By Vanessa Dabovich
Las Cruces, NM – A group of industrial engineering students have begun researching the current RoadRUNNER and Aggie Transit networking system.
The group has been communicating with city officials, producing and distributing surveys as well as collecting ridership data and drafting possible solutions.
The study began after Industrial Engineering Assistant Professor Hansuk Sohn noticed that the less the ten mile bus commute from his home to the NMSU campus takes more than an hour. He says Dona Ana County has grown in the last five years and the transit systems need to grow with it.
The engineering students are working on ways to increase ridership and minimize total transportation costs.
So far in the study they have found that the peak demand use of the Aggie Transit system does not reach the maximum capacity of the smaller buses that are used on routes. Sohn says the transit should use the smaller buses that would save around thirty thousand dollars annually.
The group plans to conduct more data gathering. Once it is analyzed they will present the finding and possible solutions to city officials.