ASSESSMENT OF BUS SERVICE PERFORMANCE AROUND OSAKA??

Annisa Dwirizki 8182180005-6

Aida R Fitriana 818218000
Soochi Verma 1830160017-4
Iwasaki Mariko 1820180030-3

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

“Bus service in Japan”, a qualitative research was conducted to examine the bus user’s
satisfaction level with various features of bus services including the buses themselves, bus stops,
the bus network and some necessary facilities for bus users. Japan has an efficient public
transportation network, especially within metropolitan areas and between the large cities.
Japanese public transportation is characterized by its punctuality, its superb service, and the large
crowds of people using it. In Tokyo, Osaka and some other large cities, buses serve as a
secondary means of public transportation, complementing the train and subway networks. In
cities with less dense train networks like Kyoto, buses are the main means of public
transportation. Buses also serve smaller towns, the countryside and national parks. It has more
than 49 highway bus lines, and the special JAPAN BUS LINE makes it much easier to find
suitable bus to one’s destination and make the process of reservation simpler. With many bus
lines throughout Japan, one can travel direct to more than 1000 locations, arriving at your
destination safely. Connecting to more buses and routes one can access to many more locations.
As we all know that transportation in the country can have a big effect on customer satisfaction
so, when we focused on the satisfaction of the bus customers, there were several factors that
made effects on their satisfaction. The amount of fare, interval and frequency of buses, and its
duration are some of the examples of these elements. At same time, the skills of driving and the
service that the bus drivers do are also making difference with the satisfaction. This study mainly
aims to look at the satisfaction level of customers (varied age groups and occupations) in
accordance with the bus service. Everybody has a different and a preferred way of commuting
but in this study we are mainly focusing on bus customers regardless of their frequency of using
the buses.

OBJECTIVES
Following are objectives and goals of our research.
1. To know what kind of bus service make passengers travel comfortably and what do
passengers consider “comfortable” as.
2. To interview ten people of varied age and occupation.
3. To identify the quality of travel by different indicators of amenities.

METHODOLOGY
For our research topic mentioned above we decided to carry out a qualitative research. In this
paper, we empirically analyzed how the quality of bus service would affect to the satisfaction of
its customers. For this analysis, we started with thinking about various factors that would be
responsible in finding out the satisfaction of the customers. Being the bus users ourselves we
thought about the current facilities of the bus that satisfy us as a customer and the ones we are
unsatisfied with. Keeping in mind all these things we started the process of making our
questionnaire. Our questionnaire began with some basic questions about commutation,
preference for commuting, the frequency of using the preferred medium and if our respondents
have ever used buses. After this begins the framing of questions for the satisfaction level,
keeping in mind the different age groups and different type of users and taking into account as
what satisfaction means for them. Finishing the questionnaire, starting with the pretest is an
important task. So, we did two pretest and had super varied answers. In addition to this, now we
were in search of our target audience. We decided to interview only ten people(sample size) in
total for the actual research. Out of the ten we had three students, four office workers and three
aged people. With the variety of respondents we got variety of answers and point of views.
Concluding with our interviews we compiled all the answers together and started analysing and
observing them. We then organized all the results and answers which we will be explained in
another section of this paper.

ETHICS OF RESEARCH

While doing our research following ethics were kept in mind to secure the respondents privacy.
1. Objectivity - Interpretation, feelings and imaginings of the respondents were taken in
consideration in their truest form.
2. Confidentiality - Any information providing the identity of the respondent will be kept
confidential whether it is analysed in private or public.
3. Originality - The answers of the respondents were not manipulated by any member or by
any way.
4. Legally informed consent - Before proceeding on with the interview, the legal consent
of respondents was of major importance. They were not forced in any way and had full
choice of saying no for the interview or any other information they don't feel comfortable
in sharing.
5. Introduced use of their answers in the survey - Similar to the above ethic of research,
the respondents were also informed about the use of this research and their answers will
only be used for the research purpose.

HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis for this study is that bus customers around Osaka are satisfied with the bus
service quality . In this case, bus service quality means facility in bus ,facility of outside (like
bus stop) , fare, corresponds of driver for elderly people and disables, the degree that passenger
can understand the information from bus company...etc. In this paper, we divide these many
services into service of bus itself, service from bus driver,service from bus company.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Main Question
Are passenger satisfied with bus service in Japan?

Sub-Question
1.Are passenger satisfied with bus service inside of bus?
2.Are passenger satisfied with bus service in terms of outside of bus?
3.Are passenger satisfied with bus service in terms of information?

SCOPE OF RESEARCH
The scope of research that will be explained below include: scope of area, time, and substance.
1. Area : The target of the research is bus users around Osaka. The in-depth interview was
conducted in Ibaraki.
2. Time : collection of primary data through in-depth interview took place on Tuesday, 3rd
July 2018.
3. Substance of the research : this research aims to identify the quality of bus service based
on customers’ perceived satisfaction level. Bus service qualities that are examined
include: bus interior (cleanliness; comfort; bus seat capacity; bus seat characteristic;
availability of service for disabled, pregnant women, and elderly people); facilities
offered in the bus stop (time table, map, bench/chairs, roof); time travel efficiency (transit
; and fare efficiency.

LITERATURE REVIEW
This literature review consists of 3 main parts, which are: definitions of public service, public
transport in Osaka, and review of bus service quality indicator in various countries.

1. Definitions of Public Service

In order to define what public service is, we need to begin by understanding the term
“public”. This term is a very general term, hence the definitions vary according to the context of
its usage. For example, the term “public” can indicate that a service is offered to accommodate
public interest, it might also highlight that the service offered has been assigned a specific role in
the public aspect, or the most common--it refers to the ownership or status of the service
provider. In order to specify the definition of public service, many experts from various
institution/organizations attempt to clarify this term.
Shamsul Haque of University of Singapore identifies five criteria to ‘measure’ the degree
of publicness (Martin, 2004). Those criteria are as follows: (a) has distinction compared to
private sector (highlights the importance of impartiality, openness, equality, and representation);
(b) accommodate large number and broad scope of service recipients; (c) has wide socio-
economic impacts; (d) publicly accountable and influential; (e) require public trust (credibility,
responsiveness of the service). In addition, Spicker (2009) also added that public services refer
to: (a) activities of government in the public domain, such as policing and public health; (b)
activities done for the benefit of the public, like public service broadcasting or rubbish
collection; and (c) social services, like medical care, housing, education and social care. Not only
limited to function-based definitions, Spicker (2009) later added that public service also include
these area: energy supply, medical care and transportation.
The number of definitions could lead to confusion, especially between the term “public
sector” and “public service”. Bailey (2002, in Spicker, 2009) stated that those two are actually
different things. Public sector is generally owned, operated or at least controlled by the
government, while public service does not stress on the entity of the provider, hence it could also
be owned, operated or controlled not only by government, but also by independent institutions,
private companies, and non-profit organizations. From those definitions, we can conclude that
public service is a service provided by basically any institutions/organization to accommodate
public interest in order to improve social welfare.

2. Land Public Transport in Osaka, Japan

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, public transport is a system of vehicles, such as
buses, trains, that operate at a regular times on fixed routes and are used by the public. Generally,
in Japan, including Osaka, there are 5 modes of public transport operating, they are as follows:

1. Subway
Subway is a very convenient mode to get around Osaka. It consists of 9 lines,
with signature color and alphabet symbol determined for each route. However, the most
commonly-used lines are Midosuji and Chuo Line. With red as its signature color,
Midosuji line (north/south) serves the major urban hubs of Osaka, such as: Shin-Osaka,
Umeda (Kita), Honmachi (Central Osaka), Shinsaibashi (Minami), Namba (Minami) and
Tennoji; while Chuo Line (east/west) with green as signature color serves Osaka Castle
Area (at Tanimachi 4-Chome Station) with the Osaka Bay Area (at Osakako Station).

