Assessing the public transit service performance of an intra-city bus route in Malaysia

Abstract

Public transport is important for urban mobility and sustainability especially among low and middle-income communities. Its high carrying capacity helps to reduce the number of vehicle-trips, thereby having a positive impact on the environment. Despite the many obvious benefits of public transit, the use of public transit remains low level in many cities in Malaysia because of policies that favour a higher use of private transport. It is generally understandable that the service performance of public transit is one of the key characteristics that can help improve the use of public transit. The purpose of this paper is to assess some of the key service performance indicators of an intra-city bus route in one of the mediumsized cities in Malaysia to understand its effect on the use of public transport. Data on service performance indicators such as “travel time” including journey time, running time, dwell time and “passenger ridership” of an intra-city bus route in Malacca city were collected by administrating field surveys. These data were then analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings show a clear distinction between travel time near city centre and travel time outside the city centre. The higher travel time near the city centre was due to factors like traffic signals and traffic congestion. The findings also show a clear gap between scheduled and observed time of departure at the terminal station and intermediate bus stations. Not surprisingly, the combined aspects of high travel time including delay and dwell time have a knock-on effect on passenger ridership of this selected bus route.