Commute Time Research Articles

Entropic Dynamic Time Warping Kernels for Co-Evolving Financial Time Series Analysis.

Network representations are powerful tools to modeling the dynamic time-varying financial complex systems consisting of multiple co-evolving financial time series, e.g., stock prices. In this work, we develop a novel framework to compute the kernel-based similarity measure between dynamic time-varying financial networks. Specifically, we explore whether the proposed kernel can be employed to understand the structural evolution of the financial networks with time associated with standard kernel machines. For a set of time-varying financial networks with each vertex representing the individual time series of a different stock and each edge between a pair of time series representing the absolute value of their Pearson correlation, our start point is to compute the commute time (CT) matrix associated with the weighted adjacency matrix of the network structures, where each element of the matrix can be seen as the enhanced correlation value between pairwise stocks. For each network, we show how the CT matrix allows us to identify a reliable set of dominant correlated time series as well as an associated dominant probability distribution of the stock belonging to this set. Furthermore, we represent each original network as a discrete dominant Shannon entropy time series computed from the dominant probability distribution. With the dominant entropy time series for each pair of financial networks to hand, we develop an entropic dynamic time warping kernels through the classical dynamic time warping framework, for analyzing the financial time-varying networks. We show that the proposed kernel bridges the gap between graph kernels and the classical dynamic time warping framework for multiple financial time series analysis. Experiments on time-varying networks extracted through New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) database demonstrate that the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Implications of attending the closest school on adolescents’ physical activity and car travel in Dunedin, New Zealand

BackgroundHome-to-school distances and the need for students to be driven to/from school may limit adolescents' physical activity levels. School choice and school zoning policies can influence rates of active transport to/from school, and traffic volumes during school commuting times. This study aimed to quantify the effects of adolescents' enrolment in the closest school or not, on private vehicle use and adolescents’ physical activity levels in Dunedin city, New Zealand. MethodsNew Zealand Travel Survey data (2003–2013; 2493 Dunedin respondents) were analysed to examine school-travel related private motorised trips. Dunedin-specific data from adolescents (from six Dunedin non-integrated public schools without school zoning) were analysed including self-reported survey data on school travel modes (797 adolescents), distance to the current and closest schools (797 adolescents) and accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) (121 adolescents). ResultsDuring the school commute time (8–9 am and 3–4 pm), an estimated 11.5% of car trips (95% CI 7.8%–16.8%) and 12.5% of car distance driven (95% CI 8.8%–17.7%) were related to secondary-school travel with approximately half of these involving trip-chaining. Compared to adolescents living beyond cycling distance (>4 km) from their current school, adolescents living within walkable distance (≤2.25 km) and cyclable distance (>2.25-≤4 km) accumulated an additional 12.1 min (95% CI 7.0 to 17.2) and 6.1 min (95%CI 1.0 to 11.2) of daily MVPA during the school commute time, respectively. If adolescents currently enrolled at a distant school were to attend the closest school, they could accrue an additional 3.4 min MVPA during the 2-h school commute time period and school travel-related private car trips would be reduced by 7%. ConclusionsIn Dunedin, New Zealand, modest reductions in private vehicle traffic, particularly around schools, and increases in adolescents’ MVPA during the school commute period would be expected if all adolescents attended the closest school.

Patient and caregiver experiences at a Multidisciplinary Tracheostomy Clinic

IntroductionChildren with tracheostomy are a heterogeneous population requiring care from multiple specialties. Multidisciplinary approaches to treating such patients helps to improve the quality of care they receive. Our institution established a Multidisciplinary Tracheostomy Clinics (MDTC) to address outpatient care coordination for tracheostomy patients by providing care from multiple disciplines at a single visit. We report patient/caregivers’ experiences of our MDTC. MethodsPatients with tracheostomy or their caregivers were prospectively recruited between Dec 2017–Oct 2019 to complete surveys assessing their experience at the MDTC. Demographic and satisfaction questionnaires were sent electronically by a REDCap survey distribution tool. Demographic data were collected, such as patient's residence and education level. Medical care variables assessed included history of MDTC attendance, commute time, medical specialties seen, tracheostomy “Go-Bag” use, home-care nursing, and MDTC satisfaction ratings. ResultsTwenty-nine patients/caregivers completed the satisfaction survey and 22 completed both the satisfaction survey and demographics questionnaire. Patient ages ranged from 11 months to 36 years. Twenty-three (79%) participants commuted for up to 2 h to the MDTC, and 6 (21%) commuted for more than 2 h. The median number of medical specialties seen at the MDTC was 3. All participants were satisfied that they saw all requested specialties. Tracheostomy supplies were checked for 25 of 28 patients. Twenty-three of 28 subjects rated staff teamwork as “excellent.” Twenty-four of 28 patients were “highly likely” to recommend the MDTC. Twenty-three of 28 participants were “highly likely” to return, and 4 were “somewhat likely” to return. ConclusionThis study demonstrates that patients with tracheostomy and caregivers were satisfied with the improved coordination and facilitation of care through a Multidisciplinary Tracheostomy Clinic.

