Urban Transport 281 Complex aspects of transport quality R. Raicu 1 & S. Raicu 2 1 Transport Systems Centre, University of South Australia 2 Polytechnic University of Bucharest Abstract Quality is the most synthetic, essential, and comprehensive attribute for the performance of a transport system. For transport there are various descriptions of the quality derived from service quality. Based on customers demand for satisfaction, these descriptions emphasize aspects outside the transport system framework; they regard the connections of the transport system with the natural and socio-economic environment. The systemic presentation of the transport quality is based on the dynamic demand-supply equilibrium under the multiple constraints imposed to the transport system by the socio-economic environment. This paper outlines the fact that the particularities of the service quality as opposed to the quality of the products can be the cause of more substantial differences between the quality of presentation for service and products. The methodology and terminology involved in the examination of the quality of passenger transport is in accordance with the European norms in the field. Similar to these we differentiate between the four connotations of the quality of a passenger public transport service: those that give a measure of the customers and community satisfaction the quality of the expected service, and the quality of the perceived service; and the other two which give a measure of the level of performance of the service providers - the quality of the planned transport service, and the quality of the service provided in effect. The scope of this research is broader than this framework; a more detailed examination of the four aspects of quality mentioned above is performed. The causes generating gaps between the different perceptions of quality are also analysed. The outcomes of this research represent a useful tool for the development of quality management initiatives in the passenger transport sector. Keywords: transport quality, service quality, shell quality, core quality, total quality management system.
282 Urban Transport 1 Particular characteristics of the transport quality Quality is the most synthetic, essential, and comprehensive attribute for the performance of a transport system. There are different descriptions of the transport quality derived from the service quality. These definitions, very general in nature, rarely allow the measurement of the transport quality without adaptations and major development. [1,3] There are various quantitative measures of transport quality developed by different transport companies which no longer reflect the existing theories, nor do they target those aspects of quality the customers value. Besides the main characteristics of quality, a shell quality (presentation quality) the consumer perceives on the market and guides him/her towards a service can be outlined (Figure 1). Life cycle of a product Design Production Consumption Design quality Core quality Shell quality Corresponding aspects of quality Figure 1: Quality concept within a company. Synthetically, shell quality can be expressed as: delay in satisfying a demand, financial situation, customer s complaints, etc. A company whose main concern is quality will concentrate on its activities so it avoids errors and inefficiencies. The quality of the activity is defined by the customers. Therefore the beneficiaries of the respective activity and their requirements have to be found, and then the exact requested service has to be produced, within the necessary time frame, and at the lowest possible price. In order to improve the quality a new set of values learned by all staff, a new production mentality and approach aimed at satisfying the customers has to be adopted. When establishing the main actions for improvement of the transport quality the general characteristics which differentiate between the service quality and the product quality have to be taken into consideration:
Urban Transport 283 Intangibility Inseparability Variability Perishability Lack of ownership and also the extension of transport quality into the natural and socio-economic environment. The actions of improvement of the transport quality gradually extend from an isolated transport service to a company and to a transport system at national, continental or international level. This sort of approach allows for a gradual presentation, in a hierarchical structure, of the links between the different aspects of the designed and actual quality and the efficiency of the resources consumption for a useful activity [5]. Figure 2: Aspects of transport quality (after [2]).
284 Urban Transport Exogenous/random actions (from natural, political, financial environmnet, etc) Achieved core quality Socio-economic environment Potential beneficiaries Ex-ante demand (potential) TRANSPORT Internal quality Ex-post demand (achieved) Beneficiaries of the transport Socio-economic service environment Designed core quality Shell quality Performance quality Transport supply Infrastructures, control and command equipment Transport means Energy, fuels, materials Human operators Technology complying with estimated demand Core quality of the resources Figure 3: Total quality management system (TQM). The comprehensive aspects of quality (consumption, operational, conservational, environmental) can be connected with the design of quality from both the customer s point of view and the resources employed by the service supplier, but also from the environmental and social point of view (Figure 2). It can be noted that there is great scope for the improvement of the transport offer generated by these comprehensive aspects of quality. Any of the actions meant to improve quality are propagating to the top level of the social quality. The systemic presentation of the transport quality is based on the dynamic demand-supply equilibrium under the multiple constraints imposed to the transport system by the socio-economic environment. To satisfy customer s requirements (defined by specific indicators related to the logistics requirements for freight transport) all the resources of the system synthesized in the transport supply are mobilised. As shown in Figure 3 the transport supply has to be stimulating (through the quality of presentation - shell quality, a consequence of the performance and core quality) for the potential transport demand and also adapted to this (through core quality), avoiding supply over dimensioning, but ready to cope with significant temporal variations of the demand intensity [4]. The core quality refers to the resources used to satisfy the demand, and the satisfied demand (ex-post) facilitates the description of the achieved core quality.
