Campus Bus Research Articles

Assessment of PM2.5 Concentration at University Transit Bus Stops Using Low-Cost Aerosol Monitors by Student Commuters.

Particulate matter of 2.5 µm and smaller (PM2.5) is known to cause many respiratory health problems, such as asthma and heart disease. A primary source of PM2.5 is emissions from cars, trucks, and buses. Emissions from university transit bus systems could create zones of high PM2.5 concentration at their bus stops. This work recruited seven university students who regularly utilized the transit system to use a low-cost personal aerosol monitor (AirBeam) each time they arrived at a campus bus stop. Each participant measured PM2.5 concentrations every time they were at a transit-served bus stop over four weeks. PM2.5 concentration data from the AirBeam were compared with an ADR-1500 high-cost monitor and EPA PM2.5 reference measurements. This methodology allowed for identifying higher-than-average concentration zones at the transit bus stops compared to average measurements for the county. By increasing access to microenvironmental data, this project can contribute to public health efforts of personal protection and prevention by allowing individuals to measure and understand their exposure to PM2.5 at the bus stop. This work can also aid commuters, especially those with pre-existing conditions who use public transportation, in making more informed health decisions and better protecting themselves against new or worsening respiratory conditions.

An Inertial Energy Harvester Based on Noncontact Magnetic Force for Self‐Powered Applications in New Energy Buses

The advent of energy‐efficient, next‐generation driverless buses places substantial reliance on an array of wireless sensors. In response to this challenge, converting and utilizing these buses' local inertial kinetic energy emerges as a practical strategy for achieving self‐powered capabilities for low‐power appliances. Herein, an inertial energy harvester based on noncontact magnetic force for self‐powered applications in new energy buses is introduced. The harvester system comprises energy capture, mechanical amplification, conversion, and storage modules. The energy capture module proficiently captures and converts the otherwise wasted inertial kinetic energy into magnetic force. The magnified magnetic force produced by the mechanical amplification module efficiently transforms into electrical power within the energy conversion module. Afterward, the alternating current is regulated and stored within the supercapacitor by the energy storage module, achieving self‐powered capabilities for low‐power vehicle appliances. At the same time, combined with the bench test, the maximum output power of the harvester under different vehicle acceleration scenarios is obtained. Taking the campus bus of Liaocheng University as the application object, the average output power of the harvester in the actual operation of the campus is 23.71 mW, which can effectively promote the realization of wireless sensor self‐powered technology in new energy vehicles.

A novel pendulum kinetic energy harvester based on magnetic coupling bistable buckling beam for low-power appliances in new energy buses

The rapid development of internet of things technology has created an urgent demand for wireless sensors. Although wireless sensors have the advantage of widespread use, their applications are limited by power supply. This manuscript proposes a novel magnetically coupled piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester (MPKEH) system to address this issue and enable wireless sensors to be self-powered. The proposed system included four parts: motion capture module, motion transformation module, energy transformation module, and power storage module. The motion capture module, a single-pendulum, is selected to convert the vehicle’s inertial energy into the mass ball kinetic energy. The motion transformation module, which includes a double-directional rectification mechanism and a mechanical speed-up mechanism, converts two-way rotations into one-way rotations and increases rotation speed. Piezoelectric material is frequently bent in the energy transformation module to generate alternating current (AC). The power storage module rectifies AC into direct current and stores the power in the super-capacitor, which supplies power to the electrical equipment. The velocity of the mass ball under five realistic bus driving cycles is obtained using multi-body dynamics software and Simulink. Experiments revealed that the average output power of the system could be as high as 2.4 W. Charging capacitors of 100 µF, 220 µF, 470 µF, and 1000 µF to 2 V using the MPKEH system takes 25 s, 49 s, 70 s, and 238 s, respectively. In the conducted experiments using the Liaocheng University campus bus, the maximum average power output reached 1.97 W. These results suggest that the MPKEH system can effectively self-supply energy for low-power appliances in new energy buses.

Penerapan Program Dinamik dalam Menentukan Jalur Perjalanan Optimum dengan Prosedur Backward Recursive Equation

In general, in big cities there are many lanes and intersections and this certainly makes it difficult for someone to determine the optimal route. Problems between travel time and distance from the location of origin to the destination location can also affect the costs to be incurred. To solve this problem, applied research was carried out using the dynamic programming method with the aim of determining the route with the shortest distance that the campus bus could pass from Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas to the Rahmat International Wildlife Museum and Gallery. Dynamic Programming is a mathematical technique used to optimize decision-making processes in stages. In this case data collection for all routes uses Google Maps which is then represented in a network diagram using the Geogebra application which is then completed using a backward recursive equation procedure in several stages, starting from the destination location to the origin location. With this procedure, it was concluded that the shortest route taken from Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas to Rahmat Gallery and Wildlife Museum Medan is Rahmat International Wildlife Museum and Gallery ® J&K Barber Shop ® Grandika Hotel ® Ring Road Intersection ® Universitas Katolik Santo Thomas with a distance of 10,66 kilometers.

