IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i22p9759-d449528.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Index of Satisfaction with Public Transport: A Fuzzy Clustering Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Paula Vicente

    (Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Department of Quantitative Methods for Management and Economics, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Abdul Suleman

    (Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Department of Mathematics, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Elizabeth Reis

    (Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Department of Quantitative Methods for Management and Economics, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal)

Abstract

Increasing public transport use is recognized by many countries as crucial to the pursuit of a global strategy for environmental sustainability and improving urban mobility. Understanding what users value in a public transport service is essential to carry out this strategy. Using fuzzy clustering, we developed an index that measures individual user satisfaction with the public transport service in the metropolitan area of Lisbon and subsequently identified the possible determinants of satisfaction by means of a regression tree model. The results achieved unveil a hierarchical partition of the data, highlighting the diversified level of satisfaction among public transport users that is reflected in the distribution of the index. The managerial implications of the findings for the public transport service are addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Paula Vicente & Abdul Suleman & Elizabeth Reis, 2020. "Index of Satisfaction with Public Transport: A Fuzzy Clustering Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9759-:d:449528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9759/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9759/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. dell'Olio, Luigi & Ibeas, Angel & Cecín, Patricia, 2010. "Modelling user perception of bus transit quality," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 388-397, November.
    2. Hensher, David A. & Stopher, Peter & Bullock, Philip, 2003. "Service quality--developing a service quality index in the provision of commercial bus contracts," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 499-517, July.
    3. Jiancheng Weng & Xiaojian Di & Chang Wang & Jingjing Wang & Lizeng Mao, 2018. "A Bus Service Evaluation Method from Passenger’s Perspective Based on Satisfaction Surveys: A Case Study of Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Fellesson, Markus & Friman, Margareta, 2008. "Perceived Satisfaction with Public Transport Service in Nine European Cities," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 47(3).
    5. Tyrinopoulos, Yannis & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2008. "Public transit user satisfaction: Variability and policy implications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 260-272, July.
    6. Mokonyama, Mathetha & Venter, Christoffel, 2013. "Incorporation of customer satisfaction in public transport contracts – A preliminary analysis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 58-66.
    7. Sara Ramos & Paula Vicente & Ana M. Passos & Patrícia Costa & Elizabeth Reis, 2019. "Perceptions of the Public Transport Service as a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: A Qualitative Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Abdul Suleman, 2017. "A fuzzy clustering approach to evaluate individual competencies from REFLEX data," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(14), pages 2513-2533, October.
    9. Lai, Wen-Tai & Chen, Ching-Fu, 2011. "Behavioral intentions of public transit passengers--The roles of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 318-325, March.
    10. van Lierop, Dea & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "Enjoying loyalty: The relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in public transit," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 50-59.
    11. Neil Quarles & Kara M. Kockelman & Moataz Mohamed, 2020. "Costs and Benefits of Electrifying and Automating Bus Transit Fleets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Efstathios Bouhouras & Socrates Basbas & Georgios Mintsis & Christos Taxiltaris & Marios Miltiadou & Andreas Nikiforiadis & Maria Natalia Konstantinidou & Eleni Mavropoulou, 2022. "Level of Satisfaction among University Students Using Various Transport Modes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Rafal Stachyra & Kamil Roman, 2021. "Analysis of Accessibility of Public Transport in Warsaw in the Opinion of Users," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 12(3), pages 384-403, August.
    3. Weng, JianCheng & Yu, JiangBo & Di, XiaoJian & Lin, PengFei & Wang, Jing-Jing & Mao, Li-Zeng, 2023. "How does the state of bus operations influence passengers’ service satisfaction? A method considering the differences in passenger preferences," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan de Oña & Rocio de Oña, 2015. "Quality of Service in Public Transport Based on Customer Satisfaction Surveys: A Review and Assessment of Methodological Approaches," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 605-622, August.
    2. Zhang, Chunqin & Juan, Zhicai & Lu, Weite & Xiao, Guangnian, 2016. "Do the organizational forms affect passenger satisfaction? Evidence from Chinese public transport service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 129-148.
    3. Mandhani, Jyoti & Nayak, Jogendra Kumar & Parida, Manoranjan, 2020. "Interrelationships among service quality factors of Metro Rail Transit System: An integrated Bayesian networks and PLS-SEM approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 320-336.
    4. Tuan, Vu Anh & Van Truong, Nguyen & Tetsuo, Shimizu & An, Nguyen Ngoc, 2022. "Public transport service quality: Policy prioritization strategy in the importance-performance analysis and the three-factor theory frameworks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 118-134.
    5. Grisé, Emily & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2018. "Where is the happy transit rider? Evaluating satisfaction with regional rail service using a spatial segmentation approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 114(PA), pages 84-96.
    6. Echaniz, Eneko & dell’Olio, Luigi & Ibeas, Ángel, 2018. "Modelling perceived quality for urban public transport systems using weighted variables and random parameters," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 31-39.
    7. Eneko Echaniz & Chinh Ho & Andres Rodriguez & Luigi dell’Olio, 2020. "Modelling user satisfaction in public transport systems considering missing information," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2903-2921, December.
    8. Chica-Olmo, Jorge & Gachs-Sánchez, Héctor & Lizarraga, Carmen, 2018. "Route effect on the perception of public transport services quality," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 40-48.
    9. de Oña, Juan & Estévez, Esperanza & de Oña, Rocío, 2021. "How does private vehicle users perceive the public transport service quality in large metropolitan areas? A European comparison," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 173-188.
    10. Mulley, Corinne & Clifton, Geoffrey Tilden & Balbontin, Camila & Ma, Liang, 2017. "Information for travelling: Awareness and usage of the various sources of information available to public transport users in NSW," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 111-132.
    11. Shuli Luo & Sylvia Y He, 2021. "Using data mining to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of perceptions of metro services in China: The case of Shenzhen," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(3), pages 449-466, March.
    12. Jomnonkwao, Sajjakaj & Ratanavaraha, Vatanavongs, 2016. "Measurement modelling of the perceived service quality of a sightseeing bus service: An application of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 240-252.
    13. Ittamalla, Rajesh & Srinivas Kumar, Daruri Venkata, 2021. "Determinants of holistic passenger experience in public transportation: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    14. Abenoza, Roberto F. & Cats, Oded & Susilo, Yusak O., 2017. "Travel satisfaction with public transport: Determinants, user classes, regional disparities and their evolution," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 64-84.
    15. van Lierop, Dea & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "Enjoying loyalty: The relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in public transit," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 50-59.
    16. Dea Lierop & Ahmed El-Geneidy, 2018. "Is having a positive image of public transit associated with travel satisfaction and continued transit usage? An exploratory study of bus transit," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 241-256, August.
    17. Echaniz, Eneko & Ho, Chinh Q. & Rodriguez, Andres & dell'Olio, Luigi, 2019. "Comparing best-worst and ordered logit approaches for user satisfaction in transit services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 752-769.
    18. Guirao, Begoña & García-Pastor, Antonio & López-Lambas, María Eugenia, 2016. "The importance of service quality attributes in public transportation: Narrowing the gap between scientific research and practitioners' needs," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 68-77.
    19. Efthymiou, Dimitrios & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2017. "Understanding the effects of economic crisis on public transport users’ satisfaction and demand," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 89-97.
    20. Ganji, S.S. & Ahangar, A.N. & Awasthi, Anjali & Jamshidi Bandari, Smaneh, 2021. "Psychological analysis of intercity bus passenger satisfaction using Q methodology," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 345-363.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9759-:d:449528. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.