Bus Transport Services Research Articles

Enhancing service quality of rural public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic: a novel fuzzy approach.

In order to encourage the use of public transportation, it is necessary to make it more appealing to commuters by conducting frequent Service Quality (SQ) evaluations and modifications. Understanding passengers' expectations of public transportation are important, and evaluating the SQ is an essential tool for assessing the overall performance of the public transportation system. The purpose of the present study was to examine the expectations and perceptions of core passengers regarding SQ in public bus transportation. By surveying 598 passengers in rural public transportation in India, the study results are illustrated and further discussed to guide possible bus SQ improvements in rural areas. In addition, the impact of these expectations and perceptions on satisfaction levels of rural public bus transportation services are explored by applying the Interval-Valued Pythagorean Fuzzy (IVPF). The outcomes of the survey indicated significant disparities among expectations and perceptions of passengers, as well as widespread dissatisfaction with the delivery of bus services in rural areas as a whole. The dependability and adaptiveness of the bus service have been critical in describing the overall quality of bus services in rural areas, and best practices from around the world were used to develop a set of recommendations for transportation operators and local officials.

Performance Analysis of Public Bus Transport Services in Rural Areas

This study investigated the performance of rural public bus transport services in Jordan Valley. The performance measures included availability, comfort and convenience, waiting time, mobility, productivity and safety. The data used in this research was collected from three sources: field survey of existing bus routes, operational data from Land Transport Regulatory Commission and questionnaire surveys which were distributed to a sample of passengers and bus drivers. The obtained data was used to compute the performance measures, as well as to develop statistical models to estimate the average waiting time of buses at peak and off-peak hours. The results indicated that the waiting time at off-peak hours was two and a half times the waiting time at peak hours. It was found that 40% of the external bus routes were within the range of overall Level of Service (LOS) C & D, 26.67% between B & D, 13.33% between B & C, 13.33% between C & E and 6.67% between D & E. Also, it was found that 60% of internal bus routes’ LOSs were between C & D, 20% between C & E and 20% with LOS C. It was found that the average perceived waiting time depends on the total travel time regardless of on-peak or off-peak trips. KEYWORDS: Public transport, Bus services, Performance measures, Waiting time, Jordan Valley.

GPS Data Analytics for the Assessment of Public City Bus Transportation Service Quality in Bangkok

Evaluation of the quality of service (QoS) of public city buses is generally performed using surveys that assess attributes such as accessibility, availability, comfort, convenience, reliabilities, safety, security, etc. Each survey attribute is assessed from the subjective viewpoint of the service users. This is reliable and straightforward because the consumer is the one who accesses the bus service. However, in addition to summarizing personal feedback from humans, using data analytics has become another useful method for assessing the QoS of bus transportation. This work aims to use global positioning system (GPS) data to measure the reliability, accessibility, and availability of bus transportation services. There are three QoS scoring functions for tracking complete trips, on-path driving, and on-schedule operation. In the analytical process, GPS coordinates rounding is adopted and applied for detecting trips on each route path. After assessing the three QoS scores, it has been found that most bus routes have good operations with high scores, while some bus routes show room for improvement. Future work could use our data to create recommendations for policy makers in terms of how to improve a city’s smart mobility.

Sustainable development solutions of public transportation:An integrated IMF SWARA and Fuzzy Bonferroni operator

Developing the quality of public transport has an efficient impact to attract more users to switch modes from private vehicles to public transport, which has a tremendous capability in reducing the traffic congestion, noise and CO2 emissions the urban areas. For this reason, policy makers and scholars aim to enhance the supply quality of public transport system, where involving citizens along with experts and decision makers in the decision process will reflect the existed and future demand to provide more sustainable solutions which provide efficient solutions to achieve positive impacts on the local environment. This study intends to determine the preference of decision-makers and operators for the importance of the supply quality elements of urban bus transport services in Mersin city, Turkey. For this aim, decision makers and experts are involved in the evaluation process to provide feedback on public transport quality with the view of increasing the satisfaction and thus usage, with positive impacts on increased public transport modal share and dropped CO2 emission transport. In total we have formed list of three main criteria: transport quality, service quality and traceability which contains in total 21 sub-criteria. For determining all criteria weights we have formed in total 112 models using IMF SWARA (Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) method and for final determining criteria weights Fuzzy Bonferroni operator (FBO) has been used. Applying such model we have ensured stability in final values of criteria and have obtained optimal results based on preferences decision makers. The adopted results show that the most significant attribute in the system is the “Traceability” with highest weight score (0.398), followed by the “Transport quality” with weight score (0.334), however, the service quality rank as the last significant attribute with weight score (0.264). The originality of our work is conducting IMF SWARA method for improving the service quality of the public transport system.

