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Service quality and customer satisfaction in public transport operations
Christian Tabi Amponsah*
Skyline University College, University City of Sharjah, P.O. Box 1797, Sharjah, UAE Email: [email protected]
*Corresponding author
Samuel Adams
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, P.O. Box AH 50, Achimota, Accra, Ghana
Email: [email protected]
Abstract: This study presents an assessment of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction of public transport operations of Vancouver Lower Mainland in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. A judgement sample of 205 was collected from an urban population of the Translink system for the study. The SERVQUAL model, noted for its robustness in measuring customer satisfaction, was adapted for the study. The dimensions for the study were characterised along the lines of tangible and intangible for transport users to evaluate service quality of the system. The main findings of the study showed a significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction, overcrowding of buses and overall satisfaction with service. In addition, late-hour services had a significantly negative effect on overall satisfaction, value for fare paid and overall services provided by the operators.
Keywords: service quality; customer satisfaction; quality characteristics.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Amponsah, C.T. and Adams, S. (2016) ‘Service quality and customer satisfaction in public transport operations’, Int. J. Services and Operations Management, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp.531–549.
Biographical notes: Christian Tabi Amponsah is a Professional Engineer and management specialist with PhD in Organisation and Management with general management specialty. He is an Assistant Professor at Skyline University College, Sharjah, UAE. As an engineer, manager, business owner, and consultant he has primarily been involved in business process reengineering, international business, project management and implementation. He has over 20 years of rich corporate experience and five years of experience in teaching.
His current area of research includes multi-criteria decision-making, services quality management, international projects and operations management, public-private partnerships and emerging markets. He has published more than ten research papers in various international and national conferences and journals.
Samuel Adams is a Professor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration where he is the Dean of the School of Public Service and Governance. He has published widely in many international journals, including Journal of Policy Modelling, Social Science Quarterly, Economic Analysis and Policy, International Area Studies Review and Public Organization Review. He teaches graduate courses in public policy, public administration, research methods and strategic management.
1 Introduction
Over the last few decades, the transport industry and particularly those of the public sector around the world have been involved in a process of deep transformation. Mobility demands of commuters living in urban and metropolitan areas is continuously growing because of the desire to participate in increasingly varied activities motivated by physiological, psychological and economic needs (Eboli and Mazzulla 2012). In the USA, for example, commuters board public transportation 35 million times each weekday. From 1995–2012, public transportation ridership increased by 34%, a growth rate which was higher than the 17% growth in the US population and represented a 22%
growth in the use of the nation’s highways (American Public Transportation Association, 2013). The result is that transit agencies are becoming more competitive and are concerning themselves more with qualities issues.
The rapid rise in the use of public transport is attributed to its many benefits, including enhancing personal and economic opportunities, reducing congestion and fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission. Accordingly, the APTA describes public transportation as being a crucial part of the solution to the nation’s economic, energy and environmental challenges, so helping to improve quality of life. The public transport system can, therefore, be described as critical to the survival of modern society (Ali, 2010). On the other hand, the increased motorisation of households combined with changes in land-use patterns and travel structure (for example, an increase in triangular trips such as home to day care to work) mean that urban populations are also increasingly reliant on the automobile. The increasing importance of public transportation, however is associated with its dual role in meeting the needs of customers and in economic and urban sustainability (Aidoo et al., 2013; Randheer et al., 2011; Ali, 2010).
Despite the vital role that public transport plays in urban areas, their services are frequently insufficient to meet demand and even when they do, they are often laden with inefficiencies and, consequently, low productivity (Ali, 2010). Obviously, an increase in supply (qualitatively or quantitatively) will not automatically lead to a corresponding increase in demand and satisfaction (Friman and Fellesson, 2009). This suggests that ensuring value for money or returns on investment in terms of maintaining existing and attracting new customers, knowledge of satisfaction and service performance should provide policymakers and operations managers in public transport with valuable information. Accordingly, Moufoulaki et al. (2007) argue that transport research should move from a purely theoretical examination to an empirical approach to help identify practical tools to improve the quality of service. This study, therefore, seeks to examine the determinants of service quality and their impact on customer satisfaction, using the Vancouver Lower Mainland in the Province of British Columbia, Canada as a case study.
