Transit Part 3: Example of Minimizing The Impact of a Downed Bus

There are several reasons why a bus can go down during a shift.  When a bus goes down, a bus swap must occur.  Between the time the bus goes down and the time the swap has been completed, that bus and its driver are out of service.
 The passengers on the downed bus are also being delayed.  The passengers the bus was scheduled to pick up must now be rerouted onto other buses.  This means delay and extra stress on the system.

This example will show how quickly my program will allow a company to adjust to the impact of a downed bus and get a replacement into service.  First, let’s look back on the figures used for our company service area.

There are 16 hubs serving local areas.  Our base where the bus yard and drivers start out from is in Hub 1 area.  We are going to have our bus go down in Hub 16 area.  We will further complicate this downed bus problem by having it go down during that part of rush hour where traffic is at it’s heaviest.  We will also assume that during this time of day, it will take at least 45 minutes to get a bus from base out to where the downed bus is.

Dispatch learns of the downed bus.  The reason the bus has to be swapped out is not important here.  In one very swift series of events, Dispatch directs a bus that just arrived at area 16 Hub to go out and collect the passengers off the downed bus and continue the route.  A Supervisor stationed out of Hub 16 goes along to assist and because of procedure.  At the same time a bus from Hub 11 area is directed to move directly to Hub 16 area, to bring Hub 16 back up to the number of active buses it needs for current demand.  At the same time, a bus from Hub Six area is sent directly to Hub 11 to bring the number of buses in area eleven back up to where it is needed.  And a bus leaves Base in Hub area 1 and goes to Hub six for the same reason.

The passengers from the downed bus area transferred to a working bus and moving toward their destination within about 15 minutes.  The buses that shift from one area to another to fill where a void was left are able to arrive in their new area in less than 20 minutes.  This is because no passengers were picked up and dropped off during the transfer.

The downed bus is collected and taken back to Base where it is serviced or repaired as needed to make it ready for use again as quickly as is possible.  If the downed bus is drivable, but not useable for passengers, then the driver simply brings it back to Base.  The passengers on the downed bus were transferred to a working bus, and all hubs that were used to assist in the emergency were returned to fully staffed levels within 20 minutes.  Also, because of Space-Available program rules, space-available passengers were delayed as needed to allow each bus still operating to hold and transport a larger number of regular passengers.

Thank you for taking time to read my program.  Obviously, if I didn't believe in my own program, I would not have published it for others to read and ponder on.

An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
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