Assessing The Effects of Service Quality and Perceived Value on Satisfaction of Metro Passengers and the Effect of Gender Heterogeneity, using Structural Equation Modeling

Rail transit has a vital role in city’s transport system’s efficiency. On the other hand, users’ satisfaction motivates them to remain as rail transit users. Encouraging residents to use rail transit ends in less pollution and congestion. This study investigates the role of service quality and perceived value on users’ satisfaction using a data set of 363 questionnaires filled by Tehran Metro users. Using a structural equation modeling reveals that there is no enough evidence to believe in gender differences in the structure and coefficients. The final model, using the whole sample, showed that users’ satisfaction is affected directly by perceived value (0.470) and service quality (0.349). Results reveal that these two factors explain 54.3% of the variance. It also shows that the measure of "the comparison with an ideal metro" is the best measure of satisfaction, the measure of "benefits against costs" is the best measure for perceived value and "the train and the station safety" is the best measure for service quality. These measures can be used as areas of improvement to achieve a better level of service in future.