IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v99y2020icp63-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of barriers to perceived service quality in Ghana: Students’ perspectives on bus mobility attributes

Author

Listed:
  • Agyeman, Stephen
  • Cheng, Lin

Abstract

The quality of bus transport to school and its synergistic effects on school attendance, quality teaching, and learning are best measured using experiences and perceptions of users. The study sought to investigate 43 obstacles to the delivery of quality bus service via 20 selected private schools in the Sunyani Municipality, Ghana. The survey was an exploratory case study which focused on the use of a questionnaire. Survey participants of 403 students were selected to respond, using the probability sampling technique. Descriptive statistics were used to define essential socio-demographic and bus service-related characteristics and their effects on schoolchildren's mobility decision-making as well as academic work. Exploratory factor analysis was used to construct four latent factors which describe obstacles to perceived service quality (PSQ) delivery. The theoretical factor structure of the data was tested using confirmatory factor analysis in AMOSS 23. Simultaneously, path analysis was employed to investigate the direct and indirect effects of barriers to PSQ in the private schools' transport system. The principal component analysis highlighted four constructs as barriers to bus PSQ in the municipality: (1) perceived scheduling and routing barriers, (2) perceived safety and bus attribute barriers, (3) pedestrian and bus stop facilities barriers and (4) efficiency, effectiveness, and equity-related barriers. We recommend that Private School Authorities and Municipal Board of Education adopt policies and draft operational safety and guideline manuals that clarify acceptable bus service delivery benchmarks and performance indicators for schools.

