151. Methodology for a Study of the Perceived Quality of Public Transport in Santander
- Author
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Ángel Ibeas Portilla, Luigi dell’Olio, Dino Borri, Valeria Maraglino, and Universidad de Cantabria
- Subjects
Service (business) ,Engineering ,Operations research ,Consumer behaviour ,business.industry ,Process (engineering) ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Ordered Probit with Random Parameters Model ,Public transport system ,Ordered probit ,Multivariate probit model ,Ordered Probit Model ,Public transport ,Perception ,General Materials Science ,Quality (business) ,Marketing ,business ,Choice models ,media_common - Abstract
This article will primarily deal with improving the quality of a public transport system through the study of the main variables that influence the perceived quality by users, in other words a methodology for modeling the quality of bus services in the Spanish city of Santander, supported by user perception data. The models calibrated to study the quality of public transport perceived by users are firstly obtained by estimating all the different service attributes, considering mean users’ perceptions through an Ordered Probit model, and then studying random variations in users’ tastes, applying an Ordered Probit model with random parameters. The models represent the process of quality evaluation based on a limited group of predefined variables. The choice of these variables is important because they are used to explain the selection process to be modeled. The collected data are analyzed and modeled to check the validity of the different variables. Main results suggest consumers would be willing to pay a higher price for improved transport connection networks including the supply of clearer information and the attention to consumer’s complaints. Ticket price is also an important attribute mainly for frequent bus users. This work was made possible thanks to a grant from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad with additional financing from FEDER funds to the project TRA2012-37659.
- Published
- 2014