Identification of quality indexes in school bus transportation system

Abstract

Abstract School transportation is a special and important issue for society, as it refers and involves a very sensitive age group. Therefore, the appropriate design as well as the provision of maximum safety to students, are necessary actions need to be taken into account for the smooth functioning of a society. Within the last years, research in this field has gain interest as it aims to identify the special features affecting the school transportation system and determine the factors that substantially influence the level of the offered services. The current paper aims to investigate qualitative factors that affect a school transportation system’s services executed by school buses. Firstly and in order to identify these factors, international literature research on school transportation has been undertaken revealing that the relating information is neither completed nor sufficiently documented. Secondly and in order to define the most important qualitative factors and assess the existing school transport system, a questionnaire survey is conducted to parents of private high school students in the area of Thessaloniki. Finally, the conclusions of the investigation are analyzed and factors that need improvement in the existing school transportation system are identified. In addition, a school transportation satisfaction index is estimated and by using linear regression analysis, the factors that influence it are determined. The definition of the satisfaction index permits the sector of the school transportation system to prioritize the necessary interventions to be implemented and shed light on the user satisfaction impact of these interventions.