Evaluating A Companys Resources and competitive position

Introduction It is important to evaluate a company’s position in the market. There are four most common areas used to analyze a company: strengths, weakness, opportunity, and threats (SWOT). Carrying out a SWOT analysis on a company makes it possible to evaluate the progress that the company is making.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Evaluating A Company’s Resources and competitive position specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Evaluation should be done from a qualitative perspective such as evaluation of completeness, internal consistency, rationale and suitability. More so, the quantitative point of view should also be put into consideration, including the strategic and financial outcomes for the company (Sanchez Heene, 2010). Evaluation of an organization is important because it shows whether an organization’s competitive capabilities and core competencies are strategically relevant. Thes e are most logical and appealing building blocks for companies. Most of the companies use resource-based strategies to exploit company resources in ways that offer value to their customers. The best and most potent strategies are those which are competitively rare, hard to imitate and hard to be trumped by substitute resources. A good strategy to size up a company’s resource strength is through carrying out a SWOT analysis. It is powerful in determining the company’s strengths and competitive deficiencies, opportunities and other external threats thus making it possible to find ways of empowering its future (Thompson et al., 2010). This paper will conduct a SWOT analysis for Apple Inc. It will also investigate the core and distinctive competencies of RIM which makes Blackberry mobile phones. It will discuss the resources and core competencies of Dell and lastly identify why competitors find it difficult to imitate Dell’s direct sales model given that its product s are based on standard industry technology. The SWOT Analysis of Apple Inc There are various activities, which add value and competitive advantages to Apple Inc. However, the value, rarity, inimitability and organization (VRIO) of an activity or resource determines its sustainability. SWOT analysis refers to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a firm, in this context, Apple Inc. According to the case study, some of the Apple Inc. strength includes the stability and user friendly product lines. Its technical savvy is one of its kinds. Arguably, Apple Inc. makes and sells iPod music players ranked among the best technological devices of the time. iPod is based on propriety standards and retailed through Apple’s retail stores (Huzefa et al., 2009).Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strength Its strengths include its ability and willingness to have a diverse customer base together with its progressed technical expertise; an illustration of this is the recent integration of Microsoft’s products lines with those of Intel processors. Secondly, its financial strength which makes it remains robust and stable even when the global market is stagnating. It does so by reducing costs and integrating product packages as well as participating in strategic alliances such as the iTunes. The firm has strength in its brand loyalty. Apple Inc. has brand loyalty, which is extremely costly and one which cannot be imitated (Huzefa et al., 2009). Weakness One major weakness of Apple Inc was the departure of Steve Jobs. He had been in the limelight as a single player in the minds and eyes of consumers and shareholders. The company had continuously exploited his rare and valuable resource to yield positive earnings to the shareholders. The market share of Apple Inc. can also be viewed as a weakness of the company. Apple Inc. geographical mar ket is described to be concentrated in the U.S. and its products are mostly for the learned (Huzefa et al., 2009). Opportunities Opportunities for Apple Inc. include the market growth for PC hardware and software. The introduction of Intel based processers has grown into the businesses replacing PC with iMacs. This move was to tighten the loop holes concerning stability and reliability, which lacked in PC. iMacs have gained popularity, especially in the banking sector, foe example, Japan’s Aozora Bank Ltd replaced 2,300 PCs with iMacs. Another opportunity is customer electronics. Apple Inc. expanded its market through the iTunes concepts of downloadable mobile phone features and movies. This has opened doors to build strategic alliances with manufacturers such as transmission giants like Disney amongst others (Huzefa et al., 2009). Threats Threats include the legal risks, especially when considering the fact that patent, infringement and copy rights can easily be violated by rival companies. This is so because it is easy to imitate support software. Other threats include competition, especially in two areas: the areas include the competition from the PC hardware/software and from consumer electronics. More so, with the relative increase of newcomers in the consumer arena, it might be hard for the firm to sustain its competitive advantage (Huzefa et al., 2009). The Core Competence and Distinctive Competence of RIM The Introduction of Blackberry by RIM was viewed as a simple idea. However, its popularity spread more than wild fire. The product was appealing with the innovation of such a small device compacted by vast wireless options and a cute Keyboard, which resulted to addiction by most of its users. Currently, the company estimates to have more than 400, 000 users.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Evaluating A Company’s Resources and competitive position specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The dynamic growth for 14 years of its product existence is attributed to its strategies, which hold the firm in a position. It has a large market share and has added value of branding associated to the capabilities of the Blackberry phones. The company also lays its focus on its rivals to protect their patents and has made strategic alliances, for instance, with Nokia. According to the SWOT analysis, the internal strength includes the diverse distribution channels and the vast joint ventures with service providers. It also has strong RD team that is well acquainted and generative of high valuable innovative ideas. The weaknesses of RIM include the reduced projects, which act as the backup of the star projects. Some of its external threats include the competitiveness and the numerous law suits associated with it. However, the firm stands in a good position to get into the fast market, especially with their appealing products. This may result to global expansion and brand loyalty, which will be its core competencies (Hamad, Lawson Radi, 2002). The Resources and Core Competencies of Dell Core competences refer to all capabilities which are critical to make a business attain a competitive advantage. The competencies are dynamic; changing in response to the changes in the costumers’ demands and in the company’s environment. The key core competencies of Dell include the clear and well defined brand position focused to defined customers. Their competencies are of fundamental consumer benefits, making consumers to have brand loyalty such that they are willing to pay more for the product. They are also competitively unique, making them difficult for the competitors to imitate. The core competencies of Dell include its reduction of capital cost during the manufacturing processes with highly quality products being manufactured. Its direct model chain, its unrivalled expertise in logistic and supply-chain management also form part of the core competencies (Internal Situation Analysis, 2010). The Difficulty in imitating Dell’s direct sales model A firm’s competitiveness requires tight fit with the internal competitiveness and exploitation of resources that are competitively valuable; this is rare and is hard to copy by competitors. According to Internal Situation Analysis, â€Å"companies pursue resource-based strategies that attempt to exploit company resources in a way that offers value to customers in ways rivals are unable to match† (Internal Situation Analysis, 2010, p. 1).Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, over a decade, Dell invested its time and finance into cultivating a relationship with its main suppliers. This has rendered unmatched supply chain capabilities. It has also made Dell plants operate with only several hours of order’s placement for various parts and components because their suppliers can access Dell’s daily production schedule. Another reason is its direct sales model, which makes Dell products to be relatively cheaper than those of its rivals (Internal Situation Analysis, 2010). Conclusion SWOT analysis is widely used to gauge the stability of a company. By carrying out a SWOT analysis of a company it becomes possible to identify the areas where structuring needs to be carried out in order to improve the competitiveness of a company. The analysis also points out the areas where a company has opportunities, which can be capitalized on. Core competencies are competitive advantages that a company has. Core competencies should be capitalized o n to give a company a competitive edge in marketing. References Hamad, C., Lawson, D., Radi, T. (2002). Hi-tech strategy Formulation Research in Motion. CATA Alliance. Retrieved from https://cata.ca/ Huzefa et al. (2009). A strategic analysis of Apple Corporation. Scribd. Retrieved from: Internal Situation Analysis. (2010). Evaluating a Company’s Resources, Cost Position, and competitive strength. Highered McGraw. Retrieved from https://scribd.com/doc/11983566/A-Strategic-Analysis-of-Apple-Corporation Sanchez, R., Heeene, A. (2010). A focused issue on identifying, building and linking competences. Emerald Group Publishing. New York, NY: Emerald Group Publishing. Thompson et al. (2010). Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage: Concepts and Cases. New York, NY: McGraw Hills companies, Inc. This term paper on Evaluating A Company’s Resources and competitive position was written and submitted by user Akemi to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

My Sad Life Essays - Blood, Free Essays, Term Papers