Further, the differential components of value to customers are also examined (Mokonyama and Venter, 2013). This will help operators to move from an operationally-based orientation to a customer-focused dispensation to not only satisfy their customers but also to attract new ones, which is critical for the sustainability of the organisation (Anderson et al., 2013; Chen and Lai, 2011; Ganesan, 2010). Using the SERVQUAL model’s gap analysis on a single t-test, Arora and Arora (2015) show that there is a significant difference between services expected and service perceived (performance) by bank customers. This indicates the presence of service quality gaps in commercial banks in India. Arora and Arora’s (2015) results implied that service providers ought to focus their attention and efforts towards improving service quality through ‘customer-friendliness’ if they wished to survive and grow in the long run.
It is the assumption of this study, and consistent with the view that customers with highly-perceived service quality and satisfaction also have strong loyalty, which is critical to the overall performance and, consequently, sustainability of the public transport system. Obviously, understanding service quality makes it possible to appreciate the value of the human touch in customer relationships which is often responsible for customer satisfaction. Indeed, policy makers and researchers all over the world recognise the importance of service quality as well as consumer satisfaction as drivers of performance and profitability (Fonseca et al., 2010; Eboli and Mazzulla, 2012).
However, the question is, which particular factors dominate in specific contexts and industries in terms of convenience, crowding, service frequency, timeliness, late hour services, and value for fare paid (VFFP)? These are issues the study seeks to examine.
Further, the study contributes to the literature by examining both the quantity and quality of service to help transport operators prioritise their investment decisions into areas that would offer the most strategic value to increase customer loyalty (Friman and Fellesson, 2009).
In the sections that follow, the review of the literature on service quality and customer satisfaction relationship is presented after which the methodology is described. The results are then discussed and the recommendations and concluding remarks given.
2 Literature review
In this section, a brief overview of service quality, customer satisfaction and service quality in customer relationships is presented.
2.1 Service quality
Ordinarily, service quality refers to the assessment of how well a delivered service conforms to customers’ expectation. The concept has been associated with authors like Gronroos (1982, 1984), Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982), Parasuraman et al. (1985) and Sasser et al. (1978). While there is no agreement as to the exact definition of service quality, various definitions show that it is a multidimensional construct. Parasuraman et al. (1985, p.41) noted that quality is an elusive and indistinct construct. The word quality has been used to connote many ideas, including a fit between service/product and customer needs [Levitt, (1972), p.76]; match between what customers expect and what they experience [Ballantyne et al., (1994), p.1]; conformance to requirement (Crosby,
1984); a reflection of the extent to which customers’ needs are met [van der Wal et al., (2002), p.345]; outcome of an evaluation process of service delivered [Gronroos, (1984), p.37], and innate excellence or precise or measurable variable [Garvin, (1984), p.25].
Identifying the determinants of service quality in education from the academician’s perspective, Kamakoty et al. (2015) outlined important insights of various stakeholders as to what and how the service quality of an educational institute might be enhanced. This assists in recognising the critical and non-critical factors that affect the service quality of education so that efforts may be judiciously implemented for its enhancement.
These definitions are consistent with Parasuraman et al.’s (1985) assertion that while the substance and determinants of quality may be undefined, its importance to firms and consumers is unequivocal. Buzzell and Gale (1987) observe that the single most important factor affecting business performance is the quality of its products and services relative to those of competitors. The evaluative process is related to the customers’
expectations of the service delivered compared to what the customers perceived as having been received (Gronroos, 1984). Based on these definitions, many dimensions of the service quality have been developed, the most popular being those of Gronroos (1984) and Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982). For Gronroos (1990), service quality has three dimensions, including technicality, functionality and corporate image. The technical dimension is output-related and deals with what is received by the customer, while the functional quality is process-related and reflects how the service is provided, and the image dimension relates to how the customer perceives the service provider. Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) provide two approaches to service quality in terms of a three-dimensional construct (product) and a two-dimensional construct (customer). In the three-dimensional approach, Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982, p.288) relate the dimensions of quality to the elements of the service-production process. They also present the three-dimensional construct in terms of physical, interactive processes as well as corporate quality. Physical quality is the dimension of quality originating in the physical elements of the service, namely, physical product and physical support [Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982), p.288]. The interactive quality is the dimension of quality originating in interaction between the customer and interactive elements of the service organisation [Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982), p.289]. The corporate quality dimension is symbolic in nature and is concerned with how customers and potential customers see the corporate entity, company or institution, its image or profile [Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982), p.290].
