over 90% in both schemes. It may be because of the
introduction of buffer time and depreciation subsidy that reduces users’ feelings of loss. In order to help the respondents easily un
derstand the policy, a detailed description of the policy mechanisms was provided before answering questions in the final
questionnaire.
The final questionnaire inquires the ETW users about: (1) the information of their ETW that is currently in use (to check whether the
respondents were within the investigation target group); (2) their psychological characteristics (note that indicators regarding policy
perceptions and acceptability need to be measured in two schemes mimicking different policy mechanisms); (3) their socio-
demographic characteristics; (4) their daily travel characteristics; and (5) their possible decision responding to the policy. Re
spondents must answer these questions under two schemes mimicking different policy mechanisms. Specifically, in the Scheme I, all
the ETWs violating the New National Standards will be prohibited from in-road use after a 3-years buffer time from the day of policy
implementation. During the three years, users can only use ETWs that do not conform with the New National Standards after regis
tering a temporary license plate. No subsidies will be offered for the registration and substitution. In the Scheme II, all the ETWs
violating the New National Standards will be prohibited after six months. A subsidy that is proportional to the remaining service life of
the illegal ETW currently in use will be provided.1 Table 3 displays the measurement indicators of the psychological factors (i.e., latent
constructs in Fig. 3). All the indicators were measured with a 5-point Likert-type scale.
3.4. Procedure and sample
The internet-based survey has been widely used in social and economic research due to its advantage of effective nationwide
surveys (Hassan and Abdel-Aty, 2011; Zhao et al., 2021). This study also conducted an internet-based survey using the Wenjuanxing
(https://www.wjx.cn/) platform. The platform provides services for identifying the appropriate respondents, questionnaire distri
bution, and data collection. A cross-sectional self-completion questionnaire was sent out to the respondents from 34 provincial
administrative regions in the Mainland, China, between May 25, 2020, to July 25, 2020. To minimize respondents’ concerns about
information leakage and the potential biases created by their concerns, before beginning to answer, each platform investigator was
obliged (if the website link was supplied directly to the respondents) to explain the survey’s purpose and confidentiality pledge. A
cover letter with these statements was also included at the beginning of the questionnaire. The questionnaire, on average, took about
eight minutes to complete.
In the survey, ETW users from Mainland China who were over sixteen years old were eligible for participation (in China, people
under the age of sixteen are not allowed to ride ETWs on the road). Also, the questionnaire link was shared through several social
communication apps, such as QQ and WeChat. Moreover, each respondent received a monetary reward for their participation. It is
worth noting that the questionnaire platform does not have access to the respondents’ personal information dataset. In addition, the
monetary rewards were distributed via the social apps that had signed a confidentiality agreement with the authority to protect the
users’ information.
1
In this study, the effect of the amount of the subsidy on acceptability was not investigated. However, in order to avoid the response distortion on
acceptability due to the inconsistent perception of the subsidy amount, a detailed description of the subsidy allocation was added in the
questionnaire.
7
Table 3
Overview of the measurement indicators of psychological factors.
Factors Measurement indicators References
Safety SPA1: Lack of supervision of illegal ETWs is one of the important causes of traffic jams. Liu, Sheng, Mundorf, Redding
problem awareness SPA2: Lack of supervision of illegal ETWs is one of the important causes of related traffic and Ye (2017)
(SPA) accidents.
SPA3: The uncontrolled growth of illegal ETWs on the road leads to the difficulty of traffic safety
management.
SPA4: If not controlled, current illegal ETWs on the road are serious problems for my family and
me.
Scales 1–5 (1-strongly disagree, 2-mildly disagree, 3-unsure, 4-mildly agree, 5-strongly agree)
Social norms (SN) SN1: My family would support my choice of scrapping illegal ETWs. Olsson et al. (2018)
SN2: My friends would support my choice of scrapping illegal ETWs.
SN3: My family would scrap illegal ETWs.
SN4: My friends would scrap illegal ETWs.
Perceived effectiveness PE1: Do you think the current illegal ETW standardization policy can improve traffic Jia et al. (2017)
(PE) management and improve our citizens’ life quality nowadays?
PE2: Do you think the current illegal ETW standardization policy can improve traffic
management and improve our citizens’ life quality in the future?
Perceived fairness (PFA) PFA1: To what extent do you perceive this policy measure to be fair for you? Eriksson et al. (2008)
PFA2: To what extent do you perceive this policy measure to be fair for the citizens in your
municipality?
Scales 1–5 (1-very unfair, 2-a little unfair, 3-neither fair nor unfair, 4-fairly fair, 5-very fair)
Perceived freedom (PFR) PFR1: To what extent do you perceive illegal ETW standardization policy to affect your freedom Sun et al. (2016)
to choose your travel mode?
PFR2: Would the implementation of this policy make your daily trips more difficult?
Acceptability of the ACC1: Currently, what is your attitude to the ETW standardization policy?Scales 1–5 Jia et al. (2017)
policy (ACC) (1-strongly oppose, 2-mildly oppose, 3-neutral, 4-mildly support, 5-strongly support)
ACC2: If we let you vote, will you vote to cancel the ETW standardization policy?
A total of 1317 respondents filled out the questionnaire. Out of the collected sample, 1080 users have at least one illegal ETW at
home and use it for their daily travel, which accounts for 82% of all the respondents. This proportion is similar to the statistical results
presented by previous research on China’s ETWs market (Fisherman and Cherry, 2015; Weinert et al., 2007a; Weinert et al., 2008).
Two filtering criteria are given: (1) responses where the time spent on each item was less than 2 seconds (Huang et al., 2012), and (2)
individuals with a string of consistent responses equal to or greater than half the length of a single page (Curran, 2016) to ensure that
the pieces of information collected in the responses are valid. As a result, 250 out of the 1080 responses were further excluded from the
sample as they were suspected of being recorded carelessly. A total of 830 responses remained in the final sample (effective rate:
76.85%).
4. Results
4.1. Descriptive analysis
Table 4 displays the descriptive statistics of the respondents’ demographic and travel characteristics. Around 52.8% of the re
spondents were male. The age profile surveyed does not include respondents younger than 16 years old (0% in the sample compared to
18% of the population in China). In addition, respondents aged between 16 and 30 account for 55% (compared to 18%), those aged
between 30 and 40 constitute 30% (compared to 16%), and participants over 40 make up the remaining 15% of the total sample
(compared to 48% of the national population) (National Bureau of Statistics, 2020). A total of 648 respondents (78.1%) have received
higher education (college degree or above). Respondents with driver’s licenses account for 73.1% of the total sample. It was found that
66% of the respondents own at least one private car. Over one-third of the respondents (31.5%) reported a yearly household income of
above 100,000 RMB (USD15,489.5), whereas the per capita yearly disposable income for urban households in the 20% middle-income
group is 35,000 RMB (National Bureau of Statistics, 2020). Compared with the domestic population characteristics, the sample shows a
higher proportion of young people and a higher level of education. However, many existing studies have reported that the majority of
the ETW users in China are aged between 24 and 40 years old, who are either company employees or college students, and earn at a
medium level (Lin et al., 2017; Cherry and Cervero, 2007; Weinert et al., 2007b), which resembles our samples. Hence, the sample
represents the general population reasonably. The percentage of the respondents whose average daily travel distance is less than five
Km is 46%, and that of the distance between five and ten Km is 42.9%. The proportion of the respondents who use e-bikes for five to
seven days per week is 41.4%, whereas 58.6% reported a lower frequency of e-bikes use (fewer than five days per week). A significant
share of the respondents (51.6%) declared that they often travel during rush hours. The respondents’ travel habits align with common
sense that urban residents often use ETWs to travel short and medium distances.
Table 5 displays the proportion of the choices that respondents selected in the survey, which shows what these participants intend
8
Table 4
Respondents’ demographic and traveling characteristics.
Variable Description Frequency Proportion (%)
Individual characteristics
Gender Male 438 52.8
Female 392 47.2
Age group 16–30 456 54.9
31–40 249 30.0
> 40 125 15.1
Education level Junior high school and below 51 6.1
High school/secondary school 131 15.8
College 180 21.7
Bachelor’s degree 342 41.2
Master’s degree and above 126 15.2
Have an automobile driver’s license Yes 607 73.1
No 223 26.9
Household characteristics
Yearly household income (10,000 yuan) <3 131 15.8
3–5 180 21.7
6–10 258 31.1
11–15 155 18.7
> 15 106 12.8
Number of cars owned by the family 0 282 34.0
≥1 548 66.0
Car purchase plan in family Yes 291 35.1
No 539 64.9
Traveling characteristics
Involved in a crash in the past three years Yes 127 15.3
No 703 84.7
ETW use frequency 0–2 days a week 243 29.3
3–4 days a week 243 29.3
5–7 days a week 344 41.4
Average daily travel distance < 5 Km 382 46.0
5–10 Km 356 42.9
> 10 Km 92 11.1
Travel frequency during rush hours Sometimes 402 48.4
Often 428 51.6
Table 5
Proportion of the respondents’ potential future decisions under the policy schemes.
Decision Proportion (%) in Scheme I Proportion (%) in Scheme II
Non-compliance 9.9 8.4

