Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction in Mobile App-Based Taxi Services

With the technology revolution, studying about customer satisfaction has been a major concern for the companies in highly competitive industries. Transportation industry is not an exception, especially, the mobile app-based taxi industry in past few years with the increased usage of mobile applications. A good customer base for a company ensures the long-term survival and competitiveness in the market. Achieving customer satisfaction is the only way to gain and retain a good customer base for the company. Therefore, focusing on the factors affecting the customer satisfaction is important to gain competitive advantage and to become the leader in the industry. Though there were some studies done in this domain, there was a lack of research in relation to mobile app-based taxi service in the Sri Lankan context. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting customer satisfaction in mobile app-based taxi services and to identify their impact. The research model and the hypotheses for the study were derived based on a comprehensive review of literature. The study followed a positivistic approach with the quantitative method. Convenience sampling method was used due to the time constraint of this research. An online questionnaire survey was administered to collect data for this study. Data analysis was done using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The model was tested by collecting data from hundred mobile app-based taxi users in the Colombo District. Reliability and validity of the measurement instrument were established. Price, Trust and Coupon Redemption had significant effects on Customer Satisfaction in mobile app-based taxi services. The findings of this study provided implications for policy makers and mobile app-based taxi service companies. Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Taxi Services; Mobile app-based taxi; Transportatio

Simulator study to determine the wind speed limitation for a Passenger Cruise Vessel entering and berthing in the Port of Hambantota, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is being promoted as a tourist destination and the port of Hambanthota is having visits from Passengers. The port of Hambanthota in Sri Lanka is on the busy main east-west sea route. It has become necessary to determine if a Passenger Cruise Ship can be berthed safely in differing monsoonal wind conditions. Before a ship is manoeuvred into a port in the real sense, simulator trials are necessary to be carried out to see if the ship can be manoeuvred safely in varying conditions with all available resources. Simulator trials have been recognized as a cost-effective way to determine the safe limitations and prevent mishaps. The CINEC simulator research team successfully created the simulator environment of the port of Hambanthota as a part of the research under AHEAD operations of the ministry of high education funded by the world bank. As per the analysis of the results of simulator trials, it has been concluded that the wind speed should be limited to 20 knots for safe berthing mainly due to the berthing tug power used

Seroconversion to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus and Cross-Reactive Immunity to Other Swine Influenza Viruses

To assess herd immunity to swine influenza viruses, we determined antibodies in 28 paired serum samples from participants in a prospective serologic cohort study in Hong Kong who had seroconverted to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus. Results indicated that infection with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 broadens cross-reactive immunity to other recent subtype H1 swine viruses

Distribution, Natural History and the Conservation Status of Hemiphyllodactylus typus and Lepidodactylus lugubris (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a rich assemblage of gekkonid fauna. Among Sri Lankan geckos, rare species such as Hemiphyllodactylus typus and Lepidodactylus lugubris are poorly studied; both are considered vulnerable in national conservation assessments. Detailed ecological studies are needed for robust conservation assessments of these species, especially with the focus on island-wide distribution and microhabitat requirements. This study was conducted via patch sampling to record relative abundance and distribution of H. typus and L. lugubris based on random walks to 82 locations representing the three major bioclimatic zones of Sri Lanka. Morphological characteristics, behavior, and habitat use of the focal species were recorded. A total of 17 and 14 individuals of H. typus and L. lugubris were found, respectively, which indicated the low abundance of both species. Both species were nocturnal, arboreal, and did not den with conspecifics; they mostly preferred close-canopy, dense woody vegetation having mature moss-covered tree trunks with peeling barks and crevices over built-up environments. No records on oviposition were noted for either species. Both species were sluggish in their movements, even when disturbed. Currently known populations of both species occur in severely fragmented unprotected small forest patches. Therefore, habitat loss and fragmentation threaten these populations unless protected areas of Sri Lanka are expanded and functional connectivity is established

A new eco-friendly initiative for last food mile delivery in urban areas

The last food mile delivery involves the final step of delivering food products to the end customers. By developing e-commerce channels, home delivery is considered the final mile of food delivery. However, although home food delivery has received much welcome from consumers, it is still one of the costliest and most polluting segments in the food supply chain, and its optimisation is highly felt. Thus, this paper proposes a new initiative to reduce the environmental impacts of home food deliveries from retailers in urban areas. Last food mile models for both the conventional approach in which each retailer has its own dark store and for a proposed approach in which all retailers have only one common dark store for home food delivery are developed. A Vehicle Route Problem with Time Window (VRPTW) and heterogeneous fleet are developed to minimise both CO2 emission and transportation cost simultaneously and implemented using a simulated annealing algorithm that is programmed in MATLAB software. The obtained results revealed that the proposed initiative's application can significantly impact the reduction of both CO2 emission and transportation costs

Search for Rare and Forbidden Dilepton Decays of the D+, Ds, and D0 Charmed Mesons

We report the results of a search for flavor-changing neutral current, lepton-flavor violating, and lepton-number violating decays of D+, Ds, and D0 mesons (and their antiparticles) into modes containing muons and electrons. Using data from Fermilab charm hadroproduction experiment E791, we examine the pi,l,l and K,l,l decay modes of D+ and Ds and the l+l- decay modes of D0. No evidence for any of these decays is found. Therefore, we present branching-fraction upper limits at 90% confidence level for the 24 decay modes examined. Eight of these modes have no previously reported limits, and fourteen are reported with significant improvements over previously published results.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, elsart.cls, epsf.sty, amsmath.sty Submitted to Physics Letters

Measurement of the form-factor ratios for D+ --> K* l nu

The form factor ratios rv=V(0)/A1(0), r2=A2(0)/A1(0) and r3=A3(0)/A1(0) in the decay D+ --> K* l nu, K* -->K-pi+ have been measured using data from charm hadroproduction experiment E791 at Fermilab. From 3034 (595) signal (background) events in the muon channel, we obtain rv=1.84+-0.11+-0.09, r2=0.75+-0.08+-0.09 and, as a first measurement of r3, we find 0.04+-0.33 +-0.29. The values of the form factor ratios rv and r2 measured for the muon channel are combined with the values of rv and r2 that we have measured in the electron channel. The combined E791 results for the muon and electron channels are rv=1.87+-0.08+-0.07 and r2=0.73+-0.06+-0.08.Comment: 9 pages + 3 figures ; submitted to PL

Differential cross sections, charge production asymmetry, and spin-density matrix elements for D*(2010) produced in 500 GeV/c pi^- nucleon interactions

We report differential cross sections for the production of D*(2010) produced in 500 GeV/c pi^- nucleon interactions from experiment E791 at Fermilab, as functions of Feynman-x (x_F) and transverse momentum squared (p_T^2). We also report the D* +/- charge asymmetry and spin-density matrix elements as functions of these variables. Investigation of the spin-density matrix elements shows no evidence of polarization. The average values of the spin alignment are \eta= 0.01 +- 0.02 and -0.01 +- 0.02 for leading and non-leading particles, respectively.Comment: LaTeX2e (elsart.cls). 13 pages, 6 figures (eps files). Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters