Children’s Technology Usage Essay

When was the last time you truly spent time with your child? When was the last time your child ACTUALLY talked to you? Most parents honestly can’t answer that question or have to really think about it. Children nowadays depend on technology to get them through their lives. Spending too much time glued to technology causes kids to have no human interaction skills, it exposes them to inappropriate content and most importantly it poses serious health risks. As parents it is their responsibility to put restrictions on the technology their children are using. Children who are constantly communicating via technology are losing vital human interaction skills. Vincent Nichols once stated; â€Å"We’re losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person’s mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanizes what is a very, very important pa rt of community life and living together†. (Vincent Nichols. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com). This quote is a great summary of the future of our children. Do they know how to hold an actual conversation, how to present themselves, how to read body language? When texting you can’t tell someone’s tone of voice and you don’t have to deal with confrontation. How will children attend job interviews if they don’t know how to interact with people in person? These are the fears that every parent should have for their child. Not to mention that there is a complete absence of family time. Families now are not nearly as close as they have been in past generations. Children will lose the ability to express their feelings, they will not be comfortable talking about problems with their parents and siblings will not be as close. Limiting the amount of time that children spend with technology and enforcing technology free times will help promote family time and interaction with people. To add to the lack of human interaction skills, the amount of inappropriate con tent that can be accessed by children is endless. Parents are aware of what images there are on the internet and how easy it is to access them. Children have rather curious minds and the information they could attempt to access is endless. Most times they don’t even have to search inappropriate content; it is right in front of them through  commercials, pop up ads and friends. Everything from sexual content, to body image, to drugs and alcohol, and even to violence is out there for them to access. Putting restricts on what children search, watch and download will help limit their exposure to such content. Having access to these types of content at such young ages will cause serious health risks now and later in life. Putting restrictions on what children can view is simple to do. Most cable companies, phone providers and internet providers have guidelines and support to help parents place restrictions on what their children can search and watch. Finally, excess time spent using technology can lead to serious health risks. Often obesity is the only risk that people associate with too much time spent on technology such as video games, TV, and cell phones. However, the health risks go far beyond obesity. While it is true that too much screen time is known to decrease the amount of physical activity a child partakes in it is not the only risk. Young girls who are already self conscious of their looks can find entire internet societies that brainwash them into thinking they need to be a picture perfect twig and teach them how to become one through anorexia and bulimia. Also, dependency on technology and always being in the now causes sleep disorders, stress and anxiety. Lack of sleep can cause mood disorders and the affects of stress and anxiety in young children can carry with them into their teenage and adult years making it more difficult to recover from. Drugs and alcohol and often glorified and young teens think that they need to do them to be cool causing addiction, overdose, and even death. Making sure that their children are healthy and safe should be a parent’s main concern. Placing restrictions on technology will help ensure that their children stay alive. As parents it is their responsibility to put restrictions on the technology their children are using. What kind of future do parents want for their children? Parents now are already at a disadvantage of raising their children in an era full of technology. They have their work cut out for them to make sure that their children are not dependent on technology and that they learn human interaction skills. Keeping their children protected from the inappropriate content and ensuring that their children do not suffer from mental and physical health problems as a result of technology should be every parent’s priority. Every parent should be placing restrictions on when and what their children are using technology for. References: Vincent Nichols. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved September 22, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincentnic532641.html

Beauty Within The Cultures by Phillip Namara Essay

How do you define beauty? Is it a small waist and large breasts? A perfect smile and straight hair? If you flip through the pages of an American fashion magazine, you may think beauty is narrowly defined†¦but that’s not the case. From thick ankles to small noses, women from five continents are revealing what’s considered beautiful in their countries. â€Å"It’s a way of connecting yourselves from your kitchen, your living room, your bedroom †¦ to the rest of the world.† The first culture I will speak about are the Koreans. In any subway car you will see young Korean women checking their hair and makeup in mirrors that come attached to their cell phones. For those with less image-savvy devices, the windows provide ample reflection for women to fretfully fix stray stands of hair or rouge streaks of foundation. This preoccupation with beauty is no less reflected in how many Korean women dress. High heels, mini-skirts and frilled blouses are not reserved for nights out on the town – they are the norm for many women going about their daily business. While looking good is a matter of boosting self-esteem for many women, there are often more practical reasons for going under the knife. A lot of women believe that their chances of employment are largely dependent on their looks and will improve significantly after a cosmetic touch-up. In this highly competitive society, where it is routine to send your photo attached to your resume, a pretty face can give