Analysis of the main service quality dimensions that affect the satisfaction of users of the metropolitan rail public transit services in Algiers

The improvement in public transit is one of the basic and essential pillars to promote sustainable urban and metropolitan mobility everywhere. Algeria´s transportation system primarily relies on private vehicle, which causes innumerable problems such as congestion, emissions, traffic accidents, social inequalities, gender inequalities, and deterioration of the environment. Given that, the Algerian Government has recently carried out some transportation projects such as the Algiers metro and tramway service to promote collective public transportation in the country. Therefore, it becomes essential to provide public administrations and technicians with relevant information and efficient analytical tools to help enhance and develop this mass transit. In this line, the first Customer Satisfaction Survey was designed and implemented in November 2014 at the three railways transit services of Algiers: the light rail, the underground heavy rail (both started into operation in 2011) and the commuter rail. Thanks to this survey instrument, users’ profiles and travel patterns were found out. Moreover, an analytical framework based on a principal component analysis and an ordered probit model identified service quality dimensions and their impact on users’ overall satisfaction. In addition, the effect of socio-economic variables and travel patterns on the previously identified quality dimensions was obtained through multiple linear regression models. The results presented in this paper could help Algerian transport authorities towards elaborate specific proposals to increase transit ridership.