Service Quality of Public Road Passenger Transport in Thailand Was Investigated

KasetsartKasetsart Journal Journal ofof Social Social SciencesSciences 40 (2019) 74–81 e

40 (2019) 1 9 Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences

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ServiceForecasting quality equilibrium of public road quantity passenger and transport price inon Thailand the world natural rubber market Pittawat Ueasangkomsate * DepartmentSuratwadee of Management, Arunwarakorn Kasetsart Business School, a, ,Kasetsart Kamonchanok University, Bangkok Suthiwartnarueput10900, Thailand b, Pongsa Pornchaiwiseskul c, 1 Article Info Abstract a Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand b Department of Commerce, Chulalongkorn Business School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand Articlec history: The service quality of public road passenger transport in Thailand was investigated. Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Received 21 October 2016 Revised 30 January 2017 The research applied a modified SERVQUAL approach to evaluate service quality. AcceptedArticle 18 Info February 2017 AbstractTheexpressed modified expectations SERVQUAL and model perceptions consisted of ofservice five dimensions—1) quality. This research tangibility, used Available online 30 April 2019 2) reliability, 3) responsiveness, 4) assurance, and 5) access—using 17 attribute that Keywords:Article history: Naturalprovinces rubber in six on theregions world in market Thailand. has had The small results increases showed in demand the biggest and big gap increases was the in Received 27 March 2017 supply. Therefore, demand and supply are imbalanced and this impacts the natural rubber Revised 2 July 2017 a questionnaire to acquire 2,729 usable samples by stratified sampling from 16 large modified SERVQUAL, price of the world market causing a decline. This study aimed: (1) to develop de-mand and Accepted 25 July 2017 Thailandpublic transport, supply models to predict the world natural rubber quantity using simultaneous equations; Available online assurance dimension followed by the access and tangibility dimensions, respectively, service quality, (2) to predict all explanatory variables in the demand and supply models using the simple at the .01 significance level, while tangibility was the most influential dimension 1 2017 moving average technique; and (3) to estimate the equilibrium quantity and price for world Keywords: September affecting perceived service quality followed by the assurance and reliability dimensions, natural rubber during 2017e2026. First, in the demand model, there was a positive equilibrium price, relationshiprespectively ofat the .01explanatory significance variables level. ofThe world results natural indicated rubber that production perceived quantity, service equilibrium quantity, syntheticqualityThe study for rubber passengersindicated price, that percentagein both the on-boardthe yearBangkok of security year metropolitan (%YOY) attribute of gross area contributed anddomestic the East productto theregion service (GDP), had natural rubber, theand samethe exchange level of rate,poor while perceived the negative service relationship quality that variable definitely was required natural rubberimprovement. price. In simultaneous equation the supply model, the positive relationship variables were natural rubber price, mature qualityarea, rainfall, of passenger and crude transport oil price, followed while the by negative staff courtesy relationship and knowledge,variables were and world bus driver’s’natural rubber ability, stock respectively. and urea Finally, price. theSecond, results the couldpredicted be used variables to identify indicated the thatkey attribute production, in %YOY each of region GDP, exchange that should rate, amountbe improved of stock, with and© 2019therespect mature Kasetsart to areathe University. modifiedtended to SERVQUALgradually increase, model whilein Thailand. the synthetic rubber price, urea