2. Private Railways
In addition to subway, train operating in Osaka also include private-run railways.
The biggest railway network in Japan is operated by Japan Railway Company (JR), with
wide service coverage, not only in Osaka but also everywhere across the country. JR Line
in Osaka is under the jurisdiction of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Other
private railways operating in Osaka is as follows: Hankyu, Hanshin, Keihan, Kintetsu,
and Nankai.

3. Bus
 Local or city bus operating around Osaka has its signature design, which is cream-
colored body with green or blue lines. In addition to local/city bus, there is also limousine
bus which serves wider area than local/city bus, and mainly connects passengers to the
airports. The providers of bus service are usually private companies that also operate
private railway trains, such as: JR, Keihan, Hankyu, Hanshin, Nankai and Kintetsu.

3. Bus Service Quality Indicators

Researcher needs to determine some key indicators before moving onto assessing
customers’ satisfaction level. In order to widen the point of view of this research, researchers
attempted to review some indicators used in Japan, as well as indicators used in two other
countries (Calabria, Italy and Scotland, UK). However, since this research is conducted in Japan,
we chose to pick indicators from Japan as the key variables--assuming it to be more relevant than
indicators from other countries, to assess customers’ perspective about the service provided by
bus in Japan, specifically in Osaka.

3.1 Bus Service Quality Indicators in Japan

According to research conducted by Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport,
and Tourism, the quality of bus service can be assessed or measured by asking the customers
regarding these indicators:
1. frequency of the bus;
2. convenience and clarity of time table and map;
3. transit convenience (how easy it is to change to another bus as well as other
modes);
4. punctuality of the bus;
5. fairness of the fare system;
6. availability of facilities for elderly and disabled people;
7. driver’s responsiveness;
8. cleanliness of the bus interior as well as its supporting infrastructure (e.g. bus
stop/bus shelter);
9. safety of the bus

Based on those main indicators, we attempted to elaborate more question to create in-
depth interview questions. As the result, bus service qualities that are examined in this research
include these indicators: bus interior (cleanliness; comfort; bus seat capacity; bus seat
characteristic; availability of service for disabled, pregnant women, and elderly people);
facilities offered in the bus stop (time table, map, bench/chairs, roof); time travel efficiency
(transit convenience; and fare efficiency).

3.2 Bus Service Quality Indicators: Research in Calabria, Italy

Another research conducted by Laura Eboli from University of Calabria (2012) defines these
performance indicators for an objective measure of public transport service quality:

a. Service availability
The attributes of availability are represented by characteristics of the route of the bus line in
terms of path and coverage, number of bus stops, distance between bus stops, location of the bus
stops, and characteristics of the service, such as service frequency, span of service, travel time,
need for transfers.

b. Service reliability
Service reliability is a very important indicator, especially for transit passengers.
Strathman et al. (1999) and Kimpel (2001) in Eboli (2012) stated that reliability is mostly related
to schedule adherence. In addition, Beirao and Sarsfield-Cabral (2007) in Eboli (2012) also
stated that the uncertainty of the vehicle arrival makes the service unreliable. The indicators used
to measure service reliability, are on-time performance, headway regularity and running time
adherence (Transportation Research Board, 2003a; Lin et al., 2008).

c. Comfort
Comfort on board means means having clean, decent seats, comfortable temperature, not
too many passengers, smoothness of the bus ride, low levels of noise, and not nasty odors. This
indicator has to be present not only on board, but also in the supporting infrastructure of public
transport, e.g. bus stop. A comfortable bus stop is generally equipped with clean, decent
facilities, such as: availability of bench/chairs, and roof.

d. Cleanliness
Cleanliness refers to physical condition of the vehicles and its facilities. Bus exterior and
interior, including seats, windows, and hand holders; as well as bus stops have to be clean from
garbage, dirt and graffiti. Therefore, the provision of rubbish bin both on board and in the bus
stop is necessary.

e. Safety and Security

The term “safety” generally refers to the possibility of being involved in a road accident.
In addition, the term “security” refers to the possibility of becoming the victim of crime during
the ride, both crime resulted from outsiders and also from other passengers.

