Passenger's Perception of Service Quality of Intercity Public Transport: A Banjarmasin Case Study

Abstract

Difference in perception frequently occurs between the service quality provided by the provider of public transport services and the passengers’ expectation. The objective of this research was to identify the levelof passengers’ satisfaction of the servic e quality provided by intercity public transport in Banjarmasin. Furthermore, from the identification results, strategy priority on the service quality improvement wasdetermined. An assessment of satisfaction and performance was divided into five determinants (reliability,assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness) which were described in 16 attributes of service quality.The attribute data were the results of the central tendency testing by using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Theassessment technique approach was subsequently used Importance-Performance analysis. From the analysisresult, it is found that the service quality as the major priority for improvement are: (1) reliability includesarrival punctuality of intercity public transport in destination cities, (2) assurance includes security and safety of luggage and passengers guarantee, and the employees’ friendliness in giving service, as well as (3) tangibles,especially for passengers’ comfort on the vehicles. In addition, the performance that should be improved (low priority) is the attributes of the availability of complete supporting facilities and guarantee to problem solving.