Disability, wages, and commuting in New York

In the U.S., substantial employment and wage gaps persist between workers with and without disabilities. A lack of accessible transportation is often cited as a barrier to employment in higher wage jobs for people with disabilities, but little is known about the intraurban commuting patterns of employed people with disabilities in relation to their wage earnings. Our study compares wages and commute times between workers with and without disabilities in the New York metropolitan region and identifies the intraurban zones where residents experience higher inequities in wage earnings and commute times. We obtained our data from the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the American Community Survey (ACS) for the 2008–2012 time period. We used linear mixed-effects models and generated separate models with log hourly wage or one-way commute time as the dependent variable. We find significant differences in wages and commute times between workers with and without disabilities at the scale of the metropolitan region as well as by intraurban zone. At the metropolitan scale, disabled workers earn 16.6% less and commute one minute longer on average than non-disabled workers. High commute and wage inequalities converge in the center, where workers with disabilities are more likely to use public transit, earn 17.1% less, and travel nearly four minutes longer on average than workers without disabilities. These results suggest that transport options are less accessible and slower for disabled workers than they are for non-disabled workers. Our findings indicate a need for more accessible and quicker forms of transportation in the center along with an increased availability of centrally located and affordable housing to reduce the disability gap in wages and commute times. We also find that workers with disabilities generally seek higher wages in exchange for longer commute times, but the results differ by race/ethnicity and gender. Compared to white men, minority workers earn much less, and white and Hispanic women have significantly shorter commute times. Our findings offer new geographic insights on how having a disability can influence wage earnings and commute times for workers in different intraurban zones in the New York metropolitan region.

P38 Passive Commuting is Associated with Weight Status of Emerging Adults

<h3>Background</h3> Weight gain among emerging adults is associated with later-life obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD). Time spent in passive commuting may be a contributing factor; however, this has received limited investigative attention. <h3>Objective</h3> To examine the association between passive commuting times and weight status in post-secondary students. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> Analysis of cross-sectional health assessment data from post-secondary students (n = 374; 17-26 years) was conducted. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> The outcome variable, BMI, was dichotomized as 18.5-24.9 and ≥25 kg/meter-squared. The exposure of interest was average time/week spent in passive commuting. Covariates included age, sex, ethnicity (Caucasian, non-Caucasian), living situation (with someone or living alone), sedentary activities (hours/week watching television + computer time >26 hours = excess), and overall wellness measured by the National Wellness Institute's TestWell Wellness Inventory (scores dichotomized: excellent/good and needs improvement). Bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses examined associations between weight status and passive commuting while adjusting for all covariates. <h3>Results</h3> Most participants were female (80.3%), between 18-19 years (56.7%), non-Caucasian (63.3%), lived with others (87.4%), had excellent/good wellness scores (67.9%), spent >26 hours/week doing sedentary activities (58.6%), and had BMIs within the healthy range (77.3%). Passive commuting times ranged from 1.5 to 40 hours/week. Average commute times significantly differed between those with BMIs within the healthy range and above (t = 2.315, <i>P</i> = .021). Based on multivariable analysis, for each additional hour of weekly commute time, the likelihood of being within the healthy BMI range was reduced by 3% (aOR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.95-0.99, <i>P</i> = .015). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Strategies to increase active commuting (eg, biking) in emerging adults may help in healthy weight management as well as prevent or delay later life obesity and NCD.

