POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 1

Chapter 1

PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Transportation is an integral part of modern life. According to Kumari et al.

(2010) and Rehrl et al. (2007), a good transportation network is one of every

modernized city’s initial priorities because today’s modern society needs mobility in

every aspect of life. Every day, people need to go to work, children need to go to

school, and products need to reach the other end of the supply chain. However,

because of the continuous population growth in the world, transportation networks are

unceasingly being congested. According to Kenyon et al. (2003), many governments

worldwide have been pushing for the so-called “modal shift” to solve this problem and

reduce the number of vehicles clogging up road networks, i.e., by enticing citizens to

shift away from mainly using private transportation modes to using public

transportation modes (Asian Transport Studies, 2016).

Railway is known to be one of the most efficient land transportation modes for

centuries. Its capability to carry huge number of passengers in a single trip is

remarkable. It is one of the oldest types of transportation. Now, railways are

considered as the easiest and fastest mode of transportation. Being reliable, efficient,
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comfortable and cheap were the reasons why railway is one of the most preferred

public transport in some developed countries.

The Philippine National Railways also known as PNR was the first railway

system to operate in Southeast Asia. It forms the backbone of all of Metro

Manila's regional rail services, which extend to its suburbs and to provinces such

as Laguna. However, other than reducing growing traffic congestion due to the rising

number of motor vehicles in Metro Manila, PNR also aims to link key cities within the

Philippines efficiently and to serve as an instrument in national socio-economic

development (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2010).

However, railways are still dealing with various problems on punctuality of train,

services provided by service personnel, safety information for passenger, readiness of

staff to help passengers, cleanliness, convenience at the station, security on board,

and availability of media of suggestion and complaint and number of trains available.

The issues mentioned are the areas to rate the satisfaction of a railway.

Based on the current problems suffer by the train passengers, the researchers

would like to conduct a study about customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is a

key for the development of the future of public transport particularly railway, both in

theory and in practice. It has the potential to highlight and explain the connection

between what do the railway company provides to what are the passengers reaction to

that. The researchers would intend to analyze the relationship of current situation to

possible solutions. This study provided possible solutions and improvement proposals

for the newly reopened Metro North Commuter of the Philippine National Railways.
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Theoretical Framework

Information and ideas from different perspectives are used in this thesis to

cope up and innovate new ideas for future references. In this section, we the

researchers will present one theory to provide the frame of reference.

Expectations Confirmation Theory (ECT)

The Expectations Confirmation Theory imposes with four main pillars which are

expectations, performance, confirmation/disconfirmation and satisfaction. This theory

sustains that service performance expectations has significance on post purchase

satisfaction. The theory offers for two post purchase results: confirmation or

disconfirmation between performance and expectation. If the service or product meets

expectations of customer, the customer is satisfied; but if a service fails to meet

expectation of customers, the customers are likely to be dissatisfied (Spreng et al.,

1996). Expectations reveal the preempted performance behavior (Churchill and

Surprenant, 1982). Disconfirmation or negative satisfaction is the separation of the

actual service experience from the customer’s existing expectations. In relation to this

research, the theory explains that Metro North Commuter passengers feel satisfied or

dissatisfied with train services when they meet their expectations. Passenger’s

discernment on service satisfaction was computed by rating their satisfaction

dimension on given service quality dimensions.

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Figure 1: Expectation Confirmation Model

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Conceptual Framework

Figure 2: Input-Process-Output
INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT
1. Personal profile of
the respondents
1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
1.3 Occupation Data Gathering thru
1.4 Frequency of A. Survey
riding train B. Literature
1.5 Purpose of trip Customer
Satisfaction on the
Analysis and
Service Quality of
2. Customer Interpretation
Metro North
Satisfaction on the A. Cochran's
Commuter of the
Service Quality of Formula
Philippine National
Metro North B. Frequency and
Railways
Commuter of Percentage
Philippine National Distribution
Railways in terms of: C. Weighted Mean
D. Likert (5) Scale
2.1 Timeliness
2.2 Safety &
Security
2.3 Accessibility &
Comfort of Facilities
and Trains
2.4 Ticketing system
2.5 Information &
Customer Service
3. Sub-categories that
need the most
improvement based
on the level of
satisfaction of the
respondents

FEEDBACK
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The Input-process-output (IPO) model was used in this research to have a

graphical representation of all data taken to make up the process. An input-process-

output diagram includes all the data and information needed for the process, important

details of the process itself and descriptions of all products and by products resulting

from the process. It is widely used approach in systems analysis for describing the

structure of an information processing program or other process

The Inputs were the personal profile of the respondents in terms of age,

gender, occupation, frequency of use and purpose of trip and the customer satisfaction

on the service quality of Metro North Commuter of the Philippine National Railways as

viewed by the respondents in terms of timeliness, safety & security, accessibility and

comfort of facilities and trains, ticketing and the information & customer service.

The data were collected thru survey using questionnaire and well

demonstrated, analyze and interpreted using statistical instruments. Moreover, the

researchers differentiate if there was a significant difference in the customer

satisfaction on the service quality of Metro North Commuter of Philippine National

Railways with regards to the five aspects as viewed by the respondents when they are

categorize according to profile

For the output variable, the study determined the personal profile of the

respondents and the corresponding customer satisfaction on the service quality of

Metro North Commuter of Philippine National Railways as viewed by the respondents

with regards to the five service aspects.

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Statement of the problem

The main objective of this study was to determine the customer satisfaction on

the service quality of Metro North Commuter of Philippine National Railways

Particularly, the study aimed to find answers to the following sub problems:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following?

1.1 Age;

1.2 Gender;

1.3 Occupation;

1.4 Frequency of Use;

1.5 Purpose of Trip;

2. What is the customer satisfaction on the service quality of Metro North

Commuter of Philippine National Railways as viewed by the respondents with

regards to the following service aspects?

2.1 Timeliness;

2.2 Safety & Security;

2.3 Accessibility & Comfort of Facilities and Trains;

2.4 Ticketing system;

2.5 Information & Customer Service;

3. What are the sub-categories that need the most improvement based on the

level of satisfaction of the respondents?

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Scope and Limitations

This study was conducted for the sole purpose of measuring the satisfaction of

service to passengers who are using the Metro North Commuter Service of Philippine

National Railways.

This study was restricted to the questionnaires’ preparation, conduction of

survey and assessment of data collected for the months of November 2018 to January

2019. The study was concentrated only on Metro North Commuter which only

traversed the stations of Governor Pascual, Sangandaan, Assistio, C3/5th Avenue,

Solis, Blumentritt, España, Sta. Mesa, Paco, Dela Rosa, EDSA and FTI. The target

respondents were the passengers waiting at the station for the arriving train not

including the employees. The time period that has been given to the researchers to

conduct the survey was during the month of February 2019, from February 15 and

finished on February 20.

In determining the customer satisfaction of the quality of service, the

researchers have gathered necessary data for getting the satisfaction of service to

passengers: timeliness, safety and security, accessibility and comfort of the facilities

and trains, ticketing and information & customer service.

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Significance of the Study

The researcher believed that the results and solutions from this study would be

a great help to all concerned stakeholders. Particularly, this study is viewed to benefit

the following:

The Philippine National Railways because the findings of this thesis can be

apply as a pointer to identify what the company should do first to amend its train

services. This research also becomes the foundation of its performance measures.

To the loyal train passengers because the result of this study can help to

determine the grade and remarks of the Metro North Commuter to drive the

management to improve according to the demand needed by the passengers.

To other stakeholders particularly the National Government. Because as a

Government owned and controlled corporation, the Philippine National Railways

provided services will manifest the effectivity of the government in dealing with the

demand of transportation of its people. If most of the passengers’ complaints are

disregarded, this can come up to failure on effort and reduction of support and

cogency of all government

To the future Researchers. This study is developed, identified and measured

the satisfaction of passengers of the Metro North Commuter of Philippine National

Railways. The most difficult part of this study is to determine the weight of all the

aspects provided of the said train service. These results will accord the decisions to be

made for the aspect that is graded with low satisfactory rating. Even so, further
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research in this topic is urged for the reason that the locality of this study is newly

reopened railway commuter service. The research will suffice as reference for those

who aspire to develop.

Definition of Terms

We the researchers provide the correct definitions for some terminologies

according to their use in the study for clarification. The following terms are defined for

the extent information.

Accessibility. It is assessed through the ease of accessing the station and its

facilities, and ease of riding on and off the train.

Cleanliness. It is assessed through both interior and exterior cleanness of

train and the neatness of the stations and facilities.

Comfortability. Passenger comfort is assessed through the shelter and

seating at the station while waiting for the arrival of the train, temperature of train and

personal space inside the train.

Customer Satisfaction. A measurement used to quantify the degree to which

a customer is happy with a product, service or experience. It was defined through the

five service aspects (timeliness, safety and security, accessibility and comfort of

facilities and trains, ticketing and information & customer service) which was

evaluated by the passengers.

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Customer Service. Customer service is the support offer to customers both

before and after they buy and use your products or services in this study, it is

evaluated through the willingness to help, knowledge on the operation and

presentation of train and station personnel.

Facilities. A place, amenity, or piece of equipment provided for a particular

purpose. Something that is built, installed or established, which includes trains and

stations, to serve the riding public of PNR.

Fare. The fee paid by a passenger allowing him or her to ride the Metro North

Commuter train service of PNR. It varies depending on the distance travelled.

