1 PASSENGER PERCEPTIONS TOWARD ELECTRONIC BUS TICKETING SYSTEM: THE CASE OF MBEZI BUS STAND, DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA isaac kilasi, tarimo, fortunatha. g, bulenya, mwasi.e, maita jackline.a, kitang’ita julius. n, migodela, teodosia.a, simbaulanga beatrice. e, mwaikambo esther. e, nnko, glory. e, adam akyoo COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND AGRIBUSINESS ABSTRACT This paper examines passengers’ awareness towards electronic bus ticketing system at the newly built Magufuli bus stand at Mbezi, Dar es Salaam. Following the changes in passengers transport ticketing modality from paper-based ticketing system to electronic bus ticketing system, there is the need for ascertaining whether the expected benefits are realized by passengers (avoiding irregular fare changes) and the government (improved tax collection from the industry). Questionnaire interview and rapid appraisal methods were employed to assess passenger’s attitude and perception towards it, and a sample size of 50 participants(passengers) was used. Though the system seems to be generally important to passengers the evidence is not yet conclusive across all stakeholders given the short time of operation so far. Results show an increase in the cost of operation to bus owners and inadequate flexibility to handle unexpected situation that may call for change of passenger’s travel date. Enhanced oversight is needed to ensure compliance to operational procedures of the system by all stakeholders; to include proper training and expeditious enforcement of penalties as and when applicable. KEY WORDS Transportation Sectors, Electronic Bus Ticketing, Perceptions, Awareness 1. Introduction Transportation sector in Tanzania (road, railway, and aviation) is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country due to intensification in budgetary allocation to the sector from the government. The sector rose by 55% in value during the period 2009 to 2014,i.e from USD 1.3bn to USD 2.1bn and thereby making a contribution of about 4.4 percent increase to the country’s GDP(Tanzaniainvest.com, 2016). i This rapid growth of the sector is driven by increase in the number of passengers carried and freight held through road transport. The increased performance of the sector contributes much to the economic opportunities in the country, as market access is easy, trade promotion, advancement and development of other sectors and creation of employment opportunities in the country(Lyatuu, 2001). 1.2 The paper-based bus ticketing system Paper-based bus ticket is a physical document that is used for travelling, it involves keeping information in hardcopy document. Under this system tax collection is based on the amount of revenue bus owners acquire (Jef et al 2010). The paper-based system is not only labour intensive but also porous as there is a possibility of tickets transferability between passengers. It is thus prone to poor record keeping which renders tax collection inefficient. Moreover the system is not environmentally friendly as it litters the surrounding (Lunogelo, 2012). This system is cheaper to owners as less money is used to prepare tickets books as well as slight amount of money is used to pay agents in comparison with e- tickets, where the owner of the bus need to have web site, technology, and savvy employee to run the system and serve customers (Jakubauskas, 2010). The system allows passenger to buy ticket from bus office or agents which is transferable thus if a passenger cancels his or her travel on a specific date he or she can resell that ticket to somebody else (Rafael.l, 2012). However, the system is time consuming as passengers have to stand in a long queue booking for tickets or looking for information on the schedule of buses which can lead to wastage of time (Al-hijaj et al,2013). Also, it causes duplication of booking or over capacity since each branch works separately in paper based-bus ticket system. Branch managers have to communicate on every customer inquiries to get latest updates on schedule and seat availability to avoid duplication of booking or over capacity(Alaya,2014). Moreover, paper-based bus ticket system can lead to risk of falsification, weak protection as the ticket can get lost, and it is not multifunctional unlike smart cards which can also be used for parking, library and shopping. Paper-based tickets are therefore not effective for underground urban transport. 1.3 The mode of operation of paper-based bus ticketing system The owner of the bus prints a book with a collection of paper tickets, and then distribute to booking agents. In order to sell as many tickets as possible bus owners employ many agents so as to reach many passengers. The process of printing does not involve direct payment of tax to 1 the government as per revenue they acquire. Paper-based bus ticketing involves mechanical or electronic punching(Jakubauskas, 2010). 1.4 The electronic bus ticketing system Electronic bus ticket is a digitally-enabled application that allows and helps visitors to check availability and buy bus ticket online (Asaad et al, 2012). The justification for adopting electronic bus ticket, include reduced administrative cost as e-ticketing is an improved highquality dispensation that allows better throughput of passengers, reduced fare evasion and fraud that would otherwise result from cash handling. Other benefits include preventing unwarranted fare hikes during festival seasons, save time as it require few minutes to book a ticket, improved efficiency and improved tax revenue collection for country development (The citizen, 2020). 