The two-dimensional approach is more customer-oriented and is based on quality of processes and output delivered as perceived by the customer [Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982), p.291]. Process quality is the customer’s personal and subjective judgement, which is based on how customers view the production process and how well they feel themselves fitting into the process. The output quality dimension, on the other hand, is a consumer’s evaluation concerning the result of a service production process [Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982), pp.291–292].
These service quality constructs are consistent with Parasuraman et al.’s (1990) view that service quality is an extrinsically-perceived attribution based on the customer’s experience about the service that the customer perceives through the service encounter.
The construct is also in agreement with Sasser et al.’s (1978) claim that service quality is not just about the outcome of service delivered but also the process by which it is delivered. Parasuraman et al.’s (1990) and Sasser et al.’s (1978) describe three service performance variables in terms of the facilities, materials and personnel involved in the
service delivery. Garvin (1983, p.65) also refers to quality as the internal and external processes and the outcomes that the customers experience as they come into contact with the service. The literature reviewed shows that what is delivered is as significant/important as how it is delivered and hence the importance of service quality (van der Wal et al., 2002).
2.2 Customer satisfaction
Like service quality, customer satisfaction is a complex concept which is not easily measured or defined [Oliver, (1980), p.460]. Oliver (1997) defines satisfaction as the consumer’s fulfilment response, and the degree to which the level of fulfilment is pleasant or unpleasant. Tse and Wilton (1988, p.204) define customer satisfaction as the evaluation of the perceived difference between expectations and the actual performance of the product/service as perceived through its consumption. The perception as noted by Boulding et al. (1993, pp.7–8) reflects the overall experience with a service or a product.
Negi (2015) in a study to identify the role of service quality and customer value as perceived by mobile users in Ethiopia in determining their overall satisfaction using service quality gaps (Perception-Expectation), found a negative correlation for all the service quality dimensions ranging from the lowest for the dimension of tangibles to the highest for the added dimension of Network Quality. The overall service (OVRS) quality and overall customer value were found to be significantly contributed to overall customer satisfaction.
According to Oliver (1980), the customer-satisfaction research literature is concerned with how well the service delivery occurs in comparison with expectation. Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) view customer satisfaction as the “customers’ evaluation of a product or service in terms of whether that product or service has met their needs and expectations”.
Additionally, Liljander and Strandvik (1993) claim that experience is not needed for evaluating service quality since it can be evaluated on the basis of the knowledge about service provider, while satisfaction is an inner view, resulting from customer’s own experience from the service. Accordingly, Oliver (1980) describes customer satisfaction as a personal feeling of either pleasure or disappointment resulting from the evaluation of services provided by an organisation to an individual in relation to his/her expectation.
The various definitions of customer satisfaction embrace diverse meanings but also share common elements. Three general components can be identified in terms of a cognitive and emotional reaction; reaction to a particular focus and the fact that the reaction occurs in a particular period (Fonseca et al., 2010). In support of the cognitive and emotional reaction, for example, Howard and Sheth (1969, p.145) describe customer satisfaction as a psychological state, which relates the buyer’s cognitive state of being and how it is rewarded for the sacrifices he/she has made.
A psychological comparison of some sort is a central component in the conceptualisation of the satisfaction process (Wirtz and Mattila, 2001). It is not surprising, therefore, that the vast majority of the current models are based on a comparison between perceived performance and a preconsumption comparison standard (Yi, 1990). Locke’s (1967) seminal analysis of job satisfaction suggests that satisfaction is a general psychological phenomenon, which describes the emotional state resulting from an evaluation of experiences in connection with an object, action, or condition.
Consumer satisfaction, then, is an emotional response to the experiences provided by, or
associated with particular products or services purchased. Engel and Blackwell (1982, p.501) conceive satisfaction as “an evaluation that the chosen alternative is consistent with prior beliefs with respect to that alternative”.
2.3 Service quality and customer satisfaction
Service quality is of increasing importance to all businesses, including public transport organisations as it influences customer satisfaction, commuter choices, passenger demand, investment decisions and revenue (Anderson et al., 2013). The success and the market share growth of public passenger transport operators are determined by the quality of supplied services and, moreover, by the passengers’ perception of the provided quality (Dragu et al., 2013). Basing their argument on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), Chen and Lai (2011, p.308) state that customer satisfaction has been widely-identified as the most important determinant of favourable behavioural intentions. Chen and Lai (2011, p.308) note that travellers who perceive good quality of public transit service are more likely to have a higher level of perceived value and satisfaction, and so continue to use this service. Considering different cost components and economic issues in transportation and routing models to achieve robust results, Rabbani et al. (2015) concluded that the number of vehicles and travelled distance were not drastically affected by the age of vehicles but the service-quality implications.
