Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Transportation is crucial to economic development. Without access to jobs,

health, facilities, education, recreation and other amenities, the quality of life degrades.
This access depends on availability, affordability and connectivity of transport means.
Transportation is as old as human kind, walking using human energy is itself a form of
non-motorized transport.

Public transportation provides personal mobility and freedom for people from the
accessibility of places. Access to public transportation gives people an option to get
work, go to school or visit friends. It also provides job opportunities to the many drivers
to touts who are employed in this sector. However, the major problem that the society is
facing nowadays is transportation.

Many commuters demand a good quality of services and right treatment because
in the previous years, commuters complained about the poor services until now. At the
same time, they are also affected by their daily schedule as they are often late due to
traffic, bad attitude and treatment of some tricycle drivers.

With the increasing number of passenger in Tacurong City, a higher demand for
the services of tricycles also increases since it is the worst commonly known mode of
transportation. It is available especially when in rush hours. In addition, on the current
system of getting a passenger, tricycle drivers are free to choose which passengers
they are going to serve. However, because of this dilemma it became the major problem
of most passengers because they are experiencing unequal waiting time and the
queues of the passenger are getting longer especially for the students and other
workers that are in rush hour. Also with the presence of the other transportations on the
road, traffics and other unwanted accidents may happen causing the tricycles to have a
hard time to get back in the main station. Public transport should become part of a

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solution for sustainable transport in the future. However, in order to keep and attract
more passengers, public transport must to have high service quality to satisfy and fulfil
more wide range of different customers or commuter needs (Oliver 1980: Unable 2005).
It is important to summarize knowledge about what customer’s satisfaction and in public
to transport area to design an attractive and marketable public transport.

Service quality is generally visualized as the sum of customer perceptions of the

service experience (Johns, 2010). The difference between service quality and
satisfaction is perceived service quality is a global judgment, or attitude, relating to the
superiority of the service.
As stated by Luansing (2015) transportation plays a major role in the economic growth
and development of a country. People ride tricycles primarily due to lack of alternative
mode of transportation and convenience, giving the advantage of speed and cost.
Every tricycle bears of its traits of its socially defined development. So it is that most
asset and deficiencies of the Tricycles in Tacurong City, It can be trace maybe through
organization develop because of it many students, faculties and community around the
vicinity of Tacurong City are commuters and the members of the tricycle Toda comities
are groups within their area outside the school campus and this provides an
understanding of what the problem is and its context, scope of the study, as well as its
significance. Commuting by tricycle as advantages over their other modes of transport,
both for the commuters and for society. Although tricycle is an option to many students,
a considerable number of them choose to use other form of transport.

Here in the Philippines, tricycles refer to one of the primary means of

transportation. Tricycles are motorized bikes with a third wheel off to the side and a spot
for one to three passengers — although most are meant for one to two passengers.
They’re fast, cheap, sometimes scary and usually fun. There are a growing number of
individuals who ride on a tricycle just for daily trip between their work address and home
address. Tricycles are motorcycles with side cars bigger than the Pedi cabs, which have
the legal capacity of 5 passengers including the driver. However, due to the oil price
increase, some drivers will accept up to 10-15 passengers: squeezed in the sidecar and
the backseat of the driver, hanging at the rear or sides of the sidecar and/or sitting on

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the roof top.

In this study, the researchers aimd to determine the appeal and satisfaction
perceived by the commuters in the service quality of tricycles in Tacurong City, to the
quality of service of tricycle operators and drivers association (TODA) in Tacurong City.
This is to be done by knowing the conception of the commuters through questionnaires
and surveys. The results of the study may help the researchers and the other sectors in
understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the tricycle drivers in Tacurong City.

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the level of the student commuters’ satisfaction on the behaviour of the
tricycle drivers?
2. What are the behaviour of the tricycle drivers that the students have
encountered?

Scope and Delimitation

This study will focus on the student commuters’ satisfaction on the tricycle
services in Tacurong City. This study is limited to the SHS students who are currently
enrolled at NDTC S.Y. 2019-2020. The subjects may also have their own motivations
for participating in the research study. It assumed that all of the students who partook in
the study answered truthfully and without biases. Several additional limiting factors are
present in the study.

Significance of the Study

Students Commuters

The result of this study will provide the students commuters with some
knowledge about the behaviour of the tricycle driver that they encounter every day.

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Drivers

The study will help them realize how their behaviour towards student commuters
would contribute to their works as a driver.

Transportation Services

This study will help the transportation services to assess their performance that
enable to satisfy the customer needs. The data that will gather could be used in
addressing the identify strengths and weaknesses of the current transport system.