Information. Passenger information is assessed through information given

during trip, at the stations and prior to the trip.

Metro North Commuter (MNC). It is a newly reopened railway service

provided by the PNR to help decongest road traffic along Malabon and Caloocan. The

line starts from Gov. Pascual Station to FTI Station. The line traverse the stations of

Governor Pascual, Sangandaan, Assistio, C3/5th Avenue, Solis, Blumentritt, España,

Sta. Mesa, Paco, Dela Rosa, EDSA and FTI.

Philippine National Railways (PNR). It is a government-owned and

controlled corporation which is mandated to be administered with the vies of serving

the interests of the public by providing them the maximum of service and, while

aiming its greatest utility by the public, the economy of operation must be ensured so

that service can be rendered at the minimum passenger and freight prices possible.

This agency owns and operates the Metro South and Metro North Commuter Service.
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Safety and Security. It is assessed through safety during trip and safety at

stations. And security is assessed through the things done to make people or places

safe and protected from harm.

Service Aspects. Variables which affects the service of train to the

passengers.

Service Quality. An assessment of how well a delivered service conforms to

the customer’s expectations.

Ticketing. An overall service which includes the current condition on

purchasing train tickets, current type of tickets being used and the value of money of

the fare.

Timeliness. The quality or habit of arriving or being ready on time. This

includes the punctuality, frequency and the travel time of the train.
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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies conducted

locally and internationally which were found important and related to the study. It

presents the theoretical nature of the subject under consideration, which this

researcher felt was necessary. Printed books as well as eBooks, articles, case studies,

journals, theses which were either published or unpublished were used. Also,

Electronic sources were used to gather and enhance the related theories and models.

The synthesis of this chapter was presented to highlight all related literature and

studies which are relevant to the study.

Foreign Literature

In Oliver (1997, p. 13), the following definition has been proposed as being

consistent with the conceptual and empirical evidence to date:

“Satisfaction is the consumer's fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a

product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a

pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment, including levels of under- or over-

fulfillment.”
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Here, pleasurable implies that fulfillment gives pleasure or reduces pain, as

when a problem in life is solved. Thus, individuals can be satisfied just to get back to

normalcy, as in the removal of an aversive state (e.g., pain relief). Moreover, fulfillment

is not necessarily limited to the case of met needs. Over- fulfillment can be satisfying if

it provides additional unexpected pleasure; and under-fulfillment can be satisfying if it

gives greater pleasure than one anticipates in a given situation. Note that it has not

been necessary to provide a separate discussion of dissatisfaction. If the word

displeasure is substituted for pleasure in the satisfaction definition, dissatisfaction

results. Thus, the displeasure of under-fulfillment typically is dissatisfying and,

interestingly, over-fulfillment may be dissatisfying if it is Unpleasant -the case of "too

much of a good thing."

Various scholars have considered different dimensions of service quality.

Gronoos (1884) considers technical, functional, and reputational quality; Lehtinen

and Lehtinen (1982) consider interactive, physical, and corporate quality; and Hedvall

and Paltschik (1989) focus on willingness and ability to serve and the physical and

psychological access to the service. In conceptualizing the basic service quality model,

Parasuraman et al. (1985) identified 10 key determinants of service quality as

perceived by the service provider and the consumer, namely, reliability,

responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security,

understanding/knowing the customer, and tangibility to formulate a service quality

framework, SERVQUAL. Later (in 1988), they modified the framework to five

determinants: reassurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness, or RATER. The

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techniques of customer satisfaction analysis allow the citical aspects of the supplied

services to be identified and customer satisfaction to be increased (Cuomo 2000).

Transit Cooperative Research Plan (TCRP) Report 100 (Chapter 2) defines

transit quality as "the overall measured or perceived performance of transit service

from the passenger's point of view." TCRP Report 88 (TCRP Report 100, Chapter 2)

defines five categories of measures that wholly or partially reflect the passenger's

point-of-view in transit services: (1) availability of transit service, (2) service monitoring,

(3) travel time, (4) safety and security, and (5) maintenance and construction activity

on passenger trips. Vanniarajan and Stephen (2008) identified the attributes that

passengers use to evaluate the service quality of Indian Railways as reliability,

assurance, , empathy, tangibles, and responsiveness. It was found that passengers

were "moderately satisfied to "satisfied" on these dimensions. Agrawal (2008)

identified employee behavior as most important determinant of customer (passenger)

satisfaction with Indian Railway services.

Eboli and Mazzulla (2007) measured customer satisfaction in the context of

bus service on various factors including availability of shelter and benches at bus

stops, cleanliness, overcrowding, information system, safety, personnel security,

helpfulness of personnel, and physical condition of bus stops. TCRP Report 100

identifies the following elements at bus stations for efficient service: shelters, waiting

rooms and seating, doorways, stairways, escalators, signage and information displays,

public address systems, and passenger amenities (including shelters, benches,

vending machines, trash receptacles, lighting, phone booths, art, and landscaping).
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Local Literature

Metro Manila, on an urban level, was named as having the worst traffic on

Earth," based on a global evaluation conducted by Waze, a GPS-based navigation

app. Scores ranging from 10 (satisfying) to 1 (miserable) were assigned after

examining 50 million Waze users in 32 countries and 167 major city areas. The

answers were then evaluated for the Global Driver Satisfaction Index posted on

Waze's website Tuesday (September 29). The Waze Global Driver Satisfaction Index

were based on six key factors: (1) Traffic level by frequency and severity of traffic

jams. (2) Road quality and infrastructure. (3) Driver safety based on accidents, road

hazards, and weather. (4) Driver services like ess to gas stations and easy parking. (5)

Socio-economic (World Bank)including access to cars and impact of gas prices. (6)

“Wazeyness” the level of helpfulness and happiness within the Waze community.

According to the survey, Manila, on a city level, ranked number one with the

worst traffic on Earth" with Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Jakarta not far behind.

Manila scored a measly 0.4 in the traffic index and the Philippines ranked as the ninth

worst place to drive. The survey said Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, Czech Republic,

and U.s. reported an easy and breezy driving experience. It said that globally, traffic-

or the lack of it-is a key indicator of driver satisfaction. The Philippine government has

proposed various ways to ease EDSA, a major thoroughfare in Metro Manila, such as

the implementation of the Highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police to

untangle traffic, the opening of alternate routes dubbed as Mabuhay Lanes, and the

construction of modular steel bridges in five areas.

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Manila again topped the survey for the longest minutes spent commuting from

home to office with an average time of 45.5 minutes. The survey recorded Jakarta with

42.1 minutes of travel time. In an exclusive story published, CNN Philippines reporters

traveled EDSA one morning and took 41 minutes via the Metro Rail Transit from North

Avenue in Quezon City to Taft in Pasay City, and two hours and 15 minutes via a bus

ride. In half of the cities Waze analyzed, the average speed of cars on the roads were

less than 63.15 kilometers per hour.

The Philippines ranked the lowest in the socio-economic index with a score of

O, which accounts for gas prices and access to cars or ratio of cars to the population.

The country was the 13th country with the worst road quality, such as poor high-speed

roads density and road issues density, with a score of 5.8. Filipino Wazers were the

among the worst in the "Wazeyness" index, which records the gratitude and happiness

by the Waze users. But it isn't all bad in the Philippines. The country scored the best

country in the drivers' services among the surveyed countries. This means there are

ample amounts of gas stations, car services, and parking lots. The Philippines is the

fourth best in safety, according to the survey. Taken into account are the number of

accidents, hazards, and weather.

Corporations use multiple listening tools to track customer satisfaction. They

hold focus group discussions; establish consumer hotlines; survey current, potential

and lost customers. They do all this because they are determined to stay ahead of the

competition. World-class companies not only measure customer satisfaction regularly;

their measuring instruments grow more comprehensive and sophisticated.

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Not all business firms operate by this principle. Companies that enjoy a near

monopolistic advantage, or what might seem to be an insurmountable market

dominance, tend to act complacent and cavalierly about customer sentiment.

Government offices tend to behave like monopolistic services.

Still, in a democracy, governments are accountable to the governed, and

constituent satisfaction should be as vital a concern to public officials as it is to

entrepreneurs. Hence the Development Academy of the Philippines is to be

commended for developing measures of constituent satisfaction for the specific use of

government agencies.

Surveys represent taxpayer opinions on their experience with government

service. Public servants who balk at being so evaluated should be reminded that they

are not royalty, and that the divine right of kings is passed.

Foreign Studies

There is a study on measuring the quality of service for passengers on the

Hellenic Railways in Volos, Greece. This study was conducted by the University of

Thessaly under the Department of Civil Engineering. The objective of this paper is

to present a framework developed for assisting railway operators into monitoring and

controlling the quality of services provided to their passengers. This framework is

based on the estimation of 22 indicators, grouped under six criteria, i.e. itinerary

accuracy, system safety, cleanness, passenger comfort, servicing, and passenger

information. The valuation of the indicators is achieved rough the analysis of

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quantitative, as well as qualitative parameters obtained either from statistical sources

maintained by the railway operator, or data gathered from a questionnaire survey

addressed to passengers. A grading system has been defined for the appreciation of

the indicators. Also, a multicriteria evaluation has been developed for the estimation of

an overall performance index for the quality of services provided by the operator,

during a given period of analysis, which enables the decision makers to compare

amongst different time horizons, and pre-defined objectives for a desired performance

for a target year. The framework has been implemented in the Hellenic Railways and

has provided quality control indices for the individual indicators, as well as for the

overall performance of the network. Itinerary accuracy and system safety have been

attributed the highest grades, as compared to the rest of the criteria established by the

framework, indicating a small increase as compared to those grades of the previous

time horizon analyzed. The rest of the criteria, relying on qualitative indicators, were

valuated with a moderate grade, similar to the one attributed during the last time

horizon of the analysis, indicating that no improvement has been observed in the

services related to those indicators. The service quality valuation based on the above

framework constitutes a useful tool, for the support of the decision process for the

improvement of the railway operator.