Satisfaction is a major outcome of marketing activity and serves to link processes of decision-making and consumption with post-purchase phenomena, such as attitude change, complaining behaviour and word-of-mouth, repeat purchase and brand loyalty (Wirtz and Mattila, 2001). Consequently, higher customer satisfaction leads to greater customer loyalty which, in turn, results in higher future revenue and prosperity (Coyles and Gokey, 2002; Bolton and Drew, 1991). It is not surprising, therefore, that many market leaders are found to be highly-superior customer-service orientated (Chinwuba and Egene, 2013). Indeed, Payne (1993, p.217) notes that relative perceived quality is more positively related to a company’s financial performance than relative market share.
Accordingly, Sridhar and Ganesan (2015) observe that organisations that are able to introduce innovative services or products that meet client needs are better able to satisfy and establish a lasting relationship.
Tse and Wilton (1988, p.205) argue that anytime a product or service performs well or measures up to customers’ expectations, it leads to customer satisfaction. According to Awasthi et al. (2011), managing service quality is vital to retain customer satisfaction and augment revenues for any business organisation. Therefore, understanding the behavioural intentions of public transport passengers is important, because, customer loyalty is seen as a prime determinant of long-term financial performance (Chen and Lai, 2011). Obviously, if quality is whatever the customer says it is, then it is not surprising that quality service can lead to improved customer satisfaction [Ballantyne et al., (1994), p.3]. Gronroos (1982) reiterates the importance of service quality when he notes that a mismatch between what customers expect and what they experience leads to a quality gap, and, consequently, dissatisfaction and loss of customers. Leonard and Sasser (1982) support this view in their argument that when organisations enhance their quality of service delivery, profitability increases because, the non-value added activities and time-related costs are reduced.
The literature significantly supports the fact that service quality is the best and most comprehensive indicator which measures the performance of the transport system. For
instance, Friman (2004) investigates affective reactions to passenger waiting times and their impact on overall satisfaction with the service in Sweden. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique, the findings indicated that overall satisfaction with public transport corresponded with the nature of the waiting-time scenario. Chen and Lai (2011) explored the relationships between passengers’ behavioural intentions of public transit and the various factors that affect service quality, namely, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement in Taiwan. The results of the study based on structural equation modelling show that service attributes such as vehicle safety, facility cleanliness, and complaint handling have a significant effect on passenger behavioural intentions. Yanqun and Haiyan (2009) analysed the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction along with the repurchasing intentions of customers. They found that satisfaction levels of customers and their repurchasing intentions were primarily influenced by their perceptions regarding quality of a service and concluded that what the customer thinks of the service matters and impacts on the customers’ satisfaction level (Yanqun and Haiyan, 2009).
Buehler and Pucher (2011) report that improvement in the quality of service in Germany led to an increase in customer satisfaction. The study’s findings showed that the purchases of new vehicles which were comfortable with lower maintenance costs allowed transport operators to charge high fares to make them financially sustainable. It is important to note, however, that mere investment in infrastructure does not necessarily lead to improvements in service delivery. For example, Caro and Garcia (2007) in a study of the public transport system in Spain, found that the perceived service quality of the public company (Correos) was lower than several of the main competitors, namely, Seur, MRW and Nacex. Despite the investment achieved by the public institution in order to improve service quality, these efforts did not reflect in the customer evaluation, at least to the same extent as competitors.
Additionally, Friman (2004) examines the effect of improvements in service quality on customer satisfaction based on 2,787 respondents in Sweden and reports that the satisfaction people experience when using public transport services is influenced by quality improvements only to a limited extent. Furthermore, the effect was directionally opposite in that respondents reported less satisfaction and higher frequencies of negative critical incidents after the quality improvements had been implemented. In a related study, Friman and Fellesson (2009) examined the case for six European countries and reported that the relationship was far from perfect. These results support Fellesson and Friman’s (2008) finding that service quality and customer satisfaction relationship cannot be generalised. Fellesson and Friman (2008) provide a transnational comparison of the perceived service satisfaction with public transport based on 9,452 respondents in eight European countries. Using factor analysis, this study identified four satisfaction dimensions of system, comfort, staff and safety, which were present in most, but not all of the cities. These findings are consistent with Znidersic et al. (2009) who conclude that it is difficult to derive a common pattern with regard to how customers think or feel about a service. These findings provide the evidence to support the need for industry and context specific studies to provide more information on the service quality and customer relationship nexus. This provides a motivation for this study to examine the case of the public transport system in Vancouver Lower Mainland in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.
