Proposal Project

Class: English 007

Group Name: “The A Team”

Members: Tyler Reiss, Shan Islam, Delwar Hussain, and Tyler Donoghue

Date of Submission: 11/13/2018

 

 

            More Buses, Less Fusses: Improving CCNY Shuttle Service

 

 

Introduction:

 

In the city, public transport is not only a part of daily life, it is essential. According to the MTA, nearly 400 thousand people ride the buses in NYC every day(1). With so many people taking the bus, one would expect the service to be exceptional. However, we have found the opposite to be true. The CCNY Shuttle tends to be crowded, and people are waiting longer than they would like for each shuttle. That is why we are proposing to increase the number of shuttles running by one bus (through purchases or rental) during hours of peak ridership, and to eliminate the 145th stop on the shuttle route. These actions would both decrease how crowded the buses are while at the same time decreasing the time it takes for the next bus to arrive. This will not only improve the wellbeing of the students, but improve the college as a whole.

 

Action plan:

 

Increase the Number of Shuttle Buses by one:

 

Administrative Action:

• Contact George Varian, Supervisor of Mechanics in Facilities Management Department; and Wendy Thornton, Interim Vice President of Student Affairs. Coordinate with facilities management and Student Affairs In order to obtain funds for the project.

 

Purchase option:

• Service Provider: New York Bus Sales / JP Bus and Truck Repair
  • Address: 7765 Lakeport Rd, Chittenango, NY 13037
  • Phone: 1-800-962-5768
  • Email: sales@newyorkbussales.com
  • Bus info:
    • Manufacturer: Blue Bird
    • Model: Vision
    • Type: C (32 passengers/handicap access)
    • Fuel type: Gasoline
    • Price: $90,181.57
  • Purchase new insurance for the bus being added to the fleet. $4000/year Quoted by State Farm Insurance.
  • Hire additional Motor Vehicle Operator (reference section 4 for salary)
  • This shuttle will run from 8am-11am and 3pm-6pm, in addition to the current shuttles.

 

Rental Option:

• The Rental service could be arranged with a simple phone call. The details are listed below.
  • com

 

• Contact info
  • Max Lenets- Client solutions:
  • Phone: 1-646-844-8228,
  • Email: max@bookbuses.com
  • Office Address: 415 Madison, 4th Floor BookBuses Inc. New York City New York 10017 USA

 

• Service Requirements:
  • Dates for Spring Semester: January 27,2019 – May 24, 2019
  • Dates for Fall Semester: August 27, 2019 – January 1, 2020
  • Bus service needed 5 days / week
  • Service Time:
    • 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
    • 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
  • Bus capacity; 35 adults
  • Bus Type: School

Removing Shuttle Stop:

• Coordinate with Wendy Thornton at Student Affairs to remove the stop at 145th street.
• Present survey (figure 1) as evidence as needed. (See cost benefit section and/or reference section)

Figure 1

• Once approved contact George Varian in facilities management to coordinate the new route.
  • Wendy Thornton: Interim Vice President of Student Affairs
    • Office: Wille Administration Building, 160 Convent Avenue, Room A 204
    • Phone: 212-650-5425
    • Email: studentaffairs@ccny.cuny.edu

 

Cost/Benefits:

 

            There are monetary costs associated with this endeavor. The two options are summarized below. A more detailed breakdown is available in the reference section (3).

   If we were to rent a bus, it would require less paperwork and a more streamlined approach. All costs would be included in the listed price. We would also have less liability as the rental service would cover the insurance as well. However, if we purchase the shuttle bus and hire our own workers as well as insure ourselves, we can save $464,602.86 over the course of 7 years. Even after the initial purchase the purchase plan is still cheaper. Clearly the purchase option is the least expensive choice both in the short term as well as the long term.

            There is a cost associated with the loss of the shuttle stop at 145th street. Some students use this stop, but according to our survey, 69% of the people riding the shuttle are taking it to the 125th stop. Also, an overwhelming number of responses (93.2%) indicated that they would prefer less stops if it would mean that there would be a greater frequency of shuttles.

            If this plan of action is taken, there are numerous benefits for the students. Surprisingly, out of over 100 students surveyed, 41.7% said that the shuttle was moderately crowded with 38.6% saying that the shuttle was very crowded. 52.3% of students also said that they wait 5-10 minutes for the shuttle, and 28% said they wait 10-20 minutes for the shuttle. Increasing the number of shuttles running would both decrease the amount of time to wait for the shuttle, as well as the number of people on the shuttle when it arrives. In addition to the direct benefits to the students, there are potential benefits for the college as well. Having a more robust shuttle service could be marketed to potential students, which would increase the tuition revenue for the school.

           

Team Members:

• Tyler Donoghue: Tyler Donoghue was born and raised in Long Island New York. He studied finance and mandarin for two years at Penn State University. He transferred to Stony brook where he studied electrical engineering for one year. After a year long break, Tyler returned to academic life, earning his associates degree in Medical Laboratory Technology from Farmingdale State College. He is currently working as a medical laboratory technician while studying for a bachelors in biomedical engineering from the City College of New York.
• Delwar Hussain: Delwar is a first-year student at City College of New York. He was born in Bangladesh and came to America at a young age. Delwar is the 5th of six siblings. He attended and completed middle and high school in New York; However due to some unforeseen complications he was not able to continue his academic life properly. He is proficient in Microsoft suite 365 and has basic understanding of computer programming languages Python and Java. Delwar has spent the past few years working in the hospitality industry. After a lengthy hiatus, he is now back in academic life and currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. Delwar has always lived in New York and one of his biggest dream is to someday travel the world and to see all the wonders it has to offer.
• Tyler Reiss: Tyler Reiss is a student of mechanical engineering in Macaulay Honors College at the City College of New York. Mr. Reiss was born and raised in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community of Brooklyn, a very insular community where secular education was severely limited and censored. Going against his community and extended family, he managed to acquire a proper secular education and get accepted into Macaulay Honors College. Mr. Reiss has worked as a day care counselor in the summer of 2016 and as a job coach/supervisor for staff with special need in a California summer camp. Tyler currently interns as a consultant for the Chuuze app startup and is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA) club, working on designing an UAV to partake in a competition.
• Shan Islam: Shan Islam is a Mechanical Engineering student in The Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York. He was born in Bangladesh and was raised up in Saudi Arabia. After finishing high school, he came to the states where we got into Arkansas State University(ASU) for his bachelor’s degree. From there he transferred to New York City College of Technology for his Mechanical Engineering technology degree. Later on he transferred to The City College in the consecutive semester. Back in ASU, he worked on an Arduino project with the head of the Mechanical Engineering department in his freshman year. He was also the International Chairperson of the International Student Association at ASU where he was in charge of keeping communication and organizing events with different clubs and organizations in the college. At City Tech he was a student researcher where he worked on a prototype for his mentor, Masato Nakamura, for a combustion chamber that could convert waste to energy. This research was of a crucial importance for him for he gained hands on skills and learned about different research techniques throughout the process. At present he works at City College as a college assistant at the Office of Diversity and Compliance. Moreover, he is also associated with the National Society of Black Engineers(NSBE) and is also working on a project for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA) club for a competition next year.

 

References:

1. mta.info. (2018). mta.info | Facts and Figures. [online] Available at: http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].
2. Reiss, T. (2018). CCNY Shuttle Survey. [online] Google Docs. Available at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1G97FklRqaftfWivgm2pjnpApMJ6m20FhkwN7HlPajt0/edit#responses [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].
3. org. (2018). [online] Available at: http://www.msbo.org/sites/default/files/BusLeasingCost-2011.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].
4. (Breakdown of costs)