Customer Satisfaction Contrasts: Express Versus Local Bus Service in Chicago's North Corridor

Results of customer satisfaction surveys conducted for five express and two local Chicago Transit Authority bus routes serving Chicago’s North Corridor are presented. More than 4,000 surveys were returned from bus routes typically carrying more than 58,000 daily riders. Survey respondents were asked to proceed through a list of 10 service quality attributes, first indicating how satisfied they were with that service aspect and, second, rating the importance of that service feature to them. Both local and express bus riders were most satisfied with safety from crime and driver courtesy. They were both least satisfied with ability to find a seat and on-time performance at their stop. Four service features were also together rated highest in importance by both rider types: safety from crime, reach destination quickly, on time at stop, and frequency of buses. By further matching satisfaction against importance scores, the highest priority for ongoing bus service improvement in the North Corridor was assigned to better on-time performance and frequency of bus service. Customer satisfaction components of a customer loyalty index were also analyzed. On-board survey methodology conclusions regarding the ability of survey respondents to complete both importance and satisfaction components on both express and local bus routes with surveyor prompting are also presented.