My Sad Life Essays - Blood, Free Essays, Term Papers My Sad Life The sun was setting. Far to the east, threatening black clouds arose from the fumes of pollution from the several smoke stacks towering over the city. The streets were pock marked and dented with the recent shower of acid rain. Hot boiling steam from the sewers made the temperature of day much hotter than it really was. Just outside the borders of the city is a lake covered with muck and crude oil spills. Death and despair floated aimlessly on the surface of the unhospitable body of water. Corpses of dead fish, seagulls... bobbed just under the rim of the black slime. The black slime sensing fresh prey, extended it's corrupt and revolting tendrils farther...until it caught another unsuspecting victim, choking and engulfing, destroying, leaving just another emtpy shell behind, devoid of any life. Night set in, the stars were obscured by thick blankets of smoke. The day was done. Stores got ready to lock up and street lights were turned on to aid the bread winners, so they may travel safely. Few were fortunate enough to own automobiles so they could avoid the cold dangerous streets and dark alleyways. Most shops were already abandoned, finished for the day. Yet few doors were still open, desperate for any last minute customers. One such shopkeeper was Phil Anderson. Anderson had worked as a pharmacist for most of his life. At forty, he had little to show for. The pollution that caused the gradual decay of the city had had negative effects on business, as well as the environment. Phil, though by all means not an old man, showed signs of premature aging. His skin was pale and dry, wrinkled by the everyday punishment of the deteriorating sorroundings. Few strands of grayish white hair lined his almost bald, dandruff infested scalp. Looking at Phil with his characteristic limp, slouched posture and bulging belly one might think him an extremely unathletic person. But then again it was not entirely his fault. His eyes were red and bloodshot, the glasses he wore only made these features more obvious. With shaking skinny hands, Phil slowly put away the last of the items on top of the counter. Finally done, he flicked off the lights and rummaged through his pockets for his keys. Looking one last time to make sure the shop was in order, Phil locked up the store and left. He failed t o notice a dark shadow spying on him as he counted the bills he had earned today, and put it away into his black leather wallet. The tall dark figure studied the pharmacist a while longer before trailing him. The narrow dirty street smelled of weeks old garbage and animal wastes. Smog was still thick in the air causing him to cough repeatedly. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Remembering his air filter in his pocket, Phil gingerly took it out and put it on. Feeling much better Phil continued down the street, heaving a sigh of relief. Bibliography none

E-mail as way of communication in business Essay

E-mail as way of communication in business - Essay Example The paper tells that email is a way of transferring digitised information from the source to one or more recipients using a web enabled device. It requires that the two parties have access to the internet to make the exchange complete; its servers receives information from the sender, directs it to the recipient and stores the content to be accessed at will thereafter. With improvements in computer technology, traditional forms of communications shifted from physical print outs for instance, memos to modern digitised forms which include internal email. This is used by businesses and organisations for communicating with its employees. This form of communication has brought with it some challenges which were only realised after corporations realised that there was minimal control over information exchanged among employees and the outside environment. Despite compliance standards set by corporations to guide employees on the right email content to use for internal communications, the nu mber of emails exchanged in a day is so many that internal control mechanisms cannot effectively handle. In 2008, about 103 billion emails were sent in corporate companies the world over. These are some of the problems associated with internal mail. Phones 4u is a large mobile phone retailer based in Britain, since its inception in 1987 by John Caudwell and his brother Brian, the store has grown leaps and bounds to boast of 550 outlets in the United Kingdom. This company operates in a tough business environment and transformed its internal processes over time, to cope with increasing consumer needs. Britain’s communications regulator (Ofcom) found Phones 4u liable of various malpractices ranging from lying to clients about their coverage, and delay in refund processing to those who purchase faulty phones. Due to such damaging allegations, the store did an internal check to determine the root cause of these inefficiencies and address them. Among the resolutions was rejection o f internal email as a communication medium within and outside the company to monitor information flow to protect its brand from lurid accusations that were threatening its existence. Along with other changes effected for instance, provision of insurance packages for Smartphone buyers to reduce costs associated with customer returning damaged phones that are within the warranty period, it performance has rebounded with turnover growing 22% in 2010. Disadvantages of using internal email Liability: Unmonitored use of email can lead to consequences relating to violations of internal corporate rules and government regulations. Companies have internal intelligence and secrets that they may want to be kept private within its boundaries, they however, do not have the capacity to shield employees from knowing the same. Other modes of communication can be monitored to gauge its compliance; however, information contained in email is drafted by the sender, who decides on the context. The copy s ent to the recipient can however be retrieved by investigators at the request of the authorities if it results in a civil lawsuit. The aims of corporate compliance is: to protect employees from unwanted behaviour, protecting company’s assets from misuse due to inefficiencies, minimise corporate risk and streamline operational processes to increase output. This secretive nature of email message exchange makes employees be tempted to use the medium to exchange private, but damaging information to other people for whatever gain. For instance, an employee might leak a product diversification plan by his company, the competitor who requested for the intelligence then wards off competition by introducing his own version of the same, with the same formula, to sabotage the originator (Smith & Mounter, 2008, p. 127)2. The government engages with corporate bodies on a daily basis, these businesses might hide some information from the government especially on matters relating to financi al position. For

Issues and Risks of the Performance a Management System in the Merged Coursework

Issues and Risks of the Performance a Management System in the Merged Organization - Coursework Example Implementing a single performance management system would not be appropriate to measure the performance of all employees due to the differences in their competencies and skills. Since the performance management system would have its own rating parameters, there are chances that it could be fair for some individuals and unfair with some. This is because staffs perceive fairness with regards to comparisons. Employees compare inputs with one another, such as their efforts and expertise, their job performances and compensations with other employees. Due to the disparity in skill levels and the varying levels of inputs, efforts or expertise among employees, the performance evaluating parameters would be improper indicators of actual performance levels and productivity. Some employees are likely to get overrated while some of them would remain underrated. This would appear to be unfair for staffs which would eventually render the system ineffective. It is important that the performance man agement system measures the different activities accurately. If they do not, then the system results would differ from the actual results which would give its managers an inaccurate picture of the conditions of the firm and results of their decisions. All members from the two organizations might not be equally educated and updated about the use of the system. All managers might not be adept in a single technology which can cause differences in the ways they use or operate the system. This could also arouse differences they interpret results or outcomes of measurements. Improper and inaccurate ratings can generate out of difference in assessments methods and techniques which can yield inaccurate results in the system (Markus, 2004, p.6-10). Mitigating risks of the performance management system in the merged organization Firstly, it must be ensured that parameters for measuring performance must be based on fairness and equality. The different skills, expertise and competencies of staf fs must be measured through different parameters in order to yield unbiased and accurate results. Aspects like extent of criticality of tasks, difficulty of work activities, time taken for performing a particular work activity must be considered while measuring task performances. It is essential to train staffs and employees on the new system of performance management. The first step must be to educate staffs with regards to the importance of the system and make them understand the key concepts, terminology and best practices. It is crucial to clearly set out environmental and personal factors required for delivering top performance and the importance of supervisors to facilitate a high performing work environment in the organization. One method to eliminate discrepancies in use of parameters is to include a structured and quantitative approach. This is particularly effective in cases where the performance management is likely to be used as an input to a pay for performance scheme. Ideally, it is crucial to associate a certain weight to the job accountability and accountability in proportion to its importance and also each relevant competencies and skills if the organization wishes to reward certain behaviors. It is important to align the system with the organizational objectives and goals. Skills which are critical for the attainment of those

Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop

Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop 1.1 Background Transportation is a system that considers the complex relationships between networks, the demand and space. Transit on the other hand is dominantly an urban transportation mode. Since transit is a shared public service, it potentially benefits from economies of agglomeration related to high densities and from economies of scale related to high mobility demands. Mass bus transit is highly suitable for any university campus, which experiences a high volume of traffic flow during a fixed time frame. Space on the other hand is limited due to its characteristic built environment. ( Reshmi Mukherjee, 2003) Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private. Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow, and restrain urban sprawl. (Wikipedia, 2011) Public transportation can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. In infrastructure it involve on the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines or terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, bus stops and seaports. Vehicles traveling on the network include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including the financing, legalities and policies (Wikipedia, 2011). An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity buses exist all over the world that are operated by government or private industry, for profit and not for profit. (Wikipedia, 2011). Infrastructure particularly bus stop is one of the important fixed installation that need to take into account. The bus stop is also the most prominent icon of public transit. The locations, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location In most urban areas, public transportation service is provided by fixed-route bus systems. Bus stops are the point of transition where an enquiry starts to become a journey. It is important to consider passenger characteristics (eg access to the bus stop), route characteristics (eg frequency of buses), service identity or the roading environment when determining the location of individual bus stops. The bus stop is also the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems; less busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. (Wikipedia, 2011). 1.2 Problem of Statement Bus is a major demand in Malaysia as public intercity transit. Besides the fees is in low rate it also serve a better public transportation if it has to do with plenty numbers of passengers. Since the bus stop is the most prominent icon of public transit, the location, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location. Present bus stops in Malaysia certainly are inconveniently located. GIS is being used to locate suitable location for the bus stops. As the density of passenger and land use pattern in Shah Alam has changed drastically it is upmost that new bus locations need to be identified. 1.3 Aim The aim of this case study is to locate the best locations for bus stops within the city of Shah Alam using Geographic Information System (GIS). Comparison of the existing and the planned bus stops will be carry out. 1.4 Objectives To compare the criteria of locating bus stop between the existing policy and my observation and to suggest an appropriate location to locate bus stop base on criteria: Standard spacing between bus stop Density of population Non-Resident of UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s students Nearby attractions and major people generators: Schools / educational premises Hospitals Residential Recreational park Shopping area 1.5 Limitations In this thesis, software used is ArcGIS version 9.3 Use the Network Analysis Extension tools options Focused only on the bus transportation provide by the RapidKL company The test network dataset is Section 7, Shah Alam road network 1.6 Assumption In this thesis, there are several assumption made. The bus stops served in transportation industry in Malaysia are certainly not consistently located. This study assumes that bus is the major transportation system used in Shah Alam and there is facilities transportation problem in bus transportation industries at Shah Alam area especially bus stops. The bus stop locations are not systematically located. 1.7 Study Area Shah Alam is the location for study area in this case study. It is because as we can see the major public transportation in Shah Alam is bus. This case study is more focus on students generators especially among UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Non-resident students. From the demographic side, almost all the bus passengers are students. Most of student in UiTM Shah Alam use buses as their main transportation to go to classes. With the capacity of student, it makes the bus services route around the study area more frequently. In current situation, there are many bus stop location is inconveniently located. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses and review current practices of transportation in Malaysia especially in infrastructure of transportation. The discussion start with an overview of transportation in Malaysia followed by category of transportation namely private and public. This discussion is focused on the specification of location of bus stop. Final section will elaborate about the ArcGIS buffering framework, network analysis and its capability and that maybe useful in this study. 2.2 Transportation in Malaysia Malaysia is served by an excellent transport system. Once you are in the country there is always transport available to you to even remote areas. Traveling by road in peninsula Malaysia is popular as it has well- developed network of roads.  There are various options available as to how you might wish to get to a destination.   In Sabah and Sarawak, it is recommended for traveling by four-wheel drive as on unpaved roads, and many remote areas can only be reached by air or river-boats. If you want to see clearly the countryside, traveling by rail is also highly recommended. 2.2.1 Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one to another location. There are many types of modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. (Wikipedia, 2011) Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, and may be roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. 2.2.2 Road A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance. In urban areas, roads may pass through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. The most common road vehicle is the automobile which is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. As of 2002, there were 590 million automobiles worldwide. Buses allow for more efficient travel at the cost of reduced flexibility. (Wikipedia, 2011) 2.2.3 Buses Buses are an inexpensive way to travel in Malaysia. Most, if not all buses in Kuala Lumpur (KL) are air-conditioned but there are still non-air-conditioned buses in smaller towns around the country. Buses plying routes within towns and cities typically charge fares according to the distance covered while interstate buses have fixed rates.Most of areas in Malaysia are using buses as major transportation. Especially in area with major people generator such as in residential, educational, industrial and recreational area. The public bus service in Shah Alam is efficient and covers a wide range of routes, although steps are being taken to constantly improve the services. Strategic bus stops and stations offer passengers plenty of boarding options. Buses are in good condition and fully air-conditioned. Designated bus lanes also enable smooth scheduling of bus services for passengers ease. The bus routes also link to other transportation options like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, train station and taxi stands (Urban Transportation Department, 2008). Rapid KL as one of the bus company in Malaysia operates 134 routes in the Klang Valley including the suburban feeder service to complement the LRT systems. It has two central workshops and 13 bus depots spread across the Klang Valley and plans to gradually introduce more 15 minutes frequency throughout its system is also one of RAPID KLs goals. Today, 15 minutes frequency is operated only at 13 routes at high-density routes (RapidKL, 2008). 2.3 Transportation Facility 2.3.1 Bus Stop A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems but there are also busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. For operational purposes there are three main kinds of stops. First, scheduled stops, at which the bus should stop irrespective of demand. Second, request stops (or flag stop) where the vehicle will only stop on requested and hail and ride stops where a vehicle will stop anywhere along the designated section of road on request. Certain stops may be restricted to set-down only or pick-up only. Some stops may be designated as timing points and if the vehicle is ahead of schedule it will wait to ensure correct running to the timetable. In dense urban areas where bus volumes are high, skip-stops are sometimes used to increase efficiency and reduce delays at bus stops. Fare stages may also be defined by the location of certain stops in distance or zone based fare collection systems. (Wikipedia, 2011) Bus stops are placed in one of three locations: near-side (located immediately before an intersection); far-side (located immediately after an intersection); and mid-block (located between intersections). Each of these locations offers advantages to vehicle drivers and pedestrians. However, the final decision on bus stop locations dependent on ease of operation, transfer situations, space availability, and traffic volumes. Pace performs on-site evaluations of proposed bus stop to analyze operating conditions and identify appropriate bus stop locations. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Near-side bus stop sign placement is generally 10 feet from the corner tangent point and 5 feet from the outer curb. However, site characteristics will ultimately dictate exact sign location. Where site limitations exist, the sign should be setback a minimum of 2 feet. Near-side locations offer a number of features to pedestrians and vehicle drivers. This location allows pedestrians to cross in front of the bus. This location also allows transit users to load and alight from buses close to crosswalks and intersections, thereby minimizing, walking distances to connecting transit service. Far-side bus stop locations are recommended on routes in which buses make left turns at intersections. Once a bus negotiates a left turn, a far-side stop provides a more appropriate service point. Far-side stops also are recommended in locations where dedicated right turn lanes are present. Far-side stops may facilitate easier bus re-entry into traffic due to gaps created by intersection traffic signa ls. Another bus stop location is the mid-block stop. A mid-block location is generally less congested than an intersection. Bus turnouts are most effectively located in a mid-block bus stop zone. Mid block stops are applicable at T-intersections or locations generating a larger passenger volume. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Bus stop is the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. (Texas Transportation Institute, 1996) Bus stops should be at safe locations, no more than 50 meters after a traffic light or road intersection. They should not be located on sloped surfaces which considered unsafe. (Higher Committee of Planning Cities 2000) Good pedestrian facilities often make the trip to stops more enjoyable, thus making it easier for people to choose both modes of transportation to go to work, shopping, or other activities. All transit facilities and the transportation routes that lead to them have needed to be safe, convenient, and accessible. If people do not feel safe or comfortable walking to stops, then they are likely to choose other modes of travel, such as a car. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Socioeconomic data is vital for determining locations for transit routes and facilities. Often, socioeconomic spatial data resides in a zonal layer that may cover a very large area. While socioeconomic data aggregated to these large zones are useful for regional analyses, they canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t support a analysis of accessibility to bus stops. