ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF URBAN TRANSPORT SERVICES IN BENIN CITY, EDO STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Benin City has one of the quality transport services in Nigeria which is located at ring road (Bobizua park) and third market (Osato park). Quality urban transport services in Benin City have been provided by public and private transport companies (Kantorovich, 2012). This has no doubt improved the socio-economic development of Benin City and Edo State large. This is evidence that transportation plays key role in the development of urban and rural areas. The role of transportation in economic development cannot be overemphasized. Transportation is the engine block of any society and hence provides room for effective socio-economic development and societal improvement (Ashenfelter and Card, 2015). According to Aweto (2015), transportation plays key role in urban development and nations building.
Research has shown that transportation alone account for about 46% of the total physical distribution cost for manufacturing companies and 28% for reseller companies. It is important to note that much such success can be accomplish in manufacturing, distribution of goods and services including the movement of people without transportation (Adeniji, 2010). It is as a result of the great importance attached to transportation that man has over the years developed various transportation modes in other to facilitate the movement of people and materials. The mode of transportation selected will greatly depend on price, time, delivery, condition and destination, passenger’s patronage, and past purchase satisfaction. This poor transportation management can therefore jeopardize the source of procurement of materials; goods and services, movement or people and even course increase in prices and loss of lives (Adefolalu, 2007).
According to Kantorovich (2012) achieving quality urban transport services is the key objective of every company, that is, if total profit for a period is to be achieved. This cannot be achieved if the management of the transport activities in an establishment is faced with some problems such as; delay in delivery of goods, improper handling of materials resulting in damage of goods, lack of qualified personnel, inadequate transportation system in the organization, and improper maintenance of transporting system causing breakdown leading to late delivery. For the fact that many people invest in the transport industry, effective transportation management is lacking in most transport companies (Adeniji, 2010).