The University of Michigan Implements a Hub-and-Spoke Design to Accommodate Social Distancing in the Campus Bus System Under COVID-19 Restrictions

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to significant challenges for schools and communities during the pandemic, requiring policy makers to ensure both safety and operational feasibility. In this paper, we develop mixed-integer programming models and simulation tools to redesign routes and bus schedules for operating a real university campus bus system during the COVID-19 pandemic. We propose a hub-and-spoke design and utilize real data of student activities to identify hub locations and bus stops to be used in the new routes. To reduce disease transmission via expiratory aerosol, we design new bus routes that are shorter than 15 minutes to travel and operate using at most 50% seat capacity and the same number of buses before the pandemic. We sample a variety of scenarios that cover variations of peak demand, social distancing requirements, and bus breakdowns to demonstrate the system resiliency of the new routes and schedules via simulation. The new bus routes were implemented and used during the academic year 2020–2021 to ensure social distancing and short travel time. Our approach can be generalized to redesign public transit systems with a social distancing requirement to reduce passengers’ infection risk. History: This paper was refereed. This article has been selected for inclusion in the Special Issue on Analytics Remedies to COVID-19. Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant CMMI-2041745] and the University of Michigan, College of Engineering.

Assessing the Potential of Implementing a Solar-Based Distributed Energy System for a University Using the Campus Bus Stops

Large educational facilities hold great potential for the implementation of solar-based distributed energy systems. The aim of this paper is to present a prototype and an assessment of a solar-based bus shelter photovoltaic system intended to be implemented at a campus scale that serves as an energy-distributed system. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a campus with an area of 7.3 km2 and bus stops’ roof area availability of around 1100 m2 was selected as a case study. The proposed system, apart from considering on-site generation, also considers an increase in end-use services such as the installation of television screens for information, charging docks, surveillance cameras, internet service, and lighting. For the assessment, a load facility survey and an estimation of the baseline energy use was conducted based on two demand use conditions, corresponding to 12 and 24 h for different archetypical stations. It was found that the baseline annual energy consumption for all the bus stops represents from 55–111 MWh. In this paper, an initial prototype of a solar-based bus shelter PV system is presented, and an assessment is carried out to understand its potential application at a large scale. The analysis shows that energy use in the retrofitted stations would rise to 167 MWh/year; however, apart from covering on-site demand, the system has the capacity to generate an additional 175 MWh, feeding nearby university buildings. It is calculated that the system could save around 130 t CO2e annually. The economic analysis shows that the project has a discounted payback (DPB) of almost 9 years and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 5.9%; however, in scenarios where renewable generation and carbon incentives are applied, this improves the project’s DPB to 6 years and the IRR to 13%.

Implementation of Dijkstra Algorithm and Welch-Powell Algorithm for Optimal Solution of Campus Bus Transportation

This research deals with applying the Dijkstra algorithm and Welch-Powell algorithm to on-campus bus transportation problems. This research aims to determine the optimal solution of campus bus transportation routes in the shortest routes and schedules. In determining the fastest way, each intersection represented as a node, and the path described as the sides. The shortest path obtained V1 - V2 - V5 - V8 - V9 - V10 - V13 - V16. In determining the optimal schedule, the number of buses represents the vertices, and the time expresses the side that connects each node. The optimal program of the bus starts from 06.30 am to 5.00 pm. Every bus gets four sessions of departure and four sessions return with travel time each session is 60 minutes.

Pengembangan Paket Wisata Usia Dini pada Unkhair’s Tour and Travel

Unkhair Tour and Travel as one of the tour agents engaged in tourism and education at university in North Maluku. Unkhair Tour and Travel has offered several local tour packages. Tour packages offered to prospective tourists from both students and local communities in Ternate City. From 2018 to 2019, the age category of tourists who are interested in it is the average age of teenagers to adults. It is a challenge for Unkhair Tour and Travel to introduce tourism education for early childhood. This research is Development of Early Age Tourism Packages by Unkhair Tour Travel. The problem in this research is how the development of early childhood tour packages by Unkhair Unkhair Tour and Travel. This research has a general objective, namely how to develop early age tour packages by Unkhair Unkhair Tour and Travel. This research used are marketing theory and using qualitative method. The result of this research is the development of components of tour packages including campus bus transportation, suitable food and drinks for children, decorations for early childhood, tourist objects (historical tours and educational tours), and entertainment. Namely games to get rid of children's boredom during tour trips and guides that come from a student of the Khairun University Travel and Tourism Business Study Program. Development of early childhood travel packages through brochure marketing and social media. Social media which is a means of marketing is the Facebook application through the Unkhair tourism account and WhatsApp through the Unkhair Tour and Travel group. Keywords : development , early age, and tourism packages.