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Since the bus stops would have been installed before many years, the then density of the passengers and land use pattern would have undergone a drastic change and the bus stops would not commensurate with these changes. Hence there is an increasing need for the bus stops to be rationalized. (Mr. G. Saravanan Mr. S. Suresh Immanuel, 2003) 2.4 GIS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (NCGIA, 1990). A geographic information system (GIS) is an information system that is designed to work with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates. In other words, a GIS is both a database system with specific capabilities for spatially reference data, as well as a set of operations for working with data. In a sense, a GIS may be thought of as a higher-order map. (Jeffrey Star and John Estes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990) GIS integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS technology allows us to view, query, and understand data in many ways. We will see the relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of GIS-based maps, reports, and charts. GIS helps us answer questions and solve problems. When viewed in the context of geography, our data is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. (ESRI, 2011). In broad terms, a Geographic Information System could be defined as a set of principles and techniques employed to achieve one (or both) of the following objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Finding suitable locations that have the relevant attributes. For example, finding a suitable location where an airport, a commercial forest or a retail outlet can be established. This is usually achieved through the use of Boolean (logical) operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Querying the geographical attributes of a specified location. For example, examining the roads in a particular locality, to check road density or find the shortest path, and so on. This is often achieved by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clickingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ onto the location or object of interest, and examining the contents of the database for that location or object. 2.4.1 GIS in Transportation GIS has been recognized for many years now as an invaluable tool for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining transportation systems. As the gateway to economic development and, subsequently, a healthy economy, transportation infrastructure represents one of the largest and most critical investments made in any nation, at whatever stage of development. Similarly, for many firms in the transportation industry, profitability and a strong competitive position depend on a safe and reliable system. Roads are the main arteries of a modern societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s infrastructure, contributing heavily to the distribution of goods and persons. GIS provides many helpful applications for ensuring a smooth transportation flow. Customer satisfaction, competitive position, timely response, effective deployment, and profitability are all positively affected (GISDATA Group, 2009). Being able to visualize your assets and the surrounding environment when you build, upgrade, or repair transportation infrastructure helps you prioritize your work and make the right decisions. A geographic information system (GIS) software platform will allow you to do all this and much more. With Esrià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s GIS technology, you can build dynamic and rich mapping applications that will keep everyone from the project team and government officials to field staff and the public in the know. (ESRI, 2011). GIS contain data related to location points, lines (commonly roadway links and corridors), and polygons. Analysis tools that are part of GIS software packages can be used to relate these data. The use of GIS to manage data can simplify the analysis of transport systems and can enhance the decision-making process (Worldbank ). 2.4.2 The Importance of Geospatial Data The nature of any natural or economic activity with a spatial dimension cannot be properly understood without reference to its spatial qualities. Spatial data have two essential parts: location and attributes. A GIS requires location references. Typical location references are latitude and longitude and national grid references such as the National Grid. However, other geospatial codes can also be used to identify location, such as postcodes. Attributes. Any locality would have a number of characteristics or properties associated with it. These attributes are usually kept in tables, containing such information as vegetation types, population, annual income, and so on. GIS systems store and process data in two formats, vector and raster. In the vector data model, the world is represented as a mosaic of interconnecting lines and points representing the location and boundaries of geographical entities. In vector data models, the data are represented as: arcs (lines) polygons (traversed areas) points (labelled nodes) nodes (intersection points) 2.4.3 Existing GIS Based System A Spatial Locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Allocation GIS Framework for Managing Water Sources in a Savanna Nature Reserve. (Source: www.nceas.ucsb.edu) Associated with the establishment or removal of water sources in savanna ecosystems is the issue of the effects of such management actions on animal movement and habitat selection, longer term implications on population levels, and impacts of such change on habitat degradation and soil erosion. Extant metrics used to describe the spatial distribution of water sources on the landscape often fall short of providing source-specific information, making them hard to apply in small-scale management settings. Using the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (KPNR) as a case study, comparison between of a: buffer framework which is to describing distances to water, a nearest neighbor framework, spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) created in a geographic information system (GIS) These three frameworks can be combined into one GIS to demonstrate site-specific information on water source distribution, in addition to system-wide descriptions. The visually accessible quality of a GIS allows qualitative input from managers and property owners to achieve quantifiable management goals. The duality of database and visual representation provides a useful tool to assess the role of individual water sources and can easily be updated to reflect changes in their distribution. In this study, seasonal effects on the water source distribution are modeled first. Then two hypothetical management scenarios are modeled based on realistic management options for this reserve. For the first management scenario we map the resulting distribution when all artificially supplemented water sources are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"turned onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the dry season. Fig 1: Location of KNPR (Klaserie Private Nature Reserve) Water sources in this study include seasonal pans, artificial pans and catchment dams as point sources and two major river courses, the Klaserie and the Olifants, which have perennial segments in KPNR. Buffer framework For the buffer framework, the locations of all the water sources tabulated during the wet season were buffered in concentric 1 km rings and clipped to the reserve boundary to assess the area of the reserve at different distances to water (Fig. 2a); this process was repeated for the dry season water sources (Fig. 2b) and then for the two hypothetical management scenarios and the results tabulated for comparison. Fig 2(a): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR wet season Fig. 2(b): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR dry season. Nearest neighbour framework The locations of the wet and dry season water points were used to calculate the nearest distance to river sections and then to nearest water source. The nearest neighbour distance between two point water sources was calculated as a vector, by minimizing the results of a triangular matrix calculator for Euclidian distance in Microsoft Excel ©. The lesser of the distance to nearest river or nearest neighbour was taken as the nearest neighbour distance to water. Spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) The simplest spatial representation of an unconstrained locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation model of supply points to demand regions uses the Dirichlet tessellation to generate Voronoi or Thiessen polygons (Okabe et al. 1992). A tessellation is essentially a mosaic, a tiling created in a geometric plane. This tessellation is created by the intersections of perpendicular bisectors between each point in a set. The three frameworks used to assess the change in distribution of water points in the reserve yielded generalizations, which are useful as descriptors of system change, but can be hard to translate directly into management action on specific water sources. The advantage of the SLAF over the two other frameworks is that the area of the polygon associated with each water source is visually Optimization of Bus stop locations using GIS as a tool for Chennai city- Acase study, R.Sankar, 2003 In a developing country like India every advancement depends upon the funds available. This influencing factor is considered as there is huge need of finance for the development of infrastructure such as laying of good, strong roads. The road grade is essential for having bus routes in a particular area. It is not possible to have bus stops in the interior where the grade is poorer. The density of population and the infrastructure go hand in hand, this is the reason for having many bus stops in close proximity in the main roads. While considering the financial status of the government it is also necessary to consider the status of the public. In a higher middle income, higher income groups the dependency on the public transit system is less making it less imperative to have more bus stops. Conversely the lower income group and the economically weaker section entirely depend upon the corporation buses for their transit. Finally the locations are graded based on the risk factors. The s ites selected should not be near the junctions. Dangerous turnings are avoided. Methodology Data collection is taking on the ground using GPS and the map of road network which include the position of each bus stop in term of coordinates. There are about 41 bus stops between Vadapalani and Besent nagar, which is the study area. There are about 21 roads in the selected route. The network map is digitized. Digitization is done manually using On-screen method. The errors in the original maps will be transferred and they are likely magnified when digitized using GIS. Here arcs and nodes are defined by the user. The projection used here is polyconic which is considered the best suited for India. Arc View and Arc Info are the softwares used for digitization, transformation/projection and analysis. Analysis Buffer analysis is made to determine the effected area. The minimum and maximum distances are given. Selected route in the network map which are given as buffer distances. If there is overlap in the buffers then a common point can be considered for the location of the stop such that there is no overlap. This point is selected considering other criteria also. Confluence of all parameters is essential before arriving into any decision. The similar way if the distance between two buffers are more this indicate that the area in the in between region is not properly served by any of the bus stops. In this case new bus stops can be created. Thus it is necessary to calculate based on all the parameters that none of the areas are under served or over served. The route analysis was made the impedance value and the speed is given based on the vehicular volume on each road. The bus stops can be minimized in roads where there the existing traffic is high, additional positioning of these stops would add up to the traffic congestion. The locations of important centers such as hospitals, schools etc are also estimated for their proximity to the stops using the route analysis module. The time gained due to the reduction of the stops vice versa is also projected by having each location as a node and by giving a positive or negative value for the calculation of impedance. The demographic characteristics are also computed. