Gender and Age Do Matter: Exploring the Effect of Passengers’ Gender and Age on the Perception of Light Rail Transit Service Quality in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ahmad Nazrul Hakimi Ibrahim,Muhamad Nazri Borhan,Nor Aznirahani Mhd Yunin,Amiruddin Ismail,Muhamad Razuhanafi Mat Yazid,Nur Izzi Md Yusoff,Sotaro Yukawa

doi:10.3390/su13020990

Ahmad Nazrul Hakimi Ibrahim, Muhamad Nazri Borhan + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020990

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Abstract

Light rail transit (LRT) is a sustainable transportation mode that ensures sustainable environmental, economic, and social development. Generally, the rate of public transportation usage in many parts of the world remains low compared to private vehicles. There is a need to understand passengers’ perception of public transportation service quality to enhance passenger satisfaction and increase ridership. Thus, this study used the Kuala Lumpur LRT service as a case study to investigate the effect of a passenger’s gender and age on their perception of the LRT service quality and their overall satisfaction. This survey involved 417 respondents. The outcome of factor analysis indicated that eight factors—i.e., signage, comfort, speediness, safety, ticketing service, facilities, staff service, and provision of information—influenced passenger satisfaction. The results of the Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test indicated that the factors influencing passenger satisfaction significantly varied across a passenger’s gender and age. A more in-depth and comprehensive analysis using the ordered logit model and segmentation approach proved that provision of information, comfort, staff service, and facilities were critical determiners of passenger satisfaction in most segments. Safety factors and ticketing services had no impact on overall passenger satisfaction. The findings of this research could help LRT service providers, researchers, and policymakers formulate effective strategies for enhancing passenger satisfaction and increase the ridership for LRT services.

Highlights

Many countries across the globe are experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth [1], both of which have significantly increased economic growth and global demand for mobility
Exploratory factor analysis was applied to the 43 items to measure the level of service quality of the Kuala Lumpur light rail transit (LRT)
This study sought to determine the effect of gender and age on passengers’ perception of the Kuala Lumpur LRT service quality based on eight factors: signage, comfort, speediness, safety, ticketing service, facilities, staff service, and provision of information

Summary

Introduction

Many countries across the globe are experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth [1], both of which have significantly increased economic growth and global demand for mobility. The rate of motorization has increased rapidly with a high dependency on private transportation for mobility. In 2010, the use of public transport in Greater Kuala. Lumpur was relatively low at 17% (1.24 million) and 83% (6 million) of the trips involved the use of private vehicles [2,3]. Statistics showed that the use of public transportation in Malaysia is relatively low compared to the other cities in the world, including London (90%), Hong Kong (74%), and Singapore (64%) [3,4]. The most common reasons for using private transportation are privacy, speed, and flexibility [5]. 4.0/).

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