Disease transmission through expiratory aerosols on an urban bus.

Airborne respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 pose significant challenges to public transportation. Several recent outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 indicate the high risk of transmission among passengers on public buses if special precautions are not taken. This study presents a combined experimental and numerical analysis to identify transmission mechanisms on an urban bus and assess strategies to reduce risk. The effects of the ventilation and air-conditioning systems, opening windows and doors, and wearing masks are analyzed. Specific attention is paid to the transport of submicron- and micron-sized particles relevant to typical respiratory droplets. High-resolution instrumentation was used to measure size distribution and aerosol response time on a campus bus of the University of Michigan under these different conditions. Computational fluid dynamics was employed to measure the airflow within the bus and evaluate risk. A risk metric was adopted based on the number of particles exposed to susceptible passengers. The flow that carries these aerosols is predominantly controlled by the ventilation system, which acts to uniformly distribute the aerosol concentration throughout the bus while simultaneously diluting it with fresh air. The opening of doors and windows was found to reduce the concentration by approximately one half, albeit its benefit does not uniformly impact all passengers on the bus due to the recirculation of airflow caused by entrainment through windows. Finally, it was found that well fitted surgical masks, when worn by both infected and susceptible passengers, can nearly eliminate the transmission of the disease.

Bird feathers are potential biomonitors for airborne elemental carbon

Birds can serve as effective biomonitors of air pollution, yet few studies have quantified external particulate matter accumulation on bird feathers. Biomonitoring of airborne elemental carbon (EC) is of critical significance because EC is a component of particulate matter with adverse effects on air quality and human health. To assess their effectiveness for use in EC monitoring, we compared EC accumulation on bird feathers at two sites that differed in vehicular traffic volume in an urban environment within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, USA. Moulted flight feathers from domestic chickens were experimentally exposed to ambient EC pollution for 5 days in two urban microenvironments 1.5 km distant from each other that differed in traffic volume--adjacent to an interstate highway and a university campus bus stop. Feathers near the highway accumulated approximately eight times more EC (307 ± 34 μg m-2 day-1), on average, than feathers near the bus stop (40 ± 9 μg m-2 day-1). These findings indicate that EC accumulation on feathers varies over short distances within urban areas and that bird feathers potentially can be used for biomonitoring airborne EC.

Life-Cycle Assessment of Carbon Footprint of Bike-Share and Bus Systems in Campus Transit

Low-carbon transport system is desired for sustainable cities. The study aims to compare carbon footprint of two transportation modes in campus transit, bus and bike-share systems, using life-cycle assessment (LCA). A case study was conducted for the four-campus (College Ave, Cook/Douglass, Busch, Livingston) transit system at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). The life-cycle of two systems were disaggregated into four stages, namely, raw material acquisition and manufacture, transportation, operation and maintenance, and end-of-life. Three uncertain factors—fossil fuel type, number of bikes provided, and bus ridership—were set as variables for sensitivity analysis. Normalization method was used in two impact categories to analyze and compare environmental impacts. The results show that the majority of CO2 emission and energy consumption comes from the raw material stage (extraction and upstream production) of the bike-share system and the operation stage of the campus bus system. The CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system are 46 and 13 times of that of the proposed bike-share system, respectively. Three uncertain factors can influence the results: (1) biodiesel can significantly reduce CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system; (2) the increased number of bikes increases CO2 emission of the bike-share system; (3) the increase of bus ridership may result in similar impact between two systems. Finally, an alternative hybrid transit system is proposed that uses campus buses to connect four campuses and creates a bike-share system to satisfy travel demands within each campus. The hybrid system reaches the most environmentally friendly state when 70% passenger-miles provided by campus bus and 30% by bike-share system. Further research is needed to consider the uncertainty of biking behavior and travel choice in LCA. Applicable recommendations include increasing ridership of campus buses and building a bike-share in campus to support the current campus bus system. Other strategies such as increasing parking fees and improving biking environment can also be implemented to reduce automobile usage and encourage biking behavior.