Land Transportation Office

The result of this study would help them to strengthen their rules and regulations
in acquiring ad reviewing of driving license of public utility drivers. Moreover, this study
will give them information on what type of programs and seminars would be given to the
drivers in addressing their behaviour towards the commuters,

City Traffic Management Office

This study would serve as their basis in conducting seminars to public utility
drivers as to their performance on giving the appropriate and adequate services to the
passengers.

PNP and Traffic Division

The result of this study would serve as the baseline in the enforcement of traffic
rules and regulation in the locality. Moreover, they would give suggestion to the LGU
the programs needed in the improvement of the services of tricycle and
motorcycle drivers.

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 Conceptual Framework

Tricycle Driver’s
Student’s Satisfaction
Behaviour

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

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Definition of Terms

In this research, the following terms are defined by the researchers as:

Commuter

A person who travels to works over an appreciable distance, usually from the
suburbs to the centre of the city. Someone who travels between two points each day.

Driver

A person who drives a vehicle or an automobile.

Behaviour

Manner of conducting self.

Satisfaction

The act of satisfying or the state of being satisfied. The state of a fulfilled need,
desire or appetite or feeling gained from such fulfilment.

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 Chapter 2

REVIEW RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURE

In the Philippines, tricycle is one of the most commonly used modes of

transportation however the tricycle can only serve a limited amount of people at a time
and the distance it can travel is limited depending on the location of the tricycle itself.
According to Dorado (2015), tricycles are considered one of the most popular modes of
transportation in the Philippines, due to their accessibility and capability to drop off
passengers at almost any point. As stated by Pesigan (2015), that the electric tricycle
(e-trike) projects have been undertaken in different parts of the Philippines, one of which
is the e-trike project initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). An improved e-
trike design that provides a comfortable and safe riding experience for all its passengers
and a sustainable system for its operation, maintainability and adoption, more
innovative designs. Ergonomics is also utilized as a vital tool to align pre-determined
human factors with existing and proposed specifications.

According to Angeli (2005), the tricycle can be used as a stationary device for
training and adjustment of stimulation parameters or as a mobile cycle.
According to Ettema et al. (2011) and Friman et al. (2013), mentioned that the STS was
conceived based on the idea of subjective well-being, which suggests that both
cognitive judgement (self-reported rating), as well as affective judgement of satisfaction
(duration and intensity of positive and negative affects during a given time span), should
be examined when St-Louis, Manaugh, van Lierop, & El-Geneidy 5 assessing overall
satisfaction. Though the STS is not used in this study, this method of measurement is
useful to shed light on the multi-faceted nature of satisfaction.
Studies by Turcotte (2005, 2011) and Páez & Whalen (2010) in Canada, and by Olsson
et al. (2013) and Friman et al. (2013) in Sweden, found that active transportation
commuters tend to be the most satisfied.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the literature found that public transport users are generally
the least satisfied compared to users of other modes (Friman et al., 2013; Gatersleben
& Uzzel, 2007; Páez & Whalen, 2010; Turcotte, 2005). Recent work has especially
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focused on differences between drivers and public transit users, as the uptake of public
transit instead of the car is a mode switch that several governments seek to encourage.
According to Eriksson, Friman, & Gärling (2013), Gatersleben & Uzzel (2007), and
Turcotte (2005), found that automobile satisfaction was higher than that of public transit.
Another study by Turcotte (2011), focused on the difference between drivers and transit
users in terms of their satisfaction with commute travel time. Public transit users were
less satisfied than drivers for shorter commutes, but with longer commute times, a large
portion of public transit users remained satisfied with their travel time.
According to Turcotte (2011), found that commute satisfaction decreases as travel time
increases, and that traffic congestion was a major source of dissatisfaction for both
drivers and bus users with regard to seasonality.
According to Mokhtarian (2005), altered the traditional approach taken towards
satisfaction studies by questioning the assumption that commuters always seek to
minimize travel time and other associated costs. They found that trip practicality is St-
Louis, Manaugh, van Lierop, & El-Geneidy not necessarily the primary factor to explain
satisfaction, but that subjective factors specific to an individual commuter may also have
an effect on overall trip satisfaction.
Accprding to Páez & Whalen (2010), similarly, other research has not found the
expected relationships between trip satisfaction and such external factors as travel time
or according to Manaugh & El-Geneidy, 2013; Willis et al., 2013), elevation in the case
of pedestrians and cyclists. In their mode-choice study, Whalen, Páez and Carrasco
(2013), even found a positive utility of travel time for drivers and cyclists. This body of
research points towards the idea that the enjoyment of a commute is essential to trip
satisfaction and traditional disutility are not the only factors to consider. The positive and
negative sentiments associated to commuting have also been explored as influencing
overall trip satisfaction.
According to Anable & Gatersleben (2005), authors such as Gatersleben & Uzzel
(2007), though commuter stress is a commonly used indicator have turned to a more
varied range of mode-specific affective appraisals (positive and negative emotions),
such as arousal and pleasantness, to explain the negative perception of public transit in
comparison to other modes. While walking and cycling have a high level of arousal (i.e.

