Intra-Urban Spatial Disparities in User Satisfaction with Public Transport Services

Abstract

Knowing public transport service’s user satisfaction is essential to maintaining and increasing its quality and demand. Several studies have analysed the factors influencing users’ satisfaction, considering their perceptions of specific attributes of the service. However, other aspects, such as the spatial distribution of users, i.e., their origin neighbourhoods, could significantly affect their satisfaction with the service, showing social inequity patterns. This paper proposes a new methodology to evaluate whether these spatial differences in satisfaction exist. Using the city of Santander (Spain) as an example, ordered probit models have been estimated, linking the bus users’ overall satisfaction with variables that include their perceptions of the service and socio-demographic characteristics, and with dummy variables which classify each trip according to its neighbourhood origin. Our results confirm the existence of variations in satisfaction depending on the area of the city under study. In addition, user characterization variables, such as age, which were not significant when considering the city as a whole, proved to be influential in some areas. The estimated model, considering spatial differences, had a higher goodness of fit than that of models not taking zoning into account, and reproduced the overall satisfaction pattern presented in the study area with less error. The consideration of spatial differences in the modelling process enabled the detection of priority areas in which to implement measures to improve service quality and equity, thus increasing the use of public transport and supporting the promotion of a more sustainable mobility.

Environmental Effects of Electromobility in a Sustainable Urban Public Transport

“…They relate to various areas, including, i.a. development and promotion of public transport as a solution that attains a more efficient use of road networks and provides a more socially equitable and clean mobility than private vehicles [25], limiting development of private car transport, integration of various means and modes of transport, ensuring a rational division of transport tasks between individual modes of transport, development of new, environmentally friendly, techniques and technologies of transport and delivery, promotion of alternative forms of movement in urban areas, as well as changes in users' behaviors and habits.…”

Students’ Views on Public Transport: Satisfaction and Emission

“…The bus also has to have a broad range of destinations to fulfill the travel demands of customers. Cordera's paper [26] enquired as to which factors explain the spatial differences in satisfaction with public transport services in the town. Furthermore, the report revealed "the importance of understandable time table information in bus stop and in local newspaper in order to make them aware of the existence of the service."…”

Interaction between attribute importance and user satisfaction on the promotion of public transport

“…Surveys regarding quality in the transport system are employed to evaluate the importance and/or satisfaction of their users with transport attributes, aiming to increase its quality, attractiveness, and, consequently, demand (Cordera, Nogués, González-González, & Dell'Olio, 2019;Zefreh, Hussain, & Sipos, 2020). This happens because the use of transport is associated with the user perception of attributes that characterize that transport (Karón, 2017;de Oña, Estévez, & de Oña, 2020).…”