price, rainfall, and crude oil price tended to slowly decrease from 2017 to 2026. Finally, the equilibrium quantity forecast tended to gradually increase from 953.75 to 957.15 thousand tonnes, and the equilibrium Introduction price tended to fluctuate and decrease from 169.78 to 162.05 thousand yen from 2017 to 2026. Consequently, this study may be helpful to the governments of the world's impor- Public passenger transport is essential for people in most transportservice quality at 17 ofpercent public (Ministry road passenger of Transport, transport 2015). and In found 2014, a tant natural rubber producing countries to plan policies to reduce natural rubber pro- countries as it moves passengers from one location to another the Department of Land Transport evaluated the nationwide duction costs and stabilize the natural rubber price in the future, such as by setting suitable areas, 2014). of world Public natural rubber plantation in each country, and defining appropriate and passenger transport has been considered as asustainable broader strategy alternative croppassenger areas in satisfactioneach country. level of 73.32 percent. The Department with ease (Ojo, Mireku, Dauda, & Nutsogbodo introduced© 2017 Kasetsart increased University. efforts toPublishing improve servicesthe courtesy by Elsevier of drivers, B.V. service, security, and cleanliness to meet passengers’ to mitigate the major economic and environmental problems requirementsquality of public (Department buses and of found Land that Transport, drivers 2014). standards Thailand and with regard to the massive use of private automobiles (Cruz, Development Research Institute (TDRI) surveyed the service Barata,and water & Ferreira, transport. 2012). Public In Thailand, road passenger public road transport passenger can transport is the most important mode compared to train, air, the public buses needed to be improved. Most public buses lackedwanted safety improvements equipment and including more developmentseat belts (TDRI, regarding 2016). involve long-distance and local services, regular and charter InIntroduction addition, Thipkaisorn (2011) indicated that Thai passengers services,transport and should buses be and treated taxis as (OECD, a key 2000)component including of the buses, city coaches,development vans, strategy and other or structure vehicles. plan Public for all road income passenger groups public passenger transport. SERVQUAL is an important model * Corresponding author. The natural rubber market of the world is primarily to measure the service quality of customer satisfaction (Buttle, E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] concentrated in China, Europe, India, USA, and Japan, passengers(S. Arunwarakorn) traveling. by bus and coach within domestic areas 1996).leadrespectively, to improvementFindings which from in were measuring service the quality top thefi veservice in countriesaccordance quality of withof natural public Thai Peer review under responsibility of Kasetsart University. (World Bank, 2002). In 2015, the number of public road roadrubber passenger consumption transport in in 2015 Thailand (International based on SERVQUAL Rubber Study will percent1 Co-first of authors.total public passenger transport followed by water in Thailand was 333 million people comprising around 55 public road passengers’ requirements. Recent studies have not [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2017.07.013 E-mail address: Peer review under responsibility of Kasetsart University. explored each region in Thailand (Earsakul, 2014; Hayeesa, 2452-3151/© 2017 Kasetsart University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. 2011;service Promchat, quality of 2009;general Siriwat, public 2008). road passenger Therefore, transport the current as study aimed to apply a SERVQUAL query to investigate the https://doi.org/10.34044/j.kjss.2019.40.1.05 defined by OECD (2000) within six regions in Thailand. The 2452-3151/© 2019 Kasetsart University P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81

