Getting to class on time can be a challenge for Tech students, and it’s not always because of all-nighters or faulty alarm clocks.
Many students who have tried to take campus transportation to class know that the Stinger Shuttles and Tech Trolleys often have as much trouble sticking to their schedule as overworked undergrads. Luckily, a team of Tech researchers and students has developed a possible solution.
Starting out, this much was clear to the researchers: Bus services are most effective when times between successive arrivals at each stop are equal. Variability in traffic and the number of passengers inevitably lead to longer wait times and several buses showing up almost at the same time.
To combat this pesky phenomenon—known as “bus bunching”—John Bartholdi, director of global research with Tech’s Supply Chain and Logistics Institute; Don Eisenstein, MS IE 83, PhD IE 92; and Russell Clark, a researcher in the College of Computing, developed an equation to detect gaps and automatically equalize them.
This requires buses to abandon fixed schedules and have drivers follow the flow of traffic. Nadia Viljoen, MS IE 11, and a group of more than 15 students worked with Tech’s Department of Parking and Transportation to implement the system on campus.
They used Android tablets to alert drivers to how long to wait and when to proceed when they reach certain “control points” along a bus route.
The system went through a live trial in the spring semester with the trolleys on Tech’s main campus route, which has more than 5,000 riders a day. The team received positive results and promising reviews from both drivers and passengers. The team believes the system can also be adapted for subway trains or airport shuttles.
Now, if only researchers could solve the next-biggest problem for bus-riding students: finding a seat.
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