IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rse/wpaper/v23y2022i1p83-96.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Public Bus Service Quality on the Users’ Satisfaction: Evidence from a Developing Asian City

Author

Listed:
  • Nur Zaimah Ubaidillah

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

  • Nur Haziqah Sa’ad

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

  • Farhana Ismail

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

  • Nordiana Ahmad Nordin

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

  • Nur Nadhira Baharuddin

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

  • Mohd Khairul Hisyam Hassan

    (Faculty Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)

Abstract

In a country where there is a high level of car ownership, public buses are considered another mode of transport that is more sustainable. Despite that, there is a very low level of public bus ridership in Malaysia which questions the users’ satisfaction with its service quality. This study investigates the role of public bus service quality (tangibility, reliability, assurance, empathy, and responsiveness) by utilizing the SERVQUAL model for users’ satisfaction. A sample of 300 questionnaires was obtained from public bus users in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia as the case study area. Using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model, the results show that tangibility, reliability, and responsiveness are significant service quality factors that influence users’ satisfaction with public buses in the case study area. Of the factors, tangibility is considered the most critical factor that influences users’ satisfaction. This study provides imperative knowledge which will be advantageous for stakeholders specifically policy-makers, transport ministries, town planners, local authorities, and service operators in strategizing policies and plans that could encourage the public buses usage.

Suggested Citation

  • Nur Zaimah Ubaidillah & Nur Haziqah Sa’ad & Farhana Ismail & Nordiana Ahmad Nordin & Nur Nadhira Baharuddin & Mohd Khairul Hisyam Hassan, 2022. "The Impact of Public Bus Service Quality on the Users’ Satisfaction: Evidence from a Developing Asian City," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 23(1), pages 83-96, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:rse:wpaper:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:83-96
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://reaser.eu/RePec/rse/wpaper/REASER23_07_Ubaidillah_P83-96.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monika Kozerska, 2007. "Managing Service Quality – Servqual Method: Strengths And Weaknesses," Advanced Logistic systems, University of Miskolc, Department of Material Handling and Logistics, vol. 1(1), pages 61-65, December.
    2. F. Biélen & N. Demoulin, 2007. "Waiting time influence on the satisfaction-loyalty relationship in services," Post-Print hal-00254951, HAL.
    3. Sarstedt, Marko & Ringle, Christian M. & Smith, Donna & Reams, Russell & Hair, Joseph F., 2014. "Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): A useful tool for family business researchers," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 105-115.
    4. Ahmad Nazrul Hakimi Ibrahim & Muhamad Nazri Borhan & Nur Izzi Md. Yusoff & Amiruddin Ismail & Muhamad Razuhanafi Mat Yazid & Nor Aznirahani Mhd Yunin & Sotaro Yukawa, 2021. "Gender and Age Do Matter: Exploring the Effect of Passengers’ Gender and Age on the Perception of Light Rail Transit Service Quality in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Ian W. H. Parry & Margaret Walls & Winston Harrington, 2007. "Automobile Externalities and Policies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 373-399, June.
    6. Daing Maruak Sadek & Noor Saliza Zainal & Muhammad Saiful Islami Mohd Taher & Ahmad Fauzi Yahya & Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin & Nazni Noordin & Zaherawati Zakaria & Kamaruzaman Jusoff, 2010. "Service Quality Perceptions between Cooperative and Islamic Banks of Britain," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 2(1), pages 1-5, March.
    7. Suzana Markovic & Sanja Raspor, 2010. "Measuring Perceived Service Quality Using SERVQUAL: A Case Study of the Croatian Hotel Industry," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 5(3), pages 195-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yasser A. Al-Rawi & Mohammed Harith Imlus & Yusri Yusup & Sofri Bin Yahya, 2021. "Factors affecting vehicle exhaust emissions, driver motivations as a mediator," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 361-407, April.
    2. Karzan Ismael & Szabolcs Duleba, 2021. "Investigation of the Relationship between the Perceived Public Transport Service Quality and Satisfaction: A PLS-SEM Technique," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, November.
    3. Nour El Houda Ben Amor & Mohamed Nabil Mzoughi, 2023. "Do Millennials’ Motives for Using Snapchat Influence the Effectiveness of Snap Ads?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    4. Ioana Gutu & Daniela Tatiana Agheorghiesei & Alexandru Tugui, 2023. "Assessment of a Workforce Sustainability Tool through Leadership and Digitalization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-30, January.
    5. Al-Baraa Abdulrahman Al-Mekhlafi & Ahmad Shahrul Nizam Isha & Nicholas Chileshe & Mohammed Abdulrab & Anwar Ameen Hezam Saeed & Ahmed Farouk Kineber, 2021. "Modelling the Relationship between the Nature of Work Factors and Driving Performance Mediating by Role of Fatigue," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    7. Bergeaud, Antonin & Raimbault, Juste, 2020. "An empirical analysis of the spatial variability of fuel prices in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 131-143.
    8. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    9. Baier-Fuentes, Hugo & Andrade-Valbuena, Nelson A. & Huertas Gonzalez-Serrano, Maria & Gaviria-Marin, Magaly, 2023. "Bricolage as an effective tool for the survival of owner-managed SMEs during crises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Ilenia Bravo & Ilenia Colamatteo & Simona Balzano & Lucio Cappelli & Enrica Iannucci, 2024. "Consumer Behaviour Regarding Certified Food," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-12, April.
    11. Marco Percoco, 2010. "Urban Transport Policies And The Environment: Evidence From Italy," Articles, International Journal of Transport Economics, vol. 37(2).
    12. Li, Jiewei & Lu, Ming & Lu, Tianyi, 2022. "Constructing compact cities: How urban regeneration can enhance growth and relieve congestion," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    13. Don Fullerton & Li Gan & Miwa Hattori, 2015. "A model to evaluate vehicle emission incentive policies in Japan," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(1), pages 79-108, January.
    14. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan & Reimann, Felix, 2021. "On employer-paid parking and parking (cash-out) policy: A formal synthesis of different perspectives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 499-516.
    15. Asif Khan & Chih-Cheng Chen & Kwanrat Suanpong & Athapol Ruangkanjanases & Santhaya Kittikowit & Shih-Chih Chen, 2021. "The Impact of CSR on Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Second-Order Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Diego Norena-Chavez, 2022. "Influence of SARS-CoV-2 on the Mediating Effect of Entrepreneurial Passion in the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Innovative Behavior," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 125-139.
    17. Chen, Shih-Chih & Hung, Chung-Wen, 2016. "Elucidating the factors influencing the acceptance of green products: An extension of theory of planned behavior," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 155-163.
    18. Mahadzirah Mohamad & Asyraf Afthanorhan* & Zainudin Awang & Morliyati Mohammad, 2019. "Comparison Between CB-SEM and PLS-SEM: Testing and Confirming the Maqasid Syariah Quality of Life Measurement Model," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(3), pages 608-614, 03-2019.
    19. Hsien-Tsung Chang & Nilamadhab Mishra & Chung-Chih Lin, 2015. "IoT Big-Data Centred Knowledge Granule Analytic and Cluster Framework for BI Applications: A Case Base Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, November.
    20. Hamilton, Timothy L. & Wichman, Casey J., 2018. "Bicycle infrastructure and traffic congestion: Evidence from DC's Capital Bikeshare," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 72-93.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public transport; customer satisfaction; service quality; partial-least squares-structural equation model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:rse:wpaper:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:83-96. 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: Manuela Epure (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pgsaaea.html .

    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.