75 of service quality from the passenger’s point of view in different purpose was twofold. The first aim was to provide understanding telecommunication,2001). retail, information systems, leisure service, transport in each region is economically and socially important library service, and transportation (Ladhari, 2009; Wisniewski, regionsto the nation in Thailand. in maintaining Development expected ofstandards public road of consumption passenger Service Quality on Public Road Passenger Transport andtransport quality sector of life to (Redman, improve Friman,their performance Gärling, & Hartig,regarding 2013). the service quality is one of the most important factors which Secondly,service quality the results provided can betterby public guide road related passenger institutions transport in the in Public transport is an activity type of service. Therefore, Thailand. This paper is organized as follows. Section 1 describes understanding of service quality on public transport leads to a the measurement of service quality and service quality on public extendhigh service the use quality of public that transportmeets the (Fujiipassengers’ & Van, satisfaction2009). The passenger transport. Section 2 presents the methodological approach to measure the service quality of public passenger (Freitas,developed 2013). to improve the service quality of public transport. section 4 presents the conclusions including limitations and In recent decades, several studies and surveys have been transport.future research. The results are introduced in section 3; and finally, measuring service quality with regard to public transport SERVQUAL is one of the most widely used methods for Literature Review (Barabino, Deiana, & Tilocca, 2012; Erdoğan et al., 2013; Measuring Service Quality Freitas, 2013; Hu & Jen, 2006; Mikhaylov et al., 2015; Muthupandian & Vijayakumar, 2012; Ojo et al., 2014; Prasad &, The measurement of service quality has been studied since Shekahar,2010) as summarized 2010; Randheer, in Table Al-Motawa, 1. & Vijay, 2011; Too & Earl, 2010; Wang et al., 2010; Zakaria, Hussin, Batau, & Zakaria service quality in the context of Thai public road passenger 1980 (Khoshraftar & Rozan, 2014). Service quality is seen as a Hence, the SERVQUAL model could be applied to measure service that meets customers’ needs, expectations, and models with regard to public road passenger transport. requirements (Mikhaylov, Gumenuk, & Mikhaylova, 2015; transport. However, there are some modified SERVQUAL Wisniewski, 2001). Service is intangible, inseparable, perishable, and heterogeneous within the service industry, Barabino et al. (2012) applied a modified SERVQUAL with a which makes it more difficult to quantify (Ladhari, 2009; Wang, European standard of service quality in public transport to Feng, & Hsieh, 2010). Quality and customers’ requirements are measure service quality in urban buses. Too and Earl (2010) not easily articulated by consumers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & studied the service quality of bus riders using the SERVQUAL Berry, 1985). Tangible evidence is limited to just service model;provider however, to meet thethe studyindividual did not needs include of each the customer. empathy provider’s physical facilities, equipment, and personnel dimension in the model because it was difficult for the service (Parasuramanwell-perceived etservice al., 1985). matches Lewis with and customers’ Booms (1983) expectations. argued (2012) considered an access dimension in the service quality that measuring service quality involves finding out how Erdoğanof public ettransport al. (2013) including and Muthupandian ease of transition and Vijayakumar with other involves two variables: expected service and perceived service. Grönroos (1984) indicated that the quality of the service was also considered a condition for the provision of an evaluate the quality of service on a sample of the service sector. components of the public transport system. A reasonable fare Then, Grönroos (1984) introduced a service quality model to evaluate the service quality implying no restriction on the which is a measure of how well the service level delivered adequatepassenger service access in theto meetaccess the dimension. fundamental It was appliedneed for to Parasuraman et al. (1985) expressed measuring service quality, expectation with the perception of the service. This approach matcheswas designed customer in response expectation, to the as thelack comparison of published of customerresearch transportation (Freitas, 2013). Therefore, this research applied a modified SERVQUAL model, adapted from Barabino et al. (2012), Muthupandian and relating to measuring service quality (Brysland & Curry, 2001). Vijayakumar (2012), Too and Earl (2010), Erdoğan et al. (2013), measureParasuraman, service quality Berry, andand itZeithaml can be adapted (1991) presentedto any service the and Freitas (2013), to measure the service quality of public road service quality model (SERVQUAL model) which they used to passenger transport. The modified SERVQUAL model proposed indescription this research of each consisted dimension of five indimensions: this model 1) is tangibility provided 2)in industry. SERVQUAL has become an important model reliability 3) responsive 4) assurance and 5) access. A with regard to customer satisfaction (Buttle, 1996). SERVQUAL containsis an instrument five dimensionsto analyze the gap consisting between the of tangibility,expectations Table 2. Attribute of the five dimensions with regard to public responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and reliability. SERVQUAL Methodologyroad passenger transport are also presented in Table 3. and perceptions of service (Curry & Sinclair, 2002; Erdoğan, Questionnaire Bilişik, Kaya, & Baraçh, 2013). Expectation defines what customers feel they should receive, whereas perception is the The study developed a questionnaire according to the actual performance of the service quality (Ladhari, 2009). A positive gap score indicates that perceived service quality is more satisfied, while, a negative gap indicates that perceived framework of the modified SERVQUAL model with five service quality is unsatisfied (Ojo et al., 2014; Ramseook- dimensions: 1) tangibility 2) reliability 3) responsiveness Munhurrun,been used to Lukea-Bhiwajee, measure service & qualityNaidoo, in2010; many Zeithaml, service 4) assurance, and 5) access. The questionnaire contained three Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990). The SERVQUAL model has parts.perception The first of partservice involved on public the demographics road passenger and personality transport traits of respondents. Questions regarding expectation and industries including banking, food, building, housing repair, P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81