Thermalization in parametrically driven coupled oscillators

We consider a system of two coupled oscillators one of which is driven parametrically and investigate both classical and quantum dynamics within Floquet description. Characteristic changes in the time evolution of the quantum fluctuations are observed for dynamically stable and unstable regions. Dynamical instability generated by the parametrically driven oscillator leads to infinite temperature thermalization of the undriven oscillator which is evident from the equi-partitioning of energy, reduced density matrix and saturation of entanglement entropy. We also confirm that the classical Lyapunov exponent is correctly captured from the growth rate of ‘unequal time commutator’ of dynamical variables which indicates thermalization stems from the underlying dynamical instability in quantum system.

Commuting inequality, role of urban structure, and identification of disadvantaged groups in the Mexico City metropolitan area

Cities in developing countries are undergoing a vigorous urbanization process marked by deep social and economic inequalities, which are reflected in transportation. This study analyzes one-way Average Commute Time (ACT) in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, specifically regarding its spatial pattern in relation to the urban center and the differences between cars and public transportation. It also explores the urban structure drivers as well as the social dimension. Results show that ACT is lower for car drivers than for transit users. The curve depicting the relationship between ACT and distance to the center differs between private car and public transit, being semi-flat for the former and an inverted U-shaped curve for the latter. There is a higher spatial correlation for transit ACT than for car ACT. Based on the results from Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and spatial regression models, travel times from TRANUS transport model show that job accessibility plays a significantly inverse role in determining ACT for transit users and car users alike. However, this response is not consistent according to observed travel times from the 2017 Household Origin Destination Survey (HODS17). In regard to population groups, migrants and indigenous populations display significantly longer commute times, especially when using public transit, providing evidence that these groups are disadvantaged.

How Does Commute Time Affect Labor Supply in Urban China? Implications for Active Commuting.

This paper identifies the causal effect of commute time on labor supply in urban China and provides implications for the development of active commuting. Labor supply is measured by daily workhours, workdays per week and weekly workhours, and city average commute time is adopted as an instrumental variable to correct the endogenous problem of individual commute time. We find that in urban China, commute time does not have effect on daily labor supply but has negative effects on workdays per week and weekly labor supply. These results are different from those found in Germany and Spain, and are potentially related to the intense competition among workers in the labor market of China. Moreover, the effect of commute time on workdays per week is stronger for job changed workers. In addition, the effects of commute time on labor supply are not different between males and females. Finally, policy implications for active commuting are discussed.

Housing and Transportation: The Relationship between Residential Location, Local Retail Economies, and Commutes of Low-Income Families in Mexico City

This paper provides a new perspective on the trade-offs between housing location and transportation in Mexico City. Fieldwork provides detailed, community-level information on residents’ commutes across two neighborhoods that differ in their proximity to the urban core, and the consolidation of local retail economies. After controlling for household income, a residence in the peripheral housing development of Los Alamos increases commute times by 114 to 139 percent when compared with the informal community of Isidro Fabela in Mexico City. Informal workers spend 42 percent less time commuting than formal workers because they work in businesses within their local retail economy.

The Impact of High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes on Commuters: Field Evidence

Governments are actively investing to alleviate traffic congestion. Starting from the 1970s, a common policy has been to introduce high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, that is, traffic lanes exclusively reserved for vehicles with more than one occupant. Following the introduction of HOV lanes in several countries, their effectiveness has been the topic of heated debates. In this paper, we have a unique opportunity to empirically examine the impact of introducing HOV lanes on carpooling. In October 2019, the Israeli government has decided to introduce three HOV lanes. In this context, we have access to traffic and carpool data — from Waze (the free GPS navigation app owned by Google) — both before and after introducing the HOV lanes. We can thus rigorously quantify the impact of introducing an HOV lane on carpool intent and adoption. We also study refined questions around the effectiveness of different types of HOV lanes (2+ versus 3+), the impact at different times of the day, and the behavioral effect on commuters (e.g., strategically adapting commute times). Our study shows that the introduction of the HOV lanes led to a median time saving during rush hours of 5.7-15.7 minutes and increased the carpool rates by hundreds of percent for some routes. Interestingly, we find that the new HOV lanes have a global impact as they also raised the carpool rates for routes unaffected by the HOV lanes. This effect can be explained by the increased awareness of the public about the opportunity of carpooling.