you the edge in a job or college interview. The next country/culture we will look at is Africa. There are some countries in Africa who have recently adopted a new definition of beauty accepting the same beliefs as Western culture. However, many countries maintain a quite different perspective of what beauty means within Africa. This different perspective defines beauty as: * Large Breasts: In some countries, women with large chests are much more desirable and considered much more beautiful than women with small chests. * Ample Backside: In some countries, generally the same ones that consider big breasts to be beautiful, a large backside is desirable and considered beautiful. * Fat vs. Skinny: Although it has become a newly accepted form of beauty, being skinny is not desirable in every country in Africa. There are countries where brides are force fed in order to make them fat or to make them more desirable to their male counterparts. Although this may not be considered healthy, it is what many in the culture of these countries consider beautiful. * Skin Color: Another aspect of beauty in Africa relates to skin color. Many countries believe that a lighter skinned African woman is more desirable than those who have darker skin. Therefore, a market has grown for skin creams that will lighten the complexion of African women in order to make them more attr active to the opposite sex. Importance of Curves in African Beauty Looking at this list of what beauty means in certain parts of Africa, we can deduce that the more curves a woman has in some countries across the African continent, the more desirable she is to the opposite sex. The idea of this form of accepted beauty has caused many clothing designers in Africa to increase their sizes available in their clothing lines in order to show their acceptance that even a bigger woman can be beautiful. In Southwestern Asia, the area often known as the Middle East, the rejection of Western culture and beauty standards, along with the insurgence of Islamic traditions, has seen the rise in more traditional, Arabic clothing. This clothing tends to cover more of the body and gives only an alluring glimpse at the feminine figure within as a clear denunciation of the revealing outfits worn by many in the Western world. These outfits display the humble, demure and secret beauty of the wearer, whose husband is the only one with access to the body hidden within the folds of fabric. Still, with increasing globalization, many Western beauty ideals have spread throughout the world, while cultures with little contact outside their indigenous communities continue to observe their own beauty practices. Either way, ideals of beauty are ever-present throughout the diverse communities of world. Beauty Throughout The Ages It’s hard to believe that once upon a time, women were celebrated for their natural god-given bodies. In fact, the female standard of beauty has gone through many drastic changes over the last several hundred years. I’ve compiled a timeline of all the major trends over the past 600 years, starting with the Renaissance up until the last decade. Renaissance Body Type: The ideal Renaissance woman was more voluptuous than any other time in history. Paintings from this era depict women who would be considered beyond curvy by today’s standards – but at that time, these full-figured ladies were the epitome of sexiness. For the first time in recorded history, women were prized for their natural bodies. Beauty: The term â€Å"blondes have more fun† may have stemmed from the Renaissance, because they believed that the lighter the hair color, the better. As for make-up, pale ivory skin was considered sexy, and vermillion was used to tint the lips to a deep red color. Pale complexion and blood red lips – it seems like the Renaissance era may have originated the popular vampire-chic look. Victorian Body Type: Unlike Renaissance women, Victorian women were very body conscious. Sexy meant having the smallest waistline humanly possible, and in order to achieve this look, women wore corsets. Some corsets were wound so tight that women could hardly breathe, to the point where sitting down was completely out of the question. Many women would even break ribs trying to get their waistlines down to an inconceivable 12 inches. Beauty: Modesty was the operative word when it came to Victorian makeup. High-class women were expected to use makeup sparingly. Bold colors were considered trashy, and reserved for prostitutes. Some religions at the time even proclaimed beauty products to be â€Å"the look of the devil.† 1920’s Era Body Type: The 1920’s was a time when women didn’t want to look like women at all. We can’t imagine that men today would find this sexy, but some women from the 20’s era would even bind their chests with strips of cloth to achieve a â€Å"little boy† look – quite contradictory to some of the measures that today’s women take in order to amplify their chests. The loose silhouette of the flapper dress was in stark contrast to the corseted waist of the Victorian era. Elastic webbed girdles replaced corsets and gave off the look of a flat boyish abdomen. Beauty: Going right along with the boyish look, the hair bob or finger wave was a big trend. Bold make-up, which had once been considered â€Å"trashy,† was now considered sexy. Powder was applied to make the skin look as pale as possible, and eyebrows were lifted and penciled in to appear thin and bold. Kohl was used to line the eye and achieve an overall dramatic look. 1930-1970s Era Body Type: As they became more body conscious, women started to pay attention to what they ate. Fashions accented the arms and legs, so women lifted light weights to build muscle tone. The new padded stretch cotton bra was introduced – something we’re sure all men and women are very thankful for. Designers like Chanel (credited as the originator of the â€Å"little black dress†), Dior, and Elsa Schiaparelli started designing glamorous attire that allowed women to show off their feminine curves. Beauty: Hairstyles became more feminine than they had been in the 1920’s. Hair color varied, depending on which movie star one was trying to emulate. Jean Harlow made platinum blonde a trend, and meanwhile, Rita Hayworth made being a redhead popular. Last, but not least, Marlene Dietrich was a symbol for all the brunettes out there. Make-up became a little less drag, and more girl-next-door than in the 20’s. The pasty white skin trend was final ly passà ©, and women started opting for foundations closer to their natural complexions.