1.5 The mode of operation of e-bus ticketing system. For a person to purchase an e-ticket he or she is required to download an app in play store on their mobile phones, tablet and computers. The user will open the app and fill all the required information about his or her travel, and submit the information and pay through mobile money service(e-wallet) like M-pesa, Tigopesa or Airtel money. Then the softcopy ticket is downloaded and saved on the mobile phone set this ticket will be shown on the day of travel as an authentication of payment (Busbora, 2021). 1.6 Comparison between e-bus ticketing system to paper-based bus ticketing system The paper based ticket system is not convenient validating like other type of ticketing system such as electronic tickets and smart card tickets which are more convenient to travellers(Jakubauskas,2010). Electronic tickets allows customers to buy tickets anytime and anywhere but paper-based tickets are only available in booking offices of the respective bus company, on other hand paper based bus ticket is not multifunctional compared to smart cards and electronic ticketing systems, for example smartcard can be used to purchase tickets for different purposes like for packing, library and shopping(Jakubauskas,2010). 1.7 Problem Statement and Justification Electronic bus ticketing is public transport system that enables passengers to save time and access relevant information about their journey promptly. Through personal mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and personal digital assistances, passengers access required information and make payments on the respective company within a short period of time. However, in Tanzania even though the system has already been introduced still 2 its enforcement is at a very low level. This is due to the fact that the technology is yet to be adopted by all passenger transport companies. The government has introduced the electronic bus ticketing system in order to address various challenges that passengers, transport agents and bus owner’s face for example fare hikes to passengers during festival seasons, and money fraud done by transport agents which reduce revenue to bus owners. Being a new innovation in our country, there is a need to examine perceptions of passengers towards the adoption and use of the system to verify whether the expectation of the government on this intervention is realized by passengers. The study will be useful in providing reliable information’s about electronic bus ticket system, which is useful to bus owners in improving and innovating both e-bus ticketing system and other services which will in turn make it easier for passengers to have access and use the system effectively. Additionally, the research findings can be used to provide detailed information to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) which will help the TRA management to properly collect tax (excise tax) from bus owners. 2.0 Theoretical background and conceptualization According to the citizen (2021) the minister of transport reported that the main reason for the adoption of e-ticketing bus system in Tanzania is to ease hassle facing travellers particularly during times of high demand as price hikes tend to happen and help the government in collection of excise tax. The relationship between loyalty and customer’s retention for eservices and e-ticketing: Appears to stem from commitment, trust, involvement of the organization and the perceived value of the service provided (Chen ,2012). The measurement of ticketing system, according to the author, the measurement of ticketing system has been conducted through three different dimensions: which is Information quality, System quality and Service quality (Shafique et al.,2019). Customer Technical support as an e-ticketing factor influencing customer satisfaction, the finding from the study on e-ticketing clearly indicates that customer and technical support are critical issues of concern (Buhalis ,2004). 2.1 Conceptual Framework The following conceptual model aims to show the way various factors influence passenger to use e-bus ticketing system and how these factors influence passenger’s perception towards the e-bus ticketing system and it also explains the impact of factors on the awareness of the technology. In addition, it also explains how the relationships of the independent and dependent variables are modified or rather altered by moderating factors. 3 Cost implication in adopting the system To passenger To bus owners Passenger’s use of e-bus Ticketing system. Perceptions Trust Website quality reliability Quality of service Easiness of use Time Government enforcement Education provision Level of supervision Laws and regulation enforcement Passenger’s level of awareness towards the e-bus ticketing system Figure 1: Conceptual framework of the research study Source: Authors’ own construction from literature 3. Methodology 3.1 Area of the study and sampling techniques The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam city at Ubungo district at Magufuli bus stand as it is the destination of many urban buses. The target population of our study was passengers travelling from Dar es Salaam to other parts of the country and those coming to Dar es Salaam and bus agents from bus companies which have already adopted the e-bus ticketing system and those which are not yet adopted. Due to variation of passenger’s characteristics made the population to be poison distributed. 