Purchasing a new ETW after the buffer time 33.9 24.8
Purchasing a new ETW 41.2 49.2
Switching to other transport modes 15.1 17.6
to do after the policy implementation. As illustrated in the table, most users tended to substitute their illegal ETWs to comply with the
policy. Notably, in Scheme II, almost half (49.2%) of the respondents selected this option. About one-third of the respondents chose to
substitute their illegal ETWs after the given buffer time in both the schemes (registering a temporary license plate in Scheme I). In
particular, more respondents made this choice in Scheme I (33.9%) than in Scheme II (24.8%). Under both schemes, about one out of
six of the respondents tended to switch to other transport modes. Only a small portion of the respondents (9.9% and 8.4% in Schemes I
and II, respectively) declared non-compliance behavior towards the policy.
Fig. 4(a) illustrates the percentage distribution of the scores recorded by the respondents for the indicators regarding psychological
factors. Approximately 54% of the respondents reported a relatively high score (4 or 5) in problem awareness, which indicates that they
were somewhat conscious of the adverse impact of illegal ETWs on non-motorized traffic safety. The percentage of high-score re
spondents is even higher in indicators regarding social norms (about 76%). The possible reason is that they have high confidence that
their family and friends will support them in discontinuing the use of an illegal ETW. In Scheme I, the proportion of the participants
who support the policy (reported “strongly agree” or “agree”) is nearly 43%, while it is between 56% and 59% in Scheme II. In contrast,
23 to 31% of the respondents oppose the policy implementation (reported “strongly disagree” or “disagree”) in Scheme I.
In comparison, the percentage in Scheme II is between 13% and 21%. The results indicate that Scheme II is more acceptable for
respondents than Scheme I. Also, the overall values of indicators regarding perceived effectiveness, fairness, and freedom are higher in
Scheme II than in Scheme I. As shown in Fig. 4(c), the percentage illustrates a higher tendency for respondents to give high scores in
9
Fig. 4. (a). Distribution of the scores for indicators regarding respondents’ problem awareness and social norms Fig. 4(b). Distribution of the scores
in Scheme I for indicators regarding policy perceptions and acceptability Fig. 4(c). Distribution of the scores in Scheme II for indicators regarding
policy perceptions and acceptability Notes: SN: Social norms; SPA: Safety problem awareness; OPFR: Perceived freedom in Scheme I; OPFA:
Perceived fairness in Scheme I; OPE: Perceived effectiveness in Scheme I; OACC: Acceptability in Scheme I; TPFR: Perceived freedom in Scheme II;
TPFA: Perceived fairness in Scheme II; TPE: Perceived effectiveness in Scheme II; TACC: Acceptability in Scheme II;
indicators of policy perceptions in Scheme II. This indicates that Scheme II is perceived to be more effective, fairer, and has less
freedom infringement than Scheme I for the respondents.
4.2. Analysis of reliability and validity
To verify the reliability and validity of the relationships between observed indicators and latent variables in the model in Fig. 3, a
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. Three indices, namely Outer Loading (OL), Construct Reliability (CR), and Average
Variance Extracted (AVE), are applied to measure the reliability and validity. Specifically, the OL refers to the correlations between the
inner proxy of each latent variable and its indicators. CR refers to an estimate of a latent variable’s internal consistency. The higher the
CR value, the stronger the correlations between indicators regarding the variable. AVE, as a validity index, reflects the interpretation
ability of the observed indicators to the latent variables (Hair et al., 2014). As shown in Table 6, all the indices reach their critical
values. All of the indicators’ OLs are greater than 0.7, their CR values are above 0.6, and their AVE values are higher than 0.5. Overall,
the reported results show acceptable reliability and validity of the relationships between observed indicators and latent variables.
The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was employed to test the existence of the multi-collinearity of the indicators. A VIF value below
5.0 indicates the non-existence of significant multi-collinearity between the indicators (Hair et al., 2011). The VIF test for the current
dataset has values lower than 5.0, indicating no strong multi-collinearity among the variables. Then, the indicator correlations were
10
Fig. 4. (continued).
Table 6
Summary of the confirmatory factor analysis.
Scheme I Scheme II
Factor Indicator Loading CRa AVEb Factor Indicator Loading CRa AVEb
SPA SPA1 0.737 0.872 0.630 SPA SPA1 0.733 0.871 0.630
SPA2 0.843 SPA2 0.842
SPA3 0.834 SPA3 0.838
SPA4 0.755 SPA4 0.755
SN SN1 0.837 0.916 0.734 SN SN1 0.837 0.917 0.734
SN2 0.777 SN2 0.778
SN3 0.943 SN3 0.943
SN4 0.861 SN4 0.861
PE PE1 0.817 0.842 0.728 PE PE1 0.879 0.880 0.786
PE2 0.888 PE2 0.894
PFA PFA1 0.910 0.900 0.819 PFA PFA1 0.886 0.885 0.794
PFA2 0.900 PFA2 0.896
PFR PFR1 0.880 0.717 0.567 PFR PFR1 0.892 0.697 0.549
PFR2 0.600 PFR2 0.549
ACC ACC1 0.921 0.854 0.747 ACC ACC1 0.929 0.866 0.764
ACC2 0.803 ACC2 0.815
Note: a CR = Composite Reliability; b AVE = Average Variance Extracted.
investigated through Pearson’s correlation tests. Table 7 shows Pearson’s correlation coefficients for every-two indicators. As shown in
the table, coefficients between indicators of the same psychological factors are above 0.7, indicating the existence of a high correlation.
In addition, indicators of general environmental beliefs and policy-specific perceptions are significantly correlated with indicators of
acceptability in both schemes. This demonstrates that both general environmental beliefs and policy-specific perceptions positively
relate to acceptability. Indicators of general environmental beliefs are significantly associated with indicators of policy-specific per
ceptions, showing a positive correlation between the factor regarding general environmental beliefs and perceived effectiveness, fairness,
and freedom. Considering the fact that all the factors have significant relationships in the two policy schemes, all of them were included
in the subsequent analysis.
4.3. Structural model test
Four fitness indices, including Chi-square with degrees of freedom (χ 2 /df), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA),
Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), and Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), are employed to test the data fitting performance of the model for each
scheme. The value of χ 2 /df between 1 and 3 indicates a good model fit. The values of CFI and TLI that are greater than 0.9, or the value
of RMSEA that is smaller than 0.05, suggest a good model fit (Bryne, 2001; Nordfjærn and Rundmo, 2015; Sun et al., 2016). The
modification Indices (MIs) in the AMOS-24 output are used as diagnostic statistics, suggesting how to modify the model structure to
improve the model fitting (Bryne, 2001).
The performance of the initial hypothesized model was unacceptable (in the Scheme I model, χ 2 = 529.911, df = 140, χ 2 /df =
11
Table 7
Correlations between the indicators of the psychological factors in the hypothesized model (coefficients of Scheme II are in brackets).
1.PE1 2.PE2 3.PFA1 4.PFA2 5.PFR1 6.PFR2 7.ACC1 8.ACC2
1.PE1 –
2.PE2 0.727 (0.786) –
3.PFA1 0.551 (0.692) 0.483(0.683) –
4.PFA2 0.572 (0.681) 0.549 (0.685) 0.819 (0.794) –
5.PFR1 0.554 (0.585) 0.518 (0.585) 0.585 (0.619) 0.570 (0.618) –
6.PFR2 0.364 (0.342) 0.312 (0.361) 0.407 (0.386) 0.334 (0.339) 0.529 (0.492) –
7.ACC1 0.586 (0.680) 0.586 (0.698) 0.680 (0.695) 0.666 (0.724) 0.621 (0.672) 0.471 (0.416) –
8.ACC2 0.550 (0.604) 0.550 (0.624) 0.564 (0.600) 0.556 (0.614) 0.554 (0.595) 0.387 (0.360) 0.740 (0.757) –
9.SPA1 0.400 (0.358) 0.363 (0.377) 0.304 (0.326) 0.360 (0.332) 0.347 (0.341) 0.148 (0.115) 0.389 (0.356) 0.340 (0.309)
10.SPA2 0.358 (0.322) 0.333 (0.363) 0.270 (0.348) 0.326 (0.336) 0.310 (0.314) 0.199 (0.175) 0.356 (0.330） 0.292 (0.286)
11.SPA3 0.368 (0.364) 0.355 (0.396) 0.299 (0.351) 0.295 (0.341) 0.312 (0.356) 0.205 (0.209) 0.373 (0.392) 0.342 (0.377)
12.SPA4 0.382 (0.347) 0.390 (0.419) 0.310 (0.330) 0.340 (0.335) 0.313 (0.353) 0.230 (0.196) 0.369(0.406) 0.329 (0.345)
13.SN1 0.342 (0.348) 0.308 (0.359) 0.241 (0.338) 0.281 (0.339) 0.305 (0.353) 0.222 (0.271) 0.322 (0.342) 0.298 (0.328)
14.SN2 0.318 (0.339) 0.326 (0.388) 0.237 (0.319) 0.277 (0.341) 0.284 (0.332) 0.240 (0.216) 0.306 (0.341) 0.276 (0.310)
15.SN3 0.375 (0.382) 0.356 (0.400) 0.261 (0.362) 0.279 (0.353) 0.371 (0.414) 0.250 (0.280) 0.327 (0.376) 0.313 (0.370)
16.SN4 0.352 (0.364) 0.345 (0.386) 0.249 (0.340) 0.263 (0.353) 0.337 (0.356) 0.255 (0.274) 0.296 (0.363) 0.300 (0.370)
9.SPA1 10.SPA2 11.SPA3 12.SPA4 13.SN1 14.SN2 15.SN3 16.SN4

