Connecting passenger loyalty to preferences in the urban passenger transport: Trends from an empirical study of taxi vs. VTC services in Spain

Abstract

[EN] Taxi service and private-hire driver companies (VTCs) offer their services through online platforms to cater for passenger demand yet there is a lack of studies as to who these passengers are, what their demands are and how to gain their loyalty over the next years. Based on a survey of taxi and VTC passengers in Spain, we have performed different qualitative and quantitative analyses to explore connections between loyalty and passengers' profiles, experience and values. The main result in terms of profile is that VTC passengers are more pricesensitive and less loyal than taxi passengers, who are less price-sensitive and more loyal. Regarding experience, loyalty to a taxi service centres on transparency and safety (trust), while in VTCs it revolves around quality and comfort. Finally, values are related to loyalty in the sense that passengers support the service they use most, but Corporate Social Responsibility does not influence a first choice. In terms of age, we observed that younger passengers are less loyal, more price-sensitive and more concerned with sustainability. This implies that these factors are worth to explore in other countries as they could drive the future of urban passenger transport. The results of this study show trends that could be of interest to researchers, companies and policymakers.