This study concluded that a framework for the assessment of the quality of

passenger services provided by the Hellenic Railways has been developed and

implemented. For the identification of the quality criteria that were used in the

framework, the objectives of the European and National transportation program, have
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been taken into account, the network, with a tendency to be alleviated in cases where

already new rolling stock has been acquired during the time of the survey, mainly in

the narrow-width lines (these lines received a higher mark than the rest of the

network). Therefore, better train layout is required, and this may be achieved in the

new trains which are already being purchased and should continue to enrich the

railway fleet.

The moderate performance of the frequency of service indicates the stability of

the evolution of the railway network. This is an important benchmark, to apply

especially in the forthcoming years, for which expansion of the network is foreseen

(still at a strategic level). This indicator may only be improved | if new infrastructure is

constructed. The plans for expansion of the network to the western north-south axis,

has already been studied as a possible strategy, however, it need to be supported by a

designated feasibility study, before and decisions are made.

The high performance of the indicator "speed'" reflects the effectiveness of the

new construction along the mainland axis (north-south). This is a very important

indicator, which may directly be used for the assessment of the feasibility of

infrastructure development. Therefore, it should be estimated for the foreseen projects,

in order to justify their realization.

In regards to information provision to passengers, Hellenic Railways are far

behind other European operators, who have already adopted advance technologies to

provide information prior and during the trip. In Greece, there is still very little
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 21

information provision as regards train arrivals, delays, and/or other changes regarding

the trip. In parallel to that, the communications policy of the Hellenic operator is also

poor, as compared to other European practices, and only recently there have been

some indications of a better communication attempt. The new easy-to-access

telephone line, which provides easy-to-get ticket purchasing is a step towards

improvement, however, there are still the cavities of the restrictions that apply, with

specific time constraints for the ticket to be picked up at a station. Specifically, a

reserved train ticket should be picked up at least 48 hours before the trip, whereas it is

only half a hour for the competitor urban bus operator. Also, the unavailability of

internet ticket purchasing sets the railways at a much disadvantaged situation, as

compared to the airline services. All these deficiencies cause a decrease in the

attractiveness of the railway mode of transport.

A study was also conducted by the Government of Kenya on the service

quality and customer satisfaction in their public transport. The objective of the paper s

to identify the determinants of service quality as well as its impact on the satisfaction of

public transport commuters. The paper explores the relationship between service

quality and customer satisfaction in a public transport service taking into account both

internal and external perspectives. In order to analyze this relationship, the concepts of

service quality, consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction are assessed. A model of

analysis is developed aiming at explaining this relationship and guiding the empirical

study. This is based on an exploratory case study of a metro company in Europe. The

results of the study put in evidence two key findings. The first is related to the level of
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 22

service quality in its main dimensions. We conclude that reliability, security, speed,

comfort and punctuality are quality dimensions of greater importance for the public

transport services. Secondarily, the study explores satisfaction and their determinants.

Despite literature stipulates the existence of a distinction between the constructs of

quality and satisfaction, this study found that the transport company, non-customers

and customers clearly do not make such a distinction.

Edvardsson (1998) showed in his research that customer (dis)satisfaction

depends on the usage of the information that the business can dig out from its

customers. One way of getting such information is through customer complaints. He

found that the driver plays a significant role on the (dis)satisfaction of the customer,

and that because the driver, usually, does not know the customer needs and

expectations and in many cases it is something that leaves the driver indifferent. Also,

he showed that the combination of information and the driver is the key success for

customer satisfaction, as the driver is the main means of interaction with the

customers. Moreover, he found a singularity. He noticed that the unhappy and

dissatisfied customers continued to utilize public transportation and that was because

of the nature of public transportation. Moreover, friendliness of the personnel

especially bus driver behavior in relation to service frequency has an impact on

customer satisfaction. Friendliness behavior of the bus driver can satisfy customers by

developing better communication and knowledge of its customer needs. As far as

frequency is concerned, frequent services increase satisfaction and urban

transportation patronage. Additionally, Andreassen (1995) claimed that customer

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 23

(dis)satisfaction in public transportation depends on three things: ticket price, price

level and, finally, the layout of the platform or the station, especially for buses.

Furthermore, he separates customers in two categories: one category are the ones

who use public transportation very often and they are considered expert users, to

those who are not often users and they are not considered experts. He found that

(dissatisfaction varies according to the above three factors (price, ticket price and

layout) to two categories of customers. Expertise users consider those three factors

very important in contrast to those who are not expertise in the use of public

transportation. To conclude, underlining that public transportation is an area with low

utility (low customer satisfaction) due to low rate of accordance between customer

needs and the provided services. Moreover, reliability and convenience are these

factors which are considered to be important in customer satisfaction. Specifically,

reliable and convenience transportation means increased customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, reliability, travel time and comfort are considered to have a great impact

on customer satisfaction in relation with the type of the trip. For instance, those who

utilize buses for professional reasons consider time as the most important dimension

and particularly in buses. An interesting result is that the price of the ticket is not

considered being significant and does not affect customer satisfaction directly (Beirao

and Cabral, 2007) Anderson et a., (2007) observed that operation failures of the

services affect customers' satisfaction. An operation failure, such as a possible delay

of a transportation means, creates bias to customers, resulting to unsatisfied

customers. Further, he showed that customers have the trend to blame the service

provider for everything that happens, even if the service failure is affected by external
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 24

or internal factors. On one hand, it showed that interaction has a major impact

between customers and personnel which may create satisfaction and on the other

hand operation failures reduce the interaction between customers and personnel, and

that is because customers are becoming biased by the work force of a public

transportation company. Focusing on factor "time' Bielen and Demoulin (2007)

showed that customer satisfaction is being determined by dimension waiting time, in

which three determinants are included; perceived waiting time, satisfaction which is

related with information in occasion of delays and finally with satisfaction which is

related with the waiting environment. As long as the above 3 determinants function

well, customers will stay satisfied. Also, waiting time is considered to be crucial as it

plays an intermediate role between satisfaction and loyalty link.

According to the study of Syed Muhammad Irfan from Institute of

Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan entitled Service Quality and Rail

Transport in Pakistan: A Passenger Perspective, customer satisfaction and

retention is one of the key determinants to measure the quality of products or services

and hence the organizational performance. Due to the growing importance of quality in

our life, customers desire to enjoy a relatively better quality of products or availing

superior quality services has been increased. Pakistan is the sixth highly populated

country of the world and its rapid population growth also contributes to an increase of

people's traveling demands. In Pakistan, train is the cheapest and comfortable mode

of traveling especially for long distances. This paper investigated the passengers'

perceptions about the service quality of rail transport system in Pakistan while traveling
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 25

between the major cities especially from Lahore to Karachi, Multan, Peshawar and

Rawalpindi. A modified SERVQUAL instrument including eight service quality

constructs: empathy, assurance, tangibles, timeliness, responsiveness, information

system, food and safety and security were employed to measure the passenger

perceptions about the service quality of railways.

In a study entitled Determinants of Customer Satisfaction on Service

Quality: A Study of Railway Platforms in India, it provides statistical evidence to

support identified determinants of customer satisfaction as timeliness, safety and

security, basic facilities, information system, and behavioral aspects of service quality.

Timeliness includes the availability, frequency, quantity and time of the service for the

passengers on railway in India. Passengers consider timeliness as the most important

aspect of satisfaction with service quality of Indian Railways. Behavioral factor refers to

the behavior of railway staff, porters, and parking staff outside the platform. These

factors have been found to impact customer satisfaction. Behavioral factors are the

second most important determinant of customer satisfaction. Information system refers

to announcements at the railway station, their accuracy, frequency and clarity, and

reservation chart display. The information system has been identified as a determinant

of customer satisfaction (Andaleeb 1998; Ribiere et al. 1999; Eboli and Mazzulla

2007; TCRP Report 100). Passengers consider the information system the third most

important determinant of satisfaction with service quality. Basic facilities consist of

sitting space, fans, and lighting. Basic facilities pertaining to different sectors are

important determinants of customer satisfaction (Eboli and Mazzla 2007; J.D. Power
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 26

and Associates Reports 2007; TCRP Report 100). Basic facilities are the fourth

most important determinant of Customer satisfaction. Safety and security refers to the

safety and security of luggage and self, which have been identified a determinants of

customer satisfaction in the transportation sector (Ebolil and Mazzula 2007; TCRP

Report 100). Safety and security is the last most important determinant of customer

satisfaction.

A study on customer satisfaction from consultant services identified various

factors including perceived competence of the consultant and the attitude of

consultants toward the customer during the service production process (Sonne 1999)

Gatersleben and Uzzell (2007) investigated affective experiences of daily

commute. Surveys were sending to Surrey University's employees. The results

revealed that commuting by car as well as by public transport can be stressful because

of delays caused by the traffic volume. Public transport was perceived as unpleasant

and public transport users expressed a more negative attitude toward their daily

commute then users of other transport modes. The negative attitudes were shown to

be related to stress as well as boredom caused by delays and waiting time.

