Year

2016

Season

Spring

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Computing, Engineering & Construction

Degree Name

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE)

Department

Engineering

NACO controlled Corporate Body

University of North Florida. School of Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Thobias Sando

Second Advisor

Dr. Christopher Brown

Third Advisor

Dr. Patrick Kreidl

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Beyza Aslan

Department Chair

Dr. Murat Tiryakioglu

College Dean

Dr. Mark A. Tumeo

Abstract

In the bus transit community, driving long hours or spending extra hours at work are very common. This is true in the State of Florida, where bus transit is a very popular mode of public transportation. Although the correlation between a bus driver’s schedule and a crash event appears intuitive, further study regarding the effects of operator driving schedules on accident rates is needed to evaluate safety measures. The focus of this research is on the examination of bus driver schedules, and the effects of scheduling on accident rates in Florida. Data were collected at five bus transit agencies including Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX), Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) and StarMetro in Tallahassee. Data collected included bus operator work schedules, accident data, and a voluntary questionnaire survey. The results indicate that the number of working hours significantly affect driving quality and increase the likelihood of driver involvement in a bus crash. Based upon 410 surveys obtained from operators, over 21% of drivers were concerned about the effects of split-time on fatigue. In addition to split-time considerations, the study revealed that nearly 15% of operators who completed the survey had a secondary driving job. The review of operator schedules also indicated that drivers involved in preventable accidents spent longer hours at work than on actual driving duty, primarily due to extended split-time. Consequently, drivers who had more than two hours of break had a higher probability of being involved in a preventable collision compared to drivers with less than two hours of split-time.

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