Urban bus transport service quality and sustainable development: understanding the service gaps

Abstract

Public transport systems are known to be sustainable modes in terms of space and energy efficiency, and environmental and social benefits. A good networked public transportation system with time-bound schedules, reliable services, comfort, competitive travel times and affordable prices, are some of the required traits for providing sustainable transport services and commuter satisfaction. The objective of the proposed study is to measure gap between commuters’ expectations of urban bus transport services and the actual service quality provided. The SERVQUAL framework, which is a multi-item instrument used for measuring service quality, is used to measure gap between commuters’ expectations of urban bus transport services and the actual service quality provided. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), which is among the few profit-making urban public bus transport organization in India, is taken as the case study for understanding the said gap. While the services of BMTC are very competitive among any other urban public bus transport organization in the country, they are still to reach the desired level of passenger mode share that will enable them to provide sustainable mobility solution to the commuters in Bangalore. The statistical analysis of the results shows that the expectations are higher than perception, particularly with respect to empathy dimension. The results of this study may help organizations like BMTC to bridge the gap between commuters’ expectations and actual service quality and to work towards developing sustainable services.

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