Model of users׳ expectations of drivers of sightseeing buses: confirmatory factor analysis

Annually, more than 13 million students in Thailand ride sightseeing buses in making field trips. Resulting bus accidents may be attributed to the shortcomings of the bus drivers. This study investigates the users׳ expectations of drivers of sightseeing buses to advise tour bus businesses on how to improve travel safety in response to user needs. Two bus user groups (teachers and parents) in urban and rural areas were surveyed for their expectations of sightseeing bus drivers in terms of age, experience, education, driving license, driving skill pertaining to the route, training, and no drinking or smoking. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all seven indicators affect the expectations of users in rural zones; albeit only five indicators were fitted with urban model by discarding experience and driving license indicators. Urban users gave the highest priority to 'no drinking or smoking'; while 'training' was of most concern to rural users. Additionally, multi-group analysis found that the variable structures of the users׳ expectations of sightseeing bus drivers are homologous for urban and rural groups with some variables having dissimilar significance depending on the geographical conditions of each area. It has been found that most accidents around the world were caused by driver negligence similar to those found in Thailand. So, these results and the potential interest of this work can also be useful to readers outside Thailand.