OPTIMIZATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AT A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS: A CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT QUALITY MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY

The Department of Public Safety and Transportation Services (DPSTS) of the University of Miami (UM) had been receiving complaints about the service experienced by the users of its Coral Gables campus parking system. In a previous study, Gitlow (1), employing a Kano model, identified improving the shuttle bus service as a key parking feature to improve customer satisfaction with the campus parking system. In this article, we present a holistic system's approach that was developed and implemented for the optimization of the shuttle service employing standard quality improvement tools along with quantitative statistical and simulation tools. Simulation methodologies develop a model of the system and then place a demand on it in order to collect data on its performance. As stated by Bender and Chang (2), a simulation model uses the distribution of population behavior to account accurately for peaking of the demand during short time intervals. Simulation techniques have long been accepted for highway and urban traffic analysis.