Perception of Public Transport Quality of Service among Regular Private Vehicle Users in Madrid, Spain

Urban traffic levels can be reduced by drawing travelers away from private vehicles (PV) over to using public transport (PT). This modal change can be achieved by either introducing restrictions on PVs or by introducing measures which increase people's satisfaction with PT. Many studies have shown that quality of service affects customer satisfaction which, in turn, influences the behavioral intentions toward the service; however, these studies have mainly concentrated on PT users. This paper intends to identify the main attributes which influence the perception PV users have about the PT services provided in Madrid (Spain). Ordinal logit models have been applied to an online panel survey with a sample size of 500 regular PV users. To achieve a comprehensive analysis and to deal with heterogeneity in perceptions, 15 models have been developed for the entire sample and for 14 user segments. The results indicate that the inhabitants are satisfied with PT in Madrid and that the most important PT service attributes for PV users are frequency, speed, and intermodality. Frequency is an important attribute for all the segments, whereas speed and intermodality are important for most of the segments. An analysis by segments has identified attributes which, although not important in most cases, are relevant for specific segments. Another interesting finding was that there are two attributes (accessibility and individual space) that were not found to be important in any segment. Findings from this study can be used to develop policies and recommendations for persuading more PV users to use the PT services.