Project Description
For this project, our task was to identify a problem in the world, and then use the engineering and design cycle to find a solution for that world problem. The problem we chose to solve was the inefficient public transport in the Bay Area, and the solution our group came to, was to expand the BART, Bay Area Rapid Transport, in order to expand the distance of how far one could travel using trains. At the very end we presented our solution to the class in the form of a google slide. On that google slide presentation we have all our the details for our project and money and time estimations.
Background Research
When this project had started we needed to figure out how we wanted to improve public transport in the Bay Area, so we did some research. Each of us researched a different location were public transport was either working or not working. Through our research, we found that places like Asian and Europe that had a good transport system seemed to work because it had so much track. It seemed that the more track, the further you could travel, and the farther you could travel with just public transport, the more used it seemed to be. This lead us to the conclusion of expanding the BART so one would be able to travel further.
Engineering Design Cycle
- Define a need
- Research the problem
- Develop possible solutions (Brainstorm)
- Select promising solution
- Conduct a prototype
- Test and evaluate the prototype
- Communicate the design
- Redesign - Can be anywhere
- Repeat
Presentation
Clarifying Points
Time Estimations- You may have noticed but the time estimations are not all of the time estimates added together. In our action plan, we plan on building the bridges, tunnels, and causeways before building the track, meaning the construction of the track would come after the construction of which of the bridges, tunnels, and cause ways would take the longest. The bridge would take the longest to build, so we added the time to build the bridge and the track together in order to find the time estimate. In addiction, the bridges, tunnels, causeways, and stations would start construction at the same time.
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BART- Stands for Bay Area Rapid Transport. This a transportation system of trains that already exists in the Bay Area, and as shown in the presentation, we plan on expanding the distance it travels.
Cut a Deal with Caltrain- Caltrain is a another transportation system that is also ran by trains and is governed by Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. When trying to find the best locations to place stations, we realized that many places that we wanted to expand BART into, was already occupied by Caltrain. This led us to believe that adding more track and stations in a area that already had public transport would be unnecessary. So we want to make a deal with Caltrain since it is another company that we would most likely not be able to simply merge with or buy over. The deal would be to have combined stations with Cal train on one level, and BART on the other to make public transport easier, and therefore more appealing. Renovate and Build Stations- The renovations of the stations is to combine the points two or more trains with intercept as said in cutting a deal with Caltrain. Build stations simply means to build the stations in the set locations. Hire Maintenance Operators- In order for the stations to actually be able to run, we need people to be in the stations to ensure everything is working. Meaning we need to hire maintenance operators. Lack of Train Cost and Time Estimations- Though it is not written on the slides of the presentation, BART is already increasing their number of trains, and therefore will have more trains. We will take advantage of this and use the fleet of trains that BART already has to cover the amount of trains that we need to cover the new tracks and stations. |
Reflection
The out come of this project was very good and organized front my perspective. Everything was finished in good time and there was not any rushing to complete things. However I felt that our time could have been use a little bit more efficiently, though that was not a big problem. From this project, I learned that I work better in a quieter environment. Sometimes during the research portion of this project, my group would take a bit of time to work alone in silence. As a result, my group and I worked much quicker than when we were talking to each other and working. I had also learned how to word things in google to find more scientific results or just better information. Google can bring up some sketchy websites or even ones that are just plain unreliable, that is why wording what you put in can really affect the results you get. Somethings I believe my group and I could have done better was focusing on our work, and related to being focused, finding a way to get rid of distractions. At times we would talk and get off task which probably should have been done much less. Other times a friend from another group would come over, which was a bit of a distraction, therefore we most likely should have asked them to leave instead of talking to them. On the brighter side, my group was very good at completing a lot of work when we were working, and being timely. When we really focused on the task at hand, we worked very quickly without getting sloppy or lazy and actually got much of the work done. Though distractions took a bit of time, we still had everything done on time according to our schedule, and had enough time to practice our presentation. Some pits that my group had during this project was when we realized that Caltrain had covered some of the areas we wanted to put track, and when one of our group members was sick on the day of the presentation. As part of our solution of extending the BART, we wanted to put new tracks in some area, however it seemed that Caltrain had already had those areas covered, meaning that putting track there would not be efficient or beneficial. This stumped us for a while because we couldn't just destroy or buy Caltrain, so as a result we said we would cut a deal with Caltrain. When on of our group members was sick, we had to find how we would fill his spot, to solve this we had one of our other group members cover for him. A couple of peaks of this project was when we had decided who would be researching what information, and when we had chosen our solution. I felt that when were first figured out who was researching what, it made us much more organized because we knew that two people wouldn't end up researching the same thing, and we would get more information on each topic. Isolating the solution we wanted to carry out was a peck to me, because it really had us working because we knew what we wanted to do. It gave us something to work on and made us think of how we would accomplish that goal.