Quality approach on strengthening Rapid Penang services in Penang tourism sites

The effectiveness and efficiency of the public transport system is fundamental to the sustainable development of the country. In Malaysia, Penang is an example of a tourist destination with many attractions, particularly cultural attractions and heritage sites. Nowadays, most people refuse to use public transport because of the inefficient service performance and low quality of existing services that can contribute to traffic congestion and pollution. The main objective of this study was to identify Rapid Penang service performance. Two different routes had been selected, namely U101 and U104. In this study, 100 respondents among Rapid Penang users for each route were involved in the survey questionnaire. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to measure the performance of Rapid Penang buses on the routes chosen. The initial finding from the observation shows that the respondents’ contribution is significant and more than half of the respondents are school or university students. In terms of the service quality results, there are 7 dimensions and 29 indicators that are found to be significant for route U101, while for route U104, it is slightly the same, with 7 dimensions and 31 indicators. They were used to measure the performance of public bus transportation services. The results show that the 7 dimensions observed for both routes were accessibility, reliability, understanding the needs, physical facilities, safety and security, environment and image. This finding will enhance our understanding of the issue and it will help the stakeholders and any agency involved to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their bus services for the development of urban transport in Georgetown, Penang.