Commuter Satisfaction in Urban Road Transport Sector: A Study of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)

Abstract

The transport of people through public bus is important in making urban movement affordable and sustainable, especially in developing nations like India. Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is one of the largest state-owned bus operators in the world with an almost four million passengers per day; yet, the ongoing issues with quality of services, overcrowding, reliability, end-of-trip connectivity, and safety still pose a challenge to consumer contentment. This paper is a systematic literature review (SLR) of the 52 empirical/policy-oriented articles that have been published between 2000 and 2025 and aimed at examining factors that determine the level of commuter satisfaction in urban bus transit, particularly in DTC. Under PRISMA, a database search was done (Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Springer, Emerald Insight, Taylor and Francis Online, and Google Scholar) in a structured way. The results indicate that reliability, punctuality, comfort, and safety are always the highest predictors of satisfaction across all regions whereas the prices of the products, gender-sensitive safety, and last-mile connectivity are especially relevant in the Indian scenario. The digital innovations (real-time tracking, app-based ticketing), environmental sustainability (CNG and electric buses) are gaining popularity as the areas that impact passengers the most, yet have not been studied in Delhi. Structurally, international research studies use state of the art methods like Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Latent Class Analysis but the Indian studies are restricted to descriptive surveys and regression model. The review finds that there are critical researches gaps such as literature and practice do not fully consider the subjective well-being and gendered attitudes, that the extent of last-mile connectivity is not well quantified, and that there is a poor uptake of digital and sustainability metrics. In general, the SLR points out that, to improve the commuter satisfaction within Delhi, it is necessary not only to improve the operations but also to engage in the policy interventions that are inclusive, technology-driven, and sustainable.