Service quality in the public transport sector : the expectations and perceptions of users of Bus Éireanns Sligo Town Service and Expressway

摘要

In public transport various service quality attributes cause transport users to beudsatisfied and dissatisfied with the service they receive. Much o f the time publicudtransport is something that people ‘accept’ as is, without having a strong opinion o fudthe “satisfiers”, often expectations o f services are not that high. Areas causinguddissatisfaction discovered in the literature included reliability, treatment by driversudand lack o f information. While areas such as getting a seat on the bus and serviceudfrequency caused satisfaction.udThe research aimed to identify the level o f service quality as perceived by transportudusers on BE’s Sligo Town Service and the Expressway Sligo to Enniskillen route.udBus drivers and one member o f management were targeted to discover if gaps existudbetween their perceptions and those o f transport users. Ulsterbus users who wereudawaiting or exiting any Ulsterbus service were surveyed to compare with BE.udThe research instruments utilised involved Questionnaires, an In-depth interview anduda Mystery Ride-A-Long. From the findings it emerged that areas such as reliability,udbus stop facilities and lack o f modem buses caused BE users to be dissatisfied, manyudo f which were supported by the literature. Sources o f satisfaction included treatmentudby drivers, safety and getting a seat on the bus. It also emerged that BE users wereudmore satisfied than the users o f the Ulsterbus services in Enniskillen.udFrom the research conclusions, service quality was visible however; there were manyudservice quality attributes that caused shortfalls in service quality within Bus Eireann.udThe researcher offered a number o f recommendations such as improving bus stopudfacilities, upgrading buses, improving the timetable and becoming more reliable, toudassist Bus Eireann in making service quality more effective.