9.SPA1 –
10.SPA2 0.640 –
11.SPA3 0.590 0.713 –
12.SPA4 0.556 0.621 0.634 –
13.SN1 0.333 0.428 0.460 0.362 –
14.SN2 0.280 0.393 0.405 0.378 0.800 –
15.SN3 0.323 0.394 0.412 0.384 0.790 0.734 –
16.SN4 0.292 0.366 0.379 0.394 0.709 0.739 0.815 –
Note: All Correlations are significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed); PE: Perceived effectiveness; PFA: Perceived fairness; PFR: Perceived freedom; SPA:
Safety problem awareness; SN: Social norm; ACC: Acceptability.
3.785, RMSEA = 0.058, CFI = 0.959, and TLI = 0.944; in the Scheme II model, χ 2 = 526.159, df = 140, χ 2 /df = 3.758, RMSEA =
0.058, and TLI = 0.948). According to the modification indices (MI), a direct path was added from perceived freedom to perceived
effectiveness. Then, the re-specified model reported an acceptable fit value to the data (χ 2 = 337.288, df = 139, χ 2 /df = 2.427,
RMSEA = 0.041, CFI = 0.979, and TLI = 0.971 in Scheme I model, and χ 2 = 295.512, df=139, χ 2 /df = 2.126, RMSEA = 0.037,
CFI = 0.984, and TLI = 0.978 in Scheme II model). The final model explains 78.8% of the variance in acceptability in Scheme I (R2 =
0.788), and 81.1% of the variance in acceptability in Scheme II (R2 = 0.811). The good data fitting performances of the two models
imply that the final model accurately represents the user’s psychological mechanisms of policy acceptability for both schemes.
Fig. 5 (a) and (b) show the final models for the two policy schemes. The solid (or dashed) line between two variables indicates a
significant(insignificant) association between the two factors. The path coefficients by the line indicate the corresponding degree of the
effect. The relationships between the psychological factors are similar in the two scheme models. Specifically, the three policy
perception factors, including perceived effectiveness, fairness, and freedom, show a positive effect on acceptability. These three factors
explain a large proportion of the variance in user’s acceptability in the two scheme models (78.8% for the Scheme I model and 81.1%
for the Scheme II model). This supports the hypotheses (Hypothesis 5, 6, and 7) and aligns with our common sense that the policy
would be more acceptable when users believe that the policy could perform as per their expectations of effectiveness, fairness, and
freedom.
The figures also illustrate the relationships among the psychological factors affecting acceptability. The positive effects of safety
problem awareness and social norm on the perceived effectiveness support Hypothesis 1 and 2. Also, perceived freedom has a positive effect
on perceived effectiveness, indicating that the more freedom users perceive the policy to have, the greater its perceived effectiveness.
This goes beyond our hypotheses and is distinct from previous research (this new finding will be discussed in detail in section 5.4)
(Bamberg and Rölle, 2003; Eriksson et al., 2006; Ittner et al., 2003; Sun et al., 2016). These three factors account for more than half of
the variance in users’ perceived effectiveness (56.4% for Scheme I and 58.3% for Scheme II). According to the Hypotheses 3 and 4,
perceived fairness is positively influenced by perceived effectiveness and perceived freedom, and they explain 58.5% and 78.9% of the
variances of perceived fairness in the two schemes, respectively. The positive impact of users’ safety problem awareness on perceived policy
effectiveness indicates that users who are aware of the serious safety problem caused by illegal ETWs are more confident in the
effectiveness of the policy. This sense of assurance can also stem from users’ trust in their relatives and friends, who tend to support
their opposition to illegal ETWs, as social norms are also important determinants of the perceived policy effectiveness.
Most of the findings regarding the effects of socio-demographic factors on the acceptability do not support Hypotheses 8 to 11. In
the Scheme I model, only household income has a significant negative effect on the users’ policy acceptance. It implies that users with
higher household incomes are less likely to accept Scheme I. This finding indicates that there is no significant difference in the policy’s
acceptability across various demographic subgroups of ETW users. Similar results have been found in studies of other transportation-
related policies (Harrington et al., 2001; Jakobsson et al., 2000; Odeck and Bråthen, 1997; Rienstra et al., 1999; Schade and Schlag,
12
Fig. 5. (a). Final model for acceptability of ETW standardization policy (Scheme I) Fig. 5(b). Final model for acceptability of ETW standardization
policy (Scheme II) Notes: (1) SN: Social norm; SPA: Safety problem awareness; PFR: Perceived freedom; PFA: Perceived fairness; PE: Perceived
effectiveness; ACC: Acceptability Paths in dashed lines indicate insignificant relationships.
2003).
To further assess the significance of the selected factors for acceptability, the combined effect of each variable was calculated. A
variable’s direct and indirect effects are added up to form its overall effect. The coefficient of the direct link between two latent
Table 8
Direct, indirect, and total effects on the acceptability.
Effects SPA SN PE PFA PFR Household income
Scheme I
Direct effects on ACC 0 0 0.372 0.341 0.282 − 0.056
Indirect effects on ACC 0.119 0.041 0.129 0 0.436 0
Total effects on ACC 0.119 0.041 0.502 0.341 0.718 − 0.056
Scheme II
Direct effects on ACC 0 0 0.324 0.324 0.322 0
Indirect effects on ACC 0.104 0.040 0.211 0 0.420 0
Total effects on ACC 0.104 0.040 0.535 0.324 0.742 0
Note: PE: Perceived effectiveness; PFA: Perceived fairness; PFR: Perceived freedom; SPA: Safety problem awareness; SN: Social norm; ACC:
Acceptability.
13
variables (which is 0 if there is no direct link) serves as a proxy for the direct effect, and the coefficients of all the links that make up the
path between two variables are multiplied to determine the indirect effect. As shown in Table 8, the contributing effects of the variables
in the two policy schemes are comparable. As shown in the table, users’ perceived freedom and effectiveness are the most important
factors contributing to their acceptability.
Furthermore, comparing the effects of the selected psychological factors across the two schemes can help to better understand the
differences between the two schemes’ mechanisms in affecting users’ acceptance of the policy. A multiple-group analysis was per
formed to evaluate the path coefficients’ consistency between the schemes. Based on the constructed model forms in Fig. 5, an un
constrained model (i.e., no coefficients are constrained to be equal across schemes) was first examined. For both schemes, the results
showed an acceptable data fitting performance (χ 2 = 632.8, df = 278, χ 2 /df = 2.276, RMSEA = 0.028, CFI = 0.982, and TLI =
0.975) (Kline, 2016). Consequently, a cross-scheme equality constraint is imposed each time on one direct path between two factors
(constrained model). The χ 2 difference test is then used to compare the relative fitness of the constrained and unconstrained models. A
significant statistic in the χ 2 difference test indicates a poorer model fit compared to the unconstrained model, implying that the
corresponding path coefficient (factor effect) should not be treated as equal in the two schemes (Kline, 2016). The results showed a
significant scheme difference in the effects of perceived effectiveness on perceived fairness (χ 2 = 15.643,df = 1,p < 0.05) and the effects
of perceived freedom on perceived fairness (χ 2 = 4.382,df = 1,p < 0.05). As shown in Fig. 5, the coefficient of the path between perceived
effectiveness and perceived fairness in the Scheme II model is greater than that in Scheme I model, and the coefficient of the path between
perceived freedom and perceived fairness path in the Scheme I model is higher than that in the Scheme II model. This indicates that users’
perceived effectiveness has a stronger influence on their fairness perception in the Scheme II, whereas perceived freedom strongly in
fluences fairness in Scheme I. However, we should note that the difference in the effects of perceived effectiveness and perceived freedom
between the two schemes is difficult to explain solely based on the current survey data, and exploring the effects among psychological
factors is not the primary focus of the present study.
4.4. The role of acceptability on future decisions - the multinomial logit regression result
This section examined how users’ acceptability, socio-demographic characteristics, and travel habits affect their decisions
regarding the policy. The multinomial logit model was employed to investigate the two policy schemes. The potential explanatory
variables in the model include factors reflecting respondents’ policy acceptability, demographic variables (i.e., gender and age),
household characteristics (i.e., annual household income), and travel habits (i.e., e-bike use frequency). Through the survey, data for
each variable was collected. The mean scores of the two measurement indicators for acceptability, which were generated to be
continuous, served as the respondents’ level of acceptability (ACC).
All explanatory variables were initially mean-centered and screened in terms of their significant influence on decisions. Only the
variables with significance at the 90% confidence level were retained in the model. In the subsequent analysis, the ACC variable was
mean-centered and named CACC. To facilitate the interpretation of the variables’ effects, education and household income were con
verted into binary variables (i.e., education: 0 = not having a college degree, 1 = having a college degree or above; household income: 0
= annual household income below 100,000 RMB, 1 = annual household income of 100,000 RMB and above). The variable ETW use
frequency (ebufr) was mean-centered.
A non-interaction model was estimated to determine each variable’s main effect (basic model). However, since the provision of
economic incentives distinguishes the two policy schemes, it was assumed that users’ household income might play a role in moderating
the effect of the acceptability on their decisions. Therefore, a more sophisticated model (refined model) that includes an effective term,
CACC × household income, was estimated to examine whether there is any difference in the effect of acceptability on decisions between
the two income groups. The odds ratios (OR) were calculated to show the effects of a one-unit change in the explanatory variables on
the decision outcome.
Table 9 illustrates the goodness-of-fit measure of the basic and refined models in the two schemes. For Scheme I, the log-likelihood
values demonstrate a significant difference between the two models, with the refined model having a lower value of AIC than the basic
model. While in Scheme II, there is no discernible difference in the values of AIC and log-likelihood between the basic and refined
models. This suggests that while adding the interaction term can help improve the data fitting performance of the Scheme I model, it
has no significant impact on the performance of the Scheme II model.
Table 9
Goodness-of-fit measurements of the basic and refined models.
Scheme I Scheme II
Basic model Refined model Basic model Refined model
AIC 1957.520 1956.915 1946.474 1951.852

