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Proposal Project
Class: English 007
Group Name: “The A Team”
Members: Tyler Reiss, Shan Islam, Delwar Hussain, and Tyler Donoghue
Date of Submission: 11/13/2018

More Buses, Less Fusses: Improving CCNY

Shuttle Service

Introduction:
I​n the city, public transport is not only a part of daily life, it is essential. According

to the MTA, nearly 400 thousand people ride the buses in NYC every day(1). With so

many people taking the bus, one would expect the service to be exceptional. However,

we have found the opposite to be true. The CCNY Shuttle tends to be crowded, and

people are waiting longer than they would like for each shuttle. That is why we are

proposing to increase the number of shuttles running by one bus (through purchases or

rental) during hours of peak ridership, and to eliminate the 145th stop on the shuttle

route. These actions would both decrease how crowded the buses are while at the

same time decreasing the time it takes for the next bus to arrive. This will not only

improve the wellbeing of the students, but improve the college as a whole.
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Action plan​​:
Increase the Number of Shuttle Buses by one:

Administrative Action:
- Contact George Varian, Supervisor of Mechanics in Facilities

Management Department; and Wendy Thornton, Interim Vice President of

Student Affairs. Coordinate with facilities management and Student Affairs

In order to obtain funds for the project.

Purchase option:
- Service Provider: New York Bus Sales / JP Bus and Truck Repair

- Address: 7765 Lakeport Rd, Chittenango, NY 13037

- Phone: 1-800-962-5768

- Email: sales@newyorkbussales.com

- Bus info:

- Manufacturer: Blue Bird

- Model: Vision

- Type: C (32 passengers/handicap access)

- Fuel type: Gasoline

- Price: $90,181.57

- Purchase new insurance for the bus being added to the fleet. $4000/year

Quoted by State Farm Insurance.

- Hire additional Motor Vehicle Operator (reference section 4 for salary)

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- This shuttle will run from 8am-11am and 3pm-6pm, in addition to the

current shuttles.

Rental Option:
- The Rental service could be arranged with a simple phone call. The

details are listed below.

- Bookbuses.com

- Contact info

- Max Lenets- Client solutions:

- Phone: 1-646-844-8228,
- Email: ​max@bookbuses.com
- Office Address: ​415 Madison, 4th Floor​ ​BookBuses Inc. New
York City New York 10017 USA

- Service Requirements:

- Dates for Spring Semester: January 27,2019 – May 24, 2019

- Dates for Fall Semester: August 27, 2019 – January 1, 2020

- Bus service needed 5 days / week

- Service Time:

- 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

- 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

- Bus capacity; 35 adults

- Bus Type: School

Removing Shuttle Stop:

- Coordinate with Wendy Thornton at Student Affairs to remove the stop at 145th

street.
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- Present survey (figure 1) as evidence as needed. (See cost benefit section

and/or reference section)

Figure 1

- Once approved contact George Varian in facilities management to coordinate the

new route.

- Wendy Thornton: Interim Vice President of Student Affairs

- Office: Wille Administration Building, 160 Convent Avenue, Room A
204
- Phone: 212-650-5425
- Email: studentaffairs@ccny.cuny.edu
Cost/Benefits:
There are monetary costs associated with this endeavor. The two options are

summarized below. A more detailed breakdown is available in the reference section (3).

Year Purchase Plan Rental Plan Difference

1 $152,983.57 $154,940 ($1,956.43)

2 $62,802 $154,940 ($92,138.00)

3 $62,802 $154,940 ($92,138.00)

4 $62,802 $154,940 ($92,138.00)

5 $62,802 $154,940 ($92,138.00)

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6 $62,802 $154,940 ($92,138.00)

7 $152,983.57 $154,940 ($1,956.43)

If we were to rent a bus, it would require less paperwork and a more streamlined

approach. All costs would be included in the listed price. We would also have less

liability as the rental service would cover the insurance as well. However, if we purchase

the shuttle bus and hire our own workers as well as insure ourselves, we can save

$464,602.86​​ ​over the course of 7 years. Even after the initial purchase the purchase

plan is still cheaper. Clearly the purchase option is the least expensive choice both in

the short term as well as the long term.

There is a cost associated with the loss of the shuttle stop at 145th street. Some

students use this stop, but according to our survey, 69% of the people riding the shuttle

are taking it to the 125th stop. Also, an overwhelming number of responses (93.2%)

indicated that they would prefer to have less stops if it would mean that there would be

a greater frequency of shuttles.

