The Impact of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction on Reuse Intention in Urban Rail Transit in Tianjin, China

Abstract

As considered one of the most important sustainable transportation, the development of urban rail transit has been thriving over the last decade, especially in the densely populated cities. Using an accurate measurement tool to find out the shortage factors in the rail transit service is the vital prerequisite for improving the services, increasing ridership, and implementing the sustainable transport policy. The purpose of the study is to use structural equation model (SEM) to assess the important dimensions of service quality and customer satisfaction on rail transit passengers’ reuse intention. Data are collected from a questionnaire survey and an empirical study is conducted by using SEM to test the hypotheses, as well as the structural relationships among these factors. The results of the empirical study confirmed that service quality can be conceptualized as functional service quality, technical service quality, comfort and cleanness, and service planning and reliability. And it has positive effect on reuse intention by enhancing customer satisfaction, as customer satisfaction has intermediary effect on passengers’ repurchase intention. This study contributes to transport agencies for analyzing the relationship between service quality attributes and passengers’ reuse intention for improving the supplied service, increasing the ridership, and implementing the sustainable transport policy.