Log-likelihood − 963.760 − 960.457 − 958.237 − 957.926
Likelihood ratio test (assumption: basic model nested in the refined model)
χ2 a 6.610 0.620
p-value 0.086 0.891
Note: a χ2 = − 2(ln LBasic − ln LRefined ).
14
4.4.1. Scheme I model

Table 10 presents the estimation results for the Scheme I model. In this study, the base case for the dependent variable was “non-
compliance decision”. Hence, the estimated coefficients in the tables represent the effects of the explanatory variables on the other
three decisions’ choices over the base case. The results in Table 10 show that mean-centered acceptability (CACC) has a significant
positive effect on decisions 2, 3, and 4, and that household income (hincome) only significantly positively affects decisions 3 and 4. This
indicates that in Scheme I, users are more likely to make decisions 2, 3, and 4 if their policy acceptability is higher. Likewise, those who
have higher annual household incomes generally make decisions 3 and 4. Notably, users are more likely to buy a new ETW imme
diately after policy implementation as policy acceptability increases (the OR of CACC in decision 3 is 2.659, which is the highest among
the three decisions). Also, as users’ household incomes increase, they tend to shift to other modes of transportation (as for the hincome,
decision 4 holds the highest OR value: 2.823).
In contrast to the CACC and hincome, the signs of the ETW use frequency (ebufr) and education coefficients are negative across all
three decisions (the effect of ebufr is only significant for decision 4). It means that users who use ETWs more frequently are less likely to
shift to other modes of transportation, and users with a relatively high level of education (college or higher) are less likely to make
decisions 3 and 4.
As shown in the right part of Table 10, the variables in the refined model show consistency in effect and significance, except for
CACC. In the refined model, the effective term (CACC × household income) has statistically significant effects on the three decisions,
with OR values of 1.988, 2.176, and 2.191 for decisions 2, 3, and 4, respectively. This suggests that the effects of acceptability on
decisions differ significantly between high- and low-income users. The acceptability effect is more visible in the high-income groups.
Moreover, when the model includes the effective term, the effect of CACC becomes insignificant for decision 4. This means that, when
controlling the effects of other variables, the acceptability of users with lower incomes would not have a significant impact on whether
they choose to switch to a new transport mode, but would have a significant impact on that decision of higher-income users.
4.4.2. Scheme II model

