A Decision Tree Approach for Achieving High Customer Satisfaction at Urban Interchanges

What is it about?

According to the Transport White Paper (European Commission, 2001), mobility is significant for the internal market and the quality of life of people. Parameters, such as accessibility, reliability and quality that affect transport services, will gain vital importance in the next years due to aged population growth, urban sprawl and the need to promote public transport (Ewing et al., 2008; Vuchic, 2005). An interchange is a transport–transfer hub created to gather and distribute passengers as efficiently as possible by linking outward-bound urban passenger transport facilities, such as railway stations, airports, coach stations, or port terminals, as well as various inner-city transport systems, including subways, buses, taxis, and cars. New interchanges should also address People-oriented amenities and services, i.e. restaurants, cafes and Internet connectivity that make travelling more enjoyable. Crucial characteristics of interchanges can be considered the following (ADB, 2015): • Size differences of interchange hubs, affected by the volume of passenger flow, the different transportation modes and the role of the hubs in the local and regional area. • Gateway to the city: an interchange hub is the gateway to the city, serving both as an access point and as a driver of mixed-use development, and functioning as a vital factor of the city’s urbanisation process. • Transport integration and high-density development: modern interchanges link different transport modes in one location, improving at the same time land use efficiency. Each transport mode supports the other by facilitating the redistribution of passenger overloads among them and catering passenger requirements. Hubs can also provide commercial and retail facilities and can be linked with mixed-use development in the surrounding area. • The driver of regional economic growth. • Period of interchange hub development: the development of an interchange hub requires a relatively long period from the planning stage to construction, until its full operation. Lengthy time scales of development affect the overall transport system and especially for those people living in the surrounding areas. • Spatial range of influence: the interchange hub has both direct and indirect areas of influence on the neighbourhood, where it is located. Directly, the hub affects transport services, meaning that travel can be completed using the transport network of the interchange hub, resulting in convenient traffic conditions (i.e. duration, distance, number of transfers). On the other hand, the area of indirect influence covers a wider area, which is not directly connected with the respective transport network. Travel enabling, interchange as a facility and accessibility to/from the interchange are the three main categories which aggregate the requirements and expectations of travellers, related to accessibility and available facilities. Nathanail et al. (2016) suggested that crucial quality parameters can enhance the efficiency of an interchange are travel time, punctuality and reliability, integrated servicing, comfort and convenience and safety and security. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of the Riga’s International Coach Terminal (RICT) through a decision tree approach, formulated by the overall satisfaction level and a number of indicators, grouped under eight criteria: travel information, wayfinding information, time and movement, access, comfort and convenience, station attractiveness, safety and security and emergency situation handling.

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Why is it important?

The research that was provided in this article preparation time will be used as a part of the PhD thesis.

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