Analysis of the operational and financial performance of the Addis Ababa municipality-owned public bus transport services

ABSTRACT Improving operational performance is the key concern for the transportation sector in emerging countries. In Addis Ababa, the majority of the transit service was provided by municipally owned public bus transportation companies such as Anbessa and Sheger Transport Service Enterprises. This study examined the operators’ operational and financial performance in comparison to industry standards. The ratio analysis approach was utilized to examine secondary data from 2016/17 to 2021/2022, which was employed in the study. The overall findings indicate that, despite differences in operational safety and employee productivity, the Anbessa city bus outperforms the Sheger city bus in some parameters, such as fleet utilization, vehicle usage, and service utilization. However, Sheger city bus outperforms its competitor in terms of operational safety and bus staffing levels. Finally, a majority of the data indicates that the operators’ performance fell short of industry standards. To improve their financial and operational performance and continue offering services that fall short of those provided by other companies in the city, bus transit companies, which receive government subsidies to operate their services, must significantly improve how they use their resource. Furthermore, the municipality should offer subsidies and other incentives based on the genuine company’s performance.

An analysis of gender differences and perception of influential criteria for the quality of urban bus transportation: Evidence from Brazil

In Brazil, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of people transported by bus has been reduced possibly due to the rise of individual transport (transport apps, electric scooters, cycling, etc.) and also due the low quality of bus transport services. Whilst several studies have emphasized the importance of measuring the quality of service in public transportation regarding the passengers' satisfaction in order to retain and attract new users, there is no consensus about the most convenient methodology and the best suitable criteria to perform such analysis. Moreover, the need to effectively promote the strengthening of gender equality in transportation and the assessment of gender differences and their perceptions in bus transportation services is increasingly perceived. In this context, a case study was conducted in a medium-sized Brazilian municipality and the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA), combined with the Tarrant & Smith procedure and a service quality classification procedure are used to analyze the influential criteria in the quality of urban bus transportation. As a result, the most influential criteria in the quality of urban bus transportation services regarding both female and male perceptions are related with the waiting time, punctuality, passenger loading, service schedule, and the bus maintenance and cleanliness. However, significant differences between female and male perceptions are perceived regarding the importance of criteria in terms of vehicle crashes, respect from drivers/ticket sellers, punctuality, service frequency, cleaning and maintenance of buses and the relationship between the ticket price and the service provided, and also in terms of the bus service performance concerning the respect for traffic laws and the service schedule.

Анализ долговременных тенденций изменения пассажиропотока в межмуниципальном автобусном сообщении

Transport infrastructure planning and transport policy decisions are important in the issue of regional governance. Bus transportation service is non-alternative for many destinations, therefore it requires understanding of future trends in order to make more grounded decisions. The intermunicipal bus transportation market depends on the general mobility of the population and personal preferences of passengers. Transport behavior is a dynamic characteristic which is influenced by a variety factors. In the long term, it is affected by socio-economic indicators, offers of competing modes of transport, etc. This article analyzes various factors which have an impact on intermunicipal passenger traffic in the Sverdlovsk region. In addition to socio-demographic factors, a change in the transport behavior of the population caused by the sanitary and epidemiological situation and development of the sharing economy, namely, the spread of travel companion search services, is considered. Several scenarios of long-term changes in passenger traffic trends based on causal analysis and mathematical modeling of time series are proposed. In particular, an additive model based on a component-by-component decomposition of a time series and a model of triple exponential smoothing by Holt - Winters are applied.