Gatersleben and Uzzell (2007) also suggest that public transport is stressful due to

unpredictability and longer travel times. This study also acknowledges some sources

of pleasure for public transport users. Attributes relating to pleasurable feelings were

as the possibility to read during the trip, to listen to music, to interact with other people,

and to look at the passing scenery.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 27

UK Department for transport (2003) has also conducted studies regarding

customer need in public transport. High frequency of service, 8ervices that are reliable

and fares that offer value for money are revealed as important needs of UK public

transport users. The bus also has to have a broad range of destinations to fulfill travel

demand of customer. In this report, the users also reported about the importance of

understandable time table information in bus stop and in local newspaper in order to

make them aware of the existence of the service. Simple ticketing arrangement is also

important in order to make them use public transport.

Fuji et al. (2001) conducted an investigation in Osaka (Japan) during a

temporary closure of freeway that connected between Osaka and Sakai City. The

survey was distributed at three tollgates from 6:00 am to 8:30 am. An important finding

was that the closure of the freeway increased public transport use. Second, it was also

found that the expected commute time by public transport was overestimated by

automobile commuters. Third, after experiences of public transport the overestimates

of commute times were corrected. And finally, people who corrected their commute

time continued to use public transport when the freeway was reopened.

Van Vugt et al. (1996) conducted an investigation of the motivational factors

underlying the decision to commute by car or public transportation. 192 employees of

a publishing company participated and filed out a questionnaire containing questions

relating to social value orientation, the commuting situation and a series of post

experimental questions. The findings provided strong evidence for the conclusion that
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 28

individuals prefer options yielding shorter travel time as well as an alternative with high

frequency of public transport.

Fellesson and Friman (2008) conducted a transnational comparison of

customers' public transport perceived service satisfaction in eight cities (Stockholm,

Barcelona, Copenhagen, Geneva, Helsinki, Vienna, Berlin Manchester and Oslo) in

Europe. The result showed four general factors: system such as traffic supply,

reliability and information; bus and bus stop design that makes customer comfortable

and enjoy the travel experience, staff skill, knowledge and attitude toward customer;

and safety not only both in the bus and bus stop but also safe from traffic accident.

Furthermore, it was concluded that differences in public transport technology and

infrastructure may cause differences in individual item loadings.

Eboli and Mazulla (2007) investigated service quality attributes important for

customer satisfaction with a bus transit service in Cosenza, Italia. Respondent were

asked to rate the importance and satisfaction with 16 service quality attributes (bus

stop availability, route characteristic, frequency, reliability, bus stop furniture, bus

overcrowding, cleanliness, cost, information, promotion, safety on board, personal

security, personnel, complains, environmental protection and bus stop maintenance).

The result shows that the latent variable important for global customer satisfaction is

service planning which is reflected in reliability, frequency, information, promotion,

personnel and complaint.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 29

Beirao & Sarsield Cabral (2007) summarizes advantages in using public

transport according to Portugal public transport users. The result highlights the

importance of a cost friendly and less stressful public transport service. It is perceived

as less stressful since there is no need to drive, it is possible to relax and one may be

able to rest or read. Travel time on exclusive bus lanes is considered faster than the

car, there is less exhaust emissions and there are opportunities to talk to fellow

passenger while travelling.

Friman et al. (Friman et al. 2001) conducted a mail survey to investigate

factors affecting customer satisfaction in public transport service in Sweden. The

results showed that overall cumulative satisfaction related to attribute specific

cumulative satisfaction and remembered frequencies of negative critical incidents (i.g.,

the driver behaves unexpectedly bad or the bus is leaving before scheduled departure

time).

Local Studies

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) management conducted a Mass

Casualty Incident Drill at the Araneta-Cubao Station, Line 2 at around 9:00am on

Saturday (October 6). LRTA Administrator Melquiades Robles said that in the drill,

area first employees and other support personnel will be challenged to perform their

triage and otter mass casualty incident procedures "The exercise was designed to

challenge our personnel's ability to react to an incident within the LRTA revenue line.

This will also be an outstanding opportunity to bring all the community and the police
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 30

together to practice what could be a real life situation and prepare us for possible

terrorist attacks" Robles explained. The said drill exercise is in support of the policy of

the LRTA to ensure the protection of the lives and properties in the event of a major

emergency happening along the revenue line.

An assessment on the customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty on the

performance of online business was conducted by a student of Master of Science in

Industrial Engineering and Management. In the past decade, internet and web sites

have been the most moving developments in the field of technology. Use of online

business services by the population is booming not only globally but also locally.

Although customers always purchase from the department stores, consumers feel very

convenient to shop online because it has its own advantages and decisions can be

made at home with ease of looking at various choices and prices with competitors'

products.

Today, online business is the fastest growing market for online commerce and

many of the marketers have encountered key issues in competing with other retailers,

especially the consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty have evolved in this changing

online environment.

As the competition strengthens, exchanging retailers remain low and pending

patterns of consumers modify, nurturing repeat purchase behavior and providing

shopping experience value of the consumer becomes increasingly significant to

retailers for the well-being, prophet and long term growth of the firm.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 31

Customer loyalty or customer retention is a long term growth and associated to

cost effectiveness of a firm. It has dramatically increased the profit and customer

retention rate. Loyal customer spends more money and time browsing their favorite

shopping websites.

Online business has grown tremendously in the recent years, and retailers are

challenged in maintaining customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty. Despite the rapid

growth of online business, online retailers face greater rivalry on websites. Therefore,

attracting and maintaining customers are difficult tasks for them without any strong

motivation for online shoppers not to visit other online retailers and it is a struggle for

them in retaining them in an increasingly competitive online market. Maximizing

customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty can logically improve customer retention on

online business world.

The customers' level of agreement of performance to online business in terms

of user interface, “service information quality", "perceived security” and which were

verbally interpreted as "excellent.”

The customers' rate of level of satisfaction, trust and loyalty had a grand mean

of 4.78, 4.56 and 4.65 respectively, which were verbally interpreted as “extremely

satisfied”, "extremely trusted" and "extremely loyal.

All customers were satisfied, trusted and loyal to online shopping. It wed that

retailers were encouraged to make effective use of service and supported provided.

Customers will continuously purchase and recommend the online shopping website.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 32

Synthesis of the Reviewed Literature and Studies

An intensive survey of the related writing and studies empowered the analyst to

have a precise understanding at the current research. The analyst solidly trusts

customer satisfaction has been considered as a standout amongst the most critical

factors in any industry or administration because of its immediate connection to client

maintenance. Customer satisfaction research literature traditionally agrees that service

quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches Customer

expectations. Conveying quality administration implies fitting in with client desires on a

predictable premise.

Like other writing and studies, consumer loyalty is vital in light of the fact that it

gives estimates that can be utilized to oversee and enhance the task and

administrations.

For transit agencies, as in other service industry, increases in customer

satisfaction translate into retained markets, increased use of the system, newly

attracted customers, and a more positive public image. To accomplish these ends,

public transit needs reliable and efficient methods for identifying the determinants of

service quality from the customers' perspective.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 33

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter covers the methods of research used, population, sample size

and sampling techniques, the description of subjects and respondents, the research

instrument, the data gathering procedure and the statistical treatment of data.

Method of Research

The thesis applied the descriptive survey method to create accurate or precise

variable representation in the research entitled “Customer Satisfaction on the Service

Quality of Metro North Commuter of the Philippine National Railway. Descriptive

method was intended to conduct measurements and assessments acquire from the

respondents. Creating and distribution of survey questionnaires and personal

interviews are the procedures used to perform the descriptive research.

Population, Sample Size and Sampling Techniques

The respondents of this study were the passengers of Metro North Commuter.

We the researchers acquire the ridership status for the months of August 2018 to
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 34

January 2019 from the Philippine National Railways Operations Department through

the Corporate Planning Division as follows:

Table 1
Passengers for the months of August 2018 to January 2019

Month No. of Operating Days Total Passengers

August 31 31,578

September 30 49,908

October 31 79,676

November 30 82,686

December 31 85,708

January 31 91,611

(Source: Philippine National Railways - Operation Department 2019)

Based on the statistics, the total number of passengers is 421,167 and the average
monthly passengers of the metro north commuter is 70,195 from August 2018 to
January 2019. The reason why does the number of respondents increase monthly is
because Sangandaan station and Governor Pascual were recently opened on
September 10 and December 3 2019 respectively

The researchers applied the Cochran’s Formula to determine the sample size.

