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Nova Benchmarking Phase IX Case Study: Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality 2

Final Report

www.nova-metros.org

Confidential

February 2008

Produced by: Railway and Transport Strategy Centre Centre of Transport Studies Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Imperial College London
rtsc@imperial.ac.uk www.rtsc.org.uk

On behalf of: Nova International Urban RailwayBenchmarking Group

February 2008

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Introduction Background Information on Metro Passenger Characteristics Metro Passenger Satisfaction Surveys Gap Analysis of 2006 Data Further Analysis of Gaps: trends, quad-maps Customer Complaints Linking Subjective and Objective Measurements Using Service Quality InformationMeasuring the Impact of Service Quality Improvements Metros’ Experiences Conclusions and Recommendations

4 10 17 28 34 41 50 65 71 74 87

Nova Phase IX Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Case Study 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

The objectives of this Nova Phase IX case study were to carry out further analysis in the area of customer satisfaction (first examined in 2000, as part ofthe Nova II work programme) and to link it more closely to the work on service quality (examined in Nova VI and VII). In particular, the customer satisfaction work was to be developed through:

the addition of data from metros who have joined the group recently; examination of time trends in data for metros who have continued to monitor this since the earlier case study; and the analysis of newmethods of presentation of data.

However, as it was not be possible for recently-joined metros to carry out and have the results from new surveys within the normal case study timescale, further work was carried out during Autumn 2007.

Analysing Customer Satisfaction

As background, it was also thought helpful to carry out some background analysis on the types and characteristics ofpassengers on each metro, with data being collected on age, journey purpose, trip frequency and home location; this information has since been added to the ‘metro profile reports’. This analysis highlighted the high proportion of trips made by commuters (especially in Spanish and Portuguese metros, where some commuters also travel home for lunch) but also the increasing proportion of older passengers onsome metros.

Although metros may measure service elements objectively (factually), this is unlikely to be sufficient, since passengers’ perceptions of the service may be considerably different. Subjective measurements, reflecting what customers actually think, are also necessary. Indeed, initial analysis comparing passenger satisfaction with objective data on delays, and value for money,suggests almost no correlation.

Nova Phase IX Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Case Study

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Most metros collect data on customers’ satisfaction across a wide range of variables, although analysis suggests that some metros ask for too many responses, and/or those involving very general or difficult-to-quantify questions (e.g. about company image or branding). Sampling rates varywidely, but are typically around 10 per one million passengers.

Across the Nova and CoMET groups, metro passengers are generally fairly satisfied, but results clearly are affected both by passenger type and by the competitive environment. Variations in these mean that analysis of trends is more robust than direct comparisons between metros. Indeed, trend data has reflected major changes in serviceperformance in both Buenos Aires & Newcastle.

There are a number of methods of analysing customer satisfaction, but our earlier work concentrated on gap analysis. Through market research, this involves the calculation of the difference in (e.g. %) scores between the importance passengers attach to aspects of the metro, and their satisfaction with metro performance in those aspects. Alternative...