An Investigation of Service Quality Attributes Influencing Metro Feeder Modes Operations

This study aims to provide transit operators with a valuable and practical methodology for evaluating and improving the quality of metro feeder modes. For the stated purpose, the attributes influencing the service quality of the feeder modes were identified, and the degree of importance and satisfaction associated with these attributes were collected on a 5-point Likert scale through computer-assisted face-to-face interviews with the metro users. The data on the degree of importance and satisfaction was then analyzed with a set of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods to identify the level of importance and satisfaction associated with the service attributes of different feeder modes. Further, importance satisfaction analysis (ISA) was conducted to identify the attributes with low and high satisfaction levels for each feeder mode. The results found that reliability, affordability, convenience, security, and comfort are the most important attributes, but the commuters are dissatisfied with the service provided by the various feeder modes. Therefore, public transport authorities must emphasize these characteristics to improve the overall quality of metro rail travel. The results provide transit operators with a valuable and practical approach for monitoring and improving the quality of different metro feeder modes.