IH02-PatrickLiu
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
[edit] Individual Assignment #2
Problem Description:
Public transportation plays a vital role in the daily lives of Berkeley residents. In my case, I wake up early in the morning, get ready for school, and head out. Somedays I step outside my door and I see the 51 bus rush by me. Other days I make it just in time and I see the bus on its way a few blocks down the street. And there always are those days where I stand at the bus stop waiting for over 20 minutes and arriving at my destination in a longer time than it would have taken by just simply walking. What exactly is the problem with public transportation? I believe it is the uncertainty of the amount of wait time. Every time I consider waiting for the bus I have to use benefit cost analysis, and compare whether or not waiting for the bus will be worth it or not. We all know that the bus schedules are supposed to guide us into making such decisions, but when are the bus schedules ever correct within a certain degree of error? I am proposing a solution to this uncertainty by creating a method or tool to allow bus patrons to be able to know exactly where the bus is located.
Project Proposal:
In order to eliminate wait time uncertainty I have come up with an idea utilizing sensors similar to the sensors in many retail stores. If the bus has a sensor on it that can be recognized at every stop then this signals the stop that the bus has arrived. Once a bus arrives at a stop and the stop receives the signal the machine in the stop will be able to calculate the approximate time it will take from this stop to the next. This time will be wirelessly transmitted to the next stop and that stop to the next in a series fashion. As the signals are being transmitted it can also distribute the information of where the bus exactly is on the route it is designated to take. The exact location can be displayed on a small map that has an L.E.D. light for each stop. Once the bus passes that one stop the L.E.D. light for that one stop will start flashing indicating the location of the bus. Here is a list of a few URLS that have related subjects:
•http://www.nctr.usf.edu/jpt/pdf/JPT%209-2%20Mishalani.pdf
•http://www.ce.umn.edu/~levinson/Papers/WeightingWaiting.pdf
Targeted User Group:
It is obvious that users of all ages and races use the public transportation in Berkeley. This can be observed by a simple experiment of riding the bus. So there is not really a sectioned off group for this project, however, if specifics are absolutely necessary, I assume the group I should categorize would be deemed the patrons of public transportation. Essentially the need is to eliminate the uncertainty of wait time when waiting for the bus to arrive.
Problem Context and Forces:
The biggest problem for me would most likely be funding and lacking the knowledge of the technological details. I do not know the steps required to begin such a huge project. Although the concept seems simple enough I would most likely have to prototype the project on a few bus lines before I would be able to implement it on all the bus lines in Berkeley. If this idea were to be a great success then eventually the project can be spread to other bus lines but for not I believe that only one or two major lines could be tested. Location is not really a factor because we know where to place these sensors; at every stop. Time may be a factor because of budgeting. There are no environmental factors because this project does not require tampering with anything that would effect the environment. The user group would greatly appreciate this project concept because one of the articles describes a similar project that is being conducted and bus user feedbacks are positive. The article discusses related solutions, but does not really detail the technology that would be used to implement this solution.
Diagram I:
The bus will pass by each stop and signal the stop that the bus has arrived. This is the first step towards decreasing wait time uncertainty.
Diagram II:
These will be the maps that will contain L.E.D. lights for every stop.
Diagram III:
There will be special indicators or signs attached to bus stops such as these.
