Enhancing urban mobility: comparative analysis of improvement priorities for conventional and electric buses in Kathmandu city

The interplay between urban planning and transportation deployment substantially influences a city's sustainability and liveability, as well as quality of life. The quality of services supplied determines ridership on public transit. To assess and improve rider satisfaction, several studies have used a variety of approaches, digging into critical service qualities. These studies also compare other modes of transportation, including express and local buses, trains, Bus Rapid Transit and the dynamic interaction between local buses and rail transit. However, no study has yet compared the improvement priorities between conventional and electric buses. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of combining the ordinal logit regression and random forest approaches with the three-factor theory to determine the prioritization of improvement for service attributes in electric and conventional buses, aiming to enhance passenger satisfaction during rides. This study's findings indicate differences in the perceived importance of attributes for overall satisfaction and the priorities of service quality attributes for improvement between electric and conventional buses. The findings show that among the selected service quality attributes, primary emphasis should be placed on addressing the issues related to "availability of information on other communication technologies (application)" and "punctuality" of both conventional and electric buses. As for the secondary concerns, "comfort" and "comfort while alighting and boarding" should be addressed in both conventional and electric buses to enhance riders' satisfaction. In conclusion, prioritizing improvement techniques for electric and conventional buses serves both customer satisfaction and larger goals of sustainable transportation and urban liveability.