PARATRANSIT CUSTOMER: MODELING ELEMENTS OF SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE

Abstract

Because of the arrival of advanced public transportation systems (APTS) and other changes in the transit environment, the study of the paratransit customer deserves increased attention. Demographic and other characteristics of paratransit customers in southeastern Michigan are presented, and the development of a causal model of the factors affecting customer satisfaction with paratransit service is begun. Such models, which analyze the covariance structures of variables and factors hypothesized to exhibit causal relations, can help researchers and transit operators gauge the potential of improving customer satisfaction through system changes, such as the addition of APTS. Furthermore, these models can suggest which elements of customer satisfaction are most affected by specific system changes. A key finding from the modeling effort is that characteristics specific to the customers, such as personal mobility, contribute substantially toward explaining customer satisfaction. The causal modeling also revealed that transit system characteristics contribute substantially to customer satisfaction, too, especially to customer satisfaction with the trip reservation process. Thus, system enhancements, such as APTS, have ample potential to increase customer satisfaction. Finally, directions for future research aimed at improving and enhancing the developed causal model are discussed and recommended, including specification of the data needs of such research.

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