Substation primary plant and instrument transformers generally remain in service for many years and are only renewed when physically or mechanically life-expired. However, substation protection and control systems, also known as secondary systems, are changed more frequently, especially electronic or computer based systems. One way to overcome the lifecycle-coordination problem is to develop a new architecture for substation secondary systems by deploying new technology such as standard interface modules, the bay process bus and IEC 61850 communication protocol. IEC 61850-9-2 'process bus' has proposed an Ethernet based communication network to replace traditional hardwiring and cabling, for communication of analogue and binary signals with Ethernet messages. The application of processbus in substations is able to reduce the life-time cost of the secondary systems and improve flexibility and functionality. Sufficient confidence must be demonstrated in the application of this new technology. This thesis describes the design and performance evaluation of a prototype protection scheme suitable for application on a corner of a mesh transmission substation of the type used in the UK on the transmission network.

This study examines the impact of a bus driver attendance incentive program implemented in a rural Mississippi school district with the aim of improving bus driver attendance rates. There is a shortage of bus drivers across Mississippi which has made bus driver attendance paramount. Bus driver absenteeism causes disruptions in student transportation services and affects overall school operations. To address this problem, a rural Mississippi school district introduced a bus driver attendance incentive program that provided financial incentives for bus drivers who maintained perfect attendance rates each month. The research methodology involved collecting and analyzing attendance data for bus drivers over a period of 2 academic years: 1 year prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic and before the implementation of the incentive program and the other 1 year after the introduction of the incentive plan. Although the findings did not reveal a significant positive impact on bus driver attendance between the 2 years in the study, the data did show a number of drivers benefited from the incentive program.

No description available.

The General Purpose Interface Bus, as defined by the IEEE Standard, deals with systems that require digital data to be transferred between a group of instruments. An overview of this standard is presented which summarizes the interface's capabilities, functions and versatility by explaining the basic interface concepts. In addition, a GPIB testing application and a GPIB related design example are presented and investigated.

FPGA design implementation and debug tools have not kept pace with the advances in FPGA device density. The emphasis on area optimization and circuit speed has resulted in longer runtimes of the implementation tools. We address the implementation problem using a divide-and-conquer approach in which some device area and circuit speed is sacrificed for improved implementation turnaround time. The PATIS floorplanner enables dynamic modular design that accelerates implementation for incremental changes to a design. While the existing implementation flows facilitate timing closure late in the design cycle by reusing the layout of unmodified blocks, dynamic modular design accelerates implementation by achieving timing closure for each block independently. A complete re-implementation is still rapid as the design blocks can be processed by independent and concurrent invocations of the standard tools. PATIS creates the floorplan for implementing modules in the design. Bus macros serve as module interfaces and enable independent implementation of the modules. The dynamic modular design flow achieves around 10x speedup over the standard design flow for our benchmark designs. / Master of Science

Bike-n-Bus includes any number of methods where bicycle serves as the access mode to some form of bus transit. This study examines bike-n-bus operations in the United States based on telephone interviews with transit professionals from 33 transit agencies across the lower 48 states. It reviews past trends in research and gives some history of bike-n-bus in the U.S. and abroad. A brief explanation of methodology is followed by a description of the various facets of U.S. bike-n-bus operations, based on both interviews and the literature, with commentary by survey respondents. The study ends with a long term vision for bike-n-bus based on the characteristics of that mode-couple. Conclusions are addressed to various audiences: transit agency, community leader/ policy maker, and researcher. Included are suggestions for possible next steps in research and implementation. These findings would be of interest to those studying transit and bicycle travel, developing travel demand models, managing a transit agency, or those with influence over bicycle policy and infrastructure. Most transit agencies have installed front-mounted bicycle racks on their entire bus fleet, and expressed satisfaction that the amenity accommodates bicyclists. However, agencies have made only moderate efforts to follow-up on this success. Studies suggest that cycling to transit can be competitive with the private automobile in journey-to-work trips and attracts new riders to transit. Better bicycling infrastructure is the most significant way to increase the number of bike-n-bus riders. However, transit agencies seem reluctant to support these improvements.

The Atlanta Metropolitan Area has been long suffering from traffic congestion, and the ongoing population growth will exacerbate the situation. On the other hand, over half of current transit riders are people from lower-income households and there is a growing senior population more than likely to rely on transit over the next two decades. One way to mitigate congestion and support transit dependent riders at the same time is to promote transit service. Enhanced bus service systems including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Buses with High Level of Service (BHLS) have been gaining popularity across the world, especially in South and East Asia, Latin America, and Europe. While there are also many BRT systems in the United States, only a few of them actually meet the world standards for providing a dedicated bus lane. Even so, case studies show that there are viable alternatives for implementing successful enhanced transit service: • Choosing population-activity concentrated corridor; • Adopting variations of exclusive right-of-way; • Providing long span and high frequency service; and • Using off-board fare collection, among others. Just like the benchmark cases, Metro Atlanta also has corridors with high population density, activity centers, relatively simple straight alignment, but that are currently underserved by bus service. If all the transit agencies, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and City of Atlanta, could work closely with the public to establish an enhanced bus transit system, traffic conditions in Metro Atlanta would be greatly improved.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-68).

Thesis (M.Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.