76 the researcher by mail. The number of usable questionnaires regarding the modified SERVQUAL model were used in the second and third parts, respectively. Respondents were asked was 2,729 units from 3,200 units or 85 percent of the total. tosatisfaction. evaluate the The questions outcome on based a scale on 1–5, evaluation where 1 produced indicated the Reliability analysis of the questionnaire was determined least importance/satisfaction and 5 the most importance/ usingstatistics Cronbach's were used Alpha, to analyze which forthe each data dimensionand to explore reached the between expectation and perception of service on public road 0.784–0.905,characteristics and of this sample was considered size and acceptable.mean value Descriptive between modifiedpassenger transport.gap which was calculated from the difference expectation and perception of quality service for each

Data Collection Datadimension Analysis in a modified service quality. The questionnaire was applied as a tool to acquire data from respondents who were Thai public road passengers traveling domestically in Thailand. The study considered the between expectation and perception of service quality in terms service quality based on general public road passenger A t-test was applied to investigate significant differences was used to study the impact of expected dimensions of the dimension, attribute, area, and factor. Multiple regression transport as defined by OECD (2000) involving both urban and interurban routes on long-distance and local services, regular influencingdifferent gaps perceived in the scores quality for eachof public region transport. with regard One-way to the andused charter to select services, the sample and on based buses on and the taxisgeography (bus, coach, of the van six ANOVA and Scheffe’s test were used to test for significantly and/orregions others).in Thailand. Stratified This researchrandom samplingconsidered in theThailand dominant was Resultsmodified SERVQUAL model at the .01 or .05 significance level. area in relation to gross provincial product (GPP) in nominal termsselected for provinces each region had in a quotaThailand of 200 (Office samples of the from National each Economic and Social Development Board. 2013). The 16 Of the respondents, 50.6 percent were female. Most and its metropolitan area which contained four provinces: respondents were single and were aged 20–40 years with 57.8 province grouped into six regions. The first region was Bangkok percent of the respondents having an income over USD 430 per month. Approximately 70 percent of the sample had education 1) Bangkok (68.1%), 2) Samut Prakarn (13.0%), 3) Samut to at least the Bachelor degree level. Residential addresses Sakhon (6.0%), and 4) Pathum Thani (5.6%). The Northeast were split evenly at 20 percent among Bangkok metropolitan, region included three provinces: 1) Khon Kaen (14.4%), Northeast region, North region, and South region with fewer in 2) Ubon Ratchathani (7.6%), and 3) Nong Khai (2.7%). Central and East, respectively. The descriptive statistics The North region contained three provinces: 1) Chiang Mai showed that 24.3 percent of respondents reported having (16.7%), 2) Chiang Rai (7.9%), and 3) Tak (3.6%). The South childrenused a private in the house. car for Nearly regular three-quarters trips. Public (72.1%) road passenger owned a region had three provinces: 1) Songkha (19%), 2) Nakhon motorcycle and approximately half (52%) of the respondents Si Thammarat (12.7%), and 3) Phuket (10.7%). The fifth region contained one province, Rayong (37.8%), as representative of transport was used for personal business (64%) and travel the East region. Finally, the Central region contained two (49%),routes involved respectively, urban with to upcountry most using travel. a van, bus, or coach for provinces: 1) Nakhon Sawan (10.3%), and 2) Phitsanulok public road transport. Approximately 70 percent of travel (8.1%).Table 1 The completed questionnaires were then returned to Articles focusing on service quality of public passenger transport Contribution

PrasadHu and andJen (2006)Shekahar (2010) Applied SERVQUAL and Churchill’s paradigm to develop a service quality model of the city bus service in Taipei, Taiwan with seven dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, competence, courtesy, credibility, security, and access. Used RAILQUAL based on SERVQUAL and Rail Transport quality to evaluate the service quality in India with five dimensions: assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibles. WangToo and et Earlal. (2010) (2010) Used a SERVQUAL framework to measure service quality of public transportation within a master-planned community in Australia. The public transport service quality dimensions in this paper included tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, and assurance. . (2010) Proposed an instrument based on SERVQUAL to measure urban transport service quality in Taipei metropolitan area, Taiwan. The article used the original dimensions of: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Zakaria et al Studied service quality of Malaysian public transport which is buses and taxis in Kedah Darul Aman using SERVQUAL. The dimensions were: service quality involves: tangible, reliability, and responsiveness. BarabinoRandheer et et al. al. (2012) (2011) Examined perceptions of service quality in public transport on commuters of twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in India. The dimensions were: service quality containing tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Applied a modified SERVQUAL approach with EN13816 to find the gap between perceptions and expectations of public transport (2012) in Cagliari, Italy. The modified SERVQUAL considered four dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, and assurance. Muthupandian and Vijayakumar Employed SERVQUAL based on the gap model of service quality in public road transport in Tamil Nadu, India. Five dimensions were considered for service quality: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Erdoğan et al. (2013) Applied a customer satisfaction model based on SERVQUAL and fuzzy TOPSIS methods to evaluate the service quality of public transport in Istanbut. The SERVQUAL dimension involved tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Freitas (2013) reasonableAssessed the fares. service quality of intercity road transport of passengers in Brazil. The necessary conditions for the provision of an adequate service included up-to-date services, punctuality, regularity, security, continuity, efficiency, generality, courtesy, and

Ojo et al. (2014) Used SERVQUAL model with five dimensions (reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy, and responsiveness) to investigate customer satisfaction of public transport on the Cape Coast-Accra route in Ghana. Mikhaylov et al. (2015) Used SERVQUAL model to measure service quality of public transport in Russia with five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81 77

Table 2

Description of each dimension in modified SERVQUAL model assurancetangibility will (-0.178) positively and affect reliability a substantial (-0.089) improvement dimensions, in Tangibility - the overall perceived service quality of public road passenger Dimension tion materials Description respectively. Hence, decreasing expectation in relation to Physical facility, equipment, personnel, and communica Willingness to help and provide customers with prompt Reliability serviceAbility to perform a service reliably and accurately transportservice quality in Thailand. at the .01 However, level. the responsiveness and access Responsiveness Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to dimensions did not have a significant effect on perceived Assurance Modified SERVQUAL Scores at Dimension Level by Region Source: inspire trust and confidence among customers Access Ease to connect with other public transport by proper fare Barabino et al. (2012); Brysland and Curry (2001); Erdoğan et al. (2013); grouped by six regions in Thailand: 1) Bangkok metropolitan FreitasTable 3 (2013) Samples were collected from 16 selected provinces

