Factor analysis maps Johannesburg transport satisfaction priorities

A quantitative survey of commuters using minibus taxis, buses and ride-hailing services in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, identified five dimensions of perceived public-transport satisfaction: service delivery, accessibility, economics, operations and infrastructure performance. Exploratory factor analysis showed that these five factors together accounted for 70% of the total variance in the survey responses. The study, conducted among passengers in one major Johannesburg transport hub, provides a compact map of the attributes associated with satisfaction across three transport modes rather than a single measure of service quality.

Researchers collected questionnaire data from commuters using the three modes and applied exploratory factor analysis to examine the underlying structure of their satisfaction ratings. A Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of 0.866 indicated sufficient sampling adequacy for the analysis. The extracted factors captured 70% of the total variance, supporting the study’s central result that passengers’ reported satisfaction with multimodal transport reflected several distinct, measurable groupings: service delivery, accessibility, economics, operations and infrastructure performance.

The supplied findings concern perceived satisfaction among the surveyed Braamfontein commuters, not performance across Johannesburg’s entire transport network. Passenger rankings highlighted service delivery and infrastructure performance as the most important factors influencing the choice of public transport. The mode-specific findings add nuance to that result.

For minibus taxis, the study identified economic, accessibility and operational performance as areas that need to be maintained, while service delivery and infrastructure require improvement. Bus accessibility still needs improvement. For ride-hailing services, economic performance was an important attribute, but it may lead to dissatisfaction if not properly managed.

These observations indicate where the survey respondents experienced stronger or weaker performance within each transport mode; they do not establish that changing any single attribute would cause passengers to switch modes. The factor structure also offers a way to compare perceptions across minibus taxis, buses and ride-hailing within the same study. Rather than treating satisfaction as an undifferentiated response, the analysis separated it into five components spanning the cost, accessibility and operation of services as well as their delivery and supporting infrastructure.

This distinction is important for interpreting the 70% variance result: it describes how much of the measured response structure was represented by the five factors, rather than a claim that the factors interacted or that one dimension was solely responsible for passengers’ preferences. For transport operators and regulators, the results identify service delivery and infrastructure as prominent areas for attention while showing that the priorities of passengers differed among the three modes studied. The authors recommend testing whether the five-factor framework is applicable in other cultural contexts, including those in developing countries, before it is used more broadly.

That proposed extension remains future research; the reported evidence comes from one questionnaire-based study of commuters in Braamfontein and does not by itself demonstrate changes in ridership, emissions, travel times or systemwide performance.

Subject of Research: Passenger satisfaction factors across three public-transport modes in Braamfontein, Johannesburg

Article Title: Assessing perceived satisfaction with multi-modal public transportation in Johannesburg, Braamfontein, through a factor analysis approach

Article References: Kalaoane, R., & Gumbo, T. (2026). Assessing perceived satisfaction with multi-modal public transportation in Johannesburg, Braamfontein, through a factor analysis approach. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04685-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04685-6

Keywords: Johannesburg, Braamfontein, public transport, passenger satisfaction, factor analysis, minibus taxis, buses, ride-hailing, transport infrastructure, urban mobility, Assessing, perceived