Suggested Citation

  • Agyeman, Stephen & Cheng, Lin, 2020. "Analysis of barriers to perceived service quality in Ghana: Students’ perspectives on bus mobility attributes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 63-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:99:y:2020:i:c:p:63-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.08.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X2030500X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.08.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McDonald, Noreen C., 2005. "Children’s Travel: Patterns and Influences," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt51c9m01c, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Bellizzi, Maria Grazia & dell'Olio, Luigi & Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2020. "Heterogeneity in desired bus service quality from users’ and potential users’ perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 365-377.
    3. Shichao Sun & Zhengyu Duan & Qi Xu, 2018. "School bus routing problem in the stochastic and time-dependent transportation network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Najaf, Pooya & Thill, Jean-Claude & Zhang, Wenjia & Fields, Milton Greg, 2018. "City-level urban form and traffic safety: A structural equation modeling analysis of direct and indirect effects," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 257-270.
    5. Lois, David & Monzón, Andrés & Hernández, Sara, 2018. "Analysis of satisfaction factors at urban transport interchanges: Measuring travellers’ attitudes to information, security and waiting," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 49-56.
    6. Goeverden, C.D. van & Boer, E. de, 2013. "School travel behaviour in the Netherlands and Flanders," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 73-84.
    7. Nathanail, Eftihia, 2008. "Measuring the quality of service for passengers on the hellenic railways," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 48-66, January.
    8. Di Ciommo, Floridea & Comendador, Julio & López-Lambas, María Eugenia & Cherchi, Elisabetta & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2014. "Exploring the role of social capital influence variables on travel behaviour," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-55.
    9. Stradling, Stephen & Carreno, Michael & Rye, Tom & Noble, Allyson, 2007. "Passenger perceptions and the ideal urban bus journey experience," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 283-292, July.
    10. John Horn, 1965. "A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 30(2), pages 179-185, June.
    11. Laura Eboli & Gabriella Mazzulla, 2008. "A Stated Preference Experiment for Measuring Service Quality in Public Transport," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 509-523, February.
    12. Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2011. "A methodology for evaluating transit service quality based on subjective and objective measures from the passenger's point of view," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 172-181, January.
    13. Sharma, Sabal & Levinson, David, 2019. "Travel cost and dropout from secondary schools in Nepal," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 385-397.
    14. Zwerts, Enid & Allaert, Georges & Janssens, Davy & Wets, Geert & Witlox, Frank, 2010. "How children view their travel behaviour: a case study from Flanders (Belgium)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 702-710.
    15. Kim, Yu Kyoung & Lee, Hyung Ryong, 2011. "Customer satisfaction using low cost carriers," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 235-243.
    16. Armstrong, J. Scott, 1967. "Derivation of theory by means of factor analysis or Tom Swift and his electric factor analysis machine," MPRA Paper 81667, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Sener, Ipek N. & Lee, Richard J. & Sidharthan, Raghu, 2019. "An examination of children’s school travel: A focus on active travel and parental effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 24-34.
    18. Fellesson, Markus & Friman, Margareta, 2008. "Perceived Satisfaction with Public Transport Service in Nine European Cities," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 47(3).
    19. ,, 2000. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 287-299, April.
    20. T Bektaş & Seda Elmastaş, 2007. "Solving school bus routing problems through integer programming," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(12), pages 1599-1604, December.
    21. Tyrinopoulos, Yannis & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2008. "Public transit user satisfaction: Variability and policy implications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 260-272, July.
    22. Gurupackiam, Saravanan & Turner, Daniel S. & Lindly, Jay K. & Jones, Steven & Tedla, Elsa, 2014. "Reduction of capacity and projected costs associated with seat belt installation on school buses," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 59-68.
    23. Debasis Basu & John Douglas Hunt, 2014. "Value of travel time for home-based school tours in California," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 287-306, April.
    24. Abane, Albert M., 2011. "Travel behaviour in Ghana: empirical observations from four metropolitan areas," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 313-322.
    25. David Hensher & Corinne Mulley & Norhayati Yahya, 2010. "Passenger experience with quality-enhanced bus service: the tyne and wear ‘superoute’ services," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 239-256, March.
    26. Henry Kaiser, 1970. "A second generation little jiffy," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 35(4), pages 401-415, December.
    27. Louis Guttman, 1954. "Some necessary conditions for common-factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 19(2), pages 149-161, June.
    28. Prasad, Prashant & Maitra, Bhargab, 2019. "Identifying areas of interventions for improvement of shared modes for school trips," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 122-135.
    29. Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2010. "Car ownership as a mediating variable in car travel behaviour research using a structural equation modelling approach to identify its dual relationship," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 65-74.
    30. Moataz Mahmoud & Julian Hine, 2016. "Measuring the influence of bus service quality on the perception of users," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 284-299, April.
    31. Wu, Guoqiang & Hong, Jinhyun & Thakuriah, Piyushimita, 2019. "Assessing the relationships between young adults’ travel and use of the internet over time," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 8-19.
    32. Schittekat, Patrick & Kinable, Joris & Sörensen, Kenneth & Sevaux, Marc & Spieksma, Frits & Springael, Johan, 2013. "A metaheuristic for the school bus routing problem with bus stop selection," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 229(2), pages 518-528.
    33. Ratanavaraha, Vatanavongs & Jomnonkwao, Sajjakaj & Khampirat, Buratin & Watthanaklang, Duangdao & Iamtrakul, Pawinee, 2016. "The complex relationship between school policy, service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty for educational tour bus services: A multilevel modeling approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 116-126.
    34. Veronique Van Acker & Frank Witlox & Bert Van Wee, 2007. "The Effects of the Land Use System on Travel Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 331-353, May.
    35. E. S. Savas, 1978. "On Equity in Providing Public Services," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(8), pages 800-808, April.
    36. Park, Junhyuk & Kim, Byung-In, 2010. "The school bus routing problem: A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 202(2), pages 311-319, April.