Table 11 presents the estimation results of the Scheme II model. As shown in the table, the signs of the coefficients in the Scheme II
model conform with those of the Scheme I model. One significant difference is that the effect of CACC on decision 2 is not statistically
significant. It implies that users who have a higher level of acceptability towards the policy are more likely to make decisions 3 and 4.
Notably, with higher acceptability, users will be more likely to substitute their illegal ETWs immediately (decision 3). The importance
Table 10
Parameter estimation results of multinomial logit regression models for Scheme I.
Decision Variable Description Basic model Refined model
Coef. OR St. t-stats Coef. OR St. t-stats

Err. Err.
2- Purchasing a new CACC Centralized 0.460** 1.585** 0.122 3.780 0.324** 1.383** 0.136 2.380
ETW after the acceptability
buffer time
hincome 1 = High 0.493 1.637 0.310 1.590 1.108** 3.030** 0.453 2.440
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.256 0.774 0.273 -0.940 -0.316 0.729 0.274 − 1.150
above
ebufr Centralized ETW -0.092 0.912 0.160 -0.570 -0.097 0.908 0.161 − 0.600
use frequency
CACChincome CACC × hincome / / / / 0.687** 1.988** 0.320 2.150
Intercept 1.495*** 4.459*** 0.233 6.410 1.444*** 4.240*** 0.231 6.270
3- Purchasing a new CACC Centralized 0.978*** 2.659*** 0.127 7.710 0.814*** 2.258*** 0.142 5.740
ETW immediately acceptability
hincome 1 = High 0.747** 2.111*** 0.313 2.380 1.331*** 3.786*** 0.453 2.940
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.795*** 0.451*** 0.277 − 2.870 -0.859*** 0.424*** 0.277 − 3.100
above
ebufr Centralized ETW -0.099 0.906 0.162 -0.610 -0.103 0.902 0.163 -0.630
use frequency
4-Switching to other CACC Centralized 0.461*** 1.586*** 0.141 3.270 0.284 1.328 0.166 1.710
transport modes acceptability
hincome 1 = High 1.038*** 2.823*** 0.342 3.040 1.663*** 5.277*** 0.476 3.500
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.694** 0.500** 0.314 − 2.210 -0.761** 0.467** 0.314 − 2.420
above
ebufr Centralized ETW -0.693*** 0.500*** 0.182 − 3.810 -0.696*** 0.498*** 0.183 − 3.810
use frequency
Intercept 0.669*** 1.953*** 0.259 2.580 0.616*** 1.852*** 0.257 2.400
Notes: (1) abbreviations: hincome: Yearly household income; ebufr: ETW use frequency; (2) No. of observations, 830; Log-likelihood at convergence,
− 960.45736. (3) *, **, and *** denote the statistical significance at 10%, 5%, and 1% levels (2-tailed), respectively.
15
Table 11
Parameter estimation results of multinomial logit regression models for the Scheme II.
Decision Variable Description Basic Model Refined Model
Coef. OR St. t-stats Coef. OR St. t-stats