A Survey of Burnout Among Members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand

Physician burnout affects approximately half of US physicians, significantly higher than the general working population. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of burnout specifically among hand surgeons and to identify factors unique to the practice of hand surgery that may contribute to burnout. A Web-based survey, developed in conjunction with the American Medical Association, was administered to all active and lifetime members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand using the Mini Z Burnout assessment tool. Additional data were collected regarding physician demographics and practice characteristics. The final cohort included 595 US hand surgeons (American Society for Surgery of the Hand [ASSH] members) and demonstrated that 77% of respondents were satisfied with their job, although 49% regarded themselves as having burnout. Lower burnout rates were correlated with physicians aged older than 65, those who practice in an outpatient setting, practice hand surgery only, visit one facility per week, having a lower commute time, those who performed 10 or fewer surgeries per month, and being considered grandfathered for Maintenance of Certification. It was shown that sex, the use of physician extenders, compensation level, and travel club involvement had no impact on burnout rates. The survey demonstrated that nearly half of US hand surgeons experience burnout even though most are satisfied with their jobs. There is a need to increase awareness and promote targeted interventions to reduce burnout, such as creating a strong team culture, improving resiliency, and enhancing leadership. Burnout has been shown to affect physicians, their families, patient care, and the health care system as a whole negatively. The findings should promote awareness among hand surgeons and inform future quality improvement efforts targeted at reducing burnout for hand surgeons.

Factors Related to the Commute Time of Dual-earner Couples: From a Family Developmental Perspective

This study observed and investigated the commute time of dual-earner couples from a family developmental perspective. It tested whether the household responsibility hypothesis was effective in explaining the gender gap in the commute time for these couples. I extracted 2,103 time diaries written by 1,266 matched couples from the 2014 Korean Time Use Survey data for this study. The sample was categorized by the age of the eldest child into four age groups of 0-6, 7-12, 13-18, and 19-29. Analytic results from ANOVA, Scheffé test, and OLS regression are as follows. First, husbands traveled longer hours to work than wives in all age groups, while the commute time of couples tended to increase along with the child’ age. However, couples in the child group aged 7 to 12 had the shortest commute time. Second, domestic labor time of wives were negatively associated with the commute time, which appeared to support the household responsibility hypothesis. Third, in the child group aged 7 to 12, wives spent more time for work commute as their income increased; however, wives with traditional gender role attitudes had a shorter commute time in the child group aged 0 to 6. Forth, neither the wives’ nor husbands’ work characteristics were related to the wives’ commute time; however, both wives’ and husbands’ work characteristics were related to the husbands’ commute time. The findings suggest the possibility of spatial entrapment by working wives throughout the family life cycle due to household responsibilities, which provides implications for policy intervention in consideration of the gender gap in commute time for dual-earner couples.

A criterion to characterize interacting theories in the Wightman framework

We propose that a criterion to characterize interacting theories in a suitable Wightman framework of relativistic quantum field theories which incorporates a “singularity hypothesis”, which has been conjectured for a long time, is supported by renormalization group theory, but has never been formulated mathematically. The (nonperturbative) wave function renormalization Z occurring in these theories is shown not to be necessarily equal to zero, except if the equal time commutation relations (ETCR) are assumed. Since the ETCR are not justified in general (because the interacting fields cannot in general be restricted to sharp times, as is known from model studies), the condition $$Z=0$$ is not of general validity in interacting theories. We conjecture that it characterizes either unstable (composite) particles or the charge-carrying particles, which become infraparticles in the presence of massless particles. In the case of QED, such “dressed” electrons are not expected to be confined, but in QCD, we propose a quark confinement criterion, which follows naturally from lines suggested by the works of Casher, Kogut and Susskind, and Lowenstein and Swieca.

