Towards the Development of Quality Standards for Public Transport Service in Developing Countries: Analysis of Public Transport Users’ Behavior

Abstract

Transport user behaviour and key factors affecting them differ from country to country. For a developing country, a better understanding of the users' behaviour helps transport operators to estimate the demand and to propose targeted incentives, services, and tools. From a city perspective, this may also help to redesign and improve existing transportation policies to increase public transport ridership. Accordingly, this paper aims at examining customer's behavioural aspects while attempting to develop a set of quality standards for public transport services in developing countries. Through identifying the specific aspects to be considered in developing countries, this study addresses the applicability of various criteria under those specific conditions. Finally, a set of appropriate criteria is proposed and recommendations for the design of quality standards for public transport in developing countries are given.