Err. Err.
2-Purchasing a new CACC Centralized 0.272** 1.313 0.127 2.140 0.226 1.254 0.143 1.580
ETW after the acceptability
buffer time
hincome 1 = High 0.616* 1.851* 0.351 1.750 0.733* 2.080* 0.390 1.880
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.300 0.741 0.294 − 1.020 -0.311 0.732 0.294 − 1.060
above
ebufr Centralized ETW 0.052 1.053 0.172 0.300 0.051 1.052 0.172 − 0.290
use frequency
CACChincome CACC × hincome . . . . 0.228 1.257 0.311 0.730
Intercept 1.227*** 3.409*** 0.239 5.130 1.206*** 3.341*** 0.239 5.040
3-Purchasing a new CACC Centralized 0.763*** 2.145*** 0.125 6.090 0.716*** 2.046*** 0.141 5.080
ETW immediately acceptability
hincome 1 = High 0.643* 1.902* 0.338 1.900 0.749** 2.115** 0.375 2.000
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.34 0.712 0.281 − 1.210 -0.351 0.704 0.281 − 1.250
above
ebufr Centralized ETW -0.055 0.947 0.164 − 0.330 -0.056 0.946 0.164 − 0.340
use frequency
Intercept 1.925*** 6.857*** 0.228 8.460 1.908*** 6.739*** 0.227 8.400
4-Switching to other CACC Centralized 0.413*** 1.511** 0.139 2.970 0.370** 1.448** 0.161 2.300
transport modes acceptability
hincome 1 = High 1.034*** 2.811*** 0.365 2.840 1.146*** 3.147*** 0.400 2.860
(>100,000)
education 1 = College or -0.753** 0.471** 0.313 − 2.400 -0.763** 0.466** 0.313 − 2.440
above
ebufr Centralized ETW -0.459** 0.632** 0.182 − 2.530 -0.46** 0.631** 0.182 − 2.530
use frequency
Intercept 0.977*** 2.655*** 0.247 3.950 0.957*** 2.605*** 0.247 3.870
Notes: (1) abbreviations: hincome: Yearly household income; ebufr: ETW use frequency; (2) No of observations: 830; Log-likelihood at convergence:
− 957.92576. (3) *, **, and *** denote the statistical significance at 10%, 5%, and 1% levels (2-tailed), respectively.
of education is another aspect of the scheme that shows the difference. In Scheme II model, education shows a significant effect only on
decision 4. It implies that users with a college or higher degree are less likely to switch to other travel modes. It is also worth noting that
the interaction term is not statistically significant in the Scheme II model. This suggests that, in Scheme II, there is no significant
difference in how two income groups respond to the policy when they have the same attitude toward the policy.
5. Discussion and implication
5.1. Acceptability and intended compliance in two schemes
According to the data analysis, respondents have a high level of acceptability for both ETW standardization policy schemes. The
reasons for the encouraging attitude could be manifold. First, the policy instruments demonstrate a strong concern for the target group
(i.e., providing a buffer time and depreciation subsidy). Then, with the prevalence of ETWs on the street caused by the rapid devel
opment of the home-delivery industry, most transportation system managers and users in China are concerned about the safety of
ETWs (Ma et al., 2021). Given the high level of public acceptance, it is reasonable that users reported a high level of intended
compliance in both schemes.
In particular, Scheme II has a higher level of acceptability than Scheme I, possibly because the provision of subsidies generates a
larger surplus for the target group than the given buffer time in Scheme I. It is because most ETW users in China are between the age of
24 and 40, work as company employees or college students, and have a medium-level income; thus, a policy scheme with financial
incentives receives stronger public support. Also, in Scheme II, a higher proportion of respondents who decide to discontinue the use of
the illegal ETWs immediately are reported. It is presumably because the depreciation subsidy program encourages users to scrap the
illegal ETWs sooner to receive a more significant subsidy.
16
5.2. Effects of related factors on the acceptability
The model estimation results in section 4.3 showed that perceived effectiveness, fairness, and freedom have a direct influence on the
acceptability. This result is consistent with the findings of other transport-policy-related studies (Eriksson et al., 2008; Jakobsson et al.,
2000; Schade and Schlag, 2003; Sun et al., 2016). The findings also revealed that problem awareness and social norms indirectly affect
acceptability through perceived effectiveness. The same relationships have also been found in the previous studies (Cools et al., 2011;
Eriksson et al., 2006; Nordlund et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2016). The possible reason could be that increasing public awareness of the
safety-related problems and gaining support from the users’ peers can help build users’ confidence in the policy’s effectiveness,
increasing the acceptability of the safety enhancement policies. Besides directly affecting acceptability, the perceived effectiveness and
perceived freedom influence perceived fairness. Earlier studies have also confirmed these relationships (Bamberg and Rölle, 2003;
Eriksson et al., 2006; Ittner et al., 2003; Sun et al., 2016). The inheritance of findings suggests a general mechanism for increasing the
acceptability of mandatory policies.
5.3. Effects of related factors on intended compliance
As reported in section 4.4, users’ acceptability positively impacts their assertions about their policy compliance behaviors. This
finding is supported by Cools et al. (2011), who argued that people are more likely to comply with TDM policies if they have a
supportive attitude toward them. In the current policy context, ETW users’ positive attitudes toward the standardization of ETWs may
lead to behavioral contributions that would speed up the standardization process. Besides the policy acceptability, the income level
also positively affects the likelihood of the decision on compliance behaviors. This may be because the high-income group has more
discretionary budgets to deal with the purchase of new ETWs and the transition to other travel modes (e.g., private car use).
The results showed that users who frequently travel by e-mopeds and have a higher educational level are more likely to declare
their intentions to engage in non-compliance behaviors. This deliberate resistance might be the result of their routine (habit). People
usually show resistance when they are compelled to abandon their old habits. This is consistent with earlier studies (Şimşekoğlu et al.,
2015; Verplanken et al., 1997) that habitual use of a particular transport mode could inhibit users from shifting to other available
modes. Regarding educational level, the majority of highly educated ETW users in China are either company employees or college
students. An e-moped may be the most accustomed mode for their daily trips. Hence, they will naturally resist the policy that might
interfere with their lives.
The findings also revealed that income level impacts the effects of acceptability on decisions, which is consistent with the
observation that users with different levels of disposable incomes make different decisions. At the same level of acceptability, lower-
income users are more cautious about their expenses, whereas higher-income users have more freedom to pursue the relatively
expensive options. However, it is worth mentioning that when the government proposes a subsidy program, the effect of income
becomes insignificant. This finding suggests that government economic incentives play a positive role in addressing income disparities.
5.4. Comparison with other TDM policies
Although some of the present study’s findings are consistent with existing research, several differences are worth noting. First,
perceived freedom has the most significant effect on acceptability, which is distinct from most of the other TDM-related studies (Cools
et al., 2011; Eriksson et al., 2008; Jia et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2016), where the perceived effectiveness or fairness was the most important
