Service delivery system design and customer satisfaction in the public sector transport

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine how customer satisfaction can be improved through effective service delivery system design (with a bias on scheduling and queuing). The research design involved a descriptive survey of customers and managers within the public transport sector. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was administered through drop and pick later method (for managers) and assisted Questionnaires (for customers). Percentages and frequencies were used to analyze the objective whereas descriptive, correlation, factor and regression analysis using the Statistical Programme for Social Scientists (SPSS) analysis tool were used to analyze the relationship between service design and customer satisfaction. The outcome revealed that an effective service design greatly improves the customer satisfaction. 61% of the customers interviewed agreed that scheduling saved them time and money and facilitated travel planning while 72.1% agreed that queuing enhanced security, consistency and saved them time. 59% of the managers interviewed agreed that effective scheduling and queuing enhanced security and eased general fleet management. Further research on the same area of study can be done in other sectors to establish whether there is any relationship between service delivery system design and customer satisfaction. The study recommends a culture change among customers and managers to improve response to some of the basic operations concepts (for instance queuing and scheduling). Secondly, the study proposes commitment from both the managers in the sector and the government organ in charge to charge implementation.