An Analysis of the Women Commuters’ Satisfaction in the Public Bus Service in Bangladesh: A Survey on Local Buses in Major Cities

Abstract

Bangladesh is one of the most populated developing countries where public bus service plays a vital role as a public transport mode since it is easily available and cost-effective. In the social, commercial, educational, and administrative spheres, women’s participation in the labor force in economic enterprises is steadily expanding in the country. Very little research considers only women commuters to analyze the service quality of public buses and they selected only Dhaka city as a study area. However, a large number of trips were generated by women commuters in the industrial and commercial zones such as Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Dhaka. This paper ascertains the public bus service attributes that affect women commuters’ satisfaction as well as finds out the major problems of women commuters while traveling on public buses and the possible solutions to them. This survey included 766 women commuters from Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur who were interviewed face to face. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used as the instrument for identifying the service quality (SQ) attributes that influenced the women commuters’ satisfaction. A series of models were developed based on the trial-and-error method and the model M3 is selected as the best fit according to SEM fit indices values. The study’s main goal was to compile a list of service quality attributes that influence women commuters’ satisfaction. Major issues with the current public bus service in terms of safety and security, as well as remedies, were identified through discussions with experienced female commuters. These findings reveal that women commuters’ satisfaction is primarily influenced by safety and security, as well as the degree of comfort provided by bus service because they frequently encounter major safety and security issues on public buses and want an immediate remedy. This paper offers some potential strategies for addressing the issues, which may prompt policymakers to pay more attention to these aspects in transportation planning.