You won't believe how disappointed MRT commuters are

MRT customer satisfaction dropped 8.7%.

According to the second quarter release of Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore 2012, customer satisfaction for the Transport and Logistics sector fell by 1.8-points to 68.3-points (on a 0 to 100 scale) between 2011 and 2012. This is a statistically significant decline of 2.4%.

Here's more from Customer Satisfaction Index:

Several sub-sectors within the Transport and Logistics sector contributed to its lower score in customer satisfaction. The MRT sub-sector suffered the largest drop in satisfaction, falling 6.0-points (-8.7%) year-on-year to 61.9-points. Public Buses did not fare much better, falling 4.8-points (-7.2%) to 61.6-points. The Taxi sub-sector saw a more modest decline of 2.4-points (-3.5%) to 64.3-points.

Changi Airport, a sub-sector by itself, also posted a 5.8-point (-7.4%) year-on-year decline to 72.8-points, a score that is still significantly higher than the rest of the sector. Full-service Airlines improved by 1.4-points (+1.9%) to 74.6-points, also well above the sector score. Meanwhile, the Budget Airlines sub-sector fell 3.0-points (-4.6%) to 62.7-points.

Commuters perceived that the quality experienced on these buses and trains have worsened. The data also indicated that commuters perceived that these two public transport systems were less able to meet their expectations.  

The CSISG 2012 Q2 data also revealed that taxi customers had higher expectations of taxi services this year. This could be in part due to the fare revision that occurred in December 2011, giving taxi customers an implicit signal to expect better service quality. Nonetheless, commuters’ perceptions of the taxis’ quality level did not change. 

CSISG 2012 Q2 analysis also revealed several public transport touchpoints that have significant impact on commuters’ perceptions of quality. And positive perceptions of quality is an important driver of customer satisfaction. For 2012, MRT commuters indicated, in order of derived importance, Safety, Travel Time, Frequency, Operating Hours, and Comfort as attributes to their perceptions of quality, as shown in Figure D. Public Bus commuters indicated important quality touchpoints as Customer Service, Frequency, Comfort, Cleanliness, and Punctuality, respectively.