IMPLEMENTING QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Abstract The present study addresses two questions: (1) what effect do quality improvements have on satisfaction with public transport services? (2) What effect do quality improvements have on passengers perceived frequency of negative critical incidents? A representative sample of persons aged 16-75 years old in the thirteen regions in Sweden conducting quality improvements in public transport were used. Data were collected before it started and also after the improvements had been completed (n=2797). The pre-and post samples consisted of independent groups of respondents. The response rate was 54%. The main conclusion of the study is that the satisfaction people experience when using public transport services is influenced by quality improvements only to a limited extent. Furthermore, the effect was directionally opposite in that the respondents reported less satisfaction and higher frequencies of negative critical incidents after the quality improvements had been implemented

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