First the researchers assume that there is a large population but the variability in the
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 35

proportion is unknown, assume the maximum variability is 0.5; confidence level is 95%

and 5% precision. therefore:

𝑍 2 𝑝𝑞 𝑛𝑜
𝑛𝑜 = and 𝑛𝑜 = (𝑛𝑜 −1)
𝑒2 1+
𝑁

Where:

n0, n - sample size

z - critical value of desired confidence (1.96)

(note: value for z is found in statistical tables which contain the area under

the normal curve)

p - estimated proportion of an attribute that is present in the population

q - 1 – p (estimated proportion of an attribute)

e - desired level of precision

N – no. of Population

Thus,

N =70,195 (average monthly passengers)

z = 1.96

p = 0.5

q = 0.5

e = 0.5
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 36

1.962 (0.5)(0.5)
𝑛𝑜 = = 384.16
.052

384.16
𝑛= (384.16−1)
1+ 70,195

n = 382.07 ≈ 383 passengers

The computation resulted to a sample size of 383 passengers. The

researchers decided to use 400 sample size which is more than the required sample

to and distributed on 12 stations of Metro North Commuter according to the

percentage of ridership of every stations included. The researcher utilized random

sampling to ensure each portion of the population undergoing studying has a chance

to be selected at random.
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 37

Table 2
Number of Respondents per Station

Total number of
Passengers from Percentage of Number of
Stations
August 2018 to Ridership Respondents
January 2019

Gov. Pascual 11,449 2.72% 11

Sangandaan 23,723 5.63% 22

Assistio 29,297 6.96% 28

C3/5th Avenue 22,686 5.39% 21

Solis 17,620 4.18% 17

Blumentritt 28,030 6.66% 27

España 34,360 8.16% 33

Sta. Mesa 46,945 11.15% 44

Paco 16,669 3.96% 16

Dela Rosa 81,620 19.38% 77

EDSA 34,417 8.17% 33

FTI 74,351 17.65% 71

Total 421,167 100.00% 400

(Source: Philippine National Railways - Operation Department 2019)

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 38

Description of the Respondents

The Researchers chose the passengers riding in Gov. Pascual, Sangandaan,

Assistio, C3-5th Avenue, Solis, Blumentritt, España, Sta. Mesa, Paco, Dela Rosa,

EDSA and FTI as the subjects for the survey of the study. The Stations identified were

all the stations of the Metro North Commuter of the Philippine National Railways.

The respondents to be surveyed were the passengers waiting for the arrival of

train ages 15 years old and above because these people were the regular commuter

of Train Services and most like had the capability to make decisions on their own and

evaluate their commuting experience.

Research Instrument

Survey Questionnaires were used by the researchers to collect the information

needed to answer the problems in the study. The researchers construct the survey

questionnaire in accordance to the objectives and definite problems written from the

first chapter of the research. The prepared survey forms were distributed randomly to

400 passengers of the Metro North Commuter, the number of questionnaire forms per

station vary.

The Survey Questionnaire that has been inspired on the Quality Manual

System 2018 of the Philippine National Railways is divided into two parts. The first part

is for the demographic profile of the respondents which were their age, gender,
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 39

occupation, frequency of using the Metro North Commuter Service and their reason of

using the said service. The second part consisted of the following service factors with

corresponding sub questions in which were to be graded by the respondents.

The five point Likert Scale was used in the Survey forms to determine the

levels of satisfaction for every service attributes and to determine also the overall

satisfaction rating of the Metro North Commuter. The following scales were used:

Table 3
Level of Satisfaction Likert Scale

Numerical Rating Range Interval Percentage Interpretation

5 4.51-5.00 Between 96-100% Very Satisfied

4 3.51-4.50 Between 75-95% Satisfied

3 2.51-3.50 Between 50-74% Somewhat Satisfied

2 1.51-2.50 Between 25-49% Dissatisfied

1 1.00-1.50 Below 25% Very Dissatisfied

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 40

Data Gathering Procedures

The researchers has requested for permission from the Philippine National

Railways to conduct a survey within a given period immediately after the proposed

survey form is finally approved by the research professor, The researchers made a

schedule on visiting all covered stations where the survey forms will be given to

random qualified respondents. They were given instructions to write a check mark on

the appropriate grade for the corresponding questions. The respondents had given

sufficient amount of time to answer all the questions written on the survey forms for

them to elude mistakes and inaccuracies in their assessments.

All the respondents’ assessments in the survey forms have been tallied,

tabulated, analyzed and interpreted by the researchers.

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 41

Figure 3: Research Flow

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 42

Statistical Treatment of Data

For this study, the following Statistical Formulas were applied in the analysis of data.

1. Frequency and Percentage Distribution. This was applied to interpret

the respondents profile in terms of their age, gender, occupation, frequency of

using the Metro North Commuter and their most often reason to use the train.

The Formula is expressed as

𝑓
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝑃 𝑜𝑟 %) =
𝑁
Where:

P or % - Percentage

f - Frequency, and

N - Number of Respondents

2. Weighted mean. This was employed to determine the customer

satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the Philippine

National Railways as perceived by the respondents in terms of the given

attributes. This was performed to determine the average value of a particular set

of numbers with different level of relevance. The Mathematical statement is:

𝑤1 𝑥1 + 𝑤2 𝑥2 + ⋯ + 𝑤𝑛 𝑥𝑛
𝑥=
𝑤1 + 𝑤2 + ⋯ + 𝑤𝑛
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 43

3. Likert Scale. It is a 5- or 7-point scale that provides a range of answer

choices from highest up to lowest attitude, like “highly satisfied” to “highly

dissatisfied”. Usually, they consist of a moderate or neutral midpoint. Likert scale

questions are applied in different types of surveys like wanting to find out what your

customers think about your product or service. Likert scale is best for acquiring

specific subject to discover what people think about it.

The format of a typical five-level Likert item, for example, could be:

5– Strongly agree

4– Agree

3– Neither agree nor disagree

2– Disagree

1– Strongly agree

However we used satisfaction description in this research which were stated in the

research instrument.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 44

Chapter 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the data gathered from the conducted survey were tabulated,
presented, analyzed and interpreted as how they appear in the problem statement

1. Profile of the Respondents

1.1 In terms of age

Table 4

Frequency and Percent Distribution of the Respondents-Passengers in terms of

Age

Percentage
Age Frequency
%
BELOW 20 144 36.00%
21-30 99 24.75%
31-40 42 10.50%
41-50 56 14.00%
51-60 39 9.75%
ABOVE 61 20 5.00%
TOTAL 400 100%

Table 3 displays the frequency and the percent distribution of the respondents
in terms of age. It is safe to say from the table that 144 or 36% of the surveyed
passengers had ages 20 or below, and the respondents with ages within 21-30, 31-40,
41-50, 51-60 and 61+ years old were, 99 or 24.75%, 42 or 10.75%, 56 or 14%, 39 or
9.75% and 20 or 5%, respectively. This result will conclude that most of the
respondents were considered as young
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 45

1.2 In Terms of Gender

Table 5

Frequency and Percent Distribution of the Respondents-Passengers in terms of

Gender

Percentage
Gender Frequency
%
Male 193 48.25%
Female 207 51.75%
TOTAL 400 100%

Table 4 presents the frequency and percent distribution of the respondents’

gender. As shown on the table, 193 or 48.25% of the total sample size surveyed were
male and 207 or 51.75% were female. Based on the figure, the most frequent number
of respondents surveyed is female. Based on the compared questionnaires, over half
of the sample size was composed of female respondents while 48.25% were male.

1.3 In terms of Occupation

Table 6

Frequency and Percent Distribution of the Respondents-Passengers in terms of

Occupational status

Percentage
OCCUPATION Frequency
%
STUDENT 150 37.50%
EMPLOYED 199 49.75%
UNEMPLOYED 51 12.75%
TOTAL 400 100%

Table 5 presents the frequency and percent distribution of the occupational

status of the respondents. As shown on the table, majority of the respondents were
employed which was 199 or 49.75% of the total surveyed passengers. The students
and the unemployed are 150 or 37.5% and 51 or 12.75%, respectively.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 46

1.4 In Terms of Frequency of Use

Table 7

Frequency and Percent Distribution of the Respondents-Passengers in terms of

Frequency of Use

Frequency of Use Frequency Percentage %

DAILY 138 34.50%

WEEKLY 125 31.25%

MONTHLY 38 9.50%

A FEW TIMES A YEAR 38 9.50%

OTHERS 61 15.25%

TOTAL 400 100%

As shown on Table 6, respondents who used train daily were 138 or

34.5%.While the others were 125 or 31.25%, 38 or 9.5%, 38 or 9.5% and 61 or
15.25% rode the Metro North Commuter weekly, monthly, a few times a year and other
frequency of use, respectively. These numbers unveil that most of the respondents
ride the Metro North Commuter to go to the places where they usually go especially
daily. This can be related that majority of the respondents, which was going to school
and work.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 47

1.5 In Terms of Purpose of Trip

Table 8

Frequency and Percent Distribution of the Respondents-Passengers in terms of

Trip Purpose

TRIP PURPOSE Frequency Percentage %

SCHOOL 111 27.75%

WORK 124 31.00%

BUSINESS TRIP 46 11.50%

SHOPPING 67 16.75%

OTHERS 52 13.00%

TOTAL 400 100%

As shown on the table 7, most of the respondents used the MNC to go to work
for about 124 or 31%, 111 or 27.75% were for going to school, 46 or 11.5% for
business trip, 67 or 16.75% for shopping and 52 or 13% were doing activities other
than the given purposes. This will validate the reason why most of the respondents
took MNC daily. Most of the respondents used the train service to go to their work or to
school especially during weekdays.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 48

2. Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents.