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exciting vs. stressful vs. boring), it is low for transit, since delays and waiting times may
lead to boredom or stress. Likewise, according to Eriksson et al. (2013) established that
higher driver satisfaction in comparison to tricycle.

According to Sherwin, Chatterjee, and Jain (2014), the theory of planned

behaviour is the best for explaining conscious individual behaviour where objective,
rational factors such as cost and time are important, according to Kahneman (2003) its
less good for more “automatic” or habitual behaviour’s, where “bounded rationality”
limits willingness to re-evaluate an established pattern, or in cases in which emotion and
perception are influential in decision making process.

According to Wagikondi (2013), another study on “An investigation on commuters

satisfaction in the use of Muthurwa a terminus, Nairobi, Kenya” was designed
investigate if who are the satisfied commuters. The major objectives of the study, the
problem investigated in this research are derived from a directional theoretical
hypothesis. “Murtharwa terminus does not meet commuter travel needs as per the four
stage travel process of trip origin, trip distribution, modal choice and traffic assignment”.
It was found in the study that the commuter in Murthurwa was not satisfied and it is a
challenge to them as a commuter. Descriptive Method was used in this study to gather
data and information. This study is similar with the current since both of it identifies the
satisfaction of students.

Using online survey methodology, it was found out those respondents who travel
on a crowded invasion of personal space and cramped, uncomfortable condition. It
further concludes that long wait times are most likely caused by services not running
according to schedule, which, in run, induces due to lack of reliability and a diminished
sense of control. The longer the waiting time, the more intense the feeling of stress.
This study is comparable with the current study since both of them explored on the
satisfaction as to public transportation.

On the other hand, a study entitled “A study of Customer with Reference to Tata
motor passenger Vehicles” was design to ascertain the customer satisfaction level Tata
motor passenger vehicles. Using exploratory cum descriptive method with 100

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respondents. It found out that the overall study reveals that it was found that the
customer are mostly satisfied with price, design, safety, mileage, interior space, status
brand name, comport level, spares part and after sale service, in this study concluded
that mostly Tata customers purchased car on loan, used the Tata car for personal
purposes, having the car from 1-5 year and they are recommended by their friends as
well as take preventive maintenance from authorized dealer. In case of level of
customer satisfaction, it was found that the customer are mostly satisfied with price,
design, mileage, interior space, status brand name, comfort level, spears part and after
because sale service. Finding pertaining to most influencing show that most influencing
factor for customer satisfaction. This is similar to the present study because it deal on
the satisfaction of commuters.

Service of frequency is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of expected

commuters wait time at transit stops to service frequency. It repeats an advance over
previous models because it explicitly incorporates a commuter decision-making
process, rather than assuming that commuters arrive at random instant in line.

Accessibility transport measured various dimensions: travel costs, options,

contains and quality. Making decisions for improving the transport accessibility involves
the authorities of different areas so the result should be reached by interaction between
all parties involved.

Transportation Service is proposed for reviewing literature of demand services.

One of the main objectives of developing public transport system is improving the level
of service in terms of comfort, safety and frequency is service as well as providing a
reasonable and affordable fare for the public. This can pertain to how local government
assures the quality of the vehicle used for public transportations

According to Ilieska (2016), understanding customer satisfaction can provide

companies with information to streamline their operations and focus improvement
programs on achieving cost efficiency to ultimately achieve better performance.

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 According to Pham & Ahammad (2017), satisfied customers would return to
purchase and spread positive word of mouth, according to Choi & Kim (2013), thus
greatly influencing customer.

According to Evanschitzky, Sharma, & Catja (2012), it is therefore helpful to

identify determinants of customer satisfaction to improve company performance.
Product quality, service quality, and value for money were significant drivers of
customer satisfaction based on an analysis of hierarchical regression model of online
survey results to 188 customers of a large European financial service provider.

