PASSENGERS? PERCEPTIONS OF THE SERVICE QUALITY AND OPERATION OF A BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM (TRANS SEMARANG) IN SEMARANG, INDONESIA

The increasing population in urban areas has expanded the role of the transportation system to meet people's mobility needs in developing countries. Since the demand for transportation services is proliferating, bus rapid transit (BRT) offers the opportunity to create a high-quality mass transit system in developing countries. The presence of BRT Trans Semarang, however, has not yet become a solution to city traffic problems since the transit system and its operation are not yet implemented. This study aims to explore the service quality and operation of BRT based on observations and passengers' viewpoints at the BRT shelter, which is located in the central business district. The method of the research is a statistical descriptive and qualitative analysis using variables from passengers' perspectives and observations on bus operation. The result shows that the capacity of the transit shelter, the interval between bus arrivals, bus dwell times, and BRT infrastructures (door size) are the most influential variables on passengers' satisfaction. Furthermore, from the operation point of view, users' trip destinations and maximum delay times are considered important for the improvement of BRT service.