Business Research Ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Research Ethic - Essay Example In recent years, numerous businesses have been found guilty of unethical business research practices. Companies such as Enron and AIG are by far the biggest that come to mind, as they fraudulently reported profits, amongst other falsified reports, that persuaded current shareholders and potential investors that their current business model was more fiscally sound than it actually was. These ‘White Collar’ professionals made the news in recent years due to their big promises and ability to deliver – for a season (Shurden, Santaudreu, and Shurden, 2010, p. 117). Through than many questionable business practices, AIG ended up paying bonuses in the billions of dollars, even in the midst of receiving government bailout money. This one action, almost more than any other, got the public and the government questioning at what point certain business practices become unethical and affect all of society, not only a select few. Business ethics has long been a grey area. As th is article effectively points out, it is often difficult to determine what practices are truly unethical, and which are simply questionable. In the end, it is important to consider this topic because such behavior can truly impact the masses. As the authors state, â€Å"Our laws are a starting point for ethical conduct and are implemented in order for society to avoid extreme situations† (Shurden, Santaudreu, and Shurden, 2010, p. 117). In many of these situations, the injured parties are the shareholders, employees, and anyone in the public directly or indirectly involved in the company. The point is made, therefore, that unethical business research practices affect more than just the immediate parties involved. In the case of AIG, a massive government financial bailout was required to keep the company from failing. The company was deemed to be too valuable to allow the unethical practices to destroy the viability of the institution. To have done so would have not only impac ted thousands of jobs in America, but would have also resulted in repercussions felt around the world as global financial institutions have vast holdings in AIG. Taxpayer money was used, then, to inject needed capital into the company to keep it afloat until such time that the company could be reorganized and new management bought in (Shurden, Sataudreu, and Shurden, 2010, pp. 118-119). Enron is another example mentioned in this article. The unethical business research practices at this company began when they falsified information that it gave to the public. This resulted in people, both outside and inside the organization, believing that the company was financial sound and provided a great investment opportunity. The opposite, in fact, was true and the failure of the company resulted in great hardship not only in America, but globally as well (Shurden, Sataudreu, and Shurden, 2010, pp. 121-122). Society was greatly impacted by both of these examples. When large companies willingly conduct their business research in an unethical manner, trust begins to wither away. Our capitalist system is predicated on a certain amount of trust. We need to believe in the companies that we support in order to help them prosper and thrive in today’s rapidly advancing and global society. Each time that trust is violate, society becomes a bit more

Factors that Go into Making up a Given Household Budget Research Paper

Factors that Go into Making up a Given Household Budget - Research Paper Example Households in variety of living situations and geographical areas were considered in order to properly represent different types of consumers and budgets. The data for household expenses as measured by housing tenure and area type was focused upon. This data reflected the annual expenses of consumers who owned and rented in a variety of contexts, as well as those who dwelled in urban, suburban, and rural community settings. The number of relevant variables which go into determining total household expenditures was defined down to the lowest number possible while still affording strong predictive accuracy. Because healthcare expenses are a primary focus of recent public debate, it was decided that healthcare dollars spent would constitute at least one of the primary independent variables. Two others were chosen, the amount of money expended on gasoline and the amount of money expended on alcohol. The general feeling was that gas expenses impact other costs such as food in a roughly correlative fashion, and that alcohol served as a proxy for expendable income that was believed to be a stronger measure than other alternative factors such as entertainment. This is because it is more pervasive