Abstract: The travel behavior characteristics with public transit and the mechanism of attitude adjustment for the elderly were discussed based on the Heider's balance theory.According to the analysis of the elderly's travel behavior characteristics,a P-O-X triangular balance model was established from the viewpoint of balance theory to discuss the attitude adjustment mechanism in which the elderly would like to choose the attitude that was relatively easy to adjust among the attitude relationship chain to obtain better trip experience.A questionnaire of the elderly's travel behavior and attitude towards public transit was carried out and the elderly's public transit staggered shifts willingness model was formulated to quantitatively analyze the transition process between the imbalance and balance states.Resultsshow that69%of the elderly are likely to adjust their departure time to obtain better trip experience from the imbalance to the balance states.The research can provide essential support to traffic programming to meet the elderly's travel demand.