f. Fare
This aspect refers to monetary cost of the journey by bus, like the cost of a one-way ride,
the cost of a transfer, the availability of discounted fares (e.g. for students), the availability of
volume discounts (e.g. for monthly passes), the cost of parking at bus stops.
 g. Information
The availability of information is very substantial to the planning and execution of a ride.
Important informations include: how to use bus service in general, the schedule of the departure
and arrival of the bus, how to transit, transit access location, where to get off in the proximity of
passenger’s destination.

h. Customer Care
Customer care basically are services to help the passengers make their ride easier and
more comfortable. This aspect refers to courtesy and knowledge of drivers, courtesy and
helpfulness of ticket agents, personnel appearance, the convenience of purchasing the tickets or
paying fare, availability of ticket issuing and validation machines, and effectiveness of the ticket
selling network.

3.3 Bus Service Quality Indicators: Research in Scotland, UK

Introduced in 2001, the Scottish Government use several service indicator to monitor bus
customers’ experiences regarding local bus services. Basically, the indicator is displayed as a
scalable statements, and the customers are asked to state their perceived degree of agreement.
The statements used are as follows:

1. Buses are on time

2. Buses are frequent
3. Service run when it is needed
4. Service is stable and is not regularly changing
5. Buses are clean
6. Buses are comfortable
7. I feel personally safe and secure
8. It is simple deciding the type of ticked I need
9. Finding out about routes and times is easy
10. It is easy changing from buses to other forms of transport
11. The fares are good value

ANALYSIS

Researchers interviewed 10 respondents around Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki

Campus which consist of 4 office workers, 3 students and 3 pensioners. This interview aims to
know their opinions regarding the performance of public transportation around Osaka,
specifically city bus. The following pictures show the profile of the interviewees.
Picture 1. Profile of Respondents
 Source : Analysisis Results, 2018

Picture 1 shows basic profile of the interviewees. In order to make this research more
objective, it needs to cover all of age range and gender. This is because their opinions about the
performance of bus services may be different, and the age range as well as gender may affect the
answers. Most of interviewees are female, with the most interviewed age range of 31-40 years
old.

The Characteristic of Passengers’ Mobility with Bus

All of the interviewees usually use train as their daily transportation mode to commute.
From the interview, it is known that they prefer to use train over bus because train is cheaper,
more convenient, more comfortable, more frequent and is punctual. However, they still need to
use bus to reach the areas that are not covered by train.

Picture 2. Bus Used by Interviewees Based on The Service Providers

 Source : Analysisis Results, 2018

Picture 2. shows the graph of bus that interviewees usually use. Most of them (44%) use
Kyoto City Bus and others use Keihan Bus, Hankyu Bus, Nankai Bus and Takatsuki City Bus.
Compared to train, the frequency of bus service is lower, as time interval between the services is
longer. Based on the interview, the bus come every 10 until 40 minutes depend on what bus it is.
Detailed results of bus service time interval are shown by Picture 3.

Picture 3. The Time Interval Between Bus Service

Source : Analysisis Results,2018

Depicted by picture 4 below, almost all of the interviewees (90%) agree that the interior
of busses in Japan, comprised of seat, windows, and hand holder, are generally clean. It is
because they stated that they have never seen any major garbage or dirt in the bus. In addition,
some interviewees stated that compared to other countries, transportation modes in Japan are
relatively clean. However, some also stated that sometimes the floor of the bus is dirty due to
passengers’ footprints, especially in the season when it rains a lot, therefore, out of 3 options
which are agree, neutral, and disagree, some chose to be neutral.
Picture 4. Degree of Agreement To The Statement: “The Bus Is Clean”
 Source : Analysis Results, 2018

Picture 5 below shows percentage of interviewees’ opinion about noise in the bus.
Responding to the statement “The bus is not noisy”, 60% interviewees agree, 30% chose to be
neutral, and the rest of them disagree. Actually, when asked about the noise in the bus, some
interviewees stated that they do not really care whether it is noisy or not during the ride, hence
they do not usually pay attention to the noise. However, when riding a public transport, noise is
inevitable, especially during the peak hours. There are two period of peak hours in a day, the
first one starts in the morning, usually at 7 am until 10 am when students and office workers go
to schools and offices; and the second peak hours which is in the evening usually occurs at 4 pm
until 6 pm. Although it is noisy during the peak hours, some said that noise from other
passengers is usually minimum. It may be because it is customary in Japan not to use mobile
phone during a ride with public transport. Instead, they are more bothered by the noise that
comes from the announcement in the bus.