3.2 Sample Size and Sampling Techniques The study used a sample size of 50 questionaries respondents was interviewed employing stratified sampling technique to select passengers during the study. This sample size was considered due to time constraints and budgetary constraints in the process of data collection. Moreover, the study carried out one key informant interview with key LATRA staffers as explained above to obtain key insights and information regarding the e-bus ticketing system technology. The insights were important inputs to account for information that came out of the questionnaire interview 4 3.6.3Data Analysis 3.6.3.1 Techniques of Analysis Data Analysis is the process of systematically applying statistical or logical techniques to describe and illustrate, condense and recap, and evaluate data (Lupyana, 2009). Qualitative data was obtained via semi structured interview. This study used a simple descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) analysis to analyse data on two objectives namely; examining the level of government enforcement towards adoption of e-ticketing system and to investigate the cost implication to passengers and bus operators on the change to electronic bus ticketing technology. On other hand a binary logit regression model was used to analyse data on perception of passengers on new e-bus ticketing technology at Magufuli bus stand at mbezi-Dar es salaam, the model explained perceptions as the function of Age of respondent, education level of respondent , time taken for a passenger to book a ticket, level of satisfaction by using a customer satisfaction score method(looking at the way passenger rank their satisfaction level), and cost of using the system and gender of the respondent. The technique is very useful when relating one variable (dependent) against many variables (independent variables), also it is easy and simple to understand it. Data was coded and analysed with the help of statistical software’s known as SPSS (Statistical Package for Statistical Science) Result was generalized to regional level (Dar es Salaam). 4.0 Empirical results and discussion 4.1 Socio-Economic Characteristics of Respondents 4.1.1 Gender of Respondents Table 2 shows that 56% of the respondents (passengers) were male and 44% were female. These results suggest that the sample is fairly representative and captured a wide spectrum of e-bus ticketing system users. This confirms that the research was free from gender biasness as male and female were both involved in research findings although results from field illustrated those men were more interested in using e-bus ticketing more than women. 5 Table 1: Distribution of respondents by gender. Variable Sex of respondent Frequency (n=50) Percentage of respondents (%) Male 28 56.0 Female 22 44.0 Total 50 100.0 Source: field data (2021) 4.1.2 Age of respondents Table 3 shows that 8% of the respondents (passengers) were of age between 18 to 20 years, 60% aged 21 to 30 years and 32% were aged between 31 to 40 years. This implies that respondents aging between 21-30 are more active in using internet, thus are those who contributed much on giving their views on perceptions towards e-ticketing system. Table 2: Distribution of respondents by age Variable Age respondents Frequency(n=50) Percent 4 8.0 21-30 30 60.0 31-40 16 32.0 Total 50 100.0 of 18-20 Source: field data (2021) 4.1.3 Education of respondents Table 4 shows that 4% of respondents (passengers) were of primary level education, 36% were of secondary level education, 14% have ordinary Diploma, 44% were of university degree level and only 2 percent of respondents have Masters’ degree. These results suggest that most of passengers are well educated and one would expect them to understand electronic ticketing system easily. Table 3: Distribution of respondents by Education level Variable Frequency(n=50) Percent Respondents’ Primary education 2 4.0 education level. Secondary education 18 36.0 Ordinary diploma 7 14.0 University degree 22 44.0 Master’s degree or PhD 1 2.0 Total 50 100.0 6 Source: field data (2021) 4.2.4 Awareness of the existence of e-bus ticketing system Table 5 shows that 84% of respondents have heard or used the e-bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi, Dar es Salaam while only 16% of passengers said they don’t recognise the presence of e-bus ticketing system. These results suggest that most of passengers are aware with the introduction of e-bus ticketing system in Tanzania. Table 4: Distribution of respondents by their awareness of e-bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es Salaam. Variables Respondent Frequency(n=50) Percent 42 84.0 Disagreed 8 16.0 Total 50 100.0 awareness Agreed on e-ticketing 4.3 Research findings This study had three objectives and the results of each objective are discussed next. 4.3.1 Objective one: To assess passenger’s awareness on the new e-bus ticketing technology at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam. A logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of additional cost when using ebus ticketing system, age of respondent, time saving, gender, and helpfulness of the system to passengers on the likelihood that passengers at Magufuli bus stand are aware of the existence of electronic bus ticketing system in Tanzania. The logistic regression model was statistically significant, χ2(5) = 20.396, p < .0005. The model explained 46.9% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in passengers’ awareness of the system and correctly classified 82% of cases. Males were 1.785 times more likely to be more aware of the system than females. Model Summary Step -2 Log likelihood Cox & Snell R Nagelkerke R Square 1 42.291a Square .335 a. Estimation terminated at iteration number 6 because parameter estimates changed by less than .001. 