in the various community types considered. (There may be few entertainment options, for example, available in some rural communities, but alcohol will be available everywhere.) Given these three independent variables, it was expected that one could quickly predict the amount of household money available for expenses. One important note: it may be asked why housing expenses were not taken into account. It was felt that with the current difficulties in the housing market, the turbulence in using such a measure may not yield fully predictive results. The expenses in gas, alcohol, and healthcare were believed to be more stable measures of household expenses at present; therefore, they were the variables chosen to predict overall household budgets. Ultimately upon determining a useful estimate of overall family budgets, the researchers will offer conclusions regarding the basic importance of each variable to family budgeting and suggest directions for pricing considerations. Descriptive statistics Table 1 presents the descriptive findings. As can be seen from a review of the table, there were a variety of family budget levels in the survey, ranging from a low of less than $34,000 for renters to a high of almost $65,000 for owners with mortgages, and a low of just over $41,000 for rural consumers to a high of over $52,000 for urban/suburban. The range of expenses concerning the independent variables varied considerably depending on housing situation and the community type. Interestingly, it appeared that rural and inner city communities sometimes varied with urban/suburban communities and sometimes went in the opposite direction For example, the inner city correlated roughly with urban/suburban consumners regarding alcohol consumption while it varied on healthcare, and the rural

Beauty Between Men and Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Beauty Between Men and Women - Essay Example Most of the time, debates occur because of the fact that there are instances when the recognition of each gender's special traits as a person is disregarded by the society during certain circumstances. This is primarily because of the fact that men and women are viewed differently by the human society. By the different legends, the accounts of creation, the different mythological stories, the shaping of the characteristics of both men and women becomes more vivid, thus making it possible for a person to receive a certain "mark" in their forehead as they grow up basing from their gender, even before they could even make a name for themselves. What are these marking differences all about' Men are primarily noted as the "strong" sector of the human society. They are viewed to be the primary ones to receive authority and thus imply power upon all others. Through the myths and legends [as mentioned earlier]; men were perceived to have a greater command over things compared to that of the women's capability of exercising authority over all. On the other hand, women were viewed as the weaker sector of humanity (Jervis, 2001, 17). They are referred to as the complimentary partner of men who are intended to give assistance to the men when they are to carry out their responsibilities over humankind. Because of the social philosophy based on the theory of essentialism, this traditional recognition of the role of men and women in the society became much easier to accept for so many years. (Jervis, 2001, 18) However, during the 1800's, the birth of liberalization gave way to the feminist movement of the female sector of the population. Things have really changed and the supposed unwavering capability of men to rule over others began to shiver because of primarily being disturbed by the different stresses that the said gender actually had to deal with in life. After all, men were faced with the many responsibilities that they have to complete for their families, their wives, their fellow citizens and their nation. Attending to these responsibilities mainly made some of the men's capability to handle multi-numbered responsibilities began to whither. Hence, the women, being known as the complimentary gender to that of the men, began to long for a more important role in the society as progressive individuals of the human civilization. The women then began to create movements that would actually carry their "banners of pride" towards recognition form the entire human society. The liberty from simply being a wife, being a mother or being a child has been achieved during the 1990's when women were allowed to run for positions for government administrative offices; when they were given the chance to take over high positions on business corporations; when they were allowed to consider becoming members of the military force.