According to Chakraborty & Sengupta (2014), the same three factors were also
determined to be drivers of customer satisfaction based on results of exploratory factor
analysis, telephone survey, and structural equation modelling in Indian
telecommunication services market. Specifically, they found that generic requirements
measured in terms of service quality and perceived value; flexibility measured in terms
of adequacy of consumer promotion schemes and availability of latest services; and
price measured in terms of tariff rates, overall billing costs and costs of calls were
significant determinants of customer satisfaction. In the study of Lu, Blankson, and
Prybutok (2017), perceived product quality was also found to have a significant positive
relationship with customer satisfaction in automobile manufacturing sector based on the
results of structural equation modelling. According to Asiedu, Sarfo, Adjei, Asiedu, &
Adusei (2014), more studies, however, focused solely on service quality as a significant
driver of customer satisfaction. Results of survey to 200 customers of commercial banks
in Ghana revealed that customer service elements such as physical facilities, security,
and product offerings significantly impact customer satisfaction. According to Kassa,
Chernet, Kelemework, Zewde, & Woldemedhin (2017), the results of questionnaire,
focus group discussion, and interviews with water supply service customers in Ethiopia
showed that customer satisfaction was highly dependent on service quality dimensions.

Although not based on a service firm, Feng, Wang, and Prajogo (2014) found
that customer service can significantly impact customer satisfaction based on an
analysis of theory-based structural equation model on 214 Chinese manufacturing
companies. According to Azman and Gomiscek (2015), conducted computer-aided

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telephone interviews in service centres of four European automobile manufacturing
firms in Slovenia and found concave functional shape for service quality on customer
satisfaction. A customer satisfaction framework applicable to seven major economic
sectors including retail is the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). ACSI is a
national economic indicator used by US household consumers to evaluate quality of
products and services. According to Fornell, Johnson, Anderson, Cha, & Everitt Bryant
(2011), it is based on three drivers of customer satisfaction, namely: customer
expectation, perceived quality, and perceived value. Studies that have determined
elements of customer satisfaction using the ACSI model includes Unyathanakorn and
Rompho (2014), for banking services, and Alqahtani and Al Farraj (2016) for
telecommunications services. Related to customer satisfaction is service quality and a
common framework to measure service quality is SERVQUAL. SERVQUAL was
developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry in 2010 wherein they identified ten
determinants of service quality that customers use to form expectations and
perceptions. According to Parasuraman et al. (2013), this was later compressed into
five determinants which are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and
empathy. According to Gašević, Vranješ, & Drinić (2016) and Haldar (2017), it was
originally a framework used to measure quality in service sectors, however, it has been
used in studies to explain customer satisfaction such as those of on banking services,
and according to Madhavan and George (2017) and Teshome and Seyoum (2014), on
the tourism industry. Although these studies are concentrated in the service sector, the
applicability of SERVQUAL to other industries has led to studies which focused on
determinants of customer satisfaction in a retail industry. According to Thomas (2013),
for example, designed an exploratory study and surveyed 334 adult grocery shoppers in
India’s leading supermarkets. He found that product quality, store service, price, and
product assortment showed the most influence to least influence on customer
satisfaction. According to El-Adly & Eid (2016), mall shopping environment was also
found to be a factor that significantly affects customer satisfaction based on surveys to
368 mall shoppers in United Arab Emirates and the results of exploratory and according
to El-Adly & Eid, 2016), confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling.
According to Pham and Ahammad (2017), made use of both exploratory and

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confirmatory factor analyses, online survey, and Chi-Square test of difference and found
that post-purchase services, ease of return, and responsiveness of customer are factors
that drive the satisfaction of 600 online UK shoppers. The results of structural equation
modelling revealed that there is a significant relationship among retail experience,
customer satisfaction, and behavioural intention, and that product assortment and
customized services had significant positive influence on satisfaction of 504 consumers
of 57 retail stores in Jaipur City (Agarwal & Singh, 2018). In the Philippine setting,
according to Agulo et al. (2015), assessed one Batangas City department store’s
customer satisfaction on quality service measured in terms of employee’s professional
appearance, customer relation, customer service, and facilities. According to Zalatar
(2017), predicted each gender’s satisfaction among 200 individual customers of quick
service restaurants to improve service quality dimensions which are tangibles,
reliability/responsiveness, and assurance/empathy. Both studies emphasized on
customer profile which is beyond this study’s scope. According to Chakraborty &
Sengupta, 2014; El-Adly & Eid, 2016; Pham & Ahammad, 2017; and Thomas, 2013),
although there had been previous studies which explored and used factor analyses to
identify determinants of customer satisfaction none of these studies had focused on the
Philippine retail industry. According to A.T. Kearney, 2016) and 18th in 2017 (A.T.
Kearney, 2017), the Philippines has been ranked as the 16th most attractive retail
market among developing countries in 2016. It is expected that retail industry would
account for one-fifth of the Philippines’ overall economic output in the next decade with
its large population, high positive growth, aggressive expansion of retail portfolio from
major developers, and high level of consumer confidence, making it critical to capture
growth opportunities (“Philippine retail industry booming,” 2017). It is therefore this
study’s aim to explore the determinants of customer satisfaction in a Philippine retail
chain using factor analysis and compare it with the identified determinants in existing
frameworks. Based on the ACSI and SERVQUAL frameworks, it is expected that
customer expectation, perceived product and service quality, and perceived value drive
customer satisfaction in a retail company, while tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, and empathy compose the perceived product and service quality
determinant. Moreover, according to Chakraborty & Sengupta (2014), this study

