A Victorian public transport survey rates customer satisfaction at a six-year high
March 1, 2012
The most recent quarterly telephone surveys of travellers using Melbourne’s trains, trams and buses show that passenger satisfaction is at its highest level in years, according to Victoria’s Public Transport Ministry.
The overall satisfaction of Melbourne’s public transport users rose to 62.7 index points, the highest quarterly result since the December quarter 2006.
Victoria’s Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder, pictured, says surveyed commuters using Melbourne’s trains expressed the highest satisfaction for five years with an index score of 64, a marked rise of 1.7 points on the September 2011 quarter.
“Tram users expressed greater satisfaction with tram drivers with overall satisfaction being consistent with the 70 index point result also recorded in the September 2011 quarter,” he says.
“The increased passenger satisfaction for Melbourne’s Metro trains and Yarra Trams is particularly pleasing because these two modes account for 79 per cent of Melbourne’s 523.1 million per annum public transport trips.”
But bus commuters also gave a significant tick to the Victorian Government’s introduction of more than 2,000 extra trips a week with the satisfaction level of 71.5 index points.
Mulder says the bus rating was the highest recorded since the September quarter 2003.
He says that while passenger satisfaction with V/Line trains was higher at 71.5 index points than for metropolitan trains, it had dropped in recent years.
While improving Melbourne’s taxi services has been a hotly discussed item in Victoria recently, it still lags behind other modes in terms of customer satisfaction.
“Taxi satisfaction rose in the latest quarter but its result of 59.8 index points is way below any other mode and confirms the importance of the Government’s Taxi Industry Inquiry chaired by Professor Allan Fels,” Mulder says.