Paragraph Essay Questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paragraph Questions - Essay Example An example here may be, in spite of the Chinese people eating snail, my society forbids it because they see it as something dirty. The challenges for either of the two answers lies on grammatical constructions because in spite of language being the same for a spefic citizens in a country, their pronounciations on words and constructions gives a totally different meaning. In my opinion, the prisoner’s dilemma does not challenge contractarianiam because it is one of the ways to reach at social contractarian solution to the problem harbored by many people on self interest. Therefore, this strengthens the essential equality of human power where no one is considered special to the other. The end result of the dilemma is that all parties living in a society always end up reaching a mutual agreement where their deeds and actions are determined by a sovereign authority. In my opinion, I would not be happy to satisfy any desire at any time whenever I have the need because it will lose the essence of life itself. This is because life would lose the essence of morality and we in turn will lack the satisfaction obtained from doing such things as a good deed. An example is that when I am ordered to kill people are from a different race, because they are not like me, how then do I claim all human beings are equal and have a right to life to such people like my children. Moreover, this is also not possible because of the consequences of satisfying desires which cannot happen normally. According to Socrates, a philosophical leader is one who studies the habits and thinking dimensions of those considered great leaders and applying it to his or her own leadership position. The type of leadership management can improve the work place as leaders are forced towards intellectual self examination and logical reasoning therefore acquiring critical thinking

Recognizing Contract Risk and Opportunities Essay

Recognizing Contract Risk and Opportunities - Essay Example The reviewing officials, upon receipt of the request will review the performance evaluation and any supporting documentation and may meet with you and/or me, if deemed appropriate. With in 15 work days of receipt of the request, the receiving official will issue a written response to either uphold the performance, evaluation rating or direct that the evaluation be revised The one year contract between Span System and C-S is $6 million. This is C-S bigger e-CRM order in the pipeline, and the chances of Span System to getting the order lies in the contract performance. Leon Ther, the IT outsourcing director, is an influential personality, is one among the top negotiator of C-S. Span. After eight months of the project, problems started to set in. Spans deliverables have been behind schedule of the last couple of months. In the manner of quality, C-S had detected that the quality of the deliverables are unacceptable , or of low quality. Leon Ther, addressing his letter to Kevin Grant, he said that C-S can nit afford to have schedule slips due to its deadline for the release of a transaction software in the market. Leon Ther had no other alternative but to ask for the immediate transfer of all unfinished code and asserter rescission of the contract by C-S. Problems at both ends are now arising. The user and the system have now grown since the determination of the study in the planning stage, thus making it difficult for the accommodation of the agreed upon and cost and the timelines. Since the ordinary requirement changes had been agreed to in the contract, the actual change had been ordinary. Due to C-S change in its project management structure, the approval and review times had been affected. Neither of the two parties may cancel the agreement, it is because subsequent to more than 50% of the consideration having been tendered by the other. Since more than 505 of the project schedule had elapsed, C-s may not rescind the contract. Mere

Dialect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Dialect - Essay Example Finally, the author provides a personal reflection regarding the quotation from Peter Trudgill on the toleration of dialects. The paper ends with the conclusion that dialects should be tolerated while common languages should be developed, all for improved communication, understanding and collaborative progressive work. Today, there are about 5,000-6,000 different languages spoken in the world. About 200 of these languages have more than a million native speakers. According to O’Neill (2008), Mandarin Chinese has the most native speakers, with around 874 million people using it as a native language. Hindi, spoken in India, comes next with around 366 million and English is a distant third with around 341 million native speakers. The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, although according to Edraline (2008), a survey of Richard Pitman, an American linguist, showed there are 55 native languages and 142 dialects in the country. Of the native languages, eight are considered principal languages because they are the most widely spoken – Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano, Ilongo, Bicolano, Waray, Kampampangan and Panggalatok. Much of the Filipino language is derived from Tagalog, which is spoken in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces. But the official version of the Filipino language today has incorporated a lot of words from the other principal languages as well as English and Spanish, such as radio for radio, telebisyon for television or tiya and tiyo, for the Spanish tia and tio, meaning aunt and uncle. It has been often said that language defines a culture. It is a sort of documentation or chronicle of a way of life. The words which comprise a language get created as needs arise. In the same manner, words that existed in a previous language version get forgotten as less and less people use them and so are dropped out from the current version. As culture evolves,

Aci Financial Statement Essay Example for Free