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provides valuable knowledge for decision-making purposes of retail managers since
functional quality (which includes courtesy, good quality of customer service, and
accurate billing details) is a common factor of customer satisfaction but was not found to
be a statistically significant determinant of customer satisfaction with mobile network
provider.

According to Gavin (2010), world “quality” means different things people and
identifies five perspectives on quality; transcendent quality, product- based quality, user
based quality, manufacturing based quality and value based quality. As a result of
intangible, multifaceted nature of many services, it may be harder to evaluate service
quality than goods, because customers cannot be separated from service delivery
- process. Thus, cited by Prasad & Jha ,2013; Ushantha et al., 2014; Yap et al.,
2012; Pathmini et al., 2014; Mosahab, R., Mahamad and Ramayah, 2010; Beneke
et al., 2012 ; Koni et al., 2013), most scholars were on the view that it as a major
determinant to measure the customer satisfaction and some time as a determinant
of customer loyalty too.

According to Kotler et al., (2013), defined customers’ satisfaction as a person’s

feeling of pressure and disappointment the result from comparing a product’s perceived
performance or out come to the expectation. Cited by Esmaeili, Manesh, & Golshan,
(2013), argues that customer satisfaction as a state of mind where the customers
think that the product features are compatible with their personal expectations.
According to them if the performance falls short of expectation, the customer
dissatisfied and if it matches the expectation, the customer is satisfied. If it exceeds
the expectation, the customer is delighted.

According to Tam (2011), the early study on customer satisfaction emphasized

that achieving high customer satisfaction can generate more new and repeat
purchases and favourable word-of-mouth communication, which in turn will lead
to higher revenue and profits.

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 Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The descriptive research design will be used in this study, to gather data on
student commuters’ satisfaction on tricycle driver services in Notre Dame of Tacurong
College - Senior High School Department. Descriptive research method involves careful
selection of subjects, the use of instruments and well-planned strategy of gathering or
interpreting data.

Locale of the Study

This study will be conducted at Notre Dame of Tacurong College- Senior High
School Department, regardless of the inconvenience to gather data through survey
questionnaire in order to create a responsive action to find out the students’ satisfaction
towards services.

Sampling Technique

The respondents of this study will be the Senior High School students of Notre
Dame of Tacurong College to maintain the balance of the results, the results will use
stratified random sampling technique. An equal number of respondents will be taken
from the stratum population.

Statistical Treatment

The researchers used descriptive or summary statistics; this was used to

describe or summarize the data gathered to answer the specific objectives of the study.

The following statistical tools were employed with the aid of a statistician:

Percentage. To describe the rate of respondent’s satisfaction base on the behaviour of

the driver they encountered.

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Mean. The process of finding the “Mean”, which is referred to as the central tendency

will be used.

Rank. The ordinal number of a value arranged in a specified order.

Standard Deviation. A measure of the spread of scores within a set of data.

Research Respondents

The respondents of this study will be the Senior High School Students of Notre
Dame of Tacurong College.

Research Instruments

The instrument that will be used in this study is composed of self-made and
adopted survey questionnaire in a research study entitled “Students’ Satisfaction on the
Services Rendered by the Tricycle Drivers among Notre Dame of Tacurong College –
Senior High School Department.

Data Gathering Procedure

Data will be gathered using a survey questionnaire that will be floated to the
Notre Dame of Tacurong College- Senior High School Department. The data will be
collected and will be tallied and processed for analysis and interpretation. The
researchers will personally float the questionnaire to assure 100% retrieval.

Ethical Consideration

In order to comply with the ethical considerations in conducting research, all

participants are provided survey questionnaire to gather data and to participate in the
research. The participants willingly participated and the processes were explained to

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them. The researchers will not force anyone to answer the questionnaire and also make
sure that all the personal information of the respondents will be confidential.

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