2.1 Customer Satisfaction in terms of Timeliness

Table 9

Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents in terms of
Timeliness

HS S SS DS HD WM Interpret
ation
Frequency of train 141 186 46 24 3 4.10 Satisfied
Travel time 139 112 86 55 8 3.80 Satisfied
Punctuality 141 120 72 58 9 3.82 Satisfied
General Average 3.90 Satisfied

Legend: “HS – Highly Satisfied (4.5 - 5.00)/ Between 96 – 100%”, “S – Satisfied (3.51
– 4.50/ Between 75 – 95%”, “SS – Somewhat Satisfied (2.51 – 3.50)/ Between 50 -
74%”, “D – Dissatisfied (1.51 – 2.50)/ Between 25 – 49%”, “HD – Highly Dissatisfied
(1.00 -1.50)/ Below 25%” and “WM – Weighted Mean”

As shown on the table 8, it gives that the satisfaction index in terms of

timeliness was 3.90, or within the “Satisfied” range. Comparing the three components
of timeliness, the “Frequency of train” sub-category has the highest satisfaction
average with a score of 4.10. Next is the sub-category “Punctuality of train” having a
score of 3.82 only 0.02 point ahead of the lowest score of the three sub-categories
which is “Travel time” with a score of 3.80. Although their scores are different they are
all within the range of Satisfied Rating.

According to a study of Lulea University of Technology (2008), Timeliness is

defined as the extent to which a journey or transport occurs when desired. It is also
highly subjective and varies between stake holders that’s why timeliness is considered
by the passengers as the most important aspect of satisfaction with service quality of
Norwegian Railways
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 49

2.2 Customer Satisfaction in terms of Safety &Security

Table 10

Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents in terms of Safety
&Security

HS S SS DS HD WM Interpretat
ion
Security while waiting 152 155 61 24 8 4.05 Satisfied
at station
Security inside the 126 146 84 36 8 3.87 Satisfied
train
Presence of Security 163 127 68 34 8 4.01 Satisfied
Personnel
General Average 3.97 Satisfied

Legend: “HS – Highly Satisfied (4.5 - 5.00)/ Between 96 – 100%”, “S – Satisfied (3.51
– 4.50/ Between 75 – 95%”, “SS – Somewhat Satisfied (2.51 – 3.50)/ Between 50 -
74%”, “D – Dissatisfied (1.51 – 2.50)/ Between 25 – 49%”, “HD – Highly Dissatisfied
(1.00 -1.50)/ Below 25%” and “WM – Weighted Mean”

The safety & security category achieved a higher rating than the timeliness
having a score of 3.97 which is also within the range of “Satisfied”. “Security while
waiting at the station sub-category has the highest rating with a score of 4.05. Second
is the sub-category “Presence of security personnel inside and outside the train” with a
score of 4.01. Last is the security inside the train with the lowest rating with a score of
3.87. Just like the first category “Timeliness”, all sub-categories of safety and security
fall under the “Satisfied” range.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 50

2.3 Customer Satisfaction in terms of Accessibility and Comfort

Table 11

Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents in terms of Train
and Facilities: Accessibility and Comfort

HS S SS DS HD WM Interpre
tation
Cleanliness of the stations and 75 161 117 37 10 3.64 Satisfied
train
Refreshment facilities 106 148 97 42 7 3.76 Satisfied
Availability of toilet facilities 85 154 97 54 10 3.63 Satisfied
Comfortability inside the waiting 108 149 93 39 11 3.76 Satisfied
area
Accessibility of train station 112 145 92 39 12 3.77 Satisfied
PWD-friendly facilities 111 143 91 40 15 3.74 Satisfied
Comfort inside the train 122 152 70 41 15 3.81 Satisfied
General Average 3.73 Satisfied

Legend: “HS – Highly Satisfied (4.5 - 5.00)/ Between 96 – 100%”, “S – Satisfied (3.51
– 4.50/ Between 75 – 95%”, “SS – Somewhat Satisfied (2.51 – 3.50)/ Between 50 -
74%”, “D – Dissatisfied (1.51 – 2.50)/ Between 25 – 49%”, “HD – Highly Dissatisfied
(1.00 -1.50)/ Below 25%” and “WM – Weighted Mean”

The category “Train and Facilities: Accessibility and Comfort” has the most
number of subcategories because this are the tangible parts of railway system which
are facilities and trains. It gets a score of 3.73 which is lower than the previous
categories but still fall within “Satisfied” range. The sub-category “comfort inside the
train” got the highest rating with a score of 3.81. Second is “accessibility of train
station” with a score of 3.77. Third highest are tied between “Comfortability inside the
waiting area” and Refreshment Facilities both having a score of 3.76. Fourth is “PWD-
friendly Facilities” with a score of 3.74. Fifth is “Cleanliness of stations and trains” with
a score of 3.64. The sub-category that got the lowest score is the “Availability of toilet
facilities” with a score of 3.63. All the sub-categories’ score are within the “Satisfied”
range.

Train and Facilities: Accessibility and comfort refers to convenience of using

the railway services provided by the railway company. It is also an important category
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 51

of railway customer satisfaction if there are to improve facilities and trains for the sake
of passengers.

2.4 Customer Satisfaction in terms of Ticketing

Table 12

Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents in terms of Ticketing

HS S SS DS HD WM Interpreta
tion
Attitude of ticketing staff 105 166 95 27 7 3.84 Satisfied
Efficiency of ticketing staff 117 159 89 32 3 3.89 Satisfied
Ticket price 173 172 35 12 8 4.23 Satisfied
General Average 3.98 Satisfied

Legend: “HS – Highly Satisfied (4.5 - 5.00)/ Between 96 – 100%”, “S – Satisfied (3.51
– 4.50/ Between 75 – 95%”, “SS – Somewhat Satisfied (2.51 – 3.50)/ Between 50 -
74%”, “D – Dissatisfied (1.51 – 2.50)/ Between 25 – 49%”, “HD – Highly Dissatisfied
(1.00 -1.50)/ Below 25%” and “WM – Weighted Mean”

Table above shows that the Ticketing service has the highest rating out of the
five service aspects with a score of 3.98. The biggest contributor of this score is the
sub-category “ticket price” with a score of 4.23. Sub-categories “Attitude of ticketing
staff and “efficiency of ticketing staff” has scores of 3.84 and 3.89, respectively.

Until now the Philippine National Railways (Metro North and Metro South
Commuter) only use manual ticketing which do not differ from riding bus transit. The
only difference is that tickets were sold at the station not on the train unlike busses.
The PNR also claims that in terms of fare per passenger-kilometer, Metro North
Commuter is the most affordable way to transport from CaMaNaVa to FTI.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 52

2.5 Customer Satisfaction in terms of Information and Customer Service

Table 13

Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways as viewed by the Respondents in terms of

Information and Customer Service

HS S SS DS HD WM Interpret
ation
Train arrival information 69 154 123 48 6 3.58 Satisfied
Readable signage at stations and 103 128 87 64 18 3.59 Satisfied
inside train
Station names are readable and 124 99 89 70 18 3.60 Satisfied
identifiable
Willingness of Train and Station 85 150 88 62 15 3.57 Satisfied
Personnel to help
General Average 3.58 Satisfied

Legend: “HS – Highly Satisfied (4.5 - 5.00)/ Between 96 – 100%”, “S – Satisfied (3.51
– 4.50/ Between 75 – 95%”, “SS – Somewhat Satisfied (2.51 – 3.50)/ Between 50 -
74%”, “D – Dissatisfied (1.51 – 2.50)/ Between 25 – 49%”, “HD – Highly Dissatisfied
(1.00 -1.50)/ Below 25%” and “WM – Weighted Mean”

The table 12 shows that aspect of “Information and Customer Service” with a
score of 3.58 has the lowest among the five service aspects. Even having the lowest
rating, its score also falls within the “Satisfied” range. Subcategory “Station names are
readable and identifiable” has the highest rating with a score of 3.60. Second is
“Readable Signage at stations and train” with a score of 3.59, 0.01 points shy from the
previous sub-category. Third is “Train arrival Information” having a score of 3.58. The
last and also the lowest among the sub-categories is “Willingness of Train and Station
Personnel to help” with a score of 3.57. Just like the other Categories and their
corresponding sub-categories, all sub-categories of “Information and Customer
Service” fall within the “Satisfied” range.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 53

3. Sub-Categories that need to improve per station

Table 14

Customer Satisfaction on Governor Pascual Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

16 Ticket price 4.81 Highly Satisfied
2 Travel time 4.00 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.64 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.55 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.55 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.55 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.55 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 3.46 Somewhat Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.45 Somewhat Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.36 Somewhat Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.36 Somewhat Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.27 Somewhat Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.18 Somewhat Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 3.09 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.09 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 3.09 Somewhat Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
Somewhat Satisfied
20 help 3.09
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.00 Somewhat Satisfied
3 Punctuality 2.73 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 2.64 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.37 Somewhat Satisfied

Table 13 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Governor Pascual Station arranged

from highest to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-
category number 19 “Station names are readable and identifiable” with a score of 2.64.
Next lowest score is sub-category number 3 “Punctuality” with a score of 2.73. Last
and the third lowest score is sub-category number 7 “Cleanliness of station and train”
with a score of 3.00. All said sub-categories are interpreted as “Somewhat Satisfied”.
The average mean score of all sub-categories for Governor Pascual Station is 3.37
which also fall under “Somewhat Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 54

Table 15

Customer Satisfaction on Sangandaan Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

1 Frequency of train 4.46 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 4.45 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 4.45 Satisfied
Station names are readable and
19 identifiable 4.45 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.41 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 4.41 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.32 Satisfied
2 Travel time 4.27 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.27 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 4.23 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 4.18 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 4.18 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 4.14 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 4.09 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 4.09 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 4.05 Satisfied
Readable signage at stations and inside
18 train 4.00 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.91 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.86 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel
20 to help 3.86 Satisfied
AVERAGE 4.20 Satisfied

