Commuters’ perception of premium public bus service quality and their choice behaviour: A case study of Kolkata, India

• Passenger satisfaction is one of the most important measures to ascertain the level of bus services. • Regular Premium bus riders and the Choice Riders are more satisfied with the Premium bus services. • Waiting time is the most critical factors which adversely influences the perception about the quality of bus services. • MNL model suggests that age, time of day, monthly income, trip frequency, ridership and waiting time affects the preference. The study aims to evaluate the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) of the premium public bus services and identify the important factors that affect passenger satisfaction and mode preferences in the city of Kolkata. The Multinomial Logit (MNL) model is developed to comprehend the effect of the various factors on mode preference. The CSI suggests that the Regular AC bus riders and the choice riders are the most satisfied users of the Premium (Air-Conditioned) bus services. Waiting Time is found to be the most important parameter influencing the satisfaction of the Premium bus service quality. The model suggests that age, time of the day, income, trip frequency, ridership, and waiting time satisfaction significantly affect the mode preference of the commuters. Non-AC buses are preferred by low-income and captive riders. Premium buses are preferred more by the young and the working adults and people who are over-satisfied or satisfied with the waiting time. Paratransit is considered an easy alternative and there is a tendency to shift to paratransit modes from the premium bus services. Improvements are needed for the bus services in terms of frequency and the development of dedicated bus lanes along arterials to restrict the switch of modes. The findings will be useful for the transport planners/authorities of the city of Kolkata as well as for other metropolitan cities of similar characteristics to make investment decisions appropriately in making the public buses more attractive.