Study on Efficiency and Satisfaction level of Public Transportation within Kathmandu Inner Ring Road

Abstract

Increasing private vehicle ownership and lack of systematic public transportation led to the various traffic problems within Kathmandu Inner Ring Road. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency and satisfaction level of public transportation which is the one of the issues in present public transportation system in inner ring road. The average travel time, waiting time, running speed, and average passenger patronage in the study area have been accessed by using moving observer method. Later, these parameters were used for analysis of public transportation efficiency using DEA model. The result of analysis shows that the efficiency of the bus is 24.5% more than that of the micro-bus. With reference to Mahanagar Yatayat, other bus services are found 86.6% efficient whereas microbuses are found 56.5% efficient. Taking waiting time, travel time, running speed and passenger in and out as independent parameters, the efficiency assessment model has been calibrated by regression analysis. Similarly, satisfaction level of the various modes of public transportation has been assessed with on revealed questionnaire survey. SPSS have been used to check the statistical significance of questionnaire. The satisfaction level of services is evaluated with 10 parameters viz. comfort, cleanliness, frequency and reliability, access for various disable people, availability of timetable and route information, seating arrangement and space for standing, seat availability, speeding, conductor behavior and easiness on using service. The result obtained from pair sample statistics shows that passengers were not satisfied with both bus and micro- bus services in overall aspects. From two tail pair t-test, bus provides better performance in respect to six indicators, whereas there is no any difference in the significance level for remaining four indicators. Overall, the bus proves to be a better mode of public transportation in perspective of both efficiency and satisfaction level. This study identifies the major service indicator for the improvement of public transportation.