The usage of public transport and impact of satisfaction in the European Union

Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to analyse comprehensively the urban public transport usage, satisfaction levels and the satisfaction impact on usage of public transport in European Union (EU) countries. Results revealed that the usage of urban public transport in all EU countries is rather low and significantly depends on economic development level. The satisfaction levels measured as comfort and safety, ticket price, frequency and reliability and amenities at stops and stations significantly differed among EU countries as well. In a half of the EU countries, the satisfaction with ticket price and the time to the station had significant impacts on usage of urban public transport. Meanwhile, the satisfaction with reliability, public transport frequency and comfort and safety had significantly influenced urban public transport usage only in one-third of EU countries. In the majority of EU countries, women and older respondents more often tended to use urban public transport. Next to improvement of public transport service, a variety of policy measures should be applied, from awareness rising and image improvement to the review of pricing policies both of public transport and of parking fees.