Commuters happier with buses than trains: Poll

The Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) at SMU released the 2018 second quarter (Q2) Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) results for the Air Transport and Land Transport sectors. Public buses scored 65.6 points, on a scale of zero to 100. The results suggested that “significant investments” made by the authorities in the bus system in recent years may have been instrumental in pushing up customer satisfaction. MRT scored 63.6 points in the index. More than 6,200 people were surveyed for the quarterly index on issues such as comfort and safety of various transport modes and companies. ISE Executive Director Neeta Lachmandas pointed to measures such as the Bus Service Enhancement Programme as the reason commuters have become happier with buses. In air transport, full-service airlines scored 74.5 points, while budget airlines scored 73.1 points. ISE noted this was the third consecutive annual increase in customer satisfaction for budget airlines, and that the difference in customer satisfaction between the two continues to narrow. This could mean more travellers see budget airlines as a "high-quality mode of air travel", rather than as a cheaper alternative, said Ms Lachmandas. Commenting on the 2 per cent decrease in customer satisfaction for private hire services, Mr Chen Yongchang, Head of Research and Consulting at ISE cited decreasing perks and increasing fares as the reason for the decline.