Efficiency of NAU Transportation A perspective into the Mountain Campus Transit system at Northern A

1
Efficiency of NAU TransportationA perspective
into the Mountain Campus Transit system at
Northern Arizona University

• Presented by
• Drew Ammon
• Abraham Camargo
• Brynn Larsen
• Briton Tarter

2
Whats the problem?

• Certain things or factors play a major
  role in the lack of excellence that the bus
  system has yet to capture. In this presentation
  we will point out the main contributors to the
  problem that most everyone on the NAU campus has
  noticed. In years past there were three routes
  instead of the two we have today. This covers a
  campus that has around 18,000 students and spans
  738 acres. NAU has a total budget of around 161.8
  million dollars and only 251,422 goes to the
  transportation services. The buses also have
  peak hours and this means that buses should run
  more during those and less when they are not in
  peak hours. Now we will further explain what
  this information means and what it can do to
  improve the bus system on the NAU campus.

3
NAU Facts

• Total Student Enrollment
• Undergraduate 13,252 (70.6)
• Graduate 5,527 (29.4)
• Total 18,779
• Total Student Residency 15,817 (84.2)
• Total Faculty (part- and full-time) 1,317
• Other Staff (part- and full-time) 2,188
• Degrees Offered
• 95 Baccalaureate Degrees
• 30 Undergraduate Certificates
• 12 Graduate Certificates
• 48 Masters Degrees
•   8 Doctoral Degrees
•   1 Professional Degree
• Campus Size 738 acres
• Buildings
•   37 Major Academic and Administrative Buildings
•   38 Support Facilities
•   13 Residential Buildings

4
Bus system

• Called Mountain Campus Transit system, also
  abbreviated as MCT.
• There are currently eight buses that comprise the
  system.
• MCT transports around 500,000 people each school
  year.
• There are two routes in the system that circulate
  the campus.

5
Bus routes

• ROUTE 1 travels north up Knoles before
  circling back south via San Francisco and
  University. Continuous service 700 a.m. to 1100
  p.m. leaves the Skydome every 15 minutes
  starting at 700 a.m. Also leaves North Union
  every 15 minutes starting at 730 a.m. After 600
  p.m., every 30 minutes.
• ROUTE 2 travels north via Knoles, University
  and San Francisco, then returns south via Knoles.
  Continuous service 705 a.m. to 845 p.m.
  leaves the Skydome every 15 minutes starting at
  705 a.m. Also leaves North Union every 15
  minutes starting at 735 a.m. After 6 p.m., every
  30 minutes.

6
Bus maintenance

• The operations budget of the transportation
  service at NAU is just over 250,000.
• There are 5 mechanics that work at the bus farm,
  which is where the buses are kept when not in
  service.
• After the salaries of the mechanics are paid,
  there is less than 100,000 left to cover
  operation costs for the buses.
• Therefore, the buses have not received proper
  maintenance in almost five years.
• As a result, each bus is falling apart.
• Of the eight buses that operate, at least one
  breaks down daily leaving from six to seven to
  run the routes.

7
Bus maintenance

• In one instance, a bus driver could not properly
  read the fuel gauge on the bus and did not have
  enough fuel in it, causing the bus to break down.
• That caused the students riding it to be stranded
  and left to walk the remaining distance to their
  destinations.
• Since the mechanics here are limited in their
  abilities, the buses must be driven by a more
  experience student driver to Holbrook, AZ to be
  maintenanced in such situations.
• Furthermore, the cost to fix the problems from
  this single instance was 9,000!

8
Bus drivers

• There are 20 drivers and are comprised mostly of
  students.
• Some do not take their job seriously and call in
  frequently, leaving other drivers to take extra
  shifts.
• Some students drive more than 30 hours a week in
  addition to their school work!
• There is a lengthy training process involved in
  becoming a bus driver.
• The drivers do not get paid very much.
• Together, these factors contribute to the lack of
  drivers on the system.
• However, their new bosss major concern is for
  their education, not work.
• If a student is struggling in school, he will
  tell them to quit driving and focus on their
  classes.