factor. This could be because the ETW standardization policy and other TDM policies have different operating mechanisms. In most
TDM policies, economic intervention is commonly used to guide users to choose the expected options, which can help the traffic system
to achieve global optimization (Sun et al., 2016). While in the ETW standardization policy, a set of mandatory regulations are
formulated to lead the target group to change their travel modes. As a result, the nature of the enforcement may cause users to place a
greater emphasis on freedom.
Another notable finding is that perceived freedom has a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness, which has not been found in
previous studies. This could be because users believe that greater freedom in transport mode choice makes it easier to comply with the
policy (i.e., abandoning the illegal ETWs use), giving them more confidence in the policy’s high compliance and realized efficacy.
However, in other TDM policies, the travelers’ freedom may reduce the effectiveness of collective car-use reduction. Hence, high
perceived freedom does not always correspond to high perceived effectiveness in this context. This new finding suggests that after the
policy implementation, policymakers should give users more freedom to choose alternative modes of transportation.
5.5. Implications for policymakers
The present study’s findings provide a basis for several important implications. First, policymakers should pay close attention to the
users’ perceived effectiveness, fairness, and freedom as they are the direct determinants of the policy acceptability. The effectiveness of
the ETW standardization policy is primarily based on improving non-motorized traffic safety. The key point here is to clearly
communicate the benefits of the ETW standardization policy in addressing the safety problems. Consequently, the users would be
willing to contribute to improve safety by abandoning their illegal ETWs. To increase the users’ perceived fairness, policymakers can
implement strategies that promote citizen equity and balance cost and benefit for individuals. For example, policymakers can impose
price controls on the ETWs market or encourage manufacturers to produce more appealing ETWs. More importantly, policymakers
must give users more freedom to choose their future travel modes. Developing local public transportations and bike-sharing systems
17
are highly recommended to increase users’ perceived freedom and acceptability of the policy.
Second, social norms and problem awareness influence policy acceptability indirectly. This implies that policymakers should
communicate with social influencers and opinion formers about the origins, solutions, and seriousness of safety issues, as well as the
effectiveness of current policy in minimizing non-motorized crash risks. The “pioneer message” can then be delivered to a larger
number of citizens, resulting in a favorable social opinion of the policy. These two factors, however, cannot be directly influenced by
mandatory orders (Jia et al., 2017; Luo et al., 2022). With this in mind, policymakers should use public education and publicity tools
such as advertisements and social media campaigns.
Finally, local transport authorities should monitor users’ post-policy behavioral responses. As shown by the current study’s
findings, certain demographic groups, particularly those with low incomes and who frequently use ETWs, tend to show non-
compliance behaviors. Local governments should better understand the difficulties that these groups face and devise appropriate
solutions to promote their convenience.
6. Conclusions
The present study carried out an empirical analysis of the ETW users’ attitudes and intended behavioral reactions toward the ETW
standardization policy to explore the influential underlying factors. The study draws out several interesting findings that have sig
nificant transferable implications for the policy. First, the results showed that both schemes have a relatively higher rate of respondents
who are willing to accept the policy than those who showed a resistive attitude and reported non-compliance behavior. Second, the
results revealed that the acceptability of the ETW standardization policy improves with an increase in the users’ perceived effectiveness,
fairness, and freedom. In addition, higher safety problem awareness and stronger social norms may increase policy acceptability. Third,
the study finds that higher policy acceptability and household income significantly improve users’ likelihood of intending to comply
with the policy. On the contrary, a higher education level and frequent use of ETWs reduce the likelihood of intended compliance
significantly. Fourth, the scheme-comparative analysis indicated that there is no significant difference in the psychological mechanism
of users’ policy acceptability between the two different policy schemes. In contrast, the effect of acceptability on users’ intended
behavioral responses in Scheme I differ from that in Scheme II. In Scheme I, acceptability contributes more to promoting intended
compliance behaviors for higher-income respondents, whereas in Scheme II, acceptability contributes equally to high-income and low-
income groups.
The current study contributes to the policy implication by providing feasible recommendations for increasing public acceptance
and compliance. First, the relevant authorities should focus on the policy’s publicity and education to build users’ trust in the policy.
Also, creating a policy mechanism with an equitable and accountable governance structure is necessary to foster a fair environment.
Meanwhile, some supportive measures to improve local public transportation constructions and services are required to ensure users’
daily convenience. Concerning societal compliance promotion, in conjunction with the emphasis on increasing public acceptability,
some prompting measures are also required to push young, educated, and frequent ETW users to comply with the policy. Moreover, it is
possible to provide economic incentives to mitigate the effect of household income on policy compliance, making the policy more
adaptable to regions with significant income disparities.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that due to the limited experimental conditions, the investigation carried out in this study did not
cover all potential factors that may influence users’ attitudes and responses to the policy. Also, the unbalanced regional development of
China’s ETW market may result in regional heterogeneities in the effects of investigated factors. This spatially varying effect is not
considered in the present study. When a survey is allowed to be conducted in broader contexts and covers more available factors, more
potential influencers and their varying regional effects can be uncovered. In addition, the present study also shares the limitation of
other questionnaire survey studies: the respondents may hide their true intentions. In future studies, another survey can be conducted
to investigate ETW users’ post-policy responses to the ETW standardization policy and assess whether there is a significant bias be
tween people’s intended responses and their actual actions.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The work described in this paper was supported by: 1) The China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021M701898, and No.
2022T150357); 2) The Joint Research Scheme of National Natural Science Foundation of China/Research Grants Council of Hong
Kong (No. 71561167001 & N_HKU707/15); 3) The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71671100, No. 72171236, and
No. 71701216).
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Transportation Research Part A 167 (2023) 103557

