CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In recent years many people around the cities prefer to drive their own vehicles which cause congestion in the city. Due to increasing of travel demand and preferences in using private vehicle is causing rapid motorization in many countries around the world. Most people are now highly dependent on private motorize travel (Ellaway et al. 2003). This phenomenon was caused because of attractiveness of car and people love to drive (Beirão & Sarsfield Cabral 2007). An increased private motorization has resulted in an increased traffic congestion which in turn result in longer travel times for many people (Beirão & Sarsfield Cabral (2007)) In addition to congestion, private motorization is also affecting the safety of vulnerable road users (Kodukula 2009), high consumption of non-renewable resource (Aßmann & Sieber 2005), and causes serious threat to the quality of human environments (Goodwin 1996; Greene & Wegener 1997). In order to prevent more problems caused by this increase in motorization it is highly recommended by many researchers as well as public decision makers to provide an attractive public transport service as an alternative transport mode in many cities/towns. Public transport has become part of a solution for sustainable transport in the future. However, in order to keep and attract more passengers, public transport must to have high service quality to satisfy and fulfill more wide range of different customer’s needs (Oliver 1980; Anable 2005). It is important to summarize knowledge about what drives customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction in public transport area to design an attractive and marketable transport.

Zamazalová (2009) viewed that a high consumer satisfaction rate contributes significantly to consumer loyalty to the service provider, service providers should try to achieve the maximum user satisfaction with services, products or purchases. According to Shiau & Luo (2012) consumer satisfaction helps companies to establish long-term relationships with consumers. Also the success of a public transport system depends on the number of passengers which the system is able to attract and retain. Therefore the quality of an offered services becomes the issue of maximum importance (de Oña, de Oña, Eboli & Mazzulla, 2013)

If the service quality is measured from the customers´ perspective, the most important is the passengers´ perceptions about the each factor characterizing the service. However it is not only important to know the perceptions about the factors of quality, but the most important is to identify which factors have the highest influence on the global assessment of the service and which factors have the lowest influence on it. Nowadays asking customers to express their opinions about the importance of each service attribute is frequently used, but it can lead to the erroneous estimation, because some factors can be rated as important even though they have little influence on the overall satisfaction, or they are important only in one of the moments of the assessment (before or after thinking) (de Oña, de Oña, & Calvo, 2012; de Oña, de Oña, Eboli & Mazzulla, 2013). Therefore it is recommended to use one of the derived methods, which determine the importance of the factors by statistically testing the strength of the relation of the individual factors with the overall satisfaction (Weinstein, 2000).

Statement of the Problem

Urban public transport industry is one of the service sectors, which contributed much to the economy of the country and also plays important role of reducing unemployment problem in Nigeria. A principal function of urban public transport industry should be organized around to satisfy the clients. When the passengers are satisfied, then the public services are credited with proving effective service opportunities. Like many state in the developing countries, Lagos state experiences a poor public transport system. The dominant mode of public transport system in is bus transport; popularly known as Danfo. The existing public transport system is characterized road accidents, inadequate road infrastructure, poor vehicle condition, poor infrastructure for non-motorized modes, low bus fares insufficient to cover operating cost, poor customer service which leads to poor customer satisfaction in the public transportation business in Nigeria, it is however a problem for most private transportation business such as the ABC transport, even with all the amenities put in place by the organization, they could not still meet up with total satisfaction for their consumers, therefore this research intends to investigates the factors that influence customer satisfaction in ABC transport.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to find out the factors that influence customer satisfaction in ABC transport, specifically the study intends to;

1.     Investigate the factors that influence customer satisfaction in ABC transport

2.     Find out those factors that bring about dissatisfaction in public transport in Nigeria

3.     To analyze if there is any satisfaction customer derive in ABC transport

Research Question

1.     What are the factors that influence customer satisfaction in ABC transport?

2.     What are those factors that bring about dissatisfaction in public transport in Nigeria?

3.     Is there any satisfaction customer derive in ABC transport?

Research Hypothesis

Ho: there is no satisfaction customer derive in ABC transport

Hi:there is satisfaction customer derive in ABC transport

Significance of the Study

This study would help the researcher to expand knowledge on urban public transport services in Nigeria; particularly in Lagos state. The study would help various urban transport service providers to develop new insights in marketing strategies by being able to offer the best service to their customers so as to retain and maintain them.

This study would also help various stakeholders such as government, bus owners and bus operators segment their target market so as to be in a position to serve that niche very well and this would make the service providers to be beyond competitors. This research would discover the factors influencing customer satisfaction in urban public transport services by revealing the importance of attracting, acquiring winning and retaining customers as a key success factor to win the competitive environment. The study would also help policy makers in the country understand the economic contribution of public urban transport industry in order for them to make strategic decisions involved in the running of business.

Scope of the Study

This research is focused solely on ABC transport, but will conclude the research generally on the public transportation business in Nigeria, and also this research will be conducted in Lagos state hereby, reviewing related literatures and concepts customer satisfaction and public transportation business in Nigeria.

Delimitation of the Study

Finance for the general research work will be a challenge during the course of study. Correspondents also might not be able to complete or willing to submit the questionnaires given to them.

However, it is believed that these constraints will be worked on by making the best use of the available materials and spending more than the necessary time in the research work. Therefore, it is strongly believed that despite these constraint, its effect on this research report will be minimal, thus, making the objective and significance of the study achievable.

Definition of Terms

Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by and meet or surpass customer expectation