Table 14 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Sangandaan Station arranged from

highest to lowest mean score. The sub-categories that got the lowest scores are sub-
categories numbers 9 and 20 “Availability of toilet facilities” and “Willingness of Train
and Station personnel to help” respectively, both with a score of 3.86. Next lowest
score is sub-category number 10 “Comfortability inside the waiting area” with a score
of 3.91. All said sub-categories are interpreted as “Satisfied”. The average mean score
of all sub-categories for Sangandaan Station is 4.20 which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 55

Table 16

Customer Satisfaction on Assistio Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

16 Ticket price 4.57 Highly Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.50 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.46 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.25 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 4.00 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.96 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.86 Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 3.86 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.82 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.64 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.50 Somewhat Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.43 Somewhat Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 3.43 Somewhat Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.29 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.25 Somewhat Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.21 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 3.04 Somewhat Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 2.82 Somewhat Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 2.82 Somewhat Satisfied
2 Travel time 2.68 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.42 Somewhat Satisfied

Table 15 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Assistio Station arranged from highest
to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-category
number 2 “Travel time” with a score of 2.68. Next lowest scores are sub-categories
numbers 15 and 5 “Efficiency of ticketing staff” and “Security inside the train”
respectively, both with a score of 2.82. All said sub-categories are interpreted as
“Somewhat Satisfied”. The average mean score of all sub-categories for Assistio
Station is 3.42 which also fall under “Somewhat Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 56

Table 17

Customer Satisfaction on C3/5th Avenue Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

16 Ticket price 4.00 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.86 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 3.81 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 3.81 Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.71 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.71 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.67 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 3.67 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.62 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.62 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.62 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.62 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.52 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.38 Somewhat Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.38 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 3.38 Somewhat Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.33 Somewhat Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.29 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.14 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 3.00 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.56 Satisfied

Table 16 presents the Customer Satisfaction on C3/5th Avenue Station arranged from
highest to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-
category number 18 “Readable signage at stations and inside train” with a score of
3.00. Next lowest score is sub-category number 17 “Train arrival information” with a
score of 3.14. Last and the third lowest score is sub-category number 7 “Cleanliness of
station and train” with a score of 3.29. All said sub-categories are interpreted as
“Somewhat Satisfied”. The average mean score of all sub-categories for C3/5th
Avenue Station is 3.56 which fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 57

Table 18

Customer Satisfaction on Solis Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

1 Frequency of train 4.00 Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.94 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.94 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 3.94 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.82 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 3.76 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.71 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 3.71 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.59 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.59 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.53 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.53 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.41 Somewhat Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.41 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.29 Somewhat Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.29 Somewhat Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.24 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.24 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 2.94 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 2.94 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.54 Satisfied

Table 17 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Solis Station arranged from highest to
lowest mean score. The sub-categories that got the lowest scores are sub-categories
numbers 19 and 18 “Station names are readable and identifiable and “Readable
signage at stations and inside train” respectively, both with a score of 2.94. Next
lowest score is sub-category number 17 “Train arrival information” with a score of 3.24.
All said sub-categories are interpreted as “Somewhat Satisfied”. The average mean
score of all sub-categories for Solis Station is 3.54 which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 58

Table 19

Customer Satisfaction on Blumentritt Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

16 Ticket price 4.59 Highly Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.15 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.15 Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 3.96 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 3.82 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.70 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.70 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.52 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.48 Somewhat Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.48 Somewhat Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.48 Somewhat Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.37 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.37 Somewhat Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.37 Somewhat Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.26 Somewhat Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 3.26 Somewhat Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.22 Somewhat Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.22 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.15 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 3.15 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.57 Satisfied

Table 18 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Blumentritt Station arranged from

highest to lowest mean score. The sub-categories that got the lowest scores are sub-
categories numbers 19 and 17 “Station names are readable and identifiable” and
“Train arrival information” respectively, both with a score of 3.15. Next lowest score is
sub-category number 5 “Security inside the train” with a score of 3.22. All said sub-
categories are interpreted as “Somewhat Satisfied”. The average mean score of all
sub-categories for Blumentritt Station is 3.57 which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 59

Table 20

Customer Satisfaction on España Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

2 Travel time 4.52 Highly Satisfied
3 Punctuality 4.45 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.45 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 4.42 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.39 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 4.39 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.36 Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 4.36 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 4.33 Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 4.33 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 4.33 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.27 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 4.21 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 4.21 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 4.18 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 4.18 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 4.12 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 4.09 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 4.09 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 4.00 Satisfied
AVERAGE 4.28 Satisfied

Table 19 presents the Customer Satisfaction on España Station arranged from highest
to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-category
number 7 “Cleanliness of the stations and train” with a score of 4.00. Next lowest
scores are sub-categories numbers 9 and 8 “Availability of toilet facilities” and
“Refreshment facilities” respectively, both with a score of 4.09. All said sub-categories
are interpreted as “Satisfied”. The average mean score of all sub-categories for
España Station is 4.28 which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 60

Table 21

Customer Satisfaction on Sta. Mesa Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

2 Travel time 4.23 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.09 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 4.05 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.93 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.91 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 3.77 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.75 Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.75 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.61 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.57 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.52 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.45 Somewhat Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.41 Somewhat Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.39 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.27 Somewhat Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.18 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.05 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 2.93 Somewhat Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 2.93 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 2.86 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.53 Satisfied

Table 20 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Sta. Mesa Station arranged from
highest to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-
category number 19 “Station names are readable and identifiable” with a score of 2.86.
Next lowest scores are sub-categories numbers 20 and 18 “Willingness of Train and
Station personnel to help” and “Readable signage at stations and inside train”
respectively, both with a score of 2.93. All said sub-categories are interpreted as
“Satisfied”. The average mean score of all sub-categories for Sta. Mesa Station is 3.53
which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 61

Table 22

Customer Satisfaction on Paco Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

16 Ticket price 4.69 Highly Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.31 Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 4.31 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 4.31 Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.25 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 4.25 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 4.13 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.00 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.00 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.75 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.69 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.63 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.50 Somewhat Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 3.44 Somewhat Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.44 Somewhat Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.44 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 3.31 Somewhat Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.25 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 3.19 Somewhat Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.13 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.80 Satisfied

Table 21 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Paco Station arranged from highest to
lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-category
number 2 “Travel time” with a score of 3.13. Next lowest score is sub-category number
17 “Train arrival information” with a score of 3.19. Last and the third lowest score is
sub-category number 9 “Availability of toilet facilities” with a score of 3.25. All said sub-
categories are interpreted as “Somewhat Satisfied”. The average mean score of all
sub-categories for Paco Station is 3.80 which fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 62

Table 23

Customer Satisfaction on Dela Rosa Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

5 Security inside the train 3.90 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 3.87 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 3.84 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 3.71 Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.65 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.45 Somewhat Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 3.43 Somewhat Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 3.42 Somewhat Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 3.42 Somewhat Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 3.40 Somewhat Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 3.39 Somewhat Satisfied
3 Punctuality 3.35 Somewhat Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 3.30 Somewhat Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 3.27 Somewhat Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 3.21 Somewhat Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 3.20 Somewhat Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 2.88 Somewhat Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 2.84 Somewhat Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 2.77 Somewhat Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 2.77 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 3.35 Somewhat Satisfied

Table 22 presents the Customer Satisfaction on Dela Rosa Station arranged from
highest to lowest mean score. The sub-categories that got the lowest scores are sub-
categories numbers 20 and 18 “Willingness of Train and Station personnel to help” and
“Readable signage at stations and inside train” respectively, both with a score of 2.77.
Next lowest score is sub-category number 17 “Train arrival information” with a score of
2.84. All said sub-categories are interpreted as “Somewhat Satisfied”. The average
mean score of all sub-categories for Dela Rosa Station is 3.35 which also fall under
“Somewhat Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 63

Table 24

Customer Satisfaction on EDSA Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 4.58 Highly Satisfied
4 Security while waiting at station 4.55 Highly Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.52 Highly Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 4.42 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 4.36 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 4.36 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 4.33 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.30 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 4.27 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 4.24 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 4.21 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 4.18 Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 4.18 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.15 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 4.09 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 4.06 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 4.06 Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 3.91 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 3.82 Satisfied
2 Travel time 3.39 Somewhat Satisfied
AVERAGE 4.20 Satisfied

Table 23 presents the Customer Satisfaction on EDSA Station arranged from highest
to lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-category
number 2 “Travel time” with a score of 3.39. Next lowest score is sub-category number
20 “Willingness of Train and Station personnel to help” with a score of 3.82. Last and
the third lowest score is sub-category number 18 “Readable signage at stations and
inside train” with a score of 3.91. Sub-category number 2 is interpreted as “Somewhat
Satisfied” and Sub-categories numbers 20 and 18 are interpreted as “Satisfied”. The
average mean score of all sub-categories for EDSA Station is 4.20 which fall under
“Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 64

Table 25

Customer Satisfaction on FTI Station

No. Sub- Categories WM Interpretation

4 Security while waiting at station 4.65 Highly Satisfied
18 Readable signage at stations and inside train 4.56 Highly Satisfied
6 Presence of Security Personnel 4.46 Satisfied
19 Station names are readable and identifiable 4.46 Satisfied
1 Frequency of train 4.44 Satisfied
5 Security inside the train 4.39 Satisfied
15 Efficiency of ticketing staff 4.30 Satisfied
16 Ticket price 4.30 Satisfied
Willingness of Train and Station personnel to
20 help 4.30 Satisfied
11 Accessibility of train station 4.25 Satisfied
14 Attitude of ticketing staff 4.25 Satisfied
17 Train arrival information 4.25 Satisfied
3 Punctuality 4.21 Satisfied
8 Refreshment facilities 4.18 Satisfied
13 Comfort inside the train 4.18 Satisfied
2 Travel time 4.17 Satisfied
7 Cleanliness of the stations and train 4.14 Satisfied
10 Comfortability inside the waiting area 4.08 Satisfied
12 PWD-friendly facilities 4.08 Satisfied
9 Availability of toilet facilities 3.99 Satisfied
AVERAGE 4.28 Satisfied

Table 24 presents the Customer Satisfaction on FTI Station arranged from highest to
lowest mean score. The sub-category that got the lowest score is sub-category
number 9 “Availability of toilet facilities” with a score of 3.99. Next lowest scores are
sub-categories numbers 12 and 10 “PWD-friendly facilities” and “Comfortability inside
the waiting area” respectively, both with a score of 4.08. All said sub-categories are
interpreted as “Satisfied”. The average mean score of all sub-categories for FTI Station
is 4.28 which also fall under “Satisfied”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 65

Chapter 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the overview of the study and the findings, the

researcher’s conclusions and recommendations drawn from the data gathered.

