Commuters happier with public transport: survey

According to the latest Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES) report on the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore, satisfaction levels for taxi services increased 4.3 per cent to 65.9 points while public buses increased 4.1 per cent to 60.9 points from last year. The report also showed higher scores for SMRT and SBS trains, with 62 points, an increase of 3.7 per cent since last year. However, ISES noted that the survey was conducted before the massive train disruptions on July 7, which might have negatively impacted the results. SMU Assistant Professor of Marketing (Practice) and ISES Academic Director Marcus Lee noted that these results suggested that customer satisfaction with public transport is “multi-faceted” and it would take more than reliable trains and frequent buses to further improve the satisfaction levels. He stressed that public transport operators would need to come up with a “collaborative and integrated strategy” with the “commuting public vested in the improvements and supported by government agencies”. Air transport performed similarly to the previous year, with less than 0.5 per cent decrements, while logistics sector saw slight year-on-year movements of less than 1.5 per cent. Results also showed greater satisfaction with the country’s public education sector and less satisfaction with the private education sector.