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

Abstract

The study presents a ferry transport passenger ' s satisfaction fromferries using Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The objective is to provide abetter understanding on whether or not route type (long route or shortroute) can explain the passengers ' satisfaction perceptions on servicequality dimensions (convenience satisfaction, customer caresatisfaction, technology satisfaction, reliability satisfaction and safetysatisfaction). Both primary and secondary data were collected. Thequestionnaire was the main instrument in primary data collection.Convenient sampling technique was used. Data analysis wasperformed using independent mean test comparisons and regressionanalysis.Results under independent mean test comparison showed that thereis a statistical significant difference between long route and shortroute in four satisfaction dimensions, namely, convenience, customercare, technology and reliability. Regression estimates also proved thatthere is a significant satisfaction decrease between the short routeand convenience, customer care, and technology, while they showedthat there is a significant passengers ' satisfaction increase in service  reliability. The study provides significant implications to operators offerry companies by providing means to improve passengers ' satisfaction. Among other things; they need to consider whether theyoperate in the short route or the long route. Also for policy makers,the study suggests that they should consider route type in policyformulation and policy implementation nd directives for ferry servicesKeywords: ferry transport, public transport and customer satisfaction