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter will explain the methodology adopted in this study. The explanation starts with the introduction of adopted method for literature review, the method for data acquisition and the type of data acquired, data preparation and processing and followed by performing data analysis and results documentation and recording methods. Project Planning Data Preparation and Processing Data Acquisition and type of Data acquired Analysis and Results Fig. 3.1: Methodology Flow Sequence 3.2 Research Methodology Project Planning Selection of hardware and software (ArcGIS) Selection of study area (Shah Alam) Selection of data Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired Spatial data 1) Land use map 2) Route map 3) Layer Trace existing bus stop location using handheld GPS (X,Y). Attribute name 1) Road name 2) Building 3) Population UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s NR student source from HEP UiTM. (X,Y) Data Preparation and Processing Creating different Themes Digitizing Scanning Digitizing Creating Attribute Tables Analysis and Result - - Compare existing bus stop location with the recommendation as requested safety reasons. Proposed new bus stops based on the location of resident for Non-Resident students. Compare the distance between two consecutive bus stops with the standard distance of travel by man by walk which is 400m. (source from MBSA) Fig 3.2: Flow Chart of Methodology Phase 1: Preliminary Study Project Planning 1. Selection of Study Area The city of Shah Alam has to be selected as study case area which covers section 2 until section 24. This study emphasized in the area with educational institutions especially UiTM since this study is focused on non-residents students. 2. Selection of Hardware and Software Hardware for scanning, digitizing, and processing has been determined. Software that will be used is ArcMap. This software helps in digitizing also analysis. 3. Selection of Data To select data, it needs to relate with problem statement. Data has been gathered from many of sources that will be explain in Data Collection. Phase 2 : Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired 1. Spatial Data Spatial data is data pertaining to the location and spatial dimensions of geographical entities Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop Geographic Information System (GIS) for Location of Bus Stop 1.1 Background Transportation is a system that considers the complex relationships between networks, the demand and space. Transit on the other hand is dominantly an urban transportation mode. Since transit is a shared public service, it potentially benefits from economies of agglomeration related to high densities and from economies of scale related to high mobility demands. Mass bus transit is highly suitable for any university campus, which experiences a high volume of traffic flow during a fixed time frame. Space on the other hand is limited due to its characteristic built environment. ( Reshmi Mukherjee, 2003) Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private. Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow, and restrain urban sprawl. (Wikipedia, 2011) Public transportation can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. In infrastructure it involve on the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines or terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, bus stops and seaports. Vehicles traveling on the network include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including the financing, legalities and policies (Wikipedia, 2011). An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity buses exist all over the world that are operated by government or private industry, for profit and not for profit. (Wikipedia, 2011). Infrastructure particularly bus stop is one of the important fixed installation that need to take into account. The bus stop is also the most prominent icon of public transit. The locations, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location In most urban areas, public transportation service is provided by fixed-route bus systems. Bus stops are the point of transition where an enquiry starts to become a journey. It is important to consider passenger characteristics (eg access to the bus stop), route characteristics (eg frequency of buses), service identity or the roading environment when determining the location of individual bus stops. The bus stop is also the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems; less busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. (Wikipedia, 2011). 1.2 Problem of Statement Bus is a major demand in Malaysia as public intercity transit. Besides the fees is in low rate it also serve a better public transportation if it has to do with plenty numbers of passengers. Since the bus stop is the most prominent icon of public transit, the location, functionality, safety, and visual appearance of stops are critical to attracting and maintaining transit riders in any location. Present bus stops in Malaysia certainly are inconveniently located. GIS is being used to locate suitable location for the bus stops. As the density of passenger and land use pattern in Shah Alam has changed drastically it is upmost that new bus locations need to be identified. 1.3 Aim The aim of this case study is to locate the best locations for bus stops within the city of Shah Alam using Geographic Information System (GIS). Comparison of the existing and the planned bus stops will be carry out. 1.4 Objectives To compare the criteria of locating bus stop between the existing policy and my observation and to suggest an appropriate location to locate bus stop base on criteria: Standard spacing between bus stop Density of population Non-Resident of UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s students Nearby attractions and major people generators: Schools / educational premises Hospitals Residential Recreational park Shopping area 1.5 Limitations In this thesis, software used is ArcGIS version 9.3 Use the Network Analysis Extension tools options Focused only on the bus transportation provide by the RapidKL company The test network dataset is Section 7, Shah Alam road network 1.6 Assumption In this thesis, there are several assumption made. The bus stops served in transportation industry in Malaysia are certainly not consistently located. This study assumes that bus is the major transportation system used in Shah Alam and there is facilities transportation problem in bus transportation industries at Shah Alam area especially bus stops. The bus stop locations are not systematically located. 1.7 Study Area Shah Alam is the location for study area in this case study. It is because as we can see the major public transportation in Shah Alam is bus. This case study is more focus on students generators especially among UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Non-resident students. From the demographic side, almost all the bus passengers are students. Most of student in UiTM Shah Alam use buses as their main transportation to go to classes. With the capacity of student, it makes the bus services route around the study area more frequently. In current situation, there are many bus stop location is inconveniently located. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses and review current practices of transportation in Malaysia especially in infrastructure of transportation. The discussion start with an overview of transportation in Malaysia followed by category of transportation namely private and public. This discussion is focused on the specification of location of bus stop. Final section will elaborate about the ArcGIS buffering framework, network analysis and its capability and that maybe useful in this study. 2.2 Transportation in Malaysia Malaysia is served by an excellent transport system. Once you are in the country there is always transport available to you to even remote areas. Traveling by road in peninsula Malaysia is popular as it has well- developed network of roads.  There are various options available as to how you might wish to get to a destination.   In Sabah and Sarawak, it is recommended for traveling by four-wheel drive as on unpaved roads, and many remote areas can only be reached by air or river-boats. If you want to see clearly the countryside, traveling by rail is also highly recommended. 2.2.1 Transport Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one to another location. There are many types of modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. (Wikipedia, 2011) Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, and may be roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines, and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. 2.2.2 Road A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. Roads are typically smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or maintenance. In urban areas, roads may pass through a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and route. The most common road vehicle is the automobile which is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. As of 2002, there were 590 million automobiles worldwide. Buses allow for more efficient travel at the cost of reduced flexibility. (Wikipedia, 2011) 2.2.3 Buses Buses are an inexpensive way to travel in Malaysia. Most, if not all buses in Kuala Lumpur (KL) are air-conditioned but there are still non-air-conditioned buses in smaller towns around the country. Buses plying routes within towns and cities typically charge fares according to the distance covered while interstate buses have fixed rates.Most of areas in Malaysia are using buses as major transportation. Especially in area with major people generator such as in residential, educational, industrial and recreational area. The public bus service in Shah Alam is efficient and covers a wide range of routes, although steps are being taken to constantly improve the services. Strategic bus stops and stations offer passengers plenty of boarding options. Buses are in good condition and fully air-conditioned. Designated bus lanes also enable smooth scheduling of bus services for passengers ease. The bus routes also link to other transportation options like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, train station and taxi stands (Urban Transportation Department, 2008). Rapid KL as one of the bus company in Malaysia operates 134 routes in the Klang Valley including the suburban feeder service to complement the LRT systems. It has two central workshops and 13 bus depots spread across the Klang Valley and plans to gradually introduce more 15 minutes frequency throughout its system is also one of RAPID KLs goals. Today, 15 minutes frequency is operated only at 13 routes at high-density routes (RapidKL, 2008). 