Studi Kuantitas Air Buangan Kampus Universitas Andalas Limau Manis Padang

<p>In this study, the quantity of wastewater from the existing facilities at the Andalas University Campus was carried out. The measured wastewater consists of grey water, black water, and specific wastewater. The wastewater was classified based on its activities, namely dormitories, lecture room, student facilities, offices, religious facilities, cafeterias, sports facilities, laboratories, and campus bus pools. The sampling method used was the bucket method. Grey water sampling was carried out on regular days (Monday-Thursday), worship days (Friday), and holidays (Saturday and Sunday), while specific wastewater and black water were measured on regular days. Peak hours occur at 12.00-14.00 except in the dormitory at 06.00-08.00 and cafeteria at 10.00-11.00. The peak factor of used water ranges from 1.56 to 3.13. From the measurement results obtained the wastewater from dormitory wastewater of 212.8 m<sup>3</sup>/day; lecture building 491 m<sup>3</sup>/day; student facilities 32.4 m<sup>3</sup>/day; offices 245.4 m<sup>3</sup>/day; worship 50.4 m<sup>3</sup>/day; cafeteria 109.2 m<sup>3</sup>/day; sports facilities 8.7 m<sup>3</sup>/day; laboratory 282 m<sup>3</sup>/day; corral 27 m<sup>3</sup>/day; and pool bus 34.7 m<sup>3</sup>/day respectively. The total wastewater from Unand Limau Manis Campus is 1,439.6 m<sup>3</sup>/day. The wastewater composition consists of, grey water 812.3 m<sup>3</sup>/day (52.67%), specific wastewater 343.8 m<sup>3</sup>/day (23.45%) and 337.5 m<sup>3</sup>/day (23.88%) black water.</p>

Transportation planning on green campus

Sustainable transportation planning is one indicator of measuring green campus. The transportation system has an influence on CO2 emissions in the campus environment. Transportation policy plays a crucial role in managing the number and type of vehicles that are allowed on campus. This study aims to analyze transportation planning within the campus that supports the application of the green concept on campus based on the perception of students as users. The use of campus buses and bicycles by students may help to realize the green campus. Planning interconnected buildings and corridors is part of transportation planning. The research method is quantitative with descriptive analysis. The study was conducted at the Universitas Sumatera Utara with 100 students as respondents. Universitas Sumatera Utara has campus buses and campus bicycle used by students every day. The results of the study indicate that the campus must have interconnected pedestrian lane between buildings and provide rewards to campus bus and bicycle users. Excellent transportation planning supported by campus management can help realize a green campus.

The planning of campus bus in Islamic University of Indonesia with geographic system information

Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) has more than 23.000 active students during 2018/2019 period. With a large number of students, there is high mobility on campus. Traffic jam often occurs in UII during rush hour since students have classes on campus. Additionally, the parking lot always reach the maximum index. Therefore, one of many solutions can be done to reduce traffic jam and lack of parking lot is by planning a campus bus in UII so that students do not need to ride a vehicle to campus. The planning of campus bus in UII consists of demand analysis, route analysis, bus stop analysis, and calculate the number of campus bus needed. Demand analysis was by distributed 500 questionnaires to respondents. The route analysis considered demands, potential areas, and road width. Bus stop analysis based on Decree of Directorate General of Transportation number 271 of 1996, catchment areas, and demands. Analysis for calculating the number of bus campus based on Decree of Directorate General of Transportation number 271 of 1996. The result of this research were three routes for campus bus in UII. Route 1 had 20 bus stops, route 2 had 19 stops, and route 3 had 17. The type of bus used were 16 seats of Isuzu Elf. There were six units for route 1, 7 units for route 2, and 5 units for route 3.

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The Route Planning on Campus Bus in H University

In recent years, the university development is at the expansion period. As the important part of the overall planning process, campus traffic planning gets highly consideration as to the university builders. The optimization of the transportation system will bring convenience and safe experience to the school staffs. This paper analyzes the current situation of campus traffic organization in H university campus, and establishes a trip map to the traffic network. Finally, based on the basic principles of traffic planning, we designed campus bus routes and sites. By using of cost analysis, we also design the optimal starting frequency, which optimizes the campus traffic system.