Keeping these seminal works and extant literature in mind, a set of two hypotheses were developed. While it is often said that there is no possible way of determining which of the two concepts is influential over the other, experts believe factors like industry, product, competition and technology determine whether service quality influences customer satisfaction or vice versa. The many studies that have involved the variables of service quality and customer satisfaction have considered customer loyalty; the implication being that customers would only be loyal to a service if they were satisfied with what they were receiving. For example, Kheng et al. (2010) researching on the impact of service quality on customer loyalty showed that certain aspects of a service could influence customers to continue remaining with a particular service provider. These aspects meet the customers’ expectation on the level of quality and were consistent with it. Similarly, Yanqun and Haiyan (2009) analysed the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction along with the repurchasing intentions of customers.
Yanqun and Haiyan (2009) found that satisfaction levels of customers and their repurchasing intentions were primarily influenced by their perceptions regarding quality of a service.
From this theoretical overview, it can be hypothesised that:
H1 Service quality characteristics are positively associated with a high level of customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction levels pertaining to the service industry are not easy to measure and interpret. For example, in the hotel industry, many services may be considered to be of excellent quality not because of the product or service that is delivered but because of the way or manner in which it is delivered to the customer. Thus, it can be seen that while the manner in which a service is delivered may be necessary to satisfy the customer, there are also certain aspects of service quality that influence customers and which result in high levels of satisfaction. This understanding gives grounds for the study’s second hypothesis:
H2 A decrease in customer satisfaction levels is associated with a decrease in level(s) of characteristics of service quality.
The data collection and analysis employed for the study are discussed in the next section.
3 Data and analysis
To test the hypotheses generated for the research, the mixed and sequential method was conducted using the aspect of timing. The seven dimensions of service quality used in the SERVQUAL model which was developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) for measurement of service quality were adapted for the study. As outlined by Munusamy and Fong (2008), there are several models used in measuring customer satisfaction and service quality such as expectancy-disconfirmation model; performance only model (SERVPERF); attribute importance model; attribution model; affective model; multiple process model; equity model; European customer satisfaction index (SI) and customer loyalty model. Among all these models, the SERVQUAL model (Cina, 1989) is
considered the most robust in measuring customer satisfaction in many organisations (Munusamy and Fong, 2008). As the generic dimensions that customers use to evaluate customer satisfaction and service quality are tangibles and intangibles, the study was characterised along the lines of such tangible and intangibles for the transport users to evaluate service quality of the system.
Primary data that was collected included data that helped to determine the customers’
expectations and what level of service quality the customers experienced based on the differential components of value to customers (Mokonyama and Venter, 2013) against that which was promised by the transport provider. For the purposes of data collection and easy accessibility, the target audience was randomly selected from participants who used bus transportation in the urban settlement. The data or information that was collected included customer expectations, customer preferences as well as the transport service provider’s understanding of the same concepts. It also comprised of numeric data and subjective opinions of commuters on certain services.
The five quality aspects of the bus service, namely, over-crowded services, service frequency, services during late-hours of the day, value of the service as compared to the price paid and the OVRS or bus ridership formed the focus of the questionnaire. A sample size of 205 was used, and the population frame was customers or various commuters within Vancouver lower mainland.
4 Results
The educational background and the income level of the participants are presented in Figures 1 and 2 respectively. Eleven respondents at the time of the survey were pursing their secondary education, 45 respondents were undertaking their Bachelor’s degree whilst 142 respondents were doing post-graduate that is either a Master’s or PhD degree.
Among the respondents, seven belonged to the other category such as diploma or certificate education.
Figure 1 Educational background
Figure 2 Monthly income range
Eighty respondents indicated they were not at the time of the survey working (pursuing full-time studies and unemployed), while 22 respondents (11%) earned up to
$750/month, 68 respondents (33%) earned between $751/month to $1,000/month, 20 (10%) earned between of $1,001/month to $1,500/month and 15 respondents earned over
$1,00/month.
Figure 3 shows the classification of respondents on the basis of hours they travelled on a bus in a given day. The highest category was the 30 minutes to one hour in a day, with 95 respondents followed by 57 respondents who travelled on a bus for 5 to 30 minutes in a day, 44 respondents travelled on a bus for 1 to 2 hours in a day, and 4% of respondents travelling on a bus for over two hours a day.