Modified SERVQUAL by attribute level 2)the Northeast expectation region and perception 3) North region of Thai 4) passenger South region respondents 5) East Tangibility Dimension Attribute region, and 6) Central region. Table 6 presents the scores for 1. Bus stop proximity (A1) a negative gap between expectation and perception which 2. On-board comfort (A2) with regard to public transport in each region. Each region had 3. On-board cleanliness (A3) 4. On-board space availability (A4) 5. Facilities at bus stops (A5) indicated dissatisfaction with service quality at the significance 6. Low-pollution emissions (A6) level of .05. Reliability 7. Information at bus stops (A7) 8. Bus reliability (A8) However, the Bangkok metropolitan area had the lowest Responsiveness 9. Bus frequency (A9) satisfactionareas certainly rating need with to improvethe most thenegative service gap quality score of(-0.595) public 10. Ticket availability (A10) followed by the East region (-0.488) indicating that these two 11. Ease of ticket validation (A11) 12. Bus route travel time (A12) had small negative gaps between expectation and perception Assurance 13. Bus drivers’ ability (A13) road passenger transport. The Northeast and North regions 14. Staff courtesy and knowledge (A14) order to meet customer satisfaction. The gap scores in the 15. On-board security (A15) suggestingCentral and thatSouth improvement regions were shouldalso negative not be but too were difficult almost in Source:Access 16. Appropriate fare (A16) 17. Ease to connect with other public transport (A17) Adapted from Barabino et al. (2012); Erdoğan et al. (2013); Freitas and South regions could most easily meet customer satisfaction Modified(2013); Muthupandian SERVQUAL and Scores Vijayakumar at Dimension (2012); Too Level and Earl (2010) zerowith atregard -0.051 to andpublic -0.053, transport. respectively. The average Therefore, gap scores the Central of the

Table 4 shows the negative gaps between the expectation and perception of Thai passengers in all dimensions with sixaverage regions gap were scores analyzed in at least using two one-way regions ANOVAat the .01 and level. the regard to public road transport. This result suggests a lack of resultsScheffe’s indicated test for pairwise that there comparison was a significant of the gap difference scores in in each the service quality to Thai passengers in general. Based on the indicating that the average gap score in the Bangkok region was applied and the results are shown in Table 7, replies, responsiveness received the highest least negative gap score (-0.179) followed by reliability (-0.181). On the other metropolitan area was the same as in the East region only, hand, the biggest gap in the dimensions in the modified whereas, the average gap scores for the Northeast, North, SERVQUAL model refers to assurance with a gap score of South, and Central regions were not significantly different. -0.246 followed by the access dimension (-0.218). These assuranceFigure dimension2 shows the in gap the score Bangkok of each metropolitan dimension area regarding is the negative gaps are heavily influenced by the high expectation thecritical modified aspect SERVQUAL that certainly analysis needs by service region. quality It indicates improvement that the fromconcern Thai and public there roadshould passengers be more focus (more on thanimproving 3.7 on customer the 1–5 with regard to public road transport followed by the tangibility scale).satisfaction The withassurance regard and to public access road dimensions transport are in Thailand.of major dimension is the most important dimension indicating andpassengers’ reliability dissatisfaction dimensions. In followed the East by region, the assurance the reliability and Figure 1 shows the gap score of each dimension and overall. regardMultiple to expectation regression of analysisthe overall was perceived applied usingservice the quality. SPSS software to explain the effects of the five dimensions with access dimensions. Improving the access dimension will lead to increased customer satisfaction in the Northeast region, The results are shown inF -prob.Table <5, .01. with The the study variance showed of thatthe whereas Thai passengers in the North region prefer regression model being 0.251. In addition, the model provided improvements in the assurance dimension. In the South and a good fit to the data with Centralto increase regions, customer the satisfaction assurance for and local access passengers. dimensions, tangibility was the most influential dimension of perceived respectively, are the primary aspects requiring improvement service quality based on the standardized coefficient’s beta Table(-0.280) 4 and was significant at the .01 level, followed by the

