University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses July 2020 School Bus Routing To Allow Later School Start Times Rana Eslamifard University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2 Part of the Civil Engineering Commons, and the Transportation Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Eslamifard, Rana, "School Bus Routing To Allow Later School Start Times" (2020) Masters Theses 921 https://doi.org/10.7275/17551416 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/921 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst For more information, please contact scholarworks@library.umass.edu SCHOOL BUS ROUTING TO ALLOW LATER SCHOOL START TIMES A Thesis Presented by RANA ESLAMIFARD Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING May 2020 Civil Engineering © Copyright by Rana Eslamifard 2020 All Rights Reserved SCHOOL BUS ROUTING TO ALLOW LATER SCHOOL START TIMES A Thesis Presented by RANA ESLAMIFARD Approved as to style and content by: Eric Gonzales, Chairperson Eleni Christofa, Member John E Tobiason, Department Head Civil and Environmental Engineering Department ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deep gratitude goes to Dr Eric Gonzales for all his support, guidance, and patient through my graduate education This Thesis would have not been possible without his persistent help, timely advice, and enthusiasm I thank my committee member and teacher Dr Eleni Christofa for her constant encouragement, inspiration and kind help throughout this project and my study period Above all, I want to thank my parents and brother for their support and encouragement from thousand miles away Every step that I took in my life and academic journey comes from the confidence, strength, and love they gave me; for that, I am so grateful iv ABSTRACT SCHOOL BUS ROUTING TO ALLOW LATER SCHOOL START TIMES MAY 2020 RANA ESLAMIFARD, B.S., UNIVERSITY OF TAFRESH M.S.C.E., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Eric Gonzales, Ph.D School districts provide busing services for students who live too far to walk to school In many districts, a fleet of school buses is used in sequence to transport high school students, then middle school students, and then elementary school students The result is that high school classes must start much earlier in the morning than the elementary school, and buses may traverse similar routes three times each morning and afternoon In light of recent research on the benefits of later high school start times and the need to control transportation costs, school districts are seeking efficient school bus routing plans that meet student needs at low cost This study uses 2018 data for schools in Northampton, Massachusetts, to identify the potential to achieve two objectives: 1) start the high school classes as late as possible in the day, and 2) minimize the cost of busing The proposed procedure makes use of existing school bus data to optimize bus routes, which can be applicable to smaller cities A revised routing plan that mixes high school and middle school students on the same buses allows the high school to start 45 minutes later while reducing total school bus operations by 8.5 bus-hours per day The elementary school and high school start times could also be swapped with minimal effect on the cost of busing v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ABSTRACT v LIST OF TABLE viii LIST OF FIGURES ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Motivation .2 1.2 Research Objectives 3 1.2.1 Optimize Route Design .3 1.2.2 The Bell Schedule .4 1.2.3 Coordinate High School and Middle School Calendars and Schedules 4 1.2.4 Walking .4 1.3 Scope .4 BACKGROUND 6 METHODOLOGY 10 3.1 Spatial Analysis 10 3.2 Identification of New Routes 12 3.3 Identification of Shortest Repositioning Path .13 3.4 Students’ Boarding Time 14 vi 3.5 Identification of Students Miles and Hours Walked 15 APPLICATION OF METHODS IN NORTHAMPTON 17 4.1 Case High school and Middle School Start First, Students Walk Within 1.5 Miles 17 4.2 Case High School and Middle School Start First, No Student Forced to Walk .20 4.3 Case Elementary School Starts First, Students Within 1.5 Miles Walk 22 RESULTS AND FINDINGS .25 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .28 6.1 Results for Application to Northampton, Massachusetts 29 6.2 Recommendation 30 APPENDICES A PROPOSED ROUTES 31 B EXISTING NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL BUS SCHEDULES .37 REFERENCES 47 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: Northampton Public Schools Start and End Times 7 Table 2: Schedule and route information for the existing situation in Northampton Public Schools 7 Table 3: Students walked miles and hours from fixed stops 16 Table 4: Schedule of Case bus routes in Northampton, Massachusetts 21 Table 5: Schedule of Case Bus Routes in Northampton, Massachusetts 23 Table 6: Performance Measures for Each School Bus Routing Case 26 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: Approach to reorganizing school bus routes 3 Figure 2: Existing timeline for high school, middle school, and elementary school 9 Figure 3: Time versus distance interceptor for one of the existing routes 15 Figure 4: New school bus routes for middle school and high school in Case 19 Figure 5: Case timeline for the worst case condition 20 Figure 6: New school bus routes for middle school and