2.3 Transportation Facility 2.3.1 Bus Stop A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage. Stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating and possibly electronic passenger information systems but there are also busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location and customary stops have no specific infrastructure being known by their description. Bus stops may be clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes. For operational purposes there are three main kinds of stops. First, scheduled stops, at which the bus should stop irrespective of demand. Second, request stops (or flag stop) where the vehicle will only stop on requested and hail and ride stops where a vehicle will stop anywhere along the designated section of road on request. Certain stops may be restricted to set-down only or pick-up only. Some stops may be designated as timing points and if the vehicle is ahead of schedule it will wait to ensure correct running to the timetable. In dense urban areas where bus volumes are high, skip-stops are sometimes used to increase efficiency and reduce delays at bus stops. Fare stages may also be defined by the location of certain stops in distance or zone based fare collection systems. (Wikipedia, 2011) Bus stops are placed in one of three locations: near-side (located immediately before an intersection); far-side (located immediately after an intersection); and mid-block (located between intersections). Each of these locations offers advantages to vehicle drivers and pedestrians. However, the final decision on bus stop locations dependent on ease of operation, transfer situations, space availability, and traffic volumes. Pace performs on-site evaluations of proposed bus stop to analyze operating conditions and identify appropriate bus stop locations. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Near-side bus stop sign placement is generally 10 feet from the corner tangent point and 5 feet from the outer curb. However, site characteristics will ultimately dictate exact sign location. Where site limitations exist, the sign should be setback a minimum of 2 feet. Near-side locations offer a number of features to pedestrians and vehicle drivers. This location allows pedestrians to cross in front of the bus. This location also allows transit users to load and alight from buses close to crosswalks and intersections, thereby minimizing, walking distances to connecting transit service. Far-side bus stop locations are recommended on routes in which buses make left turns at intersections. Once a bus negotiates a left turn, a far-side stop provides a more appropriate service point. Far-side stops also are recommended in locations where dedicated right turn lanes are present. Far-side stops may facilitate easier bus re-entry into traffic due to gaps created by intersection traffic signa ls. Another bus stop location is the mid-block stop. A mid-block location is generally less congested than an intersection. Bus turnouts are most effectively located in a mid-block bus stop zone. Mid block stops are applicable at T-intersections or locations generating a larger passenger volume. (Pace Development Guidelines, 1999) Bus stop is the first point of contact between the passenger and the bus service. The spacing, location, design, and operation of bus stops significantly influence transit system performance and customer satisfaction. (Texas Transportation Institute, 1996) Bus stops should be at safe locations, no more than 50 meters after a traffic light or road intersection. They should not be located on sloped surfaces which considered unsafe. (Higher Committee of Planning Cities 2000) Good pedestrian facilities often make the trip to stops more enjoyable, thus making it easier for people to choose both modes of transportation to go to work, shopping, or other activities. All transit facilities and the transportation routes that lead to them have needed to be safe, convenient, and accessible. If people do not feel safe or comfortable walking to stops, then they are likely to choose other modes of travel, such as a car. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Socioeconomic data is vital for determining locations for transit routes and facilities. Often, socioeconomic spatial data resides in a zonal layer that may cover a very large area. While socioeconomic data aggregated to these large zones are useful for regional analyses, they canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t support a analysis of accessibility to bus stops. (A Gis Approach To Evaluate Bus Stop Accessibility, Giuseppe SALVO). Since the bus stops would have been installed before many years, the then density of the passengers and land use pattern would have undergone a drastic change and the bus stops would not commensurate with these changes. Hence there is an increasing need for the bus stops to be rationalized. (Mr. G. Saravanan Mr. S. Suresh Immanuel, 2003) 2.4 GIS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (NCGIA, 1990). A geographic information system (GIS) is an information system that is designed to work with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates. In other words, a GIS is both a database system with specific capabilities for spatially reference data, as well as a set of operations for working with data. In a sense, a GIS may be thought of as a higher-order map. (Jeffrey Star and John Estes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990) GIS integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS technology allows us to view, query, and understand data in many ways. We will see the relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of GIS-based maps, reports, and charts. GIS helps us answer questions and solve problems. When viewed in the context of geography, our data is quickly understood and easily shared. GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. (ESRI, 2011). In broad terms, a Geographic Information System could be defined as a set of principles and techniques employed to achieve one (or both) of the following objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Finding suitable locations that have the relevant attributes. For example, finding a suitable location where an airport, a commercial forest or a retail outlet can be established. This is usually achieved through the use of Boolean (logical) operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Querying the geographical attributes of a specified location. For example, examining the roads in a particular locality, to check road density or find the shortest path, and so on. This is often achieved by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"clickingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ onto the location or object of interest, and examining the contents of the database for that location or object. 2.4.1 GIS in Transportation GIS has been recognized for many years now as an invaluable tool for managing, planning, evaluating, and maintaining transportation systems. As the gateway to economic development and, subsequently, a healthy economy, transportation infrastructure represents one of the largest and most critical investments made in any nation, at whatever stage of development. Similarly, for many firms in the transportation industry, profitability and a strong competitive position depend on a safe and reliable system. Roads are the main arteries of a modern societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s infrastructure, contributing heavily to the distribution of goods and persons. GIS provides many helpful applications for ensuring a smooth transportation flow. Customer satisfaction, competitive position, timely response, effective deployment, and profitability are all positively affected (GISDATA Group, 2009). Being able to visualize your assets and the surrounding environment when you build, upgrade, or repair transportation infrastructure helps you prioritize your work and make the right decisions. A geographic information system (GIS) software platform will allow you to do all this and much more. With Esrià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s GIS technology, you can build dynamic and rich mapping applications that will keep everyone from the project team and government officials to field staff and the public in the know. (ESRI, 2011). GIS contain data related to location points, lines (commonly roadway links and corridors), and polygons. Analysis tools that are part of GIS software packages can be used to relate these data. The use of GIS to manage data can simplify the analysis of transport systems and can enhance the decision-making process (Worldbank ). 2.4.2 The Importance of Geospatial Data The nature of any natural or economic activity with a spatial dimension cannot be properly understood without reference to its spatial qualities. Spatial data have two essential parts: location and attributes. A GIS requires location references. Typical location references are latitude and longitude and national grid references such as the National Grid. However, other geospatial codes can also be used to identify location, such as postcodes. Attributes. Any locality would have a number of characteristics or properties associated with it. These attributes are usually kept in tables, containing such information as vegetation types, population, annual income, and so on. GIS systems store and process data in two formats, vector and raster. In the vector data model, the world is represented as a mosaic of interconnecting lines and points representing the location and boundaries of geographical entities. In vector data models, the data are represented as: arcs (lines) polygons (traversed areas) points (labelled nodes) nodes (intersection points) 2.4.3 Existing GIS Based System A Spatial Locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Allocation GIS Framework for Managing Water Sources in a Savanna Nature Reserve. (Source: www.nceas.ucsb.edu) Associated with the establishment or removal of water sources in savanna ecosystems is the issue of the effects of such management actions on animal movement and habitat selection, longer term implications on population levels, and impacts of such change on habitat degradation and soil erosion. Extant metrics used to describe the spatial distribution of water sources on the landscape often fall short of providing source-specific information, making them hard to apply in small-scale management settings. Using the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (KPNR) as a case study, comparison between of a: buffer framework which is to describing distances to water, a nearest neighbor framework, spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) created in a geographic information system (GIS) These three frameworks can be combined into one GIS to demonstrate site-specific information on water source distribution, in addition to system-wide