Figure 3 Hours of travelled on a bus in day
Figure 4 Zones travelled
Figure 4 depicts the classification of respondents on the basis of zones they travelled on buses. Within the three fare zones in the Metropolis, the number of zone boundaries one crosses during ones trip determines the fare.
Table 1 provides responses on the quality aspects of the bus service and, specifically, the respondents’ expectations or experiences based on a seven-point Likert scale with 1 being strongly disagree and 7 representing strongly agree.
Table 1 Responses on the quality dimensions User response
Quality dimensions
Strongly
disagree Disagree Somewhat disagree Cannot
agree Somewhat
agree Agree Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Over-crowded
buses
E1 5 3 14 28 18 40 97
E2 5 9 25 25 43 44 54
Late hour service
E1 23 50 46 33 25 17 11
E2 6 5 13 9 46 44 82
More frequent service
E1 4 2 11 23 51 46 68
E2 8 14 39 67 45 17 15
Value-for-fare paid
E1 3 3 6 16 26 41 110
E2 4 10 26 36 41 50 38
Overall service E1 2 2 2 13 17 37 132
E2 4 2 4 21 41 60 73
Note: E1: users expectations; E2: users experience.
Collected data was cross-tabulated by relating questions in the survey to gain key insights on specific areas of the research. The cross-tabulation was based on questions related to the five aspects of the bus service that were analysed through the survey, namely, over-crowding, late hour services, service frequency, value of service for the fare paid and OVRS experience. Each aspect is explained in Tables 2 to 6 which depict how the responses were grouped when two related questions were cross-tabbed.
Table 2 shows the cross-tabs of two questions related to over-crowding of buses (OCB). The first question was from the expectation point of view, namely, should the buses be over-crowded? The question that it was cross-tabbed with was from the point of view of experience, namely, are the buses over-crowded? The key values in Table 2 are illustrated in two cells located in the bottom right column.
Table 2 Over-crowded buses
The buses are over-crowded The buses are not over-crowded Response
count Response rate (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly disagree – 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 5 2.4
Disagree – 2 0 0 1 3 0 4 1 9 4.4
Somewhat disagree – 3 2 0 3 3 4 5 8 25 12.2
Cannot decide – 4 0 0 2 6 2 5 10 25 12.2
Somewhat agree – 5 0 2 5 9 5 9 13 43 21.0
Agree – 6 0 0 2 2 4 8 28 44 21.5
Strongly agree – 7 2 1 1 4 2 9 35 54 26.3
Total 5 3 14 28 18 40 97 205 100
Table 3 provides the cross-tabs on late-hour services (LHS). The essential values in this cross-tabulation table are the numbers located in seven cells of the top right corner of Table 3. These shows the responses on the expectations and what is being experienced.
Table 3 Late-hour services There are buses during late hours
There should be buses during late hours Response
count Response rate (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly disagree – 1 2 1 0 0 1 4 15 23 11.2
Disagree – 2 1 1 4 1 7 15 21 50 24.4
Somewhat disagree – 3 1 1 4 1 18 9 12 46 22.4
Cannot decide – 4 0 1 2 2 8 9 11 33 16.1
Somewhat agree – 5 1 0 0 4 9 3 8 25 12.2
Agree – 6 1 1 3 1 2 2 7 17 8.3
Strongly agree – 7 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 11 5.4
Total 6 5 13 9 46 44 82 205 100
Table 4 also shows the cross-tabulation of those respondents who indicated their desire to have more frequent buses.
Table 4 Cross-tabulation: more frequent buses The buses do run
frequently
The buses should run more frequently Response
count Response rate (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly disagree – 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 5 8 3.9
Disagree – 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 9 14 6.8
Somewhat disagree – 3 2 0 2 4 7 12 12 39 19.0
Cannot decide – 4 0 0 2 10 20 16 19 67 32.7
Somewhat agree – 5 1 0 2 5 14 9 14 45 22.0
Agree – 6 0 1 3 2 7 4 0 17 8.3
Strongly agree – 7 0 1 0 1 1 3 9 15 7.3
Total 4 2 11 23 51 46 68 205 100.0
Table 5 depicts the cross-tabulation of those respondents on VFFP.