Regional Differences in the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Demand for Bus Transport in the Slovak Republic

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and the anti-pandemic measures taken have significantly affected the activities of the society and the associated need for mobility, as well as the transport behaviour of inhabitants. The goal of this research is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the change in the demand of residents for suburban bus transport (SBT) services in the regions of Slovakia. Due to the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19, there was a decrease in the number of passengers transported by SBT as well as a decrease in the supply of bus services offered in all the regions under study. The decrease in the number of passengers in the pandemic year was caused not only by COVID-19 and the anti-pandemic measures, but also by the reduction in the supply of SBT. The research confirmed the relation between the reduction in the offer of SBT and the decrease in passenger demand.

Determinants of school bus service satisfaction in private schools in Ghana: Managerial implications

Although School Bus Transportation Services (SBTS) enhance safe and supervised travel that impacts educational outcomes, there is a growing service decline in some private schools in Ghana. Given the dearth of research on SBTS satisfaction in Africa's private schools, policymakers and education administrators are unable to find managerial solutions. This study investigates the determinants of school bus service satisfaction in the Sunyani Municipality, Ghana, using a survey of 403 schoolchildren and 40 staff members from twenty private schools. Multivariate analyses showed that the frequency of bus breakdowns is a critical determinant of ridership, whereas cost is insignificant. Satisfaction depends on bus service information, serviceability, drivers' empathy towards riders, safety/security, the physical appearance of crew and buses, and responsiveness/reliability of services. Notably, there is no transport policy or department regulating SBTS management in Ghana's private schools. Stakeholders can use the findings of this study to create a policy framework to improve the management of SBTS.

The accident-adjusted dynamic efficiency of public bus operators in metropolitan cities of India

PurposeThe study evaluates the accident-adjusted dynamic efficiency of public bus operators providing bus transportation services in eight major metropolitan cities of India.Design/methodology/approachThe slack-based measure (SBM)–undesirable window analysis approach is used to gauge the dynamic efficiency levels and identify the sources of inefficiency in bus transportation services. This innovative approach integrates the SBM model developed by Tone (2001, 2004) and the window analysis approach of Charnes et al. (1985). The main advantage of this approach is that one can explicitly incorporate the number of accidents in the production technology specification as an undesirable (bad) output and potently handle the issue of the “curse of dimensionality” in a small sample like ours.FindingsThe key empirical findings suggest wide variations in average efficiency levels across sample bus operators in metropolitan cities. The Chennai Transport Corporation is observed as the most efficient and consistent bus operator due to its most stable efficiency performance. The results additionally unveil that the role of managerial inefficiency was diminutive, and the scale-related issues were the real cause of sub-optimal or supra-optimal behaviour of sample bus operators in the resource-utilisation process.Practical implicationsThere is an urgent requirement for effective policy intercessions to mitigate the sizeable observed inefficiency in the production process and resolve scale-related issues of public bus operators offering transit services in major metropolitan cities of India.Originality/valueThis paper is maybe the first to assess the dynamic efficiency of public bus transit systems in India's major metropolitan cities after treating accidents.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Travel Mode Preferences in Klang Valley

Change in activity patterns and travel behaviour were seen worldwide as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is mainly due to the restrictive measures imposed by the government and perception of own safety or commitment in reducing the spread of the disease. However, with or without the restrictive measures, people still have various needs to travel. Thus, this study was initiated to understand the changes in travel behaviour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey, including questions related to purpose of travel, transport mode choice, distance and frequency of trip was conducted. Findings from this study revealed that there is a significant change in activity pattern and travel behaviour, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the 460 responses received, it is known that mode shifts, from public transportation to private vehicles, occurred mainly due to pandemic related concerns. This study reveals that people perceived public transportation as a potential risk for exposure of the COVID-19 virus, while private vehicles, bicycles and walking are viewed as the safest mode of transport during the pandemic. Gender, age group, vehicle ownership, marital status and purpose of travelling had significant impact on the mode choice during the pandemic. Based on these findings, it is hoped that rail and bus transport service providers will be able to plan measures and further encourage the usage of the rail and bus transport services post-pandemic.

