Standardization of Commuter Perception Survey to Measure Transit Service Quality – An Indian Study

Survey design and data collection methodology has profound impact on a response-based study especially if transit commuter's satisfaction and importance ratings are to be collected. This paper discusses survey methodology design, and the outcomes of data collection effort related to the floating of three formats of a questionnaire through two modes of survey, namely conventional and online. This standardizes Commuters’ Satisfaction and Importance Survey (CSIS) methodology. Effectiveness is examined in terms of response rate, completion rate, cost of survey, target population representatives, and influence of scale's description and presentation. The experiences gained are shared in the form of challenges, observations, and improvement measures. The survey at the pre-test level is conducted on bus and metro routes in two different Indian cities. Eventually, the standardized survey instrument is used to conduct CSIS at varying transit systems i.e., Commuter Rail, MRT, BRT, and CBT in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.