The quality of service: one of the main challenges of tomorrow

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In the context of tenders for urban and interurban transports, it seems there is an increase in the weight of the quality of service. The share of at risk revenues of the transport company correlated with the Quality of Service will tend to increase, proving that it is becoming a strategic issue. Beyond the human resources assigned to control missions in the field, the information system seems to be becoming a competitive advantage.

Currently, the Quality of Service results are mainly obtained from measurements of the transit offer made. In the near future, it is very likely that public opinion surveys or analysis of CAS feedback will be directly part of a set of indicators and will, then, have a direct impact on the turnover of the transport company. This is a trend, the objective of user customer satisfaction will probably not be fully integrated into future transport contracts and tenders.

We will have understood it: The Quality of Service will contribute to zero penalties. It seems certain that the transit authorities establish a reinforced correlation between the Quality of Service and the profitability of the transport offer. By playing on penalties, the ambition is service excellence. The Quality of Service data can, at first, be assimilated to a set of information from different software, identifying the multiple aspects of the criteria selected.

Our approach is based on a division of criterias:
- the criteria for the perimeter and the park (sedentary): they report directly to the organization and the resources implemented with measurements being the raw material for dashboards. Combined with careful planning, these measures can avoid harsh penalties. Planning tools must not only cover the criteria chosen but also allow a precise analysis of the effectiveness of the resources committed,
- the criteria directly resulting from the performance of the service; with different sources.  If we observe a criteria such as punctuality or connections, we understand that the effectiveness of the criteria depends both on the quality of the analysis of journey times, management and communication with the rolling staff (without forgetting the increased importance of regulation).