Picture 5. Degree of Agreement To The Statement: “The Bus Is Not Noisy”

Source :Analysis Results, 2018

 Depicted by picture 6 below, it is shown that bus in Japan generally runs in perfect speed,
not too slow, not too fast. Most interviewees (70%) feel that the bus is very safe in terms of
speed, and because of that, they do not have to worry about bus accident. However, some of the
respondents said that the bus runs too slow compared to other transportation modes, especially
train. This leads to their preference to using trains over bus. Usually, the bus runs slowly due to
some disruption to the traffic.

Picture 6. The Bus Speed

Source : Analysis Results, 2018

The bus is crowded in certain conditions, for example: during peak hours and in
tourism area. The interviewees who use Kyoto City Bus said that bus in Kyoto is really crowded
since many tourists choose a bus to travel and commute. Generally, tourists in Kyoto choose to
use bus in Kyoto because it is very cheap and Bus Pass is available for tourist. On the contrary,
some interviewees do not usually use bus on the peak hours, hence they think the crowd in the
bus is in perfect amount. Detailed result is dispalyed on picture 7 below.
 Picture 7. The Crowd in The Bus

Source : Analysis Results, 2018

Depicted by picture 8, it is shown that most of the interviewees (60%) agree that it is
easy to transfer to other bus or transportation mode. It is because generally, the train station is
always equipped with bus stop/bus shelter. However, some also stated that sometimes it is not
always the case. They still find bus stops that are far from the station, hence it becomes painful
and inconvenient to transfer from train to bus. In addition, it is also sometimes hard to transfer
because the interval of bus service and train service are different, for example, if the interviewees
arrive in station and they want to change to bus, they need to wait 10-15 minutes. They think it is
very time-consuming hence they chose to disagree that it is easy to transfer from bus to another
transportation mode.
Picture 8. The Ease of Transfer to another Modes

Source : Analysis Results, 2018

 Japanese people are known for their punctuality, so is the public transport. Although 60%
interviewees agree that the bus generally comes on time, it is undeniable that sometimes the bus
is late. However, there is always a reason for why it happened, for example: traffic jam or an
accident. In peak hours and tourism place where it is full of passengers, bus sometimes comes
late too. As for the interviewees that chose to be neutral, mostly when they had to take bus, they
were hardly in a hurry, therefore, they did not pay attention whether the bus is late or not.
Detailed results of bus punctuality is displayed on Picture 9.

Picture 9. Degree of Agreement to The Statement: “The Bus Comes On Time”

Source : Analysis Results, 2018

Bus Internal Facilities

The facilities provided is one of indicators examined in this research to identify the performance
of bus service around Osaka. The components of indicator “bus internal facilities” comprise of seat
cleanliness, seat sufficiency, and the availability of facilities for disabled people. The following graphs
show percentages of interviewee’s degree of agreements towards statements asked, and more detailed
explanation about internal facilities and its performance is on the next two paragraphs.
Picture 10. Percentages of Bus Facilities Components
 Source : Analysis Results, 2018