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Transportation Research Part A

Pursuing higher acceptability and compliance for electric

Fig. 1. An electric bicycle and electric moped.

Maximum speed 25 Km/h Maximum speed 60 Km/h

3.1. Analytical framework

Fig. 2. Analytical framework used in this study.

3.2. Analytical methods

3.2.1. Structural equation modeling

3.2.2. Multinomial logit model

where I is the set of all available decision choices for person n.

3.3. Questionnaire design

3.4. Procedure and sample

4.1. Descriptive analysis

Non-compliance 9.9 8.4

4.2. Analysis of reliability and validity

Note: a CR = Composite Reliability; b AVE = Average Variance Extracted.

4.3. Structural model test

9.SPA1 10.SPA2 11.SPA3 12.SPA4 13.SN1 14.SN2 15.SN3 16.SN4

Basic model Refined model Basic model Refined model

AIC 1957.520 1956.915 1946.474 1951.852

Note: a χ2 = − 2(ln LBasic − ln LRefined ).

4.4.1. Scheme I model

4.4.2. Scheme II model

Coef. OR St. t-stats Coef. OR St. t-stats

Coef. OR St. t-stats Coef. OR St. t-stats

5. Discussion and implication

5.1. Acceptability and intended compliance in two schemes

5.2. Effects of related factors on the acceptability

5.3. Effects of related factors on intended compliance

5.4. Comparison with other TDM policies

5.5. Implications for policymakers

Declaration of Competing Interest

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