Comparing passengers' satisfaction with fixed-route and demand-responsive transport services: Empirical evidence from public light bus services in Hong Kong

Conventional public transport services are usually highly regulated with fixed-route and fixed-schedule, which are considered less flexible and efficient to serve low-density and dispersed settled areas. Demand-responsive transport is possibly a more economically and operationally viable solution, which offers dynamically allocated routes and schedules and serve the widespread passenger demand. There have been numerous simulation studies comparing the effectiveness of these two types of transport services in different settings, but which type is more favorable to passengers and what service aspects play the key role in shaping the overall satisfaction with the service quality from the passengers' point of view are largely unknown. Using fixed-route and demandresponsive public light buses in Hong Kong as a case study, this research conducted an on-street questionnaire survey with 547 samples regarding the passengers' perception of the performance of ten service aspects and the overall performance. An ordered logit model was accordingly developed to identify the relative importance and contribution of these service aspects to the overall service quality. An importance-performance analysis was further carried out to visualize the ratings of importance and performance of the service aspects, and to prioritize the improvement areas. The findings reveal that the passengers were less satisfied with the demand-responsive public light bus services in general. Among all the service aspects, we find that the in-vehicle environment, waiting time, driver's attitude, and safety hold a higher improvement priority. Policy implications for improving and regulating both fixed-route and demand-responsive public light bus services are suggested.

Automated summary

Conventional public transport services with fixed-route and fixed-schedule are less flexible and efficient for serving low-density and dispersed settled areas. Demand-responsive transport provides dynamically allocated routes and schedules, offering a more economically and operationally viable solution. This research in Hong Kong compared the passenger satisfaction of fixed-route and demand-responsive public light buses and identified the importance of service aspects such as in-vehicle environment, waiting time, driver's attitude, and safety. Suggestions for improving and regulating both types of public transportation services were provided based on the findings.