2 General actions to improve the transport quality Urban Transport 285 2.1 Actions to compensate the intangibility of the transport service The intangibility of the transport service refers to the fact that it cannot be displayed therefore it cannot be seen, tasted, smelled and touched before buying. For a product, a potential buyer can carefully examine it before buying and can also receive a warranty certificate for the risk taken in the case the product does not comply with the specifications. A passenger has only a ticket and the promise to be carried to the destination within a certain time, but he/she hasn t a clear picture of the conditions of the journey. The only information the passenger has is based on similar previous journeys, feedback from other passengers, massmedia or advertising campaigns run by the transport company. This lack of tangible characteristics of the transport service, that puts the passenger in an uncertain and risky situation, can be treated as a deficiency of the service quality. The transport company has to take actions in order to reduce the uncertainty of the service quality. The carrier has to be aware of the fact that the passenger draws conclusions about the service quality based on its presentation: the place where he/she first makes contact with the services of the company (travel agency, station); transport means and timetable; company s personnel; advertising material; price (simple and clear calculations) For each of the above the transport company has to identify the requirements of the passengers and establish precise rules, defined as compliances. These in the end will make the transport service tangible (virtually, by building a certain perception of quality for the passengers). 2.2 Actions generated by the inseparability of the transport service As opposed to goods, which are firstly produced, stocked, sold and then consumed, a transport service is firstly sold, and then produced and consumed at the same time, and the same place. The inseparability of the transport service means that the service cannot be separated from its servers infrastructures, equipments, transport means, people and cannot be performed without the passenger or the customer s consignment (freight transport case). The inseparability aspect of the transport service, which affects the service quality, describes the dependency of a certain transport supply on the number of simultaneous beneficiaries. Travel time changes substantially in the case of a road trip when traffic flow tends to reach the capacity of that infrastructure in the given exogenous conditions. Similarly, the safety and security of the trip varies with the number of users of the respective infrastructure. The increase in number of passengers holding unreserved seats over a certain limit on a train will affect the comfort of the trip.
286 Urban Transport If in the goods case an anticipation of the demand growth could trigger increased production and stocks, in the transport service case, as a result of the simultaneity of production and consumption, in order to obey some core quality indicators the supplier has to take more complex actions, such as: limit non-uniformities by using pricing policies; coordinate actions with other suppliers of service (tourism, hospitality) to attract passengers during low demand periods (i.e., off season, middle of the week); determine supply based on demand estimations; ensure active fleet increase during high demand periods by suitably scheduling maintenance and repairs. By employing measures like the above the supplier can modify its offer to suit the demand fluctuations and maintain the service quality predicted. 2.3 Actions to limit the variability of the service provided The variability of the transport services refers to the fact that constantly their quality depends on several factors: who is providing them, when, where and how they are provided. A train crew might be composed of more pleasant and more affable staff, and this could contribute towards a better quality service overall. Even the service quality of a single employee varies depending on the mood, or the level of responsiveness he/she maintains while attending to passengers. Two services offered by the same person might not be identical performance wise. Confronted with this service variability, the transport provider will have to: introduce quality standards; carefully select and train the staff; award incentives which will emphasize the importance of quality; regularly and promptly evaluate and respond to suggestions and complaints; run surveys amongst passengers in order to identify the poor quality services; transfer some of the staff s functions to machines; strictly apply detailed and standardised workloads (of the TQM system) 2.4 Actions derived from the perishability of the transport demand The perishability of the transport demands is a feature related to the temporal characteristics of the transport demand. Relative to these, in both passenger and freight transport we differentiate transport demands for which different tariffs are applied. Thus, for the case of a constant demand (in size and structure) there aren t any special problems ensuring the designed quality. It is when demands fluctuate that the transport companies face numerous difficulties. These are mainly felt by the passenger transport companies, which have to satisfy demands with due date. In the freight transport case, correctly dimensioned storage facilities could act as buffers for the demands without due date.
Urban Transport 287 The actions derived from the perishability of the transport demand are mainly part of the strategic management of the companies, as a TQM component, and they look to: extend the reservation system in order to maintain under control the demand level; give up the excessive specialisation of the transport means by using unit loads (containers, mobile boxes, semi trailers) to achieve greater flexibility in satisfying the high perishable transport demand; adequately dimension the storage buffers to cater for the non-uniformities of the demand without over dimensioning the fleet. 2.5 Compensate for the lack of ownership of the transport service As opposed to the owner of a product, who can take advantage of the product for unlimited time, the beneficiary of a transport service has access to the respective service for a period of time or at a certain moment. Therefore, the suppliers of transport services have to make special efforts to refresh the identity of the mark in relation to the customers, using methods such as: award incentives to frequent passengers (i.e., the case of airlines programs); create associations or clubs, and give the impression of ownership of part of the company s assets through preferential services offered on the company s premises; use intermediaries for certain services (freight consolidation, storage, loading-unloading, etc) to reduce costs and have greater flexibility on the market 3 Case study In May 2003 interviews have been carried out in cooperation with SNCFR (National Romanian Rail Society) for the quality of servicing the passengers at train stations. Simultaneously, on a representative sample of population a survey at bus and microbus terminals has been performed to get a better understanding of the motivations underneath the modal shift from rail transport to road transport (as a result of the explosive development of this last one on the Romanian road network after 1990). The design of the questionnaires was refined after the run of a pilot survey. Two types of questionnaires have been designed: C1 for the railway stations, and C2 for the bus terminals. The face-to-face interview was preferred, although more expensive, for the higher response rate (75-85%), superior data quality, flexibility in collecting the data and reduce time of completion as oppose to other survey methods. The main objective of the survey was to find out the passengers degree of satisfaction with the current pricing system and distribution of travel permits, the supply of trains and the service quality supplied. The results were very useful for the modernization projects of five big railway stations and trains in progress.