7 .469 4.3.2 Objective Two: Examining the level of government enforcement towards adoption of e-bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam. Government authority (LATRA) declared the provision of educational announcements regarding the shift from paper-based ticketing to e-bus ticketing system through social media, television, radio, magazine and LATRA website. This implied that the government has employed his determination and efforts on raising awareness level to the public regarding ebus ticketing system. To make sure that the system is adopted as planned, government added some new Acts in the Transport Licencing Act [CAP 317] of 2020 to guide the use of electronic-bus tickets in urban transportation system. Under section 31 stipulates that booking of tickets is allowed to be made by passengers manually or electronically, in addition section 32(1)(a) and (b) explains that a transportation company should ensure that the ticketing faculties are connected to an authorized electronic ticketing system and a crew is equipped with functioning electronic ticketing gadgets. This implies that although passengers are allowed to make booking with either manually or electronical, companies are required to make sure that they use electronic ticketing system as per section 32(1)(a) of the Transport Licencing Act [CAP 317]. Nevertheless, to confirm if the government have made any educational announcements regarding the use of e-bus ticketing system a key informant interview of bus operators (30 respondents) were asked on whether they have seen any of the educational announcement at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi -Dar es salaam. The table below show the distribution of bus operators by insight of educational announcement provided by government. Table 5: Distribution of respondents (bus operators) by their insight of educational campaigns/announcement regarding the use of e-bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand from government. Variables Intuition of educational campaign bus operators Frequency(n=30) Percent of respondents Announced 23 76.7 Not announced 7 23.3 Total 30 100.0 Source: Field data (2021) 8 Table 7 shows that 76.7% the interviewed bus operators had an insight of educational campaign and announcements in social medias and around Magufuli bus stand whereas 23.3% of bus operators argued that they had no insight of any ongoing educational campaign. This implies that government is trying hard to make sure the system is obligatory excellently and efficiency notwithstanding the available challenges that are faced 4.3.3 Objective Three: To investigate the cost implication to passengers, bus operators on the change from paper-based to electronic bus ticketing technology at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam. 4.3.3.1 Cost implication to passengers Fare prices for different routes changes and to most cases it was seen to be higher than during paper-based ticketing system and it is non-negotiable (Tadei, 2021). For example, fare price from Mbeya to Dar es salaam is 50000Tsh per ticket so a passenger using e-bus ticketing had to pay a whole amount, however during paper-based ticketing system passengers had chance to negotiate up to 38000Tsh (LATRA, 2021). The research findings shows that about 60% of the passenger agreed that there are some additional, about 18% of passengers were neutral and 22% of passengers disagree on the argument about additional costs in using e-ticketing system. From the result it is clear shown that passenger incurs some additional costs like cost of bundles to access internet during the time of cutting ticket, cost to access the modern equipment that facilitate internet such as smart phone, computer, tablets in using the electronic bus ticketing, although they are relatively low compared to that incurred in paper-based system. Table 6: Distribution of respondents by additional cost they incur on using the e-bus ticketing system to passengers Variables Frequency(n=50) Percent Additional cost on using the Agree 30 60.0 e-bus ticketing system to Neutral 9 18.0 passengers Disagree 11 22.0 Total 50 100.0 Source: field data (2021) 9 4.3.3.2 Cost implication to bus operators The study revealed that about 70% of bus operators argued that there is an increase in cost, about 13.3% of bus operator were neutral and about 16.7% argued that there is decrease in cost of using e-bus ticketing system. From the finding it shows that bus operators are facing cost increase in running the new electronic bus ticketing system due to double taxation especially when the same passengers postponed its journey, network problems that led to failure of some transaction and time consuming, high cost in purchasing machines used in electronic bus ticketing but also low storage capacity of charge by machine for efficient operation require more than one machine as an extra alternative on booking ticket when the float is over and the low government supports especially on common negotiations and sufficient education on both groups it only focuses on gaining its revenue. Table 7: Distribution of respondents by increase in cost due to change of the ticketing system to bus operators and owners Variables Operational Cost increase Frequency(n=30) Percent Increased 21 70.0 Neutral 4 13.3 Decreased 5 16.7 Total 30 100.0 Source: field data (2021) .5. Conclusion And Recommendation 5.1 Summary of Findings The study was conducted to evaluate passenger’s perception toward the use of electronic