COMMUTERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON RAIL BASED PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES: A CASE STUDY OF KTM KOMUTER IN KUALA LUMPUR CITY, MALAYSIA

Abstract

In facing the challenges of urban traffic congestion, when people are becoming more dependent on private vehicles, public transportation services should be functioning effectively as attractive alternative modes. This research evaluates how rail public transport users perceive day to day quality of the provided services. The study investigates commuters‟ satisfaction levels of various trip making aspects on board KTM Komuter trains, a commuter services operated by the company Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB), a heavy rail operator in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A systematic probabilistic sampling questionnaire survey was conducted among the users during the month of December 2011 until March 2012. A sample of 1000 questionnaire forms returned by respondents have been gathered for purposes of ascertaining the overall satisfaction level and analysis on selected aspects of the performance indicators. The results have shown that the majority of the respondents perceived KTM Komuter services to be below the levels that the users had expected, especially the non-adherence to published schedule and travel times, frequency or headways, capacity, the physical conditions of the rail coaches and the information on delays. Most of them expected better services to increase their satisfaction levels. Hence, it is concluded that for the rail public transportation to be sustainable and continuously relevant, the operator has to increase KTM Komuter‟s effectiveness and efficiency or the services have to in the least remain attractive to the existing users.