288 Urban Transport The most relevant information obtained as a result of the C1 survey was the responses to factual questions. These mainly helped to understand the structure of the population which uses rail transport. Some of these were: passenger distribution by occupation revealed that students, followed by workers, professionals/consultants have the most significant share, while the analysis by industry revealed that health and education followed by building industry have the highest percentages; by trip purpose, the personal trips (47%) followed by work and educational trips (37%) were the significant ones; men (56%) are the most frequent passengers, and from these 40% are between 20 and 30 years of age (followed by the 31-45 age group with 25%) 68% of the rail passenger do not have a driver s licence concession tickets/permits represent 36%, which is in agreement with the number of passengers travelling for work/education (37%) and passengers which travel frequently (daily 16%, weekly 18%), and passengers which travel monthly (22%) or less than monthly (32%) ; only 13% of the passengers travelled overseas by train, and out of these the majority did not make more than 1 trip in the last year; irrespective of the train trip frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, etc), 57% of the passengers used only the train. The same C1 survey revealed information related to the service quality. It had a higher non-response rate, and probably a too large range of attributes. Some of the conclusions were: price was perceived as reasonable by 45% of the respondents; 57% of the respondents consider price as the most important factor in choosing rail over other means of transport; also very important and important in choosing the train was convenience (75% of the respondents) surprising! less important and not important was the travel time (57% of the respondents) and comfort (71%) the number of trains in operation was appreciated as sufficient by over 60% of the respondents not comply with the timetable for departure, but mainly for arrival emerged with significant frequency in the responses The C2 survey revealed a similar passenger profile as the C1. However we have to note the differences in perception for price: for 56% of the respondents was not important ; and travel time was important. Convenience as in the C1 case was very important (54%), and comfort was not important again. Interesting is also the fact that 64% of the respondents posses bus permits which implies a certain affinity for the road transport by bus. The main objective of the C2 survey was to identify the motivations underneath the modal shift from train to bus. It results that 47% of the respondents moved away from train due to price, 41% due to travel time, and 12% due to the lack of a direct train to their destination.
Urban Transport 289 4 Conclusions Given the large scale of the transport system, the multiple aspects of complexity, and the existence of intermediaries, a descriptive management system of quality with quantifiable indicators is recommended, for both an isolated transport and an entire company, a transport mode or even a transport system of a territory. The measures associated to quality attempt to harmonise the priorities of the customers, carriers, residents, and those of the socio-economic system. The outcomes of this research represent a useful tool for the development of quality management initiatives in the passengers transport sector. The actions of the transport quality management lie both under the strategic and operational management realm. The specificity consists of those particular improvement actions of the transport supply (infrastructures, transport means, equipments) which suppose important technical and financial measures and relatively long completion times. Therefore, the solutions for transport quality improvement have to ensure complex correlations between the offers of all means of transport (the way they are publicly revealed through shell quality) which share the same market. In the current competitive transport market, many companies offer on a large scale the same services. The main discerning factor for the user is in most of the cases the quality of the service. The quality of the activity is defined by the customers. Therefore the beneficiaries of the respective activity and their requirements have to be found, and then the exact requested service has to be produced, within the necessary time frame, and at the lowest possible price. The system which compromises between the needs of the users to benefit of quality services and the needs of the suppliers to perform the services at a low price is the quality management system. This has to propose quality improvement objectives, regularly updated and to establish certain criteria of measuring the progress obtained. In conclusion, an efficient quality management system plays an essential role in improving company s performance because is through this the customers demands are better understood, ways of satisfying these demands can be identified, and organisation, control and command methods can be formulated to minimise errors in the activity. References [1] Gordon, J, The evolution of quality campain. Distribution, vol. 88, p.68-71, 1989 [2] Hellgren, J, Model for Quantifying Transport Quality Pilot Study. Chalmers University of Technology, 1994 [3] Hopkins, S.A., Strasser, S., Hopkins, W.E., & Foster, J.R., Service quality gaps in the transportation industry : An empirical investigation, Journal of Business Logistics, vol.14, p145-161, 1993.
290 Urban Transport [4] Raicu, S., Aspecte ale calitaţii in transporturile feroviare, în Jurnal Feroviar, nr.3, p12-18, 2002 [5] Raicu, S., Transporturile şi mediul socio-economic, in Revista Cailor Ferate Romane, nr. 3, p3-10, 1994