Transport service quality and perceived service value: an international comparative survey in European and Indian context

Abstract

Road transportation plays a critical role as a means to commute between places. Ensuring quality in this service, therefore, is crucial. In this paper, we explore the service quality characteristics of intercity bus passenger transport and analyse the determinants of commuters' perceived service value in the European and Indian context. A structured questionnaire was administered face-to-face and captured the passengers' perception of service quality. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression were used to test the research hypotheses of the study. Empirical results demonstrate that timely service, women-friendliness, ticket price affordability and service to price satisfaction are common to passengers from Europe and India, and significantly impact commuters' perceived service value devised as overall satisfaction. In particular, external tangibles such as clean drinking water, clean bus stops are however significantly more important for passengers in Europe, while handling of luggage is a more appropriate tangible for passengers in the Indian context. Additional analysis suggests that technology also significantly impacts the overall satisfaction of passengers in both contexts. Several comparative results were discussed for their context similarities and differences.