Ferry Passengers’ Satisfaction: an Empirical Assessment of Influence of Ferry Route Type

Abstract

The study presents a ferry transport passenger’s satisfaction from
ferries using Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The objective is to provide a
better understanding on whether or not route type (long route or short
route) can explain the passengers’ satisfaction perceptions on service
quality dimensions (convenience satisfaction, customer care
satisfaction, technology satisfaction, reliability satisfaction and safety
satisfaction). Both primary and secondary data were collected. The
questionnaire was the main instrument in primary data collection.
Convenient sampling technique was used. Data analysis was
performed using independent mean test comparisons and regression
analysis.
Results under independent mean test comparison showed that there
is a statistical significant difference between long route and short
route in four satisfaction dimensions, namely, convenience, customer
care, technology and reliability. Regression estimates also proved that
there is a significant satisfaction decrease between the short route
and convenience, customer care, and technology, while they showed
that there is a significant passengers’ satisfaction increase in service reliability. The study provides significant implications to operators of
ferry companies by providing means to improve passengers’
satisfaction. Among other things; they need to consider whether they
operate in the short route or the long route. Also for policy makers,
the study suggests that they should consider route type in policy
formulation and policy implementation nd directives for ferry services

Keywords: ferry transport, public transport and customer satisfaction