Exploring determining factors of MaaS app use and its potential effects on mobility behavior: Keys to gender-sensitive planning and management

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has become an emerging trend in transportation planning and management due to its potential to overcome the challenges of urban mobility toward the achievement of sustainable mobility goals. This requires people to be willing to use MaaS apps. However, given their relative novelty, there is still a lack of research on the factors that influence the use of these apps, as well as the possible role of gender in such use. In this context, this study aims to explore the complex relationships between a set of relevant factors and their influence on the intention to adopt MaaS apps, with special attention to the role of gender as a moderating variable. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in the Madrid Metropolitan Area (Spain), comprising 8358 respondents (3627 men and 4731 women), and a four-step methodological procedure was adopted: (i) Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), (ii) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), (iii) Structural Equation Model (SEM) on the total sample (iv) Gender-sensitive analysis, including a Multi-group analysis – SEM. The results demonstrate that technophilia, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are determining factors. Green values and attitudes toward shared modes have a notable total positive effect. However, contrary to expected, attitudes toward public transport, car and bicycle hardly explain the intention to adopt MaaS apps. Our analysis also reveals significant gender differences in the causal relationships hypothesized in the model. These findings allow us to outline the policy initiatives that could favor the use of MaaS apps, with a gender-sensitive approach.