A study on bus user's perception in selected Indian cities

Abstract

This study aims at understanding the perception of city bus users in selected Indian cities under given operating conditions. A questionnaire form was designed for capturing the socio-economic characteristics, trip characteristics, satisfaction, and preferences of the bus users. This questionnaire includes seven service quality attributes namely in-vehicle travel time, bus stop waiting time, bus on-time performance, riding comfort, safety, end-to-end connectivity, providing reliable information on the bus stops, and providing reliable information on the smartphone. Personal Interview Surveys were conducted to collect the responses from the city bus users. Total 613 samples were considered for analysis in Hyderabad, 707 samples in Navi Mumbai and 590 samples from Surat BRTS users, 505 samples from Surat city bus users. Further, Garret ranking technique was also employed to analyze the priority preferences based on the sample’s responses. Based on Garret’s weightages, weighted average satisfaction ratings were evaluated. Based on the results, it was found that females have given more priority for safety attributes. Bus on-time performance, bus reliability, bus stop waiting time and on time performance were given the highest priority and reliable information at bus stops and online sources were given the least priority.