    37. Singh, Nishant & Vasudevan, Vinod, 2018. "Understanding school trip mode choice – The case of Kanpur (India)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 283-290.
    38. Efthymiou, Dimitrios & Antoniou, Constantinos & Tyrinopoulos, Yannis & Skaltsogianni, Eleana, 2018. "Factors affecting bus users’ satisfaction in times of economic crisis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 114(PA), pages 3-12.
    39. Machado-León, José Luis & de Oña, Rocío & Baouni, Tahar & de Oña, Juan, 2017. "Railway transit services in Algiers: priority improvement actions based on users perceptions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 175-185.
    40. Patil, Vivek H. & Singh, Surendra N. & Mishra, Sanjay & Todd Donavan, D., 2008. "Efficient theory development and factor retention criteria: Abandon the `eigenvalue greater than one' criterion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 162-170, February.
    41. Nikitas, Alexandros & Wang, Judith Y.T. & Knamiller, Cathy, 2019. "Exploring parental perceptions about school travel and walking school buses: A thematic analysis approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 468-487.
    42. Bowerman, Robert & Hall, Brent & Calamai, Paul, 1995. "A multi-objective optimization approach to urban school bus routing: Formulation and solution method," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 107-123, March.
    43. Wayne Velicer, 1976. "Determining the number of components from the matrix of partial correlations," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 41(3), pages 321-327, September.
    44. Kamargianni, Maria & Dubey, Subodh & Polydoropoulou, Amalia & Bhat, Chandra, 2015. "Investigating the subjective and objective factors influencing teenagers’ school travel mode choice – An integrated choice and latent variable model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 473-488.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peng Jing & Ye Zha & Kewen Pan & Ying Xue, 2023. "Investigating Multidimensional Factors Influencing Switching Intention on School Bus among Chinese Parents—A Push–Pull–Mooring Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-24, May.
    2. Alimo, Philip Kofi & Agyeman, Stephen & Danesh, Ali & Yu, Chunhui & Ma, Wanjing, 2023. "Is public bike-sharing feasible in Ghana? Road users' perceptions and policy interventions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Wenting Cheng & Jierui Yang & Xiaoxuan Wu & Tengteng Zhang & Zhelin Yin, 2024. "A Quantitative Study on Factors Influencing User Satisfaction of Micro-Mobility in China in the Post-Sharing Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Luo, Qingyu & Bing, Xue & Jia, Hongfei & Song, Jinge, 2022. "An incentive subsidy mechanism for bus lines based on service level," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-13.
    5. Olasupo O. Ajayi & Antoine B. Bagula & Hloniphani C. Maluleke & Isaac A. Odun-Ayo, 2021. "Transport Inequalities and the Adoption of Intelligent Transportation Systems in Africa: A Research Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-29, November.
    6. Sajjakaj Jomnonkwao & Chinnakrit Banyong & Supanida Nanthawong & Thananya Janhuaton & Vatanavongs Ratanavaraha & Thanapong Champahom & Pornsiri Jongkol, 2022. "Perceptions of Parents of the Quality of the Public Transport Services Used by Children to Commute to School," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan de Oña & Rocio de Oña, 2015. "Quality of Service in Public Transport Based on Customer Satisfaction Surveys: A Review and Assessment of Methodological Approaches," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 605-622, August.
    2. Mulley, Corinne & Clifton, Geoffrey Tilden & Balbontin, Camila & Ma, Liang, 2017. "Information for travelling: Awareness and usage of the various sources of information available to public transport users in NSW," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 111-132.
    3. Nkurunziza, Alphonse & Zuidgeest, Mark & Brussel, Mark & Van den Bosch, Frans, 2012. "Spatial variation of transit service quality preferences in Dar-es-Salaam," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 12-21.
    4. Echaniz, Eneko & dell’Olio, Luigi & Ibeas, Ángel, 2018. "Modelling perceived quality for urban public transport systems using weighted variables and random parameters," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 31-39.
    5. Ruiz, Elkin & Yushimito, Wilfredo F. & Aburto, Luis & de la Cruz, Rolando, 2024. "Predicting passenger satisfaction in public transportation using machine learning models," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    6. de Oña, Juan & Estévez, Esperanza & de Oña, Rocío, 2021. "How does private vehicle users perceive the public transport service quality in large metropolitan areas? A European comparison," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 173-188.
    7. Celik, Erkan & Aydin, Nezir & Gumus, Alev Taskin, 2014. "A multiattribute customer satisfaction evaluation approach for rail transit network: A real case study for Istanbul, Turkey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 283-293.
    8. Ittamalla, Rajesh & Srinivas Kumar, Daruri Venkata, 2021. "Determinants of holistic passenger experience in public transportation: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Mandhani, Jyoti & Nayak, Jogendra Kumar & Parida, Manoranjan, 2020. "Interrelationships among service quality factors of Metro Rail Transit System: An integrated Bayesian networks and PLS-SEM approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 320-336.
    10. Hernandez, Sara & Monzon, Andres & de Oña, Rocío, 2016. "Urban transport interchanges: A methodology for evaluating perceived quality," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 31-43.
    11. Dias, Charitha & Abdullah, Muhammad & Lovreglio, Ruggiero & Sachchithanantham, Sumana & Rekatheeban, Markkandu & Sathyaprasad, I.M.S., 2022. "Exploring home-to-school trip mode choices in Kandy, Sri Lanka," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Ellegood, William A. & Solomon, Stanislaus & North, Jeremy & Campbell, James F., 2020. "School bus routing problem: Contemporary trends and research directions," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Shreya Das & Debapratim Pandit, 2013. "Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 402-420, July.
    14. Hamed Taherdoost & Shamsul Sahibuddin & Neda Jalaliyoon, 2014. "Exploratory Factor Analysis; Concepts and Theory," Post-Print hal-02557344, HAL.
    15. Aydin, Nezir & Celik, Erkan & Gumus, Alev Taskin, 2015. "A hierarchical customer satisfaction framework for evaluating rail transit systems of Istanbul," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 61-81.
    16. Dasdemir, Erdi & Testik, Murat Caner & Öztürk, Diclehan Tezcaner & Şakar, Ceren Tuncer & Güleryüz, Güldal & Testik, Özlem Müge, 2022. "A multi-objective open vehicle routing problem with overbooking: Exact and heuristic solution approaches for an employee transportation problem," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Luo, Qingyu & Bing, Xue & Jia, Hongfei & Song, Jinge, 2022. "An incentive subsidy mechanism for bus lines based on service level," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 1-13.
    18. Aydin, Nezir, 2017. "A fuzzy-based multi-dimensional and multi-period service quality evaluation outline for rail transit systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 87-98.
    19. Machado-León, José Luis & de Oña, Rocío & Baouni, Tahar & de Oña, Juan, 2017. "Railway transit services in Algiers: priority improvement actions based on users perceptions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 175-185.
    20. Eldeeb, Gamal & Mohamed, Moataz, 2020. "Quantifying preference heterogeneity in transit service desired quality using a latent class choice model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 119-133.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:99:y:2020:i:c:p:63-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.