9
Congestion

• When a student rides the bus during congestion
  the stops consume more time that the student
  needs to get to class. But when a student rides
  the bus during the lighter hours of the day they
  can get from one end of campus much more
  efficiently because the stops take less time.
• There is no route three now because there is an
  extra bus on route one.
• On peak hours, buses depart from the Skydome
  about every 10 minutes, which is more frequently
  than stated by the service.
• Lots of students ride the bus daily and during
  the winter time many more students will use the
  bus to avoid the cold. The weather greatly
  affects the amount of passengers on a snowy day
  there can be up to 200 at a single stop.
• The busiest days are Tuesdays and Thursdays
  905am 925am 1010am 1030am 1100am
  1125am and 1245pm during the class breaks
• Fridays after 1pm there is a dead period.

10
NAU Budget Book

• NAU has published their 2006 Fiscal Year
  Operating Budget Book on the internet.
• The 2006 Fiscal Year includes the entire
  2005-2006 school year.
• It describes every expense in each department of
  the university, even detailing the salaries of
  full-time professors.
• The Book can be found on the internet at
  http//www4.nau.edu/pair/Budget/Budget20Book20FY
  0620for20Web.pdf
• The following slides are excerpts of this book
  showing the where budget money comes from and how
  much goes to pay for transportation.

11
NAU Budget

• Page 9
• NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
• FISCAL YEAR 2005-2006
• BUDGETED REVENUES FY 2006
• COLLECTIONS
• Tuition 38,380,100
• Miscellaneous Student Fees 898,800
• - Subtotal - 39,278,900
• OTHER RECEIPTS
• State Land Grant Endowments 40,000
• Miscellaneous 125,000
• - Subtotal - 165,000
• BALANCE FORWARD 100,000
• STATE APPROPRIATION 122,336,800

12
Transportation Budget

• Page 543
• NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
• FY 2006 OPERATING BUDGET
• BUDGETARY PROGRAM INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
• ACCOUNT NAME/NUMBER CAP ASSETS MOTOR
  POOL/1100PHR1178
• COLLEGE (IF APPLICABLE) CAP ASSETS
  TRANSPORTATION SRV
• BUDGETARY PROGRAM INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  -------
• -- ACCOUNT SUMMARY --
• F.T.E
• -------
• SALARIES 4.18 152,224
• OTHER WAGES 0
• STUDENT WAGES 0.00 0
• ----------------------------------------------
  ---------------------
• TOTAL PERSONAL SERVICES 152,224
• EMPLOYEE RELATED EXPENSES 0
• OPERATIONS 99,198

13
Key Issues

• Clean
• Sometimes the staff cannot clean the busses
  engine and interior due to the lack of workers
  who are able to clean the busses regularly.
• Safe
• The busses are safe but with no regular
  maintenance these busses may become unsafe at
  anytime.
• Environmentally conscious
• Without regular maintenance, NAUs bus system can
  hurt the environment due to pollution from
  exhaust.
• Gas
• Without routine maintenance these busses may need
  more gas than is required to run them properly
  and effectively, wasting a scarce resource.
• Money
• The amount of money that NAU spends does not
  properly help the transportation services.
• Despite the problems with the MCT system, the
  staff and drivers are working their best to
  provide the highest quality of service to every
  person who rides the bus on campus.

14
How can this problem be solved?

• There is not enough money to fix the buses the
  way they need to be fixed and maintained.
• Thus, the buses are unsafe and unfit to properly
  serve the faculty, staff and students at NAU.
• What would make the system more efficient?
• More money from the university.
• If there were more money available, it would help
  pay drivers better and it would give the
  mechanics more opportunities to catch up on
  maintenance.
• This problem affects every person at NAU and
  should be addressed soon to avoid more serious
  consequences of this negligence by the university.