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

Abstract

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