MIT team’s school-bus algorithm could save $5M and 1M bus miles

Post by KGIII » Sat, Aug 12, 2017, 4:01 AM UTC

Mz wrote: post #96

KGIII wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I modeled traffic. I sold my company and retired, years ago. People don't realize how complicated traffic really is. It's a chaotic system, of sorts. You can tease out patterns with some work. Anyhow, to add to your point, you can model all you want - but some drunk is going to reverse the wrong way down a one way street. One of these days, maybe I'll get around to putting my experiences into giant walls of text.

I am curious: do you know anything about rail?

Post by chaboud » Sat, Aug 12, 2017, 5:19 AM UTC

towndrunk wrote: post #8

Kind of off topic but... why is no one converting school buses to electric? Seems like a perfect opportunity. Lots of space for batteries. High torque. Short runs in the morning and afternoon. Think of how many diesel school busses there are across just the USA every morning.

Post by jacalata » Sat, Aug 12, 2017, 6:31 AM UTC

dclowd9901 wrote: post #76

chrisallenlane wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> citizen impact per employee. Do you think it would actually possible to quantify this in a way that: 1. Accurately represented "reality"? 2. Couldn't/wouldn't be gamed? Seems challenging to me.

I think you can probably boil impact down to several key metrics: 1) How many people are affected by the work of this agency 2) How quickly are peoples' needs handled on average 3) How pleased are people with the work of this agency I think you could trivially measure each of those.

Post by LiteskinKanye » Sat, Aug 12, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

KGIII wrote: post #98

edshiro wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating story. Thank you for sharing! How long did it take you to build this company from start to exit? What were some of the toughest moments you experienced? And what advice would you give to people who want to build their own companies in transportation/logistics fields? (I know - may not be exactly your area but there may be some cross-sector knowledge sharing at play here!).

I started it, unofficially, in 1991. The sale was finalized in late 2007. I started with loaned equipment from DEC, on an empty factory floor, with just myself and a fellow grad. He was a CS grad and we would later part peacefully. He never had ownership. My toughest moments were people related. I never took any fancy business course that taught me how to manage people. I tried to micromanage and had a hard time lett…

  > Be in the right place, at the right time, with specific skills, and in a position to take risks.

Post by oldmandutch » Sat, Aug 12, 2017, 4:02 PM UTC

KGIII wrote: post #92

shishy wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really interesting! Thanks for sharing. Is the vehicular traffic data you're referring to at the state level (i.e. do individual states report on it)? Or is it available for all states? And can anyone access it or is it only free for academic licenses?

Various States will have varied rules, but it is generally free. The Feds will also have stats for interstate routes. In my case, the data was existent. I'd later collect data. Data is not just throughout, but even contains data from things like a reflectometer, sign frequency, and adjustments for specific locations. The data collected is, for this sort of thing, paid for by the municipality and can be examined at yo…