Identifying critical factors affecting passenger satisfaction in inland water transit integrating Best Worst Method and Ordered Probit Model

Abstract

Passenger satisfaction is paramount in realizing the required ridership in any public transit mode, more so in water transit. This study provides a methodological framework that employs the Best Worst Method (BWM) – an extensively used MCDM technique based on pairwise comparisons for weighting various criteria - to determine the global importance weights of influencing factors and marginal effects from Ordered Probit Model (OPM) to determine the critical influencing factors that need immediate attention. An extensive passenger perception survey was carried out, and a total of 408 valid responses were obtained, providing perceptions regarding importance-satisfaction and BWM-based importance weights for influencing factors. A novel importance satisfaction (IS) index – integrating BWM weighted importance with the satisfaction rating ($I_{BWM}S$) – is proposed and compared with the conventional IS rating. The comparative analysis has shown that the new IS index brings to the fore critical influencing factors much better than the conventional IS rating. The novel IS index provides a global relationship that enables comparison between water transit services or routes, given that the influencing factors are similar. Using marginal effects from OPM and the importance weights from BWM, the identification of critical influencing factors – frequency, waiting time at the terminal, jetty platform protection, service reliability, service information at terminal and cleanliness - of an Inland Water Transport service has been demonstrated. These critical factors assist policymakers, practitioners, and operators in taking up interventions for improving passenger satisfaction, which is likely to positively influence patronage.