Browsing by Subject "Public transportation"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    An Analysis of the Public and Private Transportation Costs of a Rural Agricultural Area
    (1992-01) Fruin, Jerry; Halbach, Dan
    The objective of this study was to develop a computer simulation model to determine the types and amounts of transportation costs in a rural agricultural area under the conditions existing in 1989. Then different assumptions about the road infrastructure could be made and corresponding changes made to the model. The simulation model would be rerun for each set of assumptions and the results analyzed to determine how the different costs change with different infrastructures. This unique approach considers both the public costs such as the maintenance and construction costs paid by tax payers and user fees and the private costs, which are the costs incurred by individuals and firms operating vehicles over the road systems as they travel or move goods.
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    Optimal Bus Scheduling Considering Operating Costs and Emissions: A Multiple Objective, Mixed Integer Programming Framework
    (2015-12) Sun, Bixuan
    Traditional vehicle scheduling problems primarily focus on minimizing operating costs, and few of them consider the environmental impacts of the fleet operation. This study develops a framework that optimizes bus assignments to routes with the objective of minimizing both operating costs and the environmental impacts of emissions. The optimization model is applied in a case study of Metro Transit in Minneapolis/St Paul area. The results show a set of tradeoff relationships between operating costs and emissions. The optimized vehicle assignments generated by the model can significantly reduce both the operating costs and emissions of the current fleet. It is also found that hybrid electric buses were underused by Metro Transit in 2013 and should be assigned to service more often. The analysis can also provide useful supporting information for strategic decisions such as vehicle replacement and purchase.
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    Why Students Avoid Free Public Transportation to UMD
    (2019) Epstein, Juliana
    This research evaluates factors influencing public transportation use among students at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). All UMD students have the opportunity to ride the public transit of Duluth for free with their university identification card; however, many students do not use the bus to regularly get to campus. Past research identifies reasons that logistically impede people from conveniently taking the public transit. The research pinpoints attitudes and beliefs that may stop people from riding public buses. Perceived barriers of time inefficiency and the inexperience of busing experience stop students from riding the public buses in Duluth.