descriptions. The visually accessible quality of a GIS allows qualitative input from managers and property owners to achieve quantifiable management goals. The duality of database and visual representation provides a useful tool to assess the role of individual water sources and can easily be updated to reflect changes in their distribution. In this study, seasonal effects on the water source distribution are modeled first. Then two hypothetical management scenarios are modeled based on realistic management options for this reserve. For the first management scenario we map the resulting distribution when all artificially supplemented water sources are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"turned onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in the dry season. Fig 1: Location of KNPR (Klaserie Private Nature Reserve) Water sources in this study include seasonal pans, artificial pans and catchment dams as point sources and two major river courses, the Klaserie and the Olifants, which have perennial segments in KPNR. Buffer framework For the buffer framework, the locations of all the water sources tabulated during the wet season were buffered in concentric 1 km rings and clipped to the reserve boundary to assess the area of the reserve at different distances to water (Fig. 2a); this process was repeated for the dry season water sources (Fig. 2b) and then for the two hypothetical management scenarios and the results tabulated for comparison. Fig 2(a): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR wet season Fig. 2(b): Buffer model showing distribution of distance to water classes during the KPNR dry season. Nearest neighbour framework The locations of the wet and dry season water points were used to calculate the nearest distance to river sections and then to nearest water source. The nearest neighbour distance between two point water sources was calculated as a vector, by minimizing the results of a triangular matrix calculator for Euclidian distance in Microsoft Excel ©. The lesser of the distance to nearest river or nearest neighbour was taken as the nearest neighbour distance to water. Spatial locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation framework (SLAF) The simplest spatial representation of an unconstrained locationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"allocation model of supply points to demand regions uses the Dirichlet tessellation to generate Voronoi or Thiessen polygons (Okabe et al. 1992). A tessellation is essentially a mosaic, a tiling created in a geometric plane. This tessellation is created by the intersections of perpendicular bisectors between each point in a set. The three frameworks used to assess the change in distribution of water points in the reserve yielded generalizations, which are useful as descriptors of system change, but can be hard to translate directly into management action on specific water sources. The advantage of the SLAF over the two other frameworks is that the area of the polygon associated with each water source is visually Optimization of Bus stop locations using GIS as a tool for Chennai city- Acase study, R.Sankar, 2003 In a developing country like India every advancement depends upon the funds available. This influencing factor is considered as there is huge need of finance for the development of infrastructure such as laying of good, strong roads. The road grade is essential for having bus routes in a particular area. It is not possible to have bus stops in the interior where the grade is poorer. The density of population and the infrastructure go hand in hand, this is the reason for having many bus stops in close proximity in the main roads. While considering the financial status of the government it is also necessary to consider the status of the public. In a higher middle income, higher income groups the dependency on the public transit system is less making it less imperative to have more bus stops. Conversely the lower income group and the economically weaker section entirely depend upon the corporation buses for their transit. Finally the locations are graded based on the risk factors. The s ites selected should not be near the junctions. Dangerous turnings are avoided. Methodology Data collection is taking on the ground using GPS and the map of road network which include the position of each bus stop in term of coordinates. There are about 41 bus stops between Vadapalani and Besent nagar, which is the study area. There are about 21 roads in the selected route. The network map is digitized. Digitization is done manually using On-screen method. The errors in the original maps will be transferred and they are likely magnified when digitized using GIS. Here arcs and nodes are defined by the user. The projection used here is polyconic which is considered the best suited for India. Arc View and Arc Info are the softwares used for digitization, transformation/projection and analysis. Analysis Buffer analysis is made to determine the effected area. The minimum and maximum distances are given. Selected route in the network map which are given as buffer distances. If there is overlap in the buffers then a common point can be considered for the location of the stop such that there is no overlap. This point is selected considering other criteria also. Confluence of all parameters is essential before arriving into any decision. The similar way if the distance between two buffers are more this indicate that the area in the in between region is not properly served by any of the bus stops. In this case new bus stops can be created. Thus it is necessary to calculate based on all the parameters that none of the areas are under served or over served. The route analysis was made the impedance value and the speed is given based on the vehicular volume on each road. The bus stops can be minimized in roads where there the existing traffic is high, additional positioning of these stops would add up to the traffic congestion. The locations of important centers such as hospitals, schools etc are also estimated for their proximity to the stops using the route analysis module. The time gained due to the reduction of the stops vice versa is also projected by having each location as a node and by giving a positive or negative value for the calculation of impedance. The demographic characteristics are also computed. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter will explain the methodology adopted in this study. The explanation starts with the introduction of adopted method for literature review, the method for data acquisition and the type of data acquired, data preparation and processing and followed by performing data analysis and results documentation and recording methods. Project Planning Data Preparation and Processing Data Acquisition and type of Data acquired Analysis and Results Fig. 3.1: Methodology Flow Sequence 3.2 Research Methodology Project Planning Selection of hardware and software (ArcGIS) Selection of study area (Shah Alam) Selection of data Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired Spatial data 1) Land use map 2) Route map 3) Layer Trace existing bus stop location using handheld GPS (X,Y). Attribute name 1) Road name 2) Building 3) Population UiTMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s NR student source from HEP UiTM. (X,Y) Data Preparation and Processing Creating different Themes Digitizing Scanning Digitizing Creating Attribute Tables Analysis and Result - - Compare existing bus stop location with the recommendation as requested safety reasons. Proposed new bus stops based on the location of resident for Non-Resident students. Compare the distance between two consecutive bus stops with the standard distance of travel by man by walk which is 400m. (source from MBSA) Fig 3.2: Flow Chart of Methodology Phase 1: Preliminary Study Project Planning 1. Selection of Study Area The city of Shah Alam has to be selected as study case area which covers section 2 until section 24. This study emphasized in the area with educational institutions especially UiTM since this study is focused on non-residents students. 2. Selection of Hardware and Software Hardware for scanning, digitizing, and processing has been determined. Software that will be used is ArcMap. This software helps in digitizing also analysis. 3. Selection of Data To select data, it needs to relate with problem statement. Data has been gathered from many of sources that will be explain in Data Collection. Phase 2 : Data Acquisition and Type of Data Acquired 1. Spatial Data Spatial data is data pertaining to the location and spatial dimensions of geographical entities

Should Welfare Recipients Be Drug Tested

Should welfare recipients be drug tested? Welfare is supposed to meet the basic needs and drugs are far from the basic human needs. If drug using recipients get all the benefits they are more likely to take their check and spend it on their next fix, rather than buy groceries. Drug testing welfare recipients would decrease the amount of people abusing the system, it would require recipients to stay free of using drugs, and would reveal recipients who are wasting the tax payers money.It is clear that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit the system, other recipients, and tax payers. Firstly, drug testing would decrease the amount of people abusing the system. People who are drug users and refuse to stop or get help will not apply for welfare. Also, drug testing would send a message to society that abusing the system will no longer be tolerated and it would free up extra funds for families who actually need the help.Thus, drug testing welfare recipients would stop people who ar e abusing of the system. Secondly, drug testing will require recipients to stay free of using drugs. If people really need the assistance money then they will chose to either stay clean or get help to get clean. Recipients who fail the test or simply refuse to take the test will not receive an assistance check and without the welfare money people will not be able to afford drugs. Therefore, drug testing welfare recipients would help clean up illegal drug useLastly, drug testing would reveal recipients who are wasting the tax payer’s money. If the working class has to be drug tested to make their money, those receiving assistance should be drug tested to receive their check. Tax payers should not have to pay for some random person’s drug habit and if people chose to be foolish and want to do drugs they should get a job to support their bad habit. As a result, drug testing welfare recipients would reveal the people who are wasting the tax payer’s money.In conclusi on, qualifying and receiving welfare is a privilege and if the government continues to allow drug users collect welfare payment, this will show that they condone their behavior. Drug testing welfare recipients would decrease abuse to the system, require people to stay clean and reveal people who are wasting the tax payer’s money. The government should pass the law to drug test welfare recipients. Hard working, taxpaying citizen’s money is going towards helping people get back on their feet using the welfare system, and far too often people are abusing the system to pay for and support their drug habits.