Reforming Innercity Bus Transportation in a Developing Country: A Passenger-Driven Model

The transportation system in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, requires significant improvements. The shortage of motorized vehicles and the excessive number of nonmotorized vehicles on the city’s streets have been the cause of unbearable traffic congestion, leading to negative externalities such as productivity loss, increase in stress levels, and adverse health effects from pollution. In a city inhabited by more than 12 million people, predominantly representing the middle- and lower-middle class, a well-organized low-cost bus transportation system is yet to emerge to resolve the city’s transportation problems. This study explores ways of improving bus transportation services in Dhaka. Eight factors were identified to address satisfaction levels of regular bus users whose opinions and concerns are deemed vital in making bus services in the city better organized, need based, and service oriented. Using factor analysis and multiple regression, five of the eight selected factors were found to have significant effects on passenger satisfaction. These include comfort levels, staff behavior, number of buses changed to reach destination, supervision, and waiting facilities. Policy implications are discussed in view of the findings.

Assessment of Passenger Satisfaction with Intra-City Public Bus Transport Services in Abuja, Nigeria

The aim of this study was to investigate passenger satisfaction with the service quality attributes of public bus transport services in Abuja, Nigeria. To achieve this, a survey was conducted between February and July 2011. In 10 sample bus stop areas selected for this study, 300 public bus transport users were randomly selected to elicit their overall satisfaction and factors that influenced their satisfaction in the use of public bus transport services in Abuja using a self-rated questionnaire. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and principal component and regression analyses. The results of these analyses showed that passengers were not satisfied with the public bus transport services in Abuja. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), four underlying factors were extracted that influenced passenger satisfaction with public bus transport services in the city. The four components together explained 83.87 percent of the cumulative variance of PCA, leaving 16.32 percent of the total variance unexplained. The standardized regression coefficients further showed that comfort has the greatest impact on overall satisfaction, followed by accessibility. Adequacy and bus stop facilities were the third and fourth factors in the order of relative importance in influencing passenger satisfaction of public bus transport services in the city. On the basis of the findings, recommendations were made to improve public bus transport services in the city of Abuja.

Bus Headways Analysis for Anomaly Detection

The evolution of headways (time intervals between consecutive vehicles) is an important performance indicator of public transportation systems. In this paper, we develop a data processing system that processes the expected arrival time data provided by the corresponding APIs of Madrid and London bus public transport systems with the aim of modeling and supervising their evolution along the time to detect their operational anomalies. By employing only estimates of the time headways between buses, we construct joint statistical modeling along the time of these headways within a stochastic process framework. Then, this model is employed to design a deviation detection procedure that provides a simple and adjustable anomaly detection scheme, as well as a complementary index for assessing the overall Quality of Service (QoS) provided by the operator. The proposed adjustable system can be easily tuned by managers or operators for online anomaly detection, which is an important asset to increase the efficiency of bus transportation services.

The Influence Of The Quality Of Public Transportation Services On Customer Loyalty On The Trans Mamminasata Bus Makassar City

This script discusses the influence of the quality of public transportation services on customer loyalty on the Trans Mamminasata Bus. The main problem is how the influence of the quality of transportation services on customer loyalty on the Trans Mamminasata Bus and what are the stages in the formation of the Trans Mamminasata Bus.
 This study aims to determine whether the targets, duties, and responsibilities have been carried out properly, it is necessary to measure the success of Service Quality on Customer Loyalty on the Trans Mamminasata Bus. The type of research used is descriptive research method with quantitative approach. This research lasted for one month located in the Trans Mamminasata Bus corridor on Boulevard road in front of the Panakukang Mall Makassar, with customer informants using the Trans Mamminasata Bus transportation service.
 The results of this study were conducted to obtain the expected Customer Loyalty of Trans Mamminasata Bus Users, from the study of the variabels that affect customer loyalty is the quality of service (X1). Hypothesis testing shows that Service Quality has an effect on Customer Loyalty for Trans Mamminasata Bus Users.