Table 5 Cross-tabulation: VFFP The service provided is
of value for the fare paid
The service provided should be of value
for the fare paid Response
count Response rate (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly disagree – 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 2 2.0
Disagree – 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 7 10 4.9
Somewhat disagree – 3 1 2 3 2 7 2 9 26 12.7
Cannot decide – 4 0 1 1 5 8 7 14 25 17.6
Somewhat agree – 5 0 0 1 5 6 16 13 41 20.0
Agree – 6 1 0 0 3 1 9 36 50 24.4
Strongly agree – 7 1 0 0 3 1 9 36 50 24.4
Total 1 0 0 1 3 5 28 38 18.5
Table 6 provides the results on the OVRSs as being a good, safe, and valuable experience. The results from the data helped in finding patterns and statistical arguments that are essential for establishing solid relationships between the two variables involved in the research.
Table 6 Cross-tabulation of OVRSs Overall service is
good, safe and valuable experience
Overall service should be good, safe and
valuable experience Response
count Response rate (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly disagree – 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 2.0
Disagree – 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 1.0
Somewhat disagree – 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 4 2.0
Cannot decide – 4 0 0 1 7 2 2 9 21 10.2
Somewhat agree – 5 0 1 0 4 4 9 23 41 20.0
Agree – 6 0 0 0 1 8 15 36 60 29.3
Strongly agree – 7 1 0 0 0 2 7 63 73 35.6
Total 2 2 2 13 17 37 132 205 100.0
4.1 Hypothesis testing
The data analysis process was completed by testing the hypotheses alongside the cross-tabulation exercise.
The type of test used for hypothesis testing was the sign test. The sign test is generally used when there are two nominal variables and one measurement variable or ranked variable. One of the nominal variables has only two values, such as ‘before’ and
‘after’ or ‘left’ and ‘right,’ and the other nominal variable identifies the pairs of observations. Also, the sign test can be used to test the null hypothesis that there are equal numbers of differences in each direction. The null hypothesis in this type of test is that an equal number of pairs of observations have a change in each direction. If the pairs are
‘before’ and ‘after,’ the null hypothesis would be that the number of pairs showing an increase equals the number showing a decrease.
The first of the two hypotheses was (H1): service quality characteristics are positively associated with overall customer satisfaction. There were four other aspects that were analysed for the purpose of research besides OVRS satisfaction. They were OCB, LHS, frequent service (FQR) and value for the fare paid. For the purpose of calculation and testing, each aspect was coded using the following designations: OCB, LHS, FQR, VFFP and OVRS. As part of testing, the SI for each particular service quality aspect was calculated in a specific manner depending on the difference between experiences and expectations of respondents being positive, negative or there being no difference. The SI would be a (+1), when the difference was on the positive side. It would be a 0 (Zero), when there was no difference. Finally, SI would be a (–1), when the difference was on the negative side. The SI concept is illustrated in Table 7.
Table 7 Statistical index table
Calculation in the SI Difference between experiences and expectations
+1 Positive ( > 0)
0 No difference (= 0)
–1 Negative (< 0)
As the measured variables were ordinal, the testing process could not use parametric tests. Instead, the testing was done using non-parametric two-tailed sign test. In this test, medians of satisfaction indexes (MSI) for two different quality aspects were calculated.
The null hypothesis is H0: medians are not different. If H0 is rejected at p < 0.05, it can be concluded that medians are different and, therefore, the quality indexes are not positively associated. If H0 is not rejected at p < 0.05, it could be concluded that the quality indexes are positively associated.
In the process of hypothesis testing, the traditional approach to reporting a result requires the researcher to report whether it is statistically significant. The researcher is supposed to do this by generating a p-value from the test statistic. Then, it is indicated that a result is significant if p < 0.05. To understand what p-value is, one needs to know what ‘p’ means. In short ‘p’ is for probability, which is the probability of getting something more outside of the result, when there is no effect in the population (Hopkins, 2002).
The testing was done using PSPP, a tool for statistical analysis of sampled data. The results are shown in Table 8.
Table 8 Results of p-value test Quality aspects
analysed p-value Statistically Significantly
different, p < 0.05 Explanation/results
OCB and OVRS 0.78 No Positively associated
LHS and OVRS < 0.01 Yes Not positively associated
FQR and OVRS < 0.01 Yes Not positively associated
VFPP and OVRS < 0.01 Yes Not positively associated
Thus, in case of H1, it could be said that among the four aspects compared with OVRS satisfaction, the aspects of OCB and OVRS (satisfaction) were positively associated. The results showed that the p-value in this pair of aspects was 0.78, which meant it was statistically significantly different.
