Date of Completion
Spring 4-26-2017
Campus Location
Marietta
Document Type
Capstone
Chair
Gregory Wiles, PhD
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Kami Anderson, PhD
Faculty Advisor
Adeel Khalid, PhD
Abstract
The Kennesaw State University Department of Transportation manages the Big Owl Bus (B.O.B.). The B.O.B. has 9 routes which provide transportation around and between the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses, as well as to select off-campus apartment complexes and shopping centers. We utilized a number of methodologies to recommend improvements to the efficiency and accessibility of the B.O.B. We first used the vehicle routing problem to develop a binary integer linear programming model. This allowed us to determine a new set of routes that minimize total travel time across the routes. Next, we developed an integer non-linear programming model to assign a set of buses to each of the new routes, with the goal of minimizing overall cost. Performing a sensitivity analysis of our solution allowed our recommendations to be more robust. We then created a simulation model to verify our solution. We performed a financial analysis and conducted student surveys and driver interviews to inform our recommendations.