Aci Financial Statement Essay The companies are now preparing this statement as an integral part of their financial statements. This paper examines empirically the current practices followed by sample companies in preparation of cash flow statement and concludes that the sample companies are in line (with few exceptions) with the requirements of International Accounting Standard (IAS)-7 or Bangladesh Accounting Standard (BAS)-7. It also proposes some suggestions for improving the presentation of the statement Key words: Cash flow statement, IAS/BAS, Listed Company, Disclosure. Introduction The purpose of a cash flow statement is to provide information on the cash flow from a company’s operating, investing and financing activities to enable the users of its financial statements to evaluate the ability of the company to generate cash and to use the historic cash flows to predict future cash flows. The cash flow information enhances the comparability of the operating performance by various companies, because it eliminates the effects that arise from the use of different accounting treatments for the same transactions and events. The use of cash flow information is gaining importance in the analysis of financial statements (Epstein 1991; Yap 1997; Jones and Widjaja 1998; Previts and Bricker 1994). Cashflow information is considered less open to manipulation than information on earnings, because it is based on the actual receipt and payment of cash only and not on the accrual and other accounting principles. Rees (1995:75) adds that the cash flow statement can be more informative than the other statements. However, he literature on the cash flow statement indicates that there are grey areas in cash flow reporting that are open to various interpretations (Everingham and Watson 2002). The perceived simplicity of the cash flow statement may therefore create synthetic confidence in the reliability of companies’ cash flow reporting and the comparability of various companies’ cash flow information. The acceptance of IAS-7: The Cash Flow Statement has added a new dimension to the preparation and present ation of financial statements in Bangladesh. This paper is an attempt to investigate into the state of cash flow reporting by the listed Bangladeshi * Lecturers, Department of Business Administration, ASA University Bangladesh 210 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Textiles and Clothing companies in general. The focus is not on the quality of the reporting of the companies but rather on what the reporting levels are in general. Objectives of the study The major objectives of the study are as follows: 1. to identify the current practice of cash flow statement of Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. 2. o provide present cash flow statement format, structure and reporting on the basis of information provided in the annual reports of the selected listed Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. Methodology of the study The study was conducted in accordance with secondary information obtained from various sources. The overview of standardization of financial reporting and the regulatory framework has be en based on laws, regulation, and guideline and also on various published sources of information taken from International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and Bangladesh Accounting Standard 7 (BAS 7). A limited survey has also been made covering a total of 12 Pharmaceutical companies’ annual reports (2009) enlisted in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). These are selected on the basis of convenience sampling procedure. In order to make the study more revealing it also covers some research articles, textbooks, publications and web sites of various accounting bodies. Limitations of the study 1. Applied non profitability techniques have been used. 2. Due to limitation of the extensive materials, books and previous studies in Bangladesh literature review could not be extensive. 3. This study consists of only 12 listed Pharmaceutical companies due to time and resources constraints. Literature review Cash flow statement: A historical surroundings/background Cash flow Accounting (CFA) was the main system of accounting up to beginning of the 18th century (Watanabe, Izumi: The evolution of Income Accounting in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain, Osaka University of Economics, Vol. 57, No. 5, January 2007, p. 27-30). Till then, accounting allocation and profit measurement were relatively unimportant; the profit and loss account being used to close off ledger accounts at each period end. However, with the advent of concept and practices of business continuity, periodic measure and statement of financial position began to grow. Thus the basis of cash transaction becomes foundation for the allocation based systems of accounting today. Although there has been a reasonably sustained interest in fund flow statements (based on allocated accounting data) since the beginning of the twenty century, CFA appears to have received little or no support from accountants until the early 1960s. At that time there was little concern over the use of ‘cash flow’ data in the financial analysis- cash flow being interpreted as ‘profit plus depreciation (. Winjum, J. o, 1972). In 1961 AICPA recognized the importance of fund statement by publishing Accounting Research Study (ARS) Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 211 NO 2â€Å"Cash flow analysis and fund statements†. Before that, accountants had prepared funds statements primarily as management report. The Accounting Principles Board (APB) responded in October 1963 by issuing APB Opinion NO. : â€Å"the statements of and application of funds†, which recommended that a statement of sources and application of funds be presented on a supplementary basis. Because of the favorable response of the business community to this pronouncement, the APB issued Opinion No. 198: â€Å"Reporting changing in Financial Position† in March 1971. This opinion required that a statement of changing financial position be presented as a basic financial statement and be covered by the auditor’s reports. In 1981 the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) reconsidered fund flow issues as part of the conceptual framework project taken in 1976. At this time the FASB decided that the cash flow reporting issues should be considered at the standard level. Subsequent deliberation resulted in Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (SFAS) No. 95: ‘Statement of cash flows’ in Nobember1987 (Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel 1998: 1936). Fund flow statement Vs Cash flow statement Both fund flow statement and cash flow statement serve as a fundamental parts of the financial statements. In 1961, the AICPA issued ARS No. 2, â€Å"Cash Flow Analysis and the Fund Statements† which recommended that a fund statement covered by auditor’s opinion be