Perception (P) p Modified SERVQUAL scores at dimension level Tangibility 0.784 0.828 .000* Modified SERVQUAL SD0.881 (P) Expectation (E) SD0.928 (E) Gap score-0.181 (P-E) .000* 3.405 0.800 3.598 -0.179-0.193 .000* Reliability 3.443 0.840 3.624 0.921 .000* Responsiveness 3.469 0.912 3.648 0.9490.857 -0.218 .000* Assurance 3.486 3.732 -0.201-0.246 .000* * Access p n 3.568 3.786 Overall 3.458 0.731 3.660 0.783 significant at < .01; = 2,729 78 P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81

Tangibility Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Access Overall

-0.05

-0.1

-0.15 Gap Scores

-0.2

-0.25

-0.3 Figure 1

Modified SERVQUAL gap scores at dimension level Table 5

Effects of the five dimensions with regard to expectation of the overall perceived service quality t-stat p B Beta Nonstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients RegressionConstant model 1.277 24.782 .000* Std. Error Tangibility -0.219 -0.280 .000* 0.052 0.019 -0.089 .001* 0.023 -9.356 -0.042 .177 Reliability -0.062 -3.327 0.022 -0.178 .000* Responsiveness -0.032 0.023 -1.350 0.019 .102 Assurance -0.125 -5.604 * p R2 R2 n Access 0.031 0.045 1.637 significant at < .01; F = 182.941; F-prov. < 0.01; = 0.251; Adjusted = 0.250; = 2,729 Table 6

Sample Perception (P) p Modified SERVQUAL scores by region Bangkok metropolitan 0.774 .000* Area SD (P) Expectation (E) SD (E) Gap score (P-E) 0.707 .000* 565 3.245 3.841 0.816 -0.595 0.727 -0.092 .000* Northeast 546 3.411 3.501 0.786 -0.095 South 0.770 ** North 569 3.489 3.581 0.763 124 0.741 -0.488 .000* 553 3.745 0.705 3.798 -0.053 .023 Central .017** East 3.311 0.670 3.799 -0.201 .000* 372 3.428 0.621 3.480 0.689 -0.051 * p ** p n Overall 2,729 3.458 0.731 3.660 0.783 significant at < .01; significant at < .05; = 2,729 BKK & Metropolitan Northeast Region North Region South Region East Region Central Region

-0.1

-0.2 Tangibility

Reliability -0.3 Responsiveness -0.4 Assurance Gap Scores Access -0.5 Overall -0.6

-0.7

-0.8

Figure 2

Modified SERVQUAL gap scores at dimension level by region P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81 79

