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\large\bf Comments on Team E: Accuracy of Pittsburgh Bus Schedules
Around Carnegie Mellon.
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The main features of your current sampling plan are:
\begin{itemize}
\item Observe bus arrivals/departures only at the inbound and outbound
  bus stops at Forbes and Morewood
\item Take a random sample of hours throughout the week for observation.
\end{itemize}
I want you to modify this plan in the following ways:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Divide up the workday into 3-hour periods, say: 7am--10am,
  10am--1pm, 1pm--3pm, and 3pm--7pm.
\item Work in pairs to observe bus arrivals/departures: one person at
  the inbound bus stop, one at the outbound bus stop.
\item Do this over a two-week period, so that you end up with 5 pairs
  of observations (inbound and outbound) for each 3-hour time period.
\end{enumerate}
Please see the attached pdf {\em Bus Punctuality Statistics GB: 
2007} from
\begin{verbatim}
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/public/buspunctuality/buspunctuality07
\end{verbatim}
(especially the Annexes [appendices] at the end) for ideas about how
to record and analyze bus punctuality.  Note that it is basically
easier to measure punctuality for departure times than for arrival
times.  It may also be useful to compute the excess waiting time using
the ideas in Annex 2.

Please use the most current bus schedules for each bus line that stops
at these stops, to determine the punctuality of the buses.

If you are able to collect other observational data on the bus
service, that would be very helpful.  

For example:
\begin{itemize}
\item Select a small number of buses that stop at Carnegie Mellon and
  ride their full routes, noting which stops they depart on time,
  early, or late, from.
\item Assess how full the buses are that stop at the buses where you
  are observing bus punctuality.  Bus ``fullness'' is also a measure
  of usability and convenience.  Buses that are too full are neither
  pleasant nor safe, and a bus that is unable to take on more
  passengers when it departs is equivalent to a bus that never came at
  all.  See for example the attached pdf {\em Trip productivity
    evaluation of bus service: Medan Kidd Bus Station}, from
\begin{verbatim}
http://www.uniten.edu.my/newhome/uploaded/coe_civil/mutrfc2010/001%20PG%20presentation.pdf
\end{verbatim}
\item Since you are standing observing buses at each bus stop, you
  have the opportunity to do some man-on-the-street interviews too
  (for example, give every 5th passenger getting off the bus a short
  survey).
\end{itemize}
Other ideas not listed above may be interesting too.

Some special notes for this project:
\begin{itemize}
\item The plan for observing bus arrival/departure times does not fit
  into the finite-population survey sampling framework.  You will
  still be expected to know how to do statistics for that framework in
  class (on homework, tests, etc.) but you will not be applying the
  FPC and other features of finite-population surveying.
\item You may need to apply weights, as suggested in the {\em Bus Punctuality Statistics GB: 
2007} pdf.
\item If you decide to do man-on-the-street interviews to supplement
  your observational data you will need to submit an IRB form to me,
  since that involves human respondents directly, rather than simply
  observing arrival/departure times, fullness of buses, etc.
\end{itemize}

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