Research and experiment of a novel flower transplanting device using hybrid-driven mechanism

Aiming at decreasing the component complexity and cost of flower transplanting machine, an integrated transplanting method for picking and planting flower seedlings was proposed, and a hybrid-driven five-bar parallel mechanism was designed. A “beak-shaped” trajectory was designed for integrated transplanting requirements, and meantime, either the posture requirements of transplanting claw were determined. Based on the transplanting trajectory of the mechanism, a corresponding mathematical model for solving the link parameters was established, and then the five-bar mechanism was divided into two bar groups, optimization was conducted in two steps based on genetic algorithm and NSGA-II algorithm. Consequently, the optimal solution of the hybrid-driven five-bar parallel mechanism for flower seedling transplanting was obtained. Compared with similar designs, the trajectory displacement of the proposed mechanism is larger in the condition of smaller link size, which indicates that the mechanism can effectively decrease the machine size. The real-time controllable motor angular acceleration fluctuation is smaller and the commutation times are less, which has the advantage of reducing the difficulty of the mechanism control system. Subsequently, the correctness of the design method is verified by kinematics simulation. Finally, the synchronous linkage motion control methods of the two motors were designed, a transplanting experiment of the prototype was carried out, the picking success rate had reached 90%-93.4% and transplanting success rate was 80.5%-86.9% during experiment, which showed that the integrated operation of picking and planting flower seedlings can be realized by the proposed mechanism. Keywords: hybrid-driven mechanism, mechanism optimization, integrated operation of picking and planting, synchronous linkage motion control DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20201302.5187 Citation: Zhao X, Zhang X S, Wu Q P, Dai L, Chen J N. Research and experiment of a novel flower transplanting device using hybrid-driven mechanism. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2020; 13(2): 92–100.

Does transport help people to gain employment? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

ABSTRACT The role of transport in providing access to employment has received considerable attention. Since transport policies may be motivated by assumed effects on employment probability outcomes, it is important to establish the nature of the relationship between transport and employment outcomes. While the majority of the empirical evidence suggests a positive association, it is not conclusive or consistent and often shows mixed results. To address this confusion, our study has systematically reviewed this evidence base and synthesised it through meta-analysis. We first identified 93 studies that quantitatively assessed the impact of transport on employment outcomes. By systematically merging the empirical evidence, this study establishes a positive association between transport and employment outcomes, with varying effects for four identified categories of transport measures (or combinations thereof): car ownership, public transport access, commute times, and job accessibility levels. This positive association persists in studies that control for endogeneity between transport and employment, but a larger evidence base is needed to establish a more robust relationship, in particular for cities and smaller (rural) areas outside the US-context and with regard to public transport. We then selected 20 methodologically comparable studies for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Our meta-regression models clearly demonstrate that car ownership significantly increases individual employment probabilities, in particular among welfare recipients. Young drivers benefit from access to household cars when these are not in use by their parents, and they are more sensitive to the time and cost implications of longer commutes. While our systematic review suggests that better access to public transport and higher levels of job accessibility increases employment probabilities, meta-regression analysis requires more consistent transport measures. The findings in this study are important for policymakers in that they imply that job seekers may benefit from public policies targeted at improving their access to public transport, in particular for people without access to cars and in areas with fewer job opportunities.

Torque Ripple Minimization of a Switched Reluctance Motor using a Torque Sharing Function based on the Overlap Control Technique

The torque ripple produced in a switched reluctance motor (SRM) can be seen as one of its major drawbacks. It occurs mainly due to the sequential switching of the motor phases and changes in the length of the air gap. The torque sharing functions (TSFs) are the more effective and favorable techniques developed to reduce the torque ripple in SRMs. However, the time responses of instantaneous torque for incoming and outgoing phases during commutation period (CP) are different. In addition, with increasing motor speed the CP decreases and the torque response of the outgoing phase oversteps it. In this paper, a modified torque sharing function based on the change of the overlap angle during the commutation process depending on the motor speed is presented. In the designed control algorithm of the TSFs, the motor speed is has become an input besides the rotor position and the torque command. The commutation time is precisely adjusted enough for the commutating process. The proposed method gives good results in a wide speed range. To deduce the magnetic characteristics of the SRM, finite element analysis (FEA) is applied and a look-up table model is derived. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control technique are exhibited in the simulation results.

