A computer assisted school bus routing strategy: A case study

The effect of routing changes on the efficiency of suburban-rural pupil transportation systems is demonstrated in a case study of a suburban-rural county in Virginia. A computer assisted routing method was used that included manual route design and computer aided route evaluation. Various policy options affecting routing were identified and new routes were developed. The recommended routes represented a 17% reduction in the number of routes required, a 19% reduction in the number of buses required, and a 57% reduction in the total number of vacant seats. While the computer assisted method used produced a more efficient routing structure, the process of manual route design was still slow and tedious. Techniques such as interactive computer graphics appear to be suited to the school bus routing problem and their use should be explored.     

Options,premium contracts,and the EOE

Summary The article examines the development of options trading in Amsterdam from the seventeenth century to the present time. It shows how the market for traditional options, or premium contracts, was restricted by a number of limitations and how a new form of option — the exchange traded option, and a new options market — the European Options Exchange (E.O.E.), were introduced to overcome these limitations. It examines the first two years of operation of the E.O.E., analyzes some of the problems faced by the E.O.E., and looks at the future development of this new market.     

The Challenge of Human Resources Development

A productive workforce depends on a country's educational system, the quality of its health care, training and retraining opportunities, its family policy, its labor policies with or without unions, and the quality of public services. On all counts, a significant portion of the U.S. workforce is in serious trouble. Numerous community cases and experience abroad teach that ideological boundaries in the United States inhibit the formation of new partnerships, coalitions, and forums essential to the development of more productive human resources     

Toward a Model of the Office Building Sector

High rise office buildings represent large capital outlays in very competitive markets. Investment and development decisions require careful market analysis to assure sufficient demand to lease the office space at rental rates which will make the venture financially attractive. Present methodology for analyzing future commercial real estate market conditions can at best be said to be inadequate. This methodology relies on concepts such as "market absorption" rates and "normal" vacancy rates. These concepts usually rely on accounting type and trend line techniques to provide forecasts of space demand. In this paper we provide an alternative methodology for forecasting the key variables in the office space market by developing a statistical model of supply and demand. The key variables that need to be forecasted are the stock of office space (in square feet), the flow of new office construction (in square feet), the vacancy rate (in percent), and the rent for office space (net rent per square foot).