Riders' Satisfaction with Public Transportation Performance: The Case of Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT)

Abstract

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT) was opened to the public in 2015 with the goal of addressing the rapidly increasing transportation demand in the city. The system, in a short period of time, proved itself to be a long-awaited development, but at the same time there are some challenges the service yet to overcome. One of the challenges is providing a service that satisfies its riders. Using factor analysis, this research identifies AALRT service quality variables that have relative importance to affect users' satisfaction. The study also estimates the relationship between satisfaction towards important service quality variables and socio-demographic and economic characteristics of users through ordered logit model. The data used for the analysis was obtained from a self-reported users' satisfaction survey. The factor analysis results show that the functional or operational variables such as travel and waiting times as well as speed and the price of travel are the most important variables that determine the satisfaction of AALRT users. Similar to that, the ordered logit model indicated dissatisfaction of respondents with the functional/operational variables, which necessitates policy and strategic interventions to improve the operational performance of the AALRT. Also important to the respondents are variables related to cleanliness, the availability and the quality of shelters and seating places at stations.