included in companies financial reports. According to paragraph 5 of Preface to Statement of International Accounting Standard [approved by the IASC Board in November1982 for publication in January 1983 and supersedes the preface published in January 1975 (amended March 1978)], â€Å"the term ‘financial statements’ covers balance sheets, income statement or profit and loss accounts, statements of change in financial position, notes and other statements and explanatory materials which are identified as being part of financial statements† (IASC, 2000:32). As per paragraph 7 of framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements (approved by IASC Board in April 1989 for publication in July 1989): â€Å"A complete set of financial statement normally includes a balance sheet, an income statements, a statements of change in financial position (which may be presented in a variety of ways, for example as a statement of cash flow or a statement of fund flows) and those notes and other statements and explanatory materials that are an integral part of the financial statements† (IASC : p. 3-44). As per paragraph 4 of the previous IAS 7 (October 1977), statements of change in financial position, the term ‘ funds’ referred to cash, cash and cash equivalents or working capital (IFAC, 1992: p. 813). Funds provided or used in operation of an enterprise should be presented in the statements of changes in financial statement separately from other sources and uses of fund. Unusual items, which are not part of ordinary activities of the enterprise, should be separately disclosed (IASC: Para 21). But many users of financial statements consider current practices of reporting fund flows as confusing because too much information is compressed in the statements of change in financial position, and because no single definition has been established (Mosich and Larsen, 1982; p. 935). In order to develop a conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting, the FASB issued in December 1980 a discussion memorandum â€Å"reporting Fund flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility† which was issued for the following reasons: (1) for assessing future cash flow, and (2) current practices regarding the reporting of funds flow information are not entirely satisfactory. As a result of deliberation, FASB issued SFAS NO. 95 ‘Statements of Cash Flow’ in 1987. The statements require the inclusion of statements of Cash Flows rather than a statement of Change in Financial position when issuing a complete set of financial statements 212 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 which was made effective for annual periods ending after July 15, 1988. The major requirements of the statements are of the following two areas: Basis of Presentation: The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. Classification of cash flows: Cash flows are to be classified according to operating, investing and financing activities. The basis of such classification is derived from the financial theory, which state that the enterprise derives the cash used for investing activities and settlement of outstanding financial obligation in an accounting period from internal and external sources. Internal cash sources emanate from the net cash generated from current operation and perhaps disinvesting and depletion of cash resources at the start of the period. External cash sources come from financing activities such as borrowing and receiving cash from the sale of equity shares to existing and new shareholders (Wallace et,al). Benefits of Cash Flow Information The information in a cash flow statement helps investors, creditors, and others to assess the following aspects of the firm’s financial position. Such statements serve as a mechanism for predicting the ability to generate future cash flows for the investors, creditors and others. This enables managers or management to plan coordinate and control financial operation in an effective manner. It gives an indication of the relationship between profitability and cash generating ability thus of the quality of the profit earned. It furnishes information to the management regarding the entities’ ability to pay dividend and meet obligations. Analyst and other users of financial information often, formally or informally, develop models to assess and compare the present value of the future cash flow of entities. Historical cash flow statements could be useful to check the accuracy of past assessment (ACCA Text book part 2. P. 324). It is free from manipulation and is not affected by subjective judgments or by accounting policies. Such a statement dictates situations when a business has made huge profit but has run out money or it has sustained loss but has enough cash availability. The extent of cash generated from operational activity and external finance in order to meet capital, tax, and dividend requirements can be obtained from such statements (Lee, T. A: 1972:27-36). It aids in the evaluation of risk, which includes both the expected variability of future return and probability of insolvency or bankruptcy ( Hendrickson, Eldom. S, 1982: 237). Such statements reveal the capability of an enterprise to pay its short obligation as and when due to the lenders. A cash flow statement in conjunction with a balance sheet provides information on liquidity, viability, and adaptability. The balance sheet is often used to obtain information on liquidity, but the information is rather incomplete for this purpose as the balance sheet is prepared at a particular point of time. