The Public Transport Council (PTC) announced on July 10 the maximum fare adjustment for this year as 3 per cent.

The adjustment was derived from the revised fare formula and pegged to macro-economic factors. The factors considered changes in the consumer price index and average monthly earnings as well as public transport operators' average productivity gains.

This adjustment is intended to protect the interests of commuters while balancing the commercially driven needs of Singaporean public transport operators.

The Institute of Service Excellence at the Singapore Management University (SMU) wishes to propose that customer satisfaction be taken into consideration for fare adjustment by the PTC and public transport operators.

This will yield a more holistic approach to fare review since the interest of commuters is a priority.

The inaugural results of the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) were released on April 7 and it measured customer satisfaction levels across eight economic sectors and 31 subsectors, including the MRT and public bus subsectors.

The CSISG is a national barometer of customer satisfaction in the Singapore economy. In the case of public transport, the results for the MRT and public bus subsectors were obtained from the responses of 1,182 actual commuters.

There are three outcomes from the national study which are relevant for the PTC and public transport operators:

In terms of overall satisfaction levels, the MRT scored 69.9, significantly above the national average of 68.7. On the other hand, public buses scored 64.3, significantly lower than our national average.

Under the CSISG causal model, customer satisfaction has three driving factors: customer perceptions of the overall quality of the service provided; customer expectations; and value-for-money. The national study found that commuters using both the MRT and public buses have identified overall quality to be the overriding driver of customer satisfaction level.

Between customer perceptions of overall quality and value-for-money, perceived quality has the larger impact on commuter satisfaction.

For MRT commuters, a positive increase in perceived quality raises customer satisfaction twice as much as a similar increase in perceived value-for-money. For commuters using public buses, a positive increase in perceived quality has triple the impact on customer satisfaction as compared to a similar increase in value-for-money.

Affordability is important to commuters, but it is not as important as perceived overall quality.

The key implication here for PTC and public transport operators is that should there be an increase in public transport fares, they have to, at the same time, raise overall quality standards which are visible to commuters.

The performance of both subsectors in the national study has shown that there are immense opportunities for transport operators to further improve the commuting experience.

The majority of commuters in Singapore are faced with little or no choice in public transport. Through the study, they have expressed that they value quality attributes such as transport schedules, frequency, accessibility and comfort.

In light of these findings, it would be prudent for public transport operators to articulate any increase in transport fares in the form of visible quality improvements for commuters.

The Institute of Service Excellence at SMU is recommending to the PTC that customer satisfaction be included as part of fare reviews. The added qualitative dimension will serve to benefit commuters at large.

The findings from the CSISG complement the affordability indicators being considered by the PTC.

In summary, increase in perceived overall quality will significantly boost customer satisfaction levels and this will positively impact the long-term profitability of transport operators.

If there should be an increase in fares, transport operators should match the adjustment with better-quality service.

The improvements would, in turn, contribute to building a world-class transport system in Singapore. A transport system that is truly world-class is one that directly benefits the commuting public.

Ms Caroline Lim
Director
Institute of Service Excellence
Singapore Management University

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