Stakeholder perspective on urban transport system service quality

Abstract

Different transport stakeholders have different needs for transport infrastructure and services. Achieving stakeholder satisfaction implies a total quality management (TQM) that continuously improves service quality. However, few studies have discussed service quality in relation to urban transport systems. This study proposes an instrument based on SERVQUAL for measuring urban transport service quality from a stakeholder perspective. The proposed instrument is developed and tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The gaps between stakeholder expectations and actual received and the gaps associated with stakeholders' expectations and the perceptions of these expectations by professionals are examined. Importance-performance analysis is used to construct a service attribute evaluation map for determining resource allocation to improve service quality. The application is illustrated through an empirical study to discuss the managerial implications in the Taipei metropolitan area. The analytical results reveal the existence of gaps and that stakeholders are more concerned with reliability and safety dimensions.