Satisfaction with public transportation service among university students

Abstract

The objective of this research was to estimate the satisfaction of university students with respect to the service quality elements of urban public transportation in the State of Colima. The service quality indicator was designed in a 13-item perception survey that incorporated a series of service aspects. The factor analysis was applied through a logistic regression type logit allowed identifying the latent constructs that are present in this scale. Eight latent constructs associated with the perceived quality of the bus service were identified: congruent schedule, accessible price, staff inspires confidence, service meets needs, waiting time, travel distance, road infrastructure and route planning. These latent constructs were explored through an appreciation of how perceptions of bus service quality vary across sex and city cohorts to explain the degree to which these perceptions are useful in explaining variation in perceived satisfaction with bus service. The results of the analysis suggested that perceptions regarding bus service quality vary significantly across different groups of riders, with women tending to show increased perceptions of service quality paying for PT 1.12 more times than a man. This implies that men are more demanding than women with respect to the PT service they pay for. Satisfaction in relation to the price paid and the service received is lower in men than in women. In addition, perceived convenience of bus service appears to have significant positive explanatory power on perceived satisfaction with bus service, suggesting that improvements in schedule, price, staffing, meeting needs, time, distance, infrastructure, and route planning are likely to increase perceived satisfaction among passengers. As limitations, it was observed that the participants from whom the perception of the transportation service was obtained were exclusively middle and high school students. These results allowed us to contribute to the feedback and decision making process to improve the services offered to the student community. On a more general level, this research demonstrated the level of additional knowledge that can be gained through a more detailed analysis of the data generated on public transportation policy and services offered to the student community.