Analysis of Travel Satisfaction with Commuting in Developing Economy: A Case of New Delhi, India

This study presents a methodology for analyzing travel satisfaction associated with commuting based on a segmentation-based approach and suggests segment-specific policy recommendations for improving trip quality in urban India. A survey questionnaire was developed to collect (1) commuters’ socio-demographic, trip-specific information, (2) commuters’ perceived satisfaction related to daily-, work-, and non-work-/other trips and (3) commuters’ satisfaction associated with the performance of a set of built-environment factors (sidewalk, bus-stop), and (4) commuter’s perception towards the existing level of safety, comfort, and time-efficiency associated with bus, walk, and private-car from 898 respondents across New Delhi, the Indian capital. The Kruskal–Wallis H-test was used to test for heterogeneity in travel satisfaction across various subgroups. Subsequently, a two-step clustering approach was used to classify the commuters into five segments based on age, gender, and commuting mode. The segments are ‘captive bus commuters’, ‘young male choice commuters’, ‘private car commuters’, ‘middle-aged choice commuters’ and ‘female choice commuters’. The user perception towards built-environment, mode-specific characteristics and travel satisfaction levels were explored within each segment. Results indicated that bus-stop safety and security were perceived with low importance, whereas sidewalk quality was satisfactory. Similarly, bus travel's safety, comfort, and reliability aspects were unsatisfactory compared to walking, indicating immediate intervention toward bus-specific infrastructure. The proposed methodology would help formulate specific policy measures to improve the trip satisfaction of urban commuters and facilitate efficient budget allocation for infrastructure improvement programs.