The Problem of Reliability in Public Transport for the Metropolis GMZ Area-Pilots Studies

Abstract

Ensuring the sustainable development of transportation whether it involves a country, a city or a metropolitan area is becoming a priority for modern Europe. Therefore, the development of sustainable transportation is crucial in cities. It should aim to increase the number of trips made by public transportation while minimizing social costs and negative environmental impacts. The intensive development of cities from industrial to service-based and the phenomenon of suburbanization require changes in public transport services. Often, however, carriers do not change existing lines and stops and schedules justifying this by passenger habits. This approach can cause a mismatch between the availability of public transportation services and the demand for these services. Therefore, planning and improving the public transportation system should be based on careful analysis. There are different approaches to this problem. The article uses the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) method to assess service quality, including reliability, where the main measurement tool was a survey questionnaire. A pilot studies has been conducted to present the opinion of residents of the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowskiej Metropolis (GZM) on specific parameters of public transportation. The GZM is a large metropolitan area in the Silesian province, consisting of 41 municipalities. The metropolitan area is inhabited by more than 2.3 million people and covers an area of about 2550 square kilometers. The results of the pilot studies are a contribution to further research and may be useful to understand the essence of reliability in public transport.