Determining the level of service of bus transportation in sri lankan context

Abstract

Assessing the existing service quality of public bus transportation is a key requirement to identify potential improvements in buses. Level of service has been identified as an effective indicator to measure the service quality of buses. Even-though the definition of LOS says it should be measured based on user perception, existing LOS scale values have been derived through expert judgement. This research attempts to derive LOS threshold values for selected six service attributes (loading level, speed, service hours, waiting time, reliability, and frequency of service) which affect the level of service of public buses based on user perception using law of successive scaling technique. The derived LOS benchmarks are ranging from LOS A to LOS E which denotes the “best” to “worst” levels. The results of the study can be used to identify the existing service level of buses and thus to identify potential improvements for public buses in terms of identified service attributes.