Green transportation system to promote sustainable lifestyle in Chulalongkorn University

Chulalongkorn University (CU) is located at the heart of Bangkok, which is one of the most traffic congested cities in the world. It is very crucial for the university to develop a green and clean transportation system that is good for both the CU community and the whole society. To reduce on-campus traffic, the university provides four parking buildings on the edge of four corners of the campus to serve visitors, students, faculties and staffs who travel by private cars. While providing added convenience, these parking garages reduce traffic congestion on campus and, thus, pollutions from harmful emissions and traffic noises. To promote eco-friendly transportation in the campus, the university provides “CU Shuttle Bus” - an electric shuttle bus service that cover not only campus area, but also reach out to public sky train and subway stations around the campus. The CU Shuttle Bus’s mobile application, developed by engineering students, helps improve user experience by showing all useful information including campus map, bus routing, and real-time locations of all buses. To encourage walking and cycling within the campus and to promote good health and fitness, the university has been constructing covered walkways and bike lanes throughout the campus. In addition, “CU Bike” - a bike sharing program, was first introduced in 2014 and has quickly grown in popularity among CU students since. A new “CU Toyota Hamo”, an electric vehicle rental program, is another great option of green transportations for those who cannot ride a bicycle and for older people of the aging society. All these projects help promote the development of innovations and practices that are both sustainable and protective of the environment of Chulalongkorn University, as well as the surrounding community, the country and planet as a whole.

Campus bus network design and evaluation based on the route property

A campus bus network design and evaluation, taking Tsinghua University as an example, is investigated in this paper. To minimize the total cost for both passengers and operator, the campus bus system planning in a sequential approach is discussed, including the route network design, headway (i.e., the inverse of service frequency) optimization, and system evaluation. The improved genetic algorithm is proposed to optimize the route network based on the route property, and the impacts of the fluctuation of passenger demand and average traveling time are analyzed. The identity proportion in the headway optimization is then introduced with full consideration of its impacts. Based on the actual variety of passenger demand, a non-fixed schedule demonstrates its efficiency. VISSIM is finally adopted to simulate the campus bus system and a comprehensive evaluation system for the campus bus is developed. Compared with the current bus network and the one without considering the route property, the evaluation of the proposed approach shows an improvement of 18.7% and 10.1%, respectively. Moreover, the sequential approach shows an efficiency improvement over the alternative method. It is of great significance for the development of public transit systems in large industrial parks to decrease the total cost for both passengers and operator.

Assessing DNA recovery from chewing gum.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate which DNA extraction method yields the highest quantity of DNA from chewing gum. In this study, several popular extraction methods were tested, including Chelex-100, phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (PCIA), DNA IQ, PrepFiler, and QIAamp Investigator, and the quantity of DNA recovered from chewing gum was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction with Quantifiler. Chewed gum control samples were submitted by anonymous healthy adult donors, and discarded environmental chewing gum samples simulating forensic evidence were collected from outside public areas (e.g., campus bus stops, streets, and sidewalks). As expected, results indicate that all methods tested yielded sufficient amplifiable human DNA from chewing gum using the wet-swab method. The QIAamp performed best when DNA was extracted from whole pieces of control gum (142.7 ng on average), and the DNA IQ method performed best on the environmental whole gum samples (29.0 ng on average). On average, the QIAamp kit also recovered the most DNA from saliva swabs. The PCIA method demonstrated the highest yield with wet swabs of the environmental gum (26.4 ng of DNA on average). However, this method should be avoided with whole gum samples (no DNA yield) due to the action of the organic reagents in dissolving and softening the gum and inhibiting DNA recovery during the extraction.

Determinants of satisfaction with campus transportation services: Implications for service quality

Background: In a number of countries, buses are a critical element of public transportation, providing the most inclusive and sustainable mode of transportation to all forms of citizenry, including staff and students of universities.Objectives: The study examines the determinants of satisfaction with campus bus transportation. The article is primarily discursive and based on the synthesis of existing service literature supported by data obtained from a survey of 847 respondents.Method: Structural equation modelling is undertaken using AMOS 19, allowing for the examination of compound relationships between service engagement variables.Results: Results show statistically significant differences between perceived service quality and travel routes. The authors argue that managerial attention to service user experiences does not only hold the key to ongoing competitive success in campus transportation services but also that those services can be significantly enriched through greater managerial attention to the interface between risk of financial loss (which increases when the campus bus transportation service provider becomes less able to compete) and service quality.Conclusion: The authors argue that if providers of campus bus transportation services are to rise to their service delivery challenges and also maintain or improve upon their market positions, they must conceptualise their services in a manner that takes into consideration the two-way interrelationship between risk of financial loss and service quality. It must also be noted that, although this study may have relevance for firm–firm scenarios, its focus is primarily on service supplier firm–customer service engagements.Keywords: Modelling; Transportation; Service