Young people's perceived service quality and environmental performance of hybrid electric bus service

Abstract

While cities are moving towards environmentally friendly public transport such as electrification of public buses, the attractiveness of such innovative solutions among the bus users is yet to be explored. We study young people’s perception of hybrid electric buses (HEBs) incorporating environmental performance in the bus service quality assessment framework. We collect data using a structured survey questionnaire from young people aged between 18 and 34 years, living in Southern Norway. Methodology-wise, we use the covariance-based structural equation model (SEM). As of contribution, we examine service quality of HEBs, using contextually modified measurement scales adopted from the SERVQUAL framework. We introduce a four-item perceived environmental performance construct in the context of HEBs. We find that tangible features of HEBs, bus service provider’s empathy and perceived environmental performance of HEBs have a significant positive association with customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction is positively associated with life satisfaction of young people. Finally, a post hoc analysis using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the levels of young people’s perceived service with bus drivers’ quality, empathy of the bus service provider and customer satisfaction with HEBs are higher in colder temperature.