Translating Passenger-Perceived Safety Quality into Operational Safety Priorities: Study of an Indonesian Urban Bus Service

Abstract

Urban bus safety extends beyond accident records and vehicle condition, since passengers’ safety experiences during access, waiting, boarding, travelling and alighting also play an important role. The objective of this study is to develop an SQFD method that bridges the gap between the passenger-perceived safety quality and operational hazard priorities in Teman Bus Corridor 5: Palembang, Indonesia. Several SERVQUAL-based safety attributes were formed, and expectations, perceived safety conditions, and service gaps were measured from the data collected from 392 passengers. The operational-hazard indicators came from observations in the field, data that existed in the transport-safety literature at the time, input operators, and historical operational records. Passenger safety indicators were treated as WHATs, while operational hazard indicators HOWs in the House of Quality framework. A total of 17 drivers evaluated A total of 17 drivers assessed the relationships between passenger-side safety indicators and operational hazard-event indicators, while 6 operators examined relationships among operational indicators. Estimated safety gaps were negative in all attributes, but most so in boarding and alighting safety, attention to vulnerable passengers and personal security. Passenger overcrowding, component failure during operation and stop or access were the greatest operational concerns. These findings show that passenger-perceived safety deficiencies should not be treated merely as service complaints, but should be translated into operational hazard-event priorities through a structured SQFD framework. The study provides an indicator-based decision-support approach for improving safety management in road-based urban bus services.