An Ultraefficient DC Hybrid Circuit Breaker Architecture Based on Transient Commutation Current Injection

Protection against circuit faults represents a major technical challenge in the emerging dc transmission and distribution power networks. A popular prior-art dc hybrid circuit breaker (HCB) using a series load commutation switch (LCS) offers an excellent solution with arcless operation but suffers from a high conduction power loss associated with the LCS. This article proposes a new HCB architecture that relies on a switching-mode transient commutation current injector (TCCI) circuit instead of the LCS. The TCCI in the electronic path remains in a standby mode with near-zero power loss under normal conditions, but can rapidly generate a pulse current matching the fault current, and therefore facilitate current commutation from the mechanical to the electronic path. It completely eliminates the conduction power loss associated with the LCS, and delivers ultrahigh transmission efficiency. The TCCI circuit provides a near-zero voltage and a small high-frequency ac ripple current condition for the mechanical contacts to separate arclessly. A 600-V/20-A HCB prototype based on a two-phase current source buck converter topology and a high-voltage vacuum relay has experimentally validated the HCB concept, and demonstrated a mechanical to electronic commutation time of 7.2 μs, a total active response time of 310 μs, and a peak interrupted fault current of 89 A at a dc bus voltage of 400 V. The new HCB architecture can be applicable in medium voltage direct current (MVDC) (>5 kV) and high voltage direct current (HVDC) (>100 kV) applications as well.

Geographic Heterogeneity in Otolaryngology Medicare New Patient Visits.

To analyze the spatial variation of sociodemographic factors associated with the geographic distribution of new patient visits to otolaryngologists. Retrospective cross-sectional analysis. United States. Medicare new patient visits pooled from 2012 to 2016 to otolaryngology providers were obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and county-level sociodemographic data were obtained from the 2012-2016 American Community Survey. The mean number of new patient visits per otolaryngology provider by county was calculated. The spatial variation was analyzed with negative binomial and geographically weighted regression. Predictors included various neighborhood characteristics. There were 7,199,129 Medicare new patient visits to otolaryngology providers from 2012 to 2016. A 41.7-fold difference in new patient evaluation rates was observed across US counties (range, 11-458.8 per otolaryngology provider). On multivariable regression analysis, median age, sex, work commute time, percentage insured, and the advantage index of a county were predictors for the rate of new patient visits to otolaryngology providers. However, geographically weighted regression demonstrated that the association of a county's disadvantage index, advantage index, percentage insured, and work commute times with new patient visits per provider varied across space. There are wide geographic differences in the number of new Medicare patients seen by otolaryngologists, and the influence of county sociodemographic factors varied regionally. Further research to analyze the variations in practice patterns of otolaryngologists is warranted to predict future public health needs.

ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATIONAL DATA OF A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM: A CASE-STUDY OF THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT), LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

This paper assesses the operational data of a public transportation system, using the Bus Rapid Transit in Lagos State as a case study. Demographic data was collected through the administration of questionnaires to the commuters; this was carried out to observe variations in the population of the commuters from different perspectives. Some other categories of data were collected which include boarding and alighting, headway, arrival rate of commuters, waiting time of commuters and travel time data. These data were presented and analysed with MS Excel and Minitab statistical softwares. Results from the boarding and alighting data showed bus stops with high flux of commuters, these were at Ojota, Ketu, Mile 12, Costain, CMS and TBS. Probability distribution charts were prepared to analyze the remaining sets of data. This was carried out to study the distribution and consistency of the data. Coefficients of variation for the data were also estimated to study the variability of the data. From the study, the data followed normal distribution and they were consistent such that they can be used for further analysis of the system. It can be concluded that the distribution depicts the real situation at the study location. Thus, bus stops with high density of commuters should be provided with more buses so as to reduce the waiting time of commuters.

ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATIONAL DATA OF A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM: A CASE-STUDY OF THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT), LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

This paper assesses the operational data of a public transportation system, using the Bus Rapid Transit in Lagos State as a case study. Demographic data was collected through the administration of questionnaires to the commuters; this was carried out to observe variations in the population of the commuters from different perspectives. Some other categories of data were collected which include boarding and alighting, headway, arrival rate of commuters, waiting time of commuters and travel time data. These data were presented and analysed with MS Excel and Minitab statistical softwares. Results from the boarding and alighting data showed bus stops with high flux of commuters, these were at Ojota, Ketu, Mile 12, Costain, CMS and TBS. Probability distribution charts were prepared to analyze the remaining sets of data. This was carried out to study the distribution and consistency of the data. Coefficients of variation for the data were also estimated to study the variability of the data. From the study, the data followed normal distribution and they were consistent such that they can be used for further analysis of the system. It can be concluded that the distribution depicts the real situation at the study location. Thus, bus stops with high density of commuters should be provided with more buses so as to reduce the waiting time of commuters.