high school in Case 21 Figure 7: Case timeline for the worst condition 24 ix 34 35 36 APPENDIX B EXISTING NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL BUS SCHEDULES Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools Anchor: Northampton High School Route: Time 6:35 Stop 6:35 Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 6:42 AM 7:05 29:03:00 7.39 mi 38 Drop off 0.07 0.34 6:36 6:46 3.9 0.81 6:49 6:49 0.06 0.43 6:50 6:54 11 1.48 15 0.69 6:57 7:05 NHHS 2.19 38 37 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools Northampton High School Route: Time Stop 6:42 AM Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 6:35 AM 7:05 29:37:00 9.98 mi 33 Drop off 0.82 6:45 AM 10 0.74 6:48 AM 0.5 6:49 AM 0.1 6:50 AM 0.1 6:50 AM 0.3 6:51 AM 0.17 6:52 AM 0.61 6:54 AM 1.45 6:58 AM 10 0.04 6:58 AM 11 0.16 6:58 AM 12 0.24 6:59 AM 13 2.2 7:05 AM NHS 33 38 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools Northampton High School Route: Time 6:44 AM Stop Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 6:44 AM 7:05 20:15:00 4.36 mi 46 Drop off 0.04 6:44 AM 6:46 AM 0.21 0.88 6:50 AM 6:53 AM 16 0.47 6:53 AM 6:55 AM 0.26 0.83 6:57 AM 6:58 AM 0.16 6:59 AM 10 6:59 AM 11 0.02 1.5 7:05 AM NHS 46 39 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time 7:17 AM Stop Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 7:17 AM 7:40 AM 22:54:00 5.68 mi 42 Drop off 0.54 7:18 AM 0.15 7:19 AM 0.08 7:19 AM 0.43 7:20 AM 0.28 7:21 AM 0.08 7:22 AM 0.07 7:23 AM 0.05 7:23 AM 0.07 7:24 AM 10 0.07 7:24 AM 11 0.21 7:25 AM 12 1.79 7:33 AM 13 2.6 7:40 AM JFK 42 40 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time 7:13 AM Stop Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 7:13 AM 7:40 AM 26:49:00 8.88 mi 34 Drop off 0.16 7:13 AM 0.04 7:13 AM 0.19 7:14 AM 0.34 7:14 AM 0.41 7:15 AM 0.35 7:16 AM 0.22 7:17 AM 0.13 7:17 AM 0.30 7:18 AM 10 0.18 7:19 AM 11 0.11 7:19 AM 12 0.28 7:20 AM 13 2.39 7:25 AM 14 0.89 7:29 AM 15 18 2.65 7:40 AM JFK 34 41 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time 7:15 AM Stop Distance Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 7:15 AM 7:40 AM 24:37:00 5.7 mi 46 Drop off 0.25 7:15 AM 0.08 7:16 AM 0.11 7:17 AM 0.11 7:17 AM 0.42 7:20 AM 0.74 7:23 AM 0.84 7:26 AM 0.56 7:28 AM 9 1.01 7:34 AM 10 1.59 7:40 AM JFK 46 42 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time 7:26 AM Stop Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 7:26 AM 7:40 AM 13:34:00 3.85 mi 41 Drop off 0.4 7:28 AM 0.82 7:31 AM 18 0.19 7:32 AM 2.44 7:40 AM JFK 41 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time Stop 7:16 AM Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up Distance (mi.) 7:16 AM 7:40 AM 23:32:00 6.11 mi 43 Drop off 0.24 7:17 AM 0.31 7:19 AM 1.55 7:26 AM 0.32 7:27 AM 24 3.66 7:40 AM JFK 43 43 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: Time 7:13 AM Stop Distance (mi.) Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 0.32 7:14 AM 1.17 7:17 AM 0.43 7:18 AM 0.11 7:19 AM 0.39 7:20 AM 0.17 7:20 AM 0.24 7:21 AM 0.47 7:23 AM 0.32 7:24 AM 10 0.05 7:24 AM 11 1.8 7:29 AM 12 0.31 7:30 AM 13 0.16 7:30 AM 14 0.24 7:31 AM 15 0.07 7:31 AM 16 0.11 7:31 AM 17 44 7:13 AM 7:40 AM 26:35:00 9.41 mi 24 Drop off Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: (continued) Time Stop 7:33 AM 18 7:40 AM JFK Distance (mi.) 0.65 2.13 Anchor: Route: 10 Stop 7:13 AM 7:40 AM 26:35:00 9.41 mi 24 Drop off Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Time 7:23 AM Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up Distance (mi.) 24 Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 7:16 AM 7:40 AM 23:32:00 6.11 mi 43 Drop off 0.07 7:24 AM 0.69 7:25 AM 2.74 7:32 AM 0.47 7:33 AM 0.83 7:36 AM 17 1.44 7:40 AM JFK 22 45 Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools Anchor: John F Kennedy Route: 11 Time Stop 7:26 AM End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 15 Distance (mi.) 7:40 AM 13:08:00 4.34 mi 44 Drop off 0.47 7:28 AM 0.26 7:30 AM 16 0.83 7:33 AM 0.13 7:33 AM 0.33 7:34 AM 0.02 7:35 AM 2.3 7:40 AM JFK 44 Anchor: Route Schedule Northampton Public Schools John F Kennedy Route: 12 Stop 7:32 AM Start Time: End Time: Total Time: Total Distance: Total Riders: Pick-up 18 Distance (mi.) 7:16 AM 7:40 AM 23:32:00 6.11 mi 43 Drop off 0.43 7:34 AM 18 2.12 7:40 AM JFK 36 46 REFERENCES National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (2019) School Bus Safety [online] Available at: https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/school-bus-safety [Accessed 26 Jun 2019] Bertsimas, D., Delarue, A and Martin, S (2019) Optimizing schools’ start time and bus routes Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, pp 5943-5948 Fredriksen K., Rhodes J., Reddy R., Way N (2004) Sleepless in Chicago: Tracking the effects of adolescent sleep loss during the middle school years Child Dev 75: 84–95 Curcio G., Ferrara M., De Gennaro L (2006) Sleep loss, learning capacity, and academic performance Sleep Med Rev 10:323–337 Owens J.A., Belon K., Moss P (2010) Impact of delaying school start time on adolescent sleep, mood, and behavior Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 164:608–614 F Danner and B Phillips (2008) (University of Kentucky) To assess the effects of delayed high school start times on sleep and motor vehicle crashes 4(6): 533– 535 Edwards F (2012) Early to Rise? 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