Project: #338 Joint optimization of school bus routes and last mile services Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: March 31, 2021 Principal Investigator: Peter Zhang Status: Active Start Date: July 1, 2020 End Date: June 30, 2021 Research Type: Applied Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: 2020 Mobility21 UTC Progress Report (Last Updated: March 29, 2021, 8:19 p.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 70 % Grant Award Expended: 87 % Match Expended & Document: 50 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments What are the major goals and objectives of the project? • Analyze issues related to school bus transportation in Allegheny County, and identify potential ways to save cost and improve equity of access to student transportation. What was accomplished under these goals? • We have conducted literature survey on student transportation, reviewing current practices in the industry and other counties/states. • We designed a general, technical tool to screen the benefit of school districts collaborating to improve transportation efficiency. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? • Provided research assistantship for students (two student-semesters) • Mentored one Independent Study course project on this topic, for Heinz College at CMU • Provided postdoctoral training opportunity for a postdoc at Heinz College • One of the masters students has received PhD offers from multiple top tier universities, and the research material in his application was mainly drawn from this project • Capstone project for Master of Public Policy students at Heinz College How have the results been disseminated? If so, in what way/s? • Presentations: CEE summer research poster session (2020); UTC Symposium (2020); Canadian OR Society Annual Meeting (June 2021); TRB meeting (2021) • Academic paper submitted to Transportation Research: Part E • Advisory service to a transportation company that provides last-mile service for disadvantaged students (HopSkipDrive) • Class presentations to Master of Public Policy students in the course “Decision Analytics for Business and Policy” What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals and objectives? • Finish a policy report that does a full review of the current best practices, from both industry and academic perspectives • Submit two more academic papers to top-tier, peer-reviewed journals and/or conferences • Produce a database and a website for policymakers and academics to interact with an analytical tool that can quickly show the transportation efficiency in any given city Impacts The effectiveness of the transportation system • Advisory service to a transportation company that provides last-mile service for disadvantaged students (HopSkipDrive) • TRB meeting (2021) The increase in the body of scientific knowledge • Academic paper: one paper submitted to Transportation Research Part E. • Two more papers to be submitted. Other N/A Outcomes New Partners N/A Issues N/A