Table 7 Bangkok metropolitan area. Pairwise comparison of the average gap scores by region The service quality of public passenger road transport in South Central Bangkok metropolitan 0.000* 0.000* 0.000* 0.000* (ticket availability) had a small positive gap score indicating Region Northeast North East * 1.000 0.940 0.000 thesatisfaction Northeast with region that serviceis explained, quality. where The other only attributesone attribute had 0.0000.686* SouthNortheast 0.000* 1.0000.953 North 0.954 0.0000.964* smallfor on-board negative security gap scores followed in the bymodified ease of SERVQUAL connection model; with * p n East however, the biggest gap score within the Northeast region was significant at < .01; = 2,729 other public transport, which are both in the access dimension. Interest in the service quality in both the Bangkok In addition, the bus proximity attribute in the tangibility metropolitan area and the Central region, based on evidence dimensionthat improvement was the of thirdsecurity least standards satisfied and attribute improvements of service in from Office of the National Economic and Social Development quality within this region. Consequently, the results provide Boardarea and (2013) the Centralindicated region that public in this road research passengers and having in Rayong the region will lead to passengers’ satisfaction accordingly. and Bangkok, representing both the Bangkok metropolitan the easeThe ofservice connection quality among of public transport road systempassenger in the transport Northeast in regarding service quality in the public transport system. The higheststatement GPP supported per capita exploring in Thailand, the relationships lacked amongsatisfaction public the North region indicates that all attributes in the modified score for further analysis. The t-test results indicate that the SERVQUAL model had small negative gap scores. Bus drivers’ road passenger’s income, expectation, perception, and gap ability,passengers and staff showed courtesy the most and knowledge, concern with which regarding are both service in the expectation (p < .01) and bigger gap score (p < .01) regarding assurance dimension, were the two attributes that public road higher income of passengers relates significantly to a higher with all these attributes being in the assurance dimension. quality followed by ease of connection to other public transport, theModified modified SERVQUAL SERVQUAL Scores model. at Attribute Level by Region region require improvement in service quality in relation to the The results suggest that public road passengers in the North development of public transport system based on better scores at the attribute level with regard to the service quality of driver’sconnections ability to other and public the courtesy transport components.of staff, including the overallInitially, public the road study passenger explored transport. the modified The results SERVQUAL in Table gap 8 the South region indicates that there were four attributes that had Thesmall modified positive SERVQUALgap scores indicating gap scores passengers’ at the attribute satisfaction level in show that the least satisfied attribute was on-board security followedattributes by were staff ease courtesy of connection and knowledge, with other which public are transport both in the assurance dimension. The third and fourth least satisfied toward the service quality with regard to public road transport, namely: 1) facilities at bus stops, 2) low-pollution emissions, and the bus drivers’ ability, respectively, which are in the access 3) bus frequency, and 4) ticket availability. Nevertheless, bus andmodel. assurance The results dimensions, imply that respectively. Thai public Bus roadstop transportproximity route travel time, ease of connection with other public was the fifth least satisfied attribute in the modified SERVQUAL transport, and bus stop proximity were the top-three least satisfiedimply that attributes public road with passengers regard to confront the dissatisfaction the problem of definitelyroad passengers needs are to improvecurrently thesedealing attributes with a security in order issue. to passengersuncertainty in of the travel South time region. including The findings ease of inconnection the South withinregion enhance service quality. The results indicate that overall, public are dominant attributes required by Thai public passengers. of attributes in the South region were much smaller than the gap Furthermore, staff courtesy and knowledge, and drivers’ ability the public transport system. In addition, the negative gap scores lack of connection among public transport system components Inthat addition, also indeed public need road development. passengers in Thailand still confront a scoresclearly inshow the Bangkokhigh dissatisfaction metropolitan in eacharea andattribute the East with region. regard to theThe service modified quality SERVQUAL of public gap road scores passenger in the East transport. region smallest gap score among all attributes was ticket availability However, the most satisfied attribute as indicated by the On-board security was the least satisfied attribute, having the followed by bus frequency, which are both in the responsiveness biggest negative gap score followed by bus reliability, while the dimension. Low-pollution emissions, information at bus stops, third and fourth least satisfied attributes were ticket availability andservice facilities quality at ofbus public stops road were passenger in the third transport to fifth andrankings, these followed by staff courtesy and knowledge, which all required respectively,attributes are with in the the tangibility smallest and gap reliability scores with dimensions regard to of the improvement with regard to service quality. Thus, public road passengersscheduling of in public the East road regionvehicles are and dealing ticket availability with security had concernsthe higher which passenger need satisfactionnoticeable improvement. regarding public On-time road modifiedmetropolitan SERVQUAL area with model. regard to the service quality of public The modified SERVQUAL gap scores in the Bangkok The Central region was the last area analyzed using the passenger transport, road transport at the attribute level. All attributes in this area show that three attributes had small positive gap scores: had high gap scores, indicating there is definitely a need for modified SERVQUAL model at the attribute level. The results improvement in service quality in all attributes. However, the assurance dimension, which consists of three attributes (staff 1) on-board cleanliness, 2) bus frequency, and 3) ticket courtesy and knowledge, on-board security, and appropriate availability. The top-two least satisfied attributes in the Central fare)availability were the in thefirst tangibility to third least dimension satisfied were attributes the fourth of service and area were ease of ticket validation and bus route travel time, quality, respectively. Bus stop proximity and on-board space respectively.improve on them However, and raise the the negative service qualitygap scores of public of these road attributes were small, suggesting it should not be too difficult to fifth least satisfied attributes, respectively, according to in these two attributes will enhance the service quality of Bangkok metropolitan passengers. Hence, development of passengerpublic road transport. passenger As transport mentioned, in the if provided, Central region. improvements thesubstantially service andthe service knowledge quality provided of public roadby staff, transport enhancing in the security standards, and decreasing public fares will improve 80 P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81