Most of the interviewees (80%) agree that the seat is sufficient even during peak hours. Of
course, there are people who still have to stand, but the interviewees find it common within the
transportation in Japan hence they still consider the seat sufficient. However, some interviewees find that
it is unfair because if people have to stand then it means it exceeds bus capacity, therefore they chose to
disagree. As for the comfort, half respondents agree that seat is comfortable and 30% respondents
disagree. Those who agree find the size of legroom as well as the seat itself are perfect for them, while
those who disagree are not happy with it because it is too narrow, and it is painful, let alone if they have
to travel or commute for a long time. In addition to that, 20% respondents chose to be neutral because
they think the size of seat and its legroom are still bearable.
In order to support disabled people, generally, bus in Japan is equipped with board as a slope
to connect pedestrian to the bus and there is also space provided for wheelchair. Half of the interviewees
agree that bus is well-facilitated enough for disabled people since there is a slope provided and the driver
also helps the disabled to get in and off of the bus. Interviewees who disagree argue that space for
disabled people is not enough because it only fits for one wheelchair, while there might be more than one
wheelchair user in a ride. Another supporting fact for those who disagree is that the slope is not
automatic, therefore, it takes time for disabled people to get into and off of the bus. Meanwhile,
interviewees who chose to be neutral think although it takes time, as long as the bus is equipped with
slope and there is some space provided for wheelchair, then it is better than nothing.
Bus Supporting Infrastructure
The supporting infrastructure such as bus stop/bus shelter is also important to assess overall bus
performance. This indicator comprises of cleanliness of the bus stop, availability of time table, map, roof
and bench/chairs in the bus stop. The results of interview regarding those components is displayed in the
picture 11 below and the thorough explanation is provided in next paragraphs.

Picture 11. Facilities Provided in The Bus Stop

 Source : Analysis Results, 2018

For the cleanliness of the bus stop, 40% respondents agree, 50% neutral and 10% disagree. Half
interviewees chose to be neutral because sometimes there is still garbage here and there, although not
very disturbing. As for the availability of bench/chairs, most of interviewees (60%) stated there are decent
bench/chairs provided in the bus stop for the passengers; while the rest said otherwise. Moving onto roof,
half respondents said that the bus stop is equipped with roof, and half the rest said that there is no roof
available in their usual bus stop.
Time table is important for passengers to keep up with bus’ schedule. Most of interviewees (70%)
stated that there is timetable provided in the bus stop, and it is convenient and easy to understand even for
foreigners. However, some interviewees still find the timetable difficult to understand hence it needs
improvement. Last component of bus stop is map. Half interviewees agree that there is map provided in
their usual bus stop; while the rest said otherwise. Generally, the map is easy to understand, especially for
the locals, because it is equipped with QR code, it clearly shows the destination, the distance, time travel,
and interval between bus stop. Although most of interviewees said the map is convenient, some still find
it hard to understand. They also think it would be even harder for foreginers to understand the map
because it is only available in Japanese. They suggest to improve the map and provide an English version
of it.
Last but not least, we managed to also ask the interviewees about their opinion regarding the bus
fare, whether it is expensive or not. Most of them (60%) stated that the bus fare is expensive, and the rest
said it is within normal range. Those who said that bus fare is expensive find it unfair that sometimes bus
fare is more expensive than train, while the benefit offered is still below train. On the contrary, those who
are fine with the bus fare said that as long as the quality of bus service is good (there are decent seat, and
facilities provided), they do not mind about the fare. The graph for this analysis is displayed on picture
12.

Picture 12. Affordability of Bus Fare

LIMITATIONS
1. Demographic barrier - The demographic barrier had a major impact on
our research. We could not go beyond ibaraki osaka because of the travel
 difficulties and could only interview limited people living around this
area.
2. Time barrier - Due to the shortage of time we could only interview a
small sample size.
3. Language barrier - Out of four members in our group three of us are
International students, so Japanese language was another major barrier
which forced uss to find some Japanese people who knew english
specifically.
4. Difficulty in approaching people - As mentioned above due to the
language barrier it was difficult to talk to people, so we couldn't approach
people we wanted to interview. Only one member being the japanese
interviewed around 4 people who didn't know english
5. Avoiding sensitive questions- Due to the difference in cultures,
traditions, language, mindset and point of views, we decided to avoid
sensitive questions in order to not offend our respondents.

CONCLUSION
(NOT FINISHED WILL WRITE AGAIN TOMORROW)
“Bus service in Japan”, a qualitative research was conducted to examine the bus user’s
satisfaction level with various features of bus services including the buses themselves, bus stops,
the bus network and some necessary facilities for bus users. Researchers interviewed 10
respondents around Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus which consist of 4 office
workers, 3 students and 3 pensioners. This interview aims to know their opinions regarding the
performance of public transportation around Osaka, specifically city bus.

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