Towards Sustainable Public Transportation System : Accessibility and Service Quality of Public Buses in Kuching City, Sarawak

Nor Amaleena, Binti Mazlan (2019) Towards Sustainable Public Transportation System : Accessibility and Service Quality of Public Buses in Kuching City, Sarawak. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

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Abstract

Public transportation sector plays an important role to ensure seamless connectivity and hence, increasing the number of public ridership towards achieving a sustainable nation. However, the issue of traffic congestion in developing countries including Malaysia, has posed negative social, environmental and economic effects. The issues of inaccessibility of public transportation and low quality of services are often seen in major cities, including Kuching City in Sarawak. This study aims to assess the current public transportation system in terms of its accessibility and service quality by capturing the experiences of the commuters of public buses in Kuching City, in line with the concept of sustainable public transportation. The study adopts a mixed method approach; the quantitative approach involves assessing Public Transportation Accessibility Level (PTAL) based on the responses from the selected 140 commuters of public buses surveyed in Kuching City. A multi-dimensional research instrument (SERVQUAL) is also used to capture the commuters’ expectation and perception of public buses by assessing five dimensions of bus service quality, which are reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and responsiveness. In terms of qualitative method, case study approach is adopted, in which it includes in-depth interviews with both providers and commuters of public buses in Kuching City. The data collected are based on transportation accessibility and service quality experienced by the commuters; as well as the current situation and future plans for public buses’ system. In addition, the issues pertaining public transportation system faced by both commuters and public buses’ providers are also being analysed hence providing ways to improve current public transportation system towards sustainable transportation. The results of the PTAL assessment showed that Kuching has iv poor accessibility mainly due to the long waiting time experienced by the commuters of public transportation. In addition, the empathy dimension has the lowest score in service quality delivered by the public buses in all of the routes due to lack of physical facilities for the disabled persons. Meanwhile, responsiveness dimension scored the highest as there is a general consensus among the public bus commuters in regards to the ability of the bus companies to respond to their needs. The bus companies generally offer affordable bus fare to the passengers. In addition, the counter ticketing staffs and the bus drivers are very courteous in attending to the needs of the bus commuters. The findings of the study show that striving towards reducing waiting time among the public bus commuters and provision of adequate facilities that is inclusive are vital in order to improve the current image of public bus services which aims to have a more sustainable public transportation system in Kuching City, Sarawak. Keywords: Public transportation, sustainability, accessibility, service quality, Kuching

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