Modified SERVQUAL Scores at Dimension Level by Different Route

The gap score at the dimension level by route based on each region using one-way ANOVA and also Scheffe’s test for public road passenger transport was investigated. The different pairwise comparisons, the Bangkok metropolitan area and the East region had the same level of poor perceived service quality thatperceived definitely service was in quality need of levelsimprovement. which indicatedPassengers minor in the routes considered were: 1) urban within Bangkok, 2) urban Northeast,dissatisfaction. North, This South, research and investigated Central regions service all quality had similar at the within upcountry provinces, 3) interurban between Bangkok attribute level and found that on-board security was the most and upcountry provinces, and 4) interurban between two important attribute regarding service quality followed by staff upcountry provinces. The results with regard to modified SERVQUALrequired improvement in Table 9 reveal in the assurancethat interurban dimension routes followed between by Bangkok and upcountry provinces, and urban within Bangkok courtesyof the 17 and attributes knowledge, investigated and bus bydrivers’ region ability, showed respectively. that the According to the modified SERVQUAL modeling, the gap scores the access dimension. Most of the passenger used public road region considered rapid improvement was needed in the passenger transport for their personal business, travel, and passengersattributes of in service the Bangkok quality metropolitan in terms of staffarea courtesyand the Eastand work. Therefore, they seek higher service quality from staff and thepassenger driver, includingto travel using security an integratedstandards totransport protect passengers’system and wellhaving being. an appropriate In addition, fare the are convenience two attributes of that public affect road the knowledge, and appropriate fare, respectively, while passengers service quality of public road transport. in the Northeast and North regions required improvements in on-board security, and in the bus drivers’ ability with regard to Conclusions public passenger road transport, respectively. In the South and Centralrespectively. regions, public riders wanted to see improved service This paper examined the service quality of public road quality The on evidence bus route showed travel that time public and ease road of passengers ticket validation, lacked public transport system. They needed the service providers of passenger transport in Thailand. The study applied a modified confidencepublic road in passenger the security transport standards to with develop regard their to the staff existing and SERVQUAL model to investigate service quality which consisted of five dimensions—1) tangibility, 2) reliability, 3) inter-connection within the transport system is still a critical responsiveness,research evaluated 4) assurance,and compared and service5) access—which quality with together regard driversissue that in termwill requireof security, action service, among and related knowledge. institutions Moreover, to encompassedto public transport 17 attributes. within six Based regions on the in Thailand.literature Thereview, results this of passengers will lead to higher expectations of service quality enhance this critical concern. Nevertheless, the higher income basedquality on in the many five dimensions attributes. in The the assurancemodified SERVQUAL dimension model had passengers in this group is necessary to gain their indicatedthe biggest Thai negative passengers gap scores were followed dissatisfied by the with access service and regardingunderstanding public about road sometransport. of the Therefore, limitations communication and movements to in relation to public road passenger transport which may tangibility dimensions. At the .01 significance level, tangibility wasrespectively. the most Basedinfluential on analysis dimension of theaffecting average perceived gap scores service of possibly influence passenger satisfaction. quality followed by the assurance and reliability dimensions, Table 8

Perception (P) p Modified SERVQUAL scores at attribute level Bus stop proximity 1.018 .000* Modified SERVQUAL SD0.909 (P) Expectation (E) SD (E) Gap score (P-E) .000* 3.297 0.9720.946 3.510 -0.192-0.213 .000* On-board comfort 3.375 3.571 1.0000.983 -0.194-0.196 .000* On-board cleanliness 3.432 3.624 1.032 -0.182 .000* On-board space availability 3.451 0.993 3.645 .000* Facility at bus stops 3.431 0.985 3.613 0.9790.996 -0.181 .000* BusLow-pollution reliability emissions 3.447 0.9790.993 3.623 1.0181.003 -0.176 .000* BusInformation frequency at bus stops 3.459 0.9870.964 3.640 .000* Ticket availability 3.427 0.970 3.620 -0.141-0.193 .000* 3.451 3.610 0.9941.015 -0.201-0.159 .000* Bus route travel time 3.499 3.640 1.0121.003 -0.202 .000* BusEase drivers’ of ticket ability validation 3.459 0.9470.961 3.660 1.012 -0.221 .000* Staff courtesy and knowledge 3.468 0.9700.952 3.670 1.027 .000* 3.489 3.710 .000* 3.465 0.980 3.710 1.021 -0.211-0.245 .000* On-board security 3.504 0.975 3.770 1.0081.054 -0.266 .000* Appropriate fare 3.539 3.750 -0.201 .000* * Ease to connectp < .01 with other public transport 3.597 0.995 3.822 -0.225 Overall 3.458 0.731 3.660 0.783 Table 9 significant at

Urban (BKK) Urban (UPC) Modified SERVQUAL scores at dimension level among different route

* * Interurban (BKK-UPC* province) Interurban (between two* UPC provinces) TangibilityModified SERVQUAL -0.229 Gap -0.177Score (P-E)* Gap Score (P-E)* Gap -0.247Score (P-E)* Gap -0.174Score (P-E)* -0.189-0.183* -0.167* -0.250* * Reliability * -0.212-0.173* * * Responsiveness * -0.158* -0.284-0.250* -0.161* Assurance -0.217-0.325* * -0.323* -0.211-0.238* Access * -0.256p < .01 -0.196 -0.258 Overall -0.176 -0.266 BKK: Bangkok; UPC: Upcountry; significant at P. Ueasangkomsate / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 40 (2019) 74–81 81

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