The second hypothesis (H2) was ‘A negative level in customer satisfaction is directly related to negative level(s) of certain characteristics of service quality’. For the testing of this hypothesis, the negative results for OVRS were selected and compared to the remaining four aspects to check for any associations. The results are shown in Table 9.
Table 9 Results of p-value associated with the second hypothesis Quality aspects
analysed p-value Statistically significantly
different, p < 0.05 Explanation/results
OVRS and OCB < 0.01 Yes Not associated
OVRS and LHS 0.15 No Associated
OVRS and FQR 0.01 Yes Not associated
OVRS and VFFP 0.73 No Associated
Thus, from Table 9, it could be seen that among the four pairs of aspects compared with negative experiences, when satisfaction levels were low in LHS, the satisfaction levels in OVRS were also low to the same degree. The p-value in this case was 0.15, which was greater than 0.05, making it statistically significantly different. The second pair to give the same result was OVRS and VFFP. The p-value for this pair was 0.73, which was greater than 0.05, making it statistically significantly different. This meant that whenever satisfaction levels were low with regard to VFFP, the satisfaction levels for OVRS were also low. Thus, it could be said that the negative similarities in these two cases or pair of aspects were positively associated.
The results discussed in this section are from the general survey results and data cross-tabulation perspective, and also from the perspective of hypothesis testing. Various implications of the results obtained after analysis were explained, as well as whether the results were helpful in answering the research question.
The general survey and data cross-tabulation results showed a clear gap between the respondents’ expectations and their experiences. With regard to bus service and its usage by users travelling in and around the study area, this gap was negative and evident mainly in aspects affecting quality such as OCB, late hour services and bus frequency. Among the remaining aspects that were analysed, the value of service provided against the fare paid and the overall satisfaction with the service, no negative gaps could be found.
The hypothesis testing part of the data analysis process aimed at determining whether any of the first four aspects were positively associated with the fifth aspect, which was overall satisfaction with the service. In addition, it sought to find whether negative levels
of OVRS satisfaction were associated with negative levels of any of the prior four aspects. The hypothesis testing revealed that there was a positive relationship only between aspects of OCB and overall satisfaction with service. With regard to the second hypothesis, the results showed that negative levels of overall satisfaction with service were positively associated with two of the prior four aspects, late hour services and VFFP.
5 Conclusions and recommendations
The objective of the study was to assess the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction of public transport operations in Vancouver. The results show a significant relationship between overcrowding of buses and overall satisfaction with service. In addition, LHS had a significant effect on overall satisfaction with an influence on VFFP and OVRSs provided by the operators.
5.1 Practical and managerial ramifications
Transit agencies are becoming increasingly concerned with not only how they can keep existing patrons happy and get them to ride more often, but also how they may be able to attract new system users from among the travelling public who have alternative forms of transport at their disposal. This is necessary to help justify current levels of service (resource utilisation), as well as increase these service levels. The overarching belief is that if more people in the community are familiar with and/or use public transport, the greater the possibility that they (and their family, friends and neighbours) will see it as a valuable public service/asset that is worthy of local fiscal support.
Obviously, if growing customer bases is paramount, then it stands to reason that transit operators must be concerned with ensuring the satisfaction of current (and future) customers and seeking ways to enhance the quality of services being provided. Hence, the outcome of this research assists the industry to better understand which aspects of service might result in the best approach for transportation system improvement and would be welcomed to ensure improve service quality.
The key findings and the literature reviewed shed some light on the importance of focusing on improving services quality to improve customer satisfaction within the public transport sector. Hence, it is recommended that transport providers should focus on links between satisfaction and quality service which are key management challenges that require candid understanding of how the transport system operates from the point of view of riders. Such an understanding will provide crucial foundation for developing the transport system that will potentially meet the needs of customers. Transportation service providers would benefit, as they could analyse and relate to demands of commuter and passengers in general. The major implication of the study is to provide adequate information to transport officials on how to develop and tailor the transport service and infrastructural needs of the population to satisfy the burgeoning population transport needs. The study has also contributed to the literature on service quality and customer relationship nexus by providing empirical evidence of commuter perceptions from Vancouver Lower Mainland in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.
5.2 Limitations
As an exploratory study, it is limited to the extent that it only sought to examine the perceptions of service quality for public transport users. Further research is needed to examine how this perception also affects customer loyalty and profitability and, consequently, provide policy recommendations for enhancing the competitiveness of the public transport operations.
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