Effectiveness of Road Transportation Strategies and Accessibility in the Sidama National Region, Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the strategies for commuter transport services in the Sidama Region, Ethiopia, pertaining to a SERVQUAL-bases with multilevel modeling. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 379 households to measure perceptions of service availability, accessibility, comfort, integration, and overall strategy performance across a sample of ten kebeles from the study districts. Data indices are composed of 32 Likert-scale items, and a multilevel linear model described for clustering at the kebele level (ICC = 0.538). The results showed that service availability (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), accessibility to essential services (β = 0.36, p < 0.001), and integration and efficiency (β = 0.31, p = 0.001) are the strongest predictors of perceived transport services’ effectiveness. The income of respondents positively influenced the perceptions of respondents, while education, household size, and the utmost travel-related factors presented limited effects. The substantial variation in kebele level was observed, which implies the importance of logistics infrastructure and institutionalization and governance at localized interventions. The findings advocate optimizing access and service coverage and quality, consolidating modal integration to commuter satisfaction, and progressing toward Sustainable Development Goals 9, 10, and 11. The study significantly contributes empirical evidence and a validated multi-dimensional framework to transport strategies in developing and localized service-oriented interventions over transport planning and equitable services provision.