[sustran] Re: commuter satisfaction index

[Puttanna S. Honaganahalli]

Customer Satisfaction? What is satisfaction? To presume that the definition
of satisfaction is going to be the same for all peoples in the world -
Americans, Europeans, East Asians, South Asians etc.,  - will lead you to
erroneous results. This mistake of copying foreign models and applying it to
local situations has been repeated time and again. The history of third
world development is replete with myriad examples of failure of foreign
models.

You need to find out from among your customers, i.e., your city bus riders,
as to what gives them statisfaction, and from there will evolve the
definition of Customer Satisfaction for Bangalore city. Once you have that
down, coming up with an index to prioritize which attributes provides
maximum satisfaction is the next step. You can pose this question, as well,
to your public transport riders and they will provide you with the answers.
Basically, you need to go out and talk to your city bus commuters and LISTEN
CAREFULLY to what they have to say.

Thanks

Puttanna S. Honaganahalli Ph.D.
Ecological Economics Unit
Institute for Social and Economics Change (ISEC)
Nagarabhavi, Bangalore 560 072
India

Phone: 91-80-2321-5468 x120
Fax: 91-80-2321-7008
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jain Alok" <ajain at kcrc.com>
To: "'Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport'"
<sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 6:55 AM
Subject: [sustran] Re: commuter satisfaction index


> Dear Vittal,
>
> We measure Customer Satisfaction broadly in four categories:
>
> - Station/Stop Services and Facilities
> - Train/Bus service and facilities
> - Staff attitude
> - Price (value for money)
>
> Each of these categories have further sub-attributes depending on
> characteristics of individual system. Also CSI alone does not provide the
> complete picture with respect to customer satisfaction. Satisfaction
profile
> is also important which tells the service planners where exactly to focus.
>
> Alok
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vittal Kumar A. [mailto:vittalkumar_a at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 9:08 PM
> To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport
> Subject: [sustran] commuter satisfaction index
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> At this juncture, I thought its opt to ask a question
> on Commuter Satisfaction Index for a public transport.
>
> Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)
> the local public transport corporation has set up a
> task force by name 'Commuter Comfort Task Force'
> (CCTF) aiming to evolve at what strategies and
> measures to be adopted to enhance commuters
> safisfaction.
>
> I request discussion members, to give your inputs on
> what forms the Customer satisfaction? is it frequency?
> is it comfort while travelling? free flow of traffic?
> pricing? courtesy? Any thoughts?
>
> What recommendations to increase the customer/commuter
> satisfaction index? (CSI)
>
> regards,
> Vittalkumar Dhage
>
> --- "Jonathan E. D. Richmond" <richmond at alum.mit.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > You will all doubtless be intrigued by the findings
> > of a recent study by
> > Dartmouth and Warwick funded by the US National
> > Bureau of Economic
> > Research. I just hope that this does not come to the
> > attention of Thai
> > politicians or we can expect to find facilities to
> > satisfy the happiest
> > activity offered on services that apparently
> > currently make the public
> > most unhappy! --Jonathan
> >
> >
> >
> > >From The Times, June 12 2004
> >
> > The survey finds that sex is the thing that makes us
> > happiest, with the
> > highly educated more likely to find ultimate
> > pleasure from a roll in the
> > hay than those with fewer academic qualifications.
> > But while sex makes us
> > smile, the survey finds that a daily commuter trip
> > to work is what makes
> > us most unhappy.
> >
> > Sex is rated retrospectively as the activity that
> > produces the single
> > largest amount of happiness, the report states.
> > Commuting to and from work
> > produces the lowest levels of psychological
> > wellbeing. These two
> > activities come top and bottom, respectively, of a
> > list of 19 activities.
> >
> >
> > -----
> >
> > Jonathan E. D. Richmond
> >  02 524-5510 (office)
> > Visiting Fellow                               Intl.:
> > 662 524-5510
> > Transportation Engineering program
> > School of Civil Engineering, Room N260B
> >  02 524-8257 (home)
> > Asian Institute of Technology                 Intl.:
> > 662 524-8257
> > PO Box 4
> > Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120
> >  02 524-5509 (fax)
> > Thailand                                      Intl:
> > 662 524-5509
> >
> > e-mail: richmond at ait.ac.th               Secretary:
> > Ms. Nisarat Hansuksa
> >         richmond at alum.mit.edu               02
> > 524-6051
> >       Intl:  662 524-6051
> > http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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