Parallel Situations Drawn Between King Lear and Gloucester

In what ways does Shakespeare draw parallel situations between King Lear and Earl of Gloucester, and how are the characters similar in the play (specifically Act 1)? While examining Lear and Gloucester, there are obvious similarities, such as that they are both of an older generation with evident power and authority. Both have children wishing to overthrow them through mendacity and false assurance. These two characters relate in a much more symbolic way that reveals insight into their foolishness and naà ¯ve sense of entitlement.Lear and Gloucester are symbolically blind to the fact that their children wish to acquire their power for selfish purposes. Edmund, Gloucester’s son without a mother, falsifies his commitment to his half-brother, Edward, when he says â€Å"I hope for my brother’s justification, he wrote this but as an essay of my taste of my virtue,† (Act 1 Scene 2) and Goneril, Lear’s daughter, has him believe she genuinely loves him when she s ays â€Å"Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter,† (Act 1 Scene 1).These instances lead to Lear and Gloucester’s imprudent decisions to act on matters that deserve more substantial evidence. â€Å"Gloucester reacts exactly like Lear, displacing his favor onto an unworthy recipient† (Storozynsky). Neither can see their children for who they truly are, which make it seems as if they the necessities to make rational decisions, hence being â€Å"blind†. When considering the underlying characteristics of Lear and Gloucester, the audience can see two men, who are delusional with power, insecure and illogical. Their uncertainties stem from their children, who they love, but are quick to turn against.Lear turns against Cordelia because she refuses to discuss her love for him and Gloucester, for potentially having a preexisting fear that his children wanted him gone so they could have his power, believes that Edward wants him dead. â€Å"The old men inhabit worlds created by the mind and emotions, but which share some of the features of their actual surroundings: isolation, heights and depths, enclosures and open, empty places,† (Storozynsky). This author compares them to empty places and isolation, which is symbolic of their personality.Neither seems to be relatable to the audience, due to them not having any admirable  traits. Both seem to be shallow characters that lack the confidence that a man of power should carry with him. Lear and Gloucester both use the word â€Å"nothing† frequently in the play and this has a symbolic attachment to it. We see Lear use the phrase â€Å"nothing will come of nothing† (Act 1 Scene 1) while addressing his dissatisfaction with Cordelia. This provides insight into his shallowness because the audience is able to see that Lear expects to be verbally showered with praise. The irony is that Goneril and Regan’s flattering’s lack authenticity and are the true st atements that mean â€Å"nothing.Gloucester’s use of the word comes during his conversation with Edmund. He notices Edmund hiding a letter and says, â€Å"The quality of nothing hath not need to hide itself. † (Act 1 scene 2) Gloucester, like Lear, finds himself gullible to false pretenses. This nothingness they speak of is something that they are displacing onto other people, when in fact, they should be self-assessing themselves for. Their ignorance and assumptive attitudes reflects the reason as to why their personalities are hollow and self-fulfilling. Through Act 1, the audience gets insight into the dramatic irony that is evident in both parallel situations.However, there are four more Acts to King Lear. The newer generations of greedy rulers (Goneril, Regan and Edmund) are expecting to cast out the older generation Lear and Gloucester. Lear, while talking to the fool, realizes that he may have made a mistake by handing down his power to his daughters. He is wor ried about his mental health when he says, â€Å"O, let me not be mad, not mad sweet heaven! † This is a foreshadowing of events to come in the book. Due to the parallel situations that Gloucester and Lear are in, both will continue to spiral down a path of chaos and ignorance. Parallel Situations Drawn Between King Lear and Gloucester In what ways does Shakespeare draw parallel situations between King Lear and Earl of Gloucester, and how are the characters similar in the play (specifically Act 1)?While examining Lear and Gloucester, there are obvious similarities, such as that they are both of an older generation with evident power and authority. Both have children wishing to overthrow them through mendacity and false assurance. These two characters relate in a much more symbolic way that reveals insight into their foolishness and naive sense of entitlement. Lear and Gloucester are symbolically blind to the fact that their children wish to acquire their power for selfish purposes.Edmund, Gloucester’s son without a mother, falsifies his commitment to his half-brother, Edward, when he says â€Å"I hope for my brother’s justification, he wrote this but as an essay of my taste of my virtue,† (Act 1 Scene 2) and Goneril, Lear’s daughter, has him believe she genuinely loves him when she says â€Å"Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter,† (Act 1 Scene 1). These instances lead to Lear and Gloucester’s imprudent decisions to act on matters that deserve more substantial evidence. â€Å"Gloucester reacts exactly like Lear, displacing his favor onto an unworthy recipient† (Storozynsky).Neither can see their children for who they truly are, which make it seems as if they the necessities to make rational decisions, hence being â€Å"blind†. When considering the underlying characteristics of Lear and Gloucester, the audience can see two men, who are delusional with power, insecure and illogical. Their uncertainties stem from their children, who they love, but are quick to turn against. Lear turns against Cordelia because she refuses to discuss her love for him and Gloucester, for potentially having a preexisting fear that his children wanted him gone so they could have his power, believes that Edward wants him dead.â€Å"The old men inha bit worlds created by the mind and emotions, but which share some of the features of their actual surroundings: isolation, heights and depths, enclosures and open, empty places,† (Storozynsky). This author compares them to empty places and isolation, which is symbolic of their personality. Neither seems to be relatable to the audience, due to them not having any admirable traits. Both seem to be shallow characters that lack the confidence that a man of power should carry with him.Lear and Gloucester both use the word â€Å"nothing† frequently in the play and this has a symbolic attachment to it. We see Lear use the phrase â€Å"nothing will come of nothing† (Act 1 Scene 1) while addressing his dissatisfaction with Cordelia. This provides insight into his shallowness because the audience is able to see that Lear expects to be verbally showered with praise. The irony is that Goneril and Regan’s flattering’s lack authenticity and are the true statement s that mean â€Å"nothing†. Gloucester’s use of the word comes during his conversation with Edmund.He notices Edmund hiding a letter and says, â€Å"The quality of nothing hath not need to hide itself. † (Act 1 scene 2) Gloucester, like Lear, finds himself gullible to false pretenses. This nothingness they speak of is something that they are displacing onto other people, when in fact, they should be self-assessing themselves for. Their ignorance and assumptive attitudes reflects the reason as to why their personalities are hollow and self-fulfilling. Through Act 1, the audience gets insight into the dramatic irony that is evident in both parallel situations.However, there are four more Acts to King Lear. The newer generations of greedy rulers (Goneril, Regan and Edmund) are expecting to cast out the older generation Lear and Gloucester. Lear, while talking to the fool, realizes that he may have made a mistake by handing down his power to his daughters. He is wor ried about his mental health when he says, â€Å"O, let me not be mad, not mad sweet heaven! † This is a foreshadowing of events to come in the book. Due to the parallel situations that Gloucester and Lear are in, both will continue to spiral down a path of chaos and ignorance.