Strategic Management of a Finnish bus company: Challenges and Opportunities

Undoubtedly, strategic management's role has enabled businesses to attain growth, adapt to new trends, and face competition. While examining the bus transportation industry in Finland, which faces competition, we demand to know whether it will lead to a case company's success and competitive advantage by assessing its strategic management methods. Moreover, results show that the case company has gone through many challenging threats throughout its existence. However, by conducting a strategic assessment, strategic choice, and implementing other strategic management methods specified in this case study, the company can grow and compete against other bus transport services companies in Finland.

Importance performance analysis for evaluating city bus service quality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Public bus transport service operators play a significant role in delivering residents’ mass transit services in cities. Thus, measuring their service performance is very important to know their strengths and weaknesses; meet residents’ rapidly growing mobility needs, and provide quality services. This study aims to assess the service quality of public buses in Addis Ababa, emphasizing on Importance-Performance Analysis model. A questionnaire consisting of thirty-one service quality attributes was used using a seven-point Likert scale. A face-to-face survey was conducted with 500 conveniently selected respondents to grasp passengers’ expectations and perceptions of public buses’ service quality in the city. Hence, based on Importance Performance Analysis, Customer Satisfaction Index, and level of Conformity analysis, 58.1% of the attributes are found under concentrate here and low priority quadrant. Therefore, the study suggests transit service operators and concerned stakeholders should provide urgent attention and allocate their resources to these attributes to improve the quality of service and enhance customer satisfaction with delivered services.

Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Keputusan Menggunakan Jasa Angkutan Bus Pariwisata pada Masa Pandemi

Factors Affecting The Decision to Use Tourism Bus Transportation Services During Pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 caused significant losses in various business sectors in Indonesia, particularly in the tourism sector. The factors influencing consumer decisions to use Gege bus transportation services during the Covid-19 pandemic are discussed in this article. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the research population was Gege's transportation tourism service customers, with a total research sample of 30 respondents. Sampling using a random sampling technique without regard for population strata. The variables in this study include price, quality factors, and health protocols, with the consumer's decision to use Gege transportation serving as the determining variable. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the effect of the variables. These factors have a positive and significant impact on consumer decisions to use services.

ANALYSIS FACTORS AFFECTING USER SATISFACTION PALANGKA RAYA DAMRI BUS TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (STUDY, ROUTE. PALANGKA RAYA – BUNTOK)

The increasing number of passengers every year, even during the pandemic, the number of passengers is still said to be normal in using the Palangkaraya Damri bus transportation services, with an increase in the number of passengers every year, the expectations of customers will also increase for the availability of better physical condition of the bus fleet, better service. good prices, appropriate prices and strategic locations, this aims to increase customer satisfaction in using Damri bus services. Research method this use method quantitative. And for taking sample that is taken as many as 80 respondents user service damri bus transportation barrier highway. The sampling technique used is accidental sampling, the type of data used for study this namely primary data. For technique data collection that is use questionnaire. Data analysis techniques used in study this that is multiple linear regression, from multiple linear statistical analysis it was found that the value of the regression coefficient on each variable is Y = 0.410 + 0.214 X1 + 0.196 X2 + 0.365 X3 + 0.356 X4, is a positive coefficient dimension where the value of all variables increases affecting the satisfaction of users of the Palangkaraya Damri bus transportation service. from _ partial test results obtained for the service quality variable, ticket price/cost and location for the T count > T table with a T table value of (1.990) which means that there is a positive and significant influence on the variable satisfaction of damri bus transportation service users, and for the variable physical condition of the bus fleet. T count < T table which has no positive and significant effect on satisfaction. from ri results testing by simultaneous that from calculation F count (25.957) > F table (2.49) so H 1 is accepted and H 0 is rejected. And the amount of influence contribution variable Condition Physical Bus Fleet, Services, Prices and Locations Satisfaction Damri Bus Transportation Service Users Palangka Raya is 58. 1% from results research.

Passengers’ Satisfaction among the Private Bus Transport Services in Mayiladuthurai

Passengers’ Satisfaction among the Private Bus Transport Services in Mayiladuthurai