If this plan of action is taken, there are numerous benefits for the students.

Surprisingly, out of over 100 students surveyed, 41.7% said that the shuttle was

moderately crowded with 38.6% saying that the shuttle was very crowded. 52.3% of

students also said that they wait 5-10 minutes for the shuttle, and 28% said they wait

10-20 minutes for the shuttle. Increasing the number of shuttles running would both

decrease the amount of time to wait for the shuttle, as well as the number of people on

the shuttle when it arrives. In addition to the direct benefits to the students, there are
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potential benefits for the college as well. Having a more robust shuttle service could be

marketed to potential students, which would increase the tuition revenue for the school.

Team Members​​:
- Tyler Donoghue​​: Tyler Donoghue was born and raised in Long Island New York.

He studied finance and mandarin for two years at Penn State University. He

transferred to Stony brook where he studied electrical engineering for one year.

After a year long break, Tyler returned to academic life, earning his associates

degree in Medical Laboratory Technology from Farmingdale State College. He is

currently working as a medical laboratory technician while studying for a

bachelors in biomedical engineering from the City College of New York.

- Delwar Hussain​​: Delwar is a first-year student at City College of New York. He

was born in Bangladesh and came to America at a young age. Delwar is the 5th

of six siblings. He attended and completed middle and high school in New York;

However due to some unforeseen complications he was not able to continue his

academic life properly. He is proficient in Microsoft suite 365 and has basic

understanding of computer programming languages Python and Java. Delwar

has spent the past few years working in the hospitality industry. After a lengthy

hiatus, he is now back in academic life and currently pursuing a bachelor’s

degree in computer engineering. Delwar has always lived in New York and one

of his biggest dream is to someday travel the world and to see all the wonders it

has to offer.
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- Tyler Reiss​​: Tyler Reiss is a student of mechanical engineering in Macaulay

Honors College at the City College of New York. Mr. Reiss was born and raised

in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community of Brooklyn, a very insular community

where secular education was severely limited and censored. Going against his

community and extended family, he managed to acquire a proper secular

education and get accepted into Macaulay Honors College. Mr. Reiss has

worked as a day care counselor in the summer of 2016 and as a job

coach/supervisor for staff with special need in a California summer camp. Tyler

currently interns as a consultant for the Chuuze app startup, and is a member of

the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA) club, working on

designing an UAV to partake in a competition.

- Shan Islam: ​Shan Islam is a Mechanical Engineering student in The Grove

School of Engineering at the City College of New York. He was born in

Bangladesh and was raised up in Saudi Arabia. After finishing high school he

came to the states where we got into Arkansas State University(ASU) for his

Bachelor's degree. From there he transferred to New York City College of

Technology for his Mechanical Engineering technology degree. Later on he

transferred to The City College in the consecutive semester. Back in ASU, he

worked on an Arduino project with the head of the Mechanical Engineering

department in his freshman year. He was also the International Chairperson of

the International Student Association at ASU where he was in charge of keeping

communication and organizing events with different clubs and organizations in

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the college. At City Tech he was a student researcher where he worked on a

prototype for his mentor, Masato Nakamura, for a combustion chamber that

could convert waste to energy. This research was of a crucial importance for him

for he gained hands on skills and learned about different research techniques

throughout the process. At present he works at City College as a college

assistant at the Office of Diversity and Compliance. Moreover, he is also

associated with the National Society of Black Engineers(NSBE) and is also

working on a project for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace

(AIAA) club for a competition next year.

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References:
1. Web.mta.info. (2018). ​mta.info | Facts and Figures.​ [online] Available at:

http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].

2. Reiss, T. (2018). ​CCNY Shuttle Survey​. [online] Google Docs. Available at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1G97FklRqaftfWivgm2pjnpApMJ6m20FhkwN7HlPajt0/e
dit#responses [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].
3. Msbo.org. (2018). [online] Available at:
http://www.msbo.org/sites/default/files/BusLeasingCost-2011.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov.
2018].
4. (Breakdown of costs)

Year 1 Buying Option Comment Renting Comment2

Option

$90,181.57 bus $74,295 Spring semester

cost

$42,913 employee $80,645 Fall semester

cost

$4,000 insurance

$1,700 gas

$14,189 maintenance

Total Cost $152,983.57 $154,940

Year 2 Buying Option Comment Renting Comment2

Option

$42,913 employee $74,295 Spring semester

cost

$4,000 insurance $80,645 Fall semester

cost

$1,700 gas

$14,189 maintenance

Total Cost $62,802 $154,940

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