Bilkent University

Technical Report Writing and Presentation

Investigating solutions to the waste of time caused by
the transportation system in Bilkent University
Final Report
Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. iii
List of figures and Tables ................................................................................................................... iv
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... v
2. Problem Definition .......................................................................................................................... v
3. Proposed Solutions ........................................................................................................................ vi
3.1 Building a system to keep track of buses’ location ...................................................................... vi
3.2 Building a carpooling service for students .................................................................................. vii
3.3 Adding counter devices on bus stops ......................................................................................... vii
4. Criteria for assessing solutions ..................................................................................................... vii
4.1 Feasibility .................................................................................................................................... vii
4.2 Cost ............................................................................................................................................ viii
4.3 Reliability .................................................................................................................................... viii
5. Research Methodology .................................................................................................................. ix
6. Results & Analysis .......................................................................................................................... ix
6.1 Building a system to keep track of buses’ location ...................................................................... ix
6.1.1 Feasibility .................................................................................................................................. ix
6.1.2 Cost ........................................................................................................................................... ix
1.3 Reliability ...................................................................................................................................... ix
6.2 Building a carpooling service for students .................................................................................... x
6.2.1 Feasibility ................................................................................................................................... x
6.2.2 Cost ............................................................................................................................................ x
6.2.3 Reliability .................................................................................................................................... x
6.3 Adding counter devices on bus stops ........................................................................................... x
6.3.1 Feasibility ................................................................................................................................... x
6.3.2 Cost ............................................................................................................................................ x
6.3.3 Reliability .................................................................................................................................... x
7. Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................ xi
Iii
Abstract
The transportation system is extensively used by students to get to Bilkent; however it often
fails to deliver its services as scheduled. This results in students waiting for long periods at
the bus stop. The root causes of this problem are the traffic congestion during peak hours,
the high number of students waiting at a bus stop and failure of the transportation unit to
notify students ahead of time in such situations. To solve this problem I am proposing three
solutions: building a mobile application which lets students know the exact location of
buses, building a car sharing system within Bilkent students and installing counter devices
at
bus stops. These solutions were evaluated according to feasibility, cost and reliability.
Online research, interviews, observations and surveys were used in this evaluation. The
first
solution was feasible and reliable but costly, the second solution failed in terms of feasibility
and cost whereas the third solution was not reliable enough. To sum up, it is recommended
that the first solution should be tried, however, since it is expensive, it can firstly be tested
in small units and then a decision can be made according to those test results.
iv