CRITICAL DIMENSIONS ON RIDE SHARING SERVICES (RSS) IN KLANG VALLEY

Abstract

The rising growth of the urban population has experienced a strong growth of the Malaysian ehailing industry as it becomes nowadays most favorable public transport. This scenario supported by traffic congestion, unable to afford own car due to high cost of living and also rising fuel prices which encourage budget conscious travelers to opt for cheaper modes of public transport of getting around. The ride sharing services (RSS) is a relatively recent phenomenon in Malaysia. It is the next version of the taxi service, one that can be accessed through an app on a smartphone. Since 2016, 80% of Malaysians prefer to Uber and Grab over taxis. This might be due to many reasons. Therefore, this study identifies the factors influencing customer satisfaction of RSS in Malaysia. The independent variables are mobile app, punctuality, safety, comfort, and price; and the dependent variable is customer satisfaction. The quantitative methodology used gathered a population size of 200 RSS customers of Grab and Uber in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. A questionnaire via google form was utilized as a research tool to collect the data on February 2018. The analysis demonstrates the influence of mobile app, punctuality and the safety of services on customers’ satisfaction. Among all the variables, mobile app is the most influential factor that affects customers’ satisfaction of ride-sharing services in Malaysia due to the extensiveness of mobile technology and user-friendly applications are the key factors in supporting the e-hailing industry’s rapid expansion.