Assessment of service quality of public transport-a case of Bhopal

Abstract

The rapidly growing population has induced the growth of travel demand that has further resulted in increased ridership in public transport and also increased dependency on private vehicles. In Indian cities, the public transport network faces many problems from technological to operational. Existing issues areMore traveling timing, Overcrowding during peak hours, Waiting time is more during Peak hours, Frequency, PIS(Passenger information system) not working, Poor Ridership, Security, Traffic Signals, and Design Issues. One of the major reasons behind the existing city bus service is the problem of service quality of public transport. The service quality of the existing city bus service does not comply with the expectations of users. The existing public transport of Bhopal city is served by Bhopal city link limited (BCLL). The study aims to measure the performance of Bhopal Public Transport from Service Quality and user perspective. To understand the problems for the identification of issues study on the existing public transport service was carried out based on physical performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various SLB and passenger satisfaction in terms of different identified parameters. The study is undertaken on Route level. The analysis is based on TWO PARTS- Transport service level (Service Quality) and Passenger Satisfaction. Out of seventeen routes, three routes are selected for the study. To measure ‘service quality’ there are many parameters to consider but the study is at the route level, so only four parameters are applicable. They are– Punctuality, Average waiting time, Service hours, and Level of comfort. To measure ‘Passenger satisfaction’ there are many parameters to consider but only five parameters have been used for the study. They are- Timeliness, Security, Convenience, Comfort, and Reliability. The comparative analysis of the level of service (Service quality) and passenger satisfaction. Proposals are based on two outcomes, first is the outcome based on the comparison of various parameters. The second is based on passenger demand. The proposals focus on improving public transport buses service quality to reduce waiting time, frequency of buses, passenger information system facilities need to be improved.