The quality of public transport services: a statistical analysys

The purpose of this study is to investigate what kind of observable and non-observable factors can influence passenger satisfaction on the quality of public transport services in a local context, on the basis of a sample survey. Of course, these results can be used by the transport company in order to modify its business strategies and to improve its business performance and competitive advantage. In the first step, relationships among the intangible dimensions such as quality, satisfaction and loyalty are defined using suitable statistical measuring techniques (Factor Analysis on the results of a Categorical Principal Component Analysis). Successively, multivariate methods are used in order to explore the characteristics of the customers and their weight on the quality perception. The final result of this analysis is a Structural Equation Model, assumed as representative of the customer’s behaviour towards quality in public transport, useful to understand the challenges of the strategic orientation and those of the marketing management.