bus ticketing system, where three objectives were used in the study namely to assess passengers perception on the new e-bus ticketing technology at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam, examining the level of government enforcement towards adoption of e-bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam and the last objective was to investigate the cost implication to passengers, bus operators on the change from paper-based to electronic bus ticketing technology at Magufuli bus stand in Mbezi-Dar es salaam. Various statistical techniques used to analyse data derived from objectives of study. The study was dominated by both male and female with 56% and 44% respectively and about 60% of the respondents ranged between 21 to 30 years this implies that our study population was dominated by youth. In addition, the study was based on a small scale with just 50 respondents. 10 5.2 Research Objectives This study analysed the passenger perceptions toward electronic bus ticketing system at Magufuli bus stand at Mbezi, Dar es salaam by examining the level of government enforcement towards adoption of e-bus ticketing system, assess passenger’s perception on the new e-bus ticketing technology and investigate the cost implication to passengers, bus operators on the change from paper-based to electronic bus ticketing technology. The study revealed the following findings; firstly, despite the outlined benefit of the government about the e-bus ticketing system to bus operator and owner still they have negativity towards the system as cost for purchasing machines of the system is very high and there is double taxation when the same ticket is sold to different passengers when one postpones to take a trip. Secondly, the finding revealed that passengers have positive attitude towards the system as it saves time and money despite some challenges such as lack of opportunity to bargain the fare price. Also, the study has shown that many passengers have heard about the system but few of them have applied it. Third, the level of government enforcement towards the use the system is still at low level as few bus companies who are applying this system until now. Although there are penalties for not using this system not any have been applied to those who are not using the system because the system is still subjected to many challenges like that of network cut-off, thus making government agency (LATRA) not effectively enforce the use of the system. 5.3 Conclusion This study conclude that electronic bus ticketing system is more advantageous than paperbased ticketing system as it saves time and money to passengers. Although it has some challenges like network problems (slow down) still this system is the best as it will avoid unnecessary fare price hikes and will help the government to increase tax collection in this sector across the country. 5.4 Recommendations An enhanced oversight is needed to ensure compliance to operational of the system by all stakeholders; and that will include proper training and expeditious enforcement of penalties as and when applicable. Also, there is a need for the improvement of the network system across the country by allowing other communication companies like Vodacom and Tigo to be allowed as now only TTCL is used. Likewise, there is a need to improve network strength across the country as the system require a very active network for smooth transactions and communication, by doing so all other problems will be merged within. 11 Lastly, the study recommends the government to settle down with all stakeholders in order to settle some interests that bus owners are complaining about the system so that the system can be fruitful to both stakeholders, this will make the system more efficiency and effectively across the 5.5 Acknowledgements First and foremost, all praise and gratefulness are due to Almighty God who endowed us with strength, health, patience, and knowledge to complete this work. Secondly, we would like to express our profound gratitude and special thanks to our supervisor Dr. Akyoo Adam who despite being busy with his duties, he took time to guide and support us academically throughout this study. His critical remarks and comments were very constructive to our work; without that we don’t know where we would have been. We owe him much. Thirdly, we are thankful to all respondents particularly all passengers, LATRA officers and bus agents who were willing to respond to our questions and questionnaire during field data collection activity. Thanks to passengers and bus agents who responded thus providing us with requisite information to meet the call of the study’s objectives. Fourthly, we would also like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all our fellow class members whom we used to study and discuss together. We thank them for their encouragement, moral and academic support; the sleepless nights we endured together during studies and all the funnies we had in the class will always be honoured and remembered. Lastly, our heartfelt thanks should go to our parents/ guardians for their guidance and inspiration in our lives. 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Exp(B) 95% C.I.for EXP(B) Lower ADD.COSTS .697 .456 2.337 1 .126 2.007 .822 4.902 -1.719 1.015 2.872 1 .090 .179 .025 1.309 SAVE.TIME .203 1.035 .038 1 .845 1.225 .161 9.307 gender(1) .580 .817 .503 1 .478 1.785 .360 8.861 1.988 .717 7.695 1 .006 7.300 1.792 29.737 -3.182 2.164 2.163 1 .141 .041 age a Upper SATISFACTION Constant a. Variable(s) entered on step 1: ADD.COSTS, age, SAVE.TIME, gender, SATISFACTION . 15