Summary

The main purpose of this study was to determine the customer satisfaction on

the service quality of Metro North Commuter of Philippine National Railways.

Descriptive method of research was used in this study with the use of a questionnaire

and structured interview as main tools for gathering data. The respondents were the

passengers who rode the train, ages 20 below and above. With average population of

70,195 per day, the researchers used 400 sample size for this study. The researcher

was able to survey 400 passengers with no invalid answers in which can be used in

the tabulation and analysis. Frequency, weighted mean, percentage and analysis of

variance were used in the statistical treatment of the gathered data.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 66

Findings

Based on the results of the data gathered that were analyzed and interpreted,

the following were the findings:

1. Profile of the respondents

Majority of the respondents were aged 20 and below with 36% and the above

61 with 5%. In terms of gender, female respondents were more than male respondents

with 51.75%. In terms of occupation, employed respondents were 199 or 49.75% of

total respondents. 34.50% of the respondents rode the train service daily. Lastly,

majority of the respondents were going to work with 31% and the least was going on a

business trip with 11.50%.

2. Customer satisfaction of the service quality of Metro North Commuter Service

of Philippine Nations Railways as perceived by the respondents

After all the scores per service attributes were obtained, the overall satisfaction

level was computed. It showed that the overall average of the five service attributes

was 3.83 or equivalent to “Satisfied”. Specifically, in terms of timeliness, the weighted

mean was 3.90 of satisfied. In safety and security, it achieved a satisfied level with a

weighted mean of 3.97. The security while waiting at station had the highest score
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 67

under this service with a weighted mean of 4.05. The ticketing system service got the

highest weighted mean on all five service attributes. It had a score of 3.98 but still

within satisfied level. It is because of the fare price of the train service which achieved

the highest score of 4.23. In terms of Information & Customer service, it received the

lowest score on all the five service quality with a weighted mean of 3.58 but still within

the satisfied level. The willingness of train and station personnel to help got the lowest

score with 3.57 while the highest under this service attribute was the station names are

readable and identifiable with a weighted mean of 3.60, a little higher than readable

signage at stations and inside train with a weighted mean of 3.59. The Train and

Facilities: Accessibility and Comfort got a weighted mean of 3.73 and was equivalent

to satisfied. It clearly showed that the respondents were satisfied on accessibility of

train station with a weighted mean of 3.77. But still lacked with the availability of toilet

facilities which only scored 3.63 or equivalent to satisfied level.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 68

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. Profile of the Respondents

The respondents were aged 20 and below and the majority are females. The

status of the respondents was employed. Respondents rode the Metro North

Commuter Service daily and they used it for purpose of going to work.

2. Customer satisfaction of the service quality of Metro North Commuter Service

of Philippine Nations Railways as perceived by the Respondents

2.1 The findings revealed that the respondents were satisfied on the frequency

of train, travel time, and punctuality. Overall respondents were satisfied on the

timeliness of Metro North Commuter Service.

2.2 It was also found out that the respondents were satisfied on their safety

whenever they are at the train stations, presence of security personnel, and security

inside the train. Overall respondents were satisfied on the safety and security of Metro

North Commuter Service.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 69

2.3 Respondents were satisfied on purchasing on attitude of ticketing staff,

efficiency of ticketing staff and ticket price. Overall respondents were satisfied on the

ticketing service of Metro North Commuter Service.

2.4 The respondents’ reaction on the Accessibility & Comfort of Facilities are

satisfied. They felt the same on cleanliness of the stations and train, refreshment

facilities, availability of toilet facilities, comfortability inside the waiting area,

accessibility of train station, PWD-friendly facilities and comfort inside the train which

were all satisfied.

2.5 The findings showed that the respondents were satisfied on the train arrival

information, readable signage at stations and inside train, station names are readable

and identifiable and willingness of train and station personnel to help. This showed that

overall, the respondents were somewhat satisfied on the information & customer

service.

Recommendations

Based on the drawn conclusions, the following are the recommendations:

1. Timeliness. The management should look into the number of the trains that can

run. It is also necessary for the company to maintain the new trains that are coming
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 70

considering that the trains they were using are secondhand and some are very old and

broken. This will increase the reliability and frequency of their trains and will assure the

passengers that they will arrive on their destinations on-time. They should also

properly manage and maintain their existing rail tracks. If these tracks are improved,

trains can be operated at a faster speed which translates a lesser time on travelling

and it will become more efficient rail service.

2. Safety & Security. In spite of the fact that the respondents were satisfied on their

safety & security, the management should still provide better service and security to its

facilities. They must provide CCTVs and a roving security personnel on trains and on

train stations.

3. Ticketing. Though it is the highest scoring attribute, the management can still

improve its ticketing service by introducing an Automated Fare Collection System.

Automated fare collection is a revolutionary, streamlined solution for many potential

issues associated with the manual collection of fares.

4. Train and Facilities: Accessibility and Comfort. The PNR Management should

consider to look into the improvements and maintaining of its facilities. They should

consider putting fence on their tracks and safety barriers on their train stations. They
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 71

need to provide proper shelter and seating for the passengers with special needs.

They should properly maintain the trains so it can be comfortable. Considering that

railway is a mass transportation, it should not neglect the comfortability of its

passengers while on train or on the stations.

5. Information & Customer Service. The management should consider to provide all

necessary information about their services for their passengers. They can use public

announcements every time there is a delay on the arrival of train. They should have

policies on how to properly inform the passengers and when it should be announced.

They should also provide informative posters so that passengers can easily be

informed on the price, schedules and notices on their train service. Personnel should

maintain their attitude towards helpings the passenger. This service attribute can be

improved without spending a huge amount of money.

In general, it is necessary to increase user satisfaction through improving the

public transport system of Metro North Commuter of Philippine National Railways.

These improvements will make the cities which benefits the service more sustainable

and reduce the use of private cars in the future. High quality transit services will

maintain existing users and attract new passengers.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 72

Nonetheless, public transport system enhancements will lead to resolving

problems such as: traffic congestion, accidents, traffic noise, air pollution and fuel

consumption.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 73

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APPENDICES
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 76

Appendix 1: Request letter for ridership from August 2018 to January 2019
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 77

Appendix 2: Request letter for conducting a survey

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 78

Appendix 3: Questionnaire
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 79
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 80

Appendix 4: Ridership of August 2018 to January 2019

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 81
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 82

Appendix 5: Documentation
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 83
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 84

Appendix 6: Certification of Statistician

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 85

Appendix 7: Curriculum Vitae (Niel Peter S. Bagaygay)

Niel Peter S. Bagaygay is a college student at Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. He was born on 9 March 1998 in Surigao City, Surigao Del Norte. He is

currently taking up his Bachelor of Science in Railway Engineering and Management

at the PUP College of Engineering. He is also a part of the research titled “Customer

Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the Philippine National

Railways”.
 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 86

Appendix 8: Curriculum Vitae (Daren Audie T. Clemente)

Daren Audie T. Clemente is a college student at Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. He was born on 19 April 1998 in City of Manila. He is currently taking up

his He is currently taking up his Bachelor of Science in Railway Engineering and

Management at the PUP College of Engineering. He is also a part of the research

titled “Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North Commuter of the

Philippine National Railways”.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 87

Appendix 9: Curriculum Vitae (Roven Grant Q. Elardo)

Roven Grant Q. Elardo is a college student at Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. He was born on 14 August 1997 in Quezon City, Metro Manila. He is

currently taking up his He is currently taking up his Bachelor of Science in Railway

Engineering and Management at the PUP College of Engineering. He is also a part of

the research titled “Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North

Commuter of the Philippine National Railways”.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 88

Appendix 10: Curriculum Vitae (Abelardo M. Pulga)

Abelardo M. Pulga is a college student at Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. He was born on 8 January 1998 in Caloocan City, Metro Manila. He is

currently taking up his He is currently taking up his Bachelor of Science in Railway

Engineering and Management at the PUP College of Engineering. He is also a part of

the research titled “Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North

Commuter of the Philippine National Railways”.

 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES 89

Appendix 10: Curriculum Vitae (Judell S. Valdez)

Judell S. Valdez is a college student at Polytechnic University of the

Philippines. He was born on 26 November 1997 in Quezon City, Metro Manila. He is

currently taking up his He is currently taking up his Bachelor of Science in Railway

Engineering and Management at the PUP College of Engineering. He is also a part of

the research titled “Customer Satisfaction on the Service Quality of Metro North

Commuter of the Philippine National Railways”.