Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?

Undergraduate

Project Type

group

Campus

Daytona Beach

Authors' Class Standing

Logan Owen, Senior Jacqueline Aparicio, Senior Angie Castillo, Senior

Lead Presenter's Name

Logan Owen

Lead Presenter's College

DB College of Engineering

Faculty Mentor Name

Marwa El-Sayed

Abstract

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is an aviation focused school that has an undergraduate population of 7,177 students as of Fall 2022. ERAU’s shuttle service is an essential resource for students to commute to and from school. Although a widely used resource, the current routes offered are limited to nearby student apartment complexes and operate only during weekdays. The current fleet of shuttle buses only contains five vans and transports students from the university to neighboring complexes such as Eagle Landing, Chanute, OnShore, Bellamy, and the Micaplex. Sustainability at ERAU is important to achieve development that meets the needs of the present student population without compromising the ability of prospective students, while preserving the current state of the university. The first step involves understanding the current situation of the shuttle system to plan where improvements can be made. This analysis will be conducted by gathering shuttle operation data that includes route maps, operation hours, vehicle cost, and student use. The second step will be to define the long-term and short-term goals of the proposed sustainability plan with periods specified to track the plan’s efficiency. The short-term goals will be to increase student use by 15% within 2-3 years by increasing the shuttle system capacity, expanding the days and times the shuttle operates, and diversifying the route the shuttle system provides. The long-term goal is to transfer into electrically powered vans such as the Ford E-Transit van within ten years. The third step will be developing and implementing the sustainability plan. This plan will follow the three ‘Overlapping Circles' sustainability model. A stakeholder analysis will be implemented to understand how to communicate our plan across diverse stakeholders with the financial and social perspective's ability to bring it to life. An office of sustainability will be established to accurately assess the progress and promote the implemented sustainability plan via posters and included in the prospective student tour guide speeches. This will be conducted on a two-stage surveying process. First, surveys will focus on the current users of the shuttle system. The second round of surveys will focus on gathering data from students that own a car and do not use the shuttle system to help the office of sustainability to make appropriate changes that will attract them to use it. Embry-Riddle should be focused on innovation and inclusion for all their students by giving them the ability of choosing a sustainable transportation system.

Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?

No

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Sustainability Improvements to Embry-Riddles Shuttle Services

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is an aviation focused school that has an undergraduate population of 7,177 students as of Fall 2022. ERAU’s shuttle service is an essential resource for students to commute to and from school. Although a widely used resource, the current routes offered are limited to nearby student apartment complexes and operate only during weekdays. The current fleet of shuttle buses only contains five vans and transports students from the university to neighboring complexes such as Eagle Landing, Chanute, OnShore, Bellamy, and the Micaplex. Sustainability at ERAU is important to achieve development that meets the needs of the present student population without compromising the ability of prospective students, while preserving the current state of the university. The first step involves understanding the current situation of the shuttle system to plan where improvements can be made. This analysis will be conducted by gathering shuttle operation data that includes route maps, operation hours, vehicle cost, and student use. The second step will be to define the long-term and short-term goals of the proposed sustainability plan with periods specified to track the plan’s efficiency. The short-term goals will be to increase student use by 15% within 2-3 years by increasing the shuttle system capacity, expanding the days and times the shuttle operates, and diversifying the route the shuttle system provides. The long-term goal is to transfer into electrically powered vans such as the Ford E-Transit van within ten years. The third step will be developing and implementing the sustainability plan. This plan will follow the three ‘Overlapping Circles' sustainability model. A stakeholder analysis will be implemented to understand how to communicate our plan across diverse stakeholders with the financial and social perspective's ability to bring it to life. An office of sustainability will be established to accurately assess the progress and promote the implemented sustainability plan via posters and included in the prospective student tour guide speeches. This will be conducted on a two-stage surveying process. First, surveys will focus on the current users of the shuttle system. The second round of surveys will focus on gathering data from students that own a car and do not use the shuttle system to help the office of sustainability to make appropriate changes that will attract them to use it. Embry-Riddle should be focused on innovation and inclusion for all their students by giving them the ability of choosing a sustainable transportation system.

 

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