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 213 It may assists users of financial statements in making judgments on the amounts, timing and degree of certainty of future cash flows. This statement provides information that is useful in checking the accuracy of past assessment of future cash flows and in examining the relationship between profitability and net cash flow and the impact of changing price (IAS 7: Para 3 4). Information on cash flows classified by three groups of activities (Operating, investing and financing) that al low users to assess the impact of those activities on the financial position of the enterprise and the amount of its cash and cash equivalents. This information may also be to evaluate the relationship among those activities (IAS 7: Para 11). This statement is of special importance in assessing future cash flows, quality of income operating capability, financial flexibly and liquidity, and information on financing and investing activities. Using cash flows from operating activities from the cash flow statements, different ratios such as liquidity, ratio, solvency ratio, and profitability ratios can also be calculated to evaluate an enterprise’s liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Aziz uddin and Bala, 2001: p. 14) Overview of Cash flow statement The cash flow statement explains the changes that have occurred in the company’s cash and cash equivalents during the year by classifying the cash flows in its operating, investing and financing activities. The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. The classification is done in a way that is mos t appropriate to the company’s business. The following are the definitions of the components of the cash flow statement: Cash: cash on hand and demand deposits Cash equivalents: short term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. Operating activities: the principal revenue-producing activities of the enterprise and other activities that are not investing or financing activities Investing activities: the acquisition and disposal of long-term assets and other investments not included in cash equivalents. Financing activities: activities that result in changes in the size and composition of the equity capital and borrowings of the enterprise (Epstein, p. 93). Objective and Scope of IAS 7 Information about the cash flow of an enterprise is useful in providing users of financial statements with a basis to assess the ability of the enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and the needs of the enterprise to utilize those cash flows. The economic decision taken by users requires an evaluation of the ability of an enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and timing and certainty of their generation. The objective of IAS 7 is to require the provision of information about the historical change in cash and cash equivalents of an enterprise by means of a cash flow statement that classifies cash flows during the period from operating, investing and financing activities. An enterprise should prepare a cash flow statement in accordance with the requirements of IAS 7 and should present it as an integral part of its financial statements for each period for which financial statements are prepared. Users of an enterprise’s financial statements are interested in how the enterprise generates and uses cash and cash equivalents. This is the case regardless of the nature of the enterprise activities and irrespective of whether cash can be viewed 214 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 as the product of the enterprise, as may be the case with a financial institution. Enterprises need cash for the same reason however different their principal revenue- producing activities might be. They need cash to conduct their operations, to pay their obligations and to provide return to the investors. Accordingly this standard requires all enterprises to present a cash flow (Para 1 3). Presentation of Cash flow statement under IAS 7 Cash and cash equivalent: The definition of cash and cash equivalent are central to the preparation and interpretation of cash flow statements. Cash consists of cash in hand and demand deposits, coins and notes of an organization, etc. In our country deposits in postal accounts may be termed as cash (Cooper and Ijiri, 1984: 88; Ghosh, 2001). Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into known amount of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to the definitions of paragraph 6 of IAS 7 cash comprises cash in hand and demand deposits; usually ‘cash on hand’ includes currency, notes, and coin in the cash box of the enterprise. It also includes prize bond, negotiable money orders, postal orders, and under posited checks, bank drafts or pay- order. Demand deposits refer to deposits in checking accounts in banks and other financial institutions that may be withdrawn without notice usually subject to deduction of outstanding check. Thus cash equivalents – 1. are short-term investments but the ‘term’ ‘short’ not clearly specified, although a period of three months and less is suggested to be taken as short term period. 2. are highly liquid investments. Here ‘liquid’ means having in a situation where cash equivalents are available in sufficient amount to meet obligation of payments. . are investments that are both: (a) readily convertible, to known amounts of cash and (b) subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to SFAC No. 95, the risk categorically refers to risk of change in interest rate. The short-term investments are so near their maturity that they represent insignificant risk of changes in interest rate. Examples include treasury bills, commercial papers, a nd money market funds purchased with cash that is in excess of immediate needs. However, although by definition, cash equivalents refer to short term highly liquid investments, they are usually held for the purpose of meeting short term cash commitments rather than for other purpose. For an investment to qualify as a cash equivalent it must be readily convertible to a known amount of cash and be subject to insignificant risk of change in value. Therefore an investment normally qualifies as a cash equivalent only when it has a short maturity of, say, three months and less from the date of acquisition. Equity nvestments are excluded from the cash equivalents unless they are, in substance, cash equivalents, for example in the case of preferred share acquired within a short period of their maturity and with a specified redemption date (Para 7). Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 215 Preparation of Cash flow statements IAS 7 requires cash flows to be classified into operating, investing, and financing activities. Example of cash flows by cate gory Operating Activities Inflows Receipts from customers Outflows Payments to suppliers Advance deposits from customers Wages and salaries to employees Income tax refunds Income tax payments Interest received on customers’ notes or Other tax payments accounts Dividends and interest received from Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and investments and included in determining net included in determining net income income Investing Activities Cash received from sale of capital assets Payments for purchase of capital assets Cash from sale of debt or equity investments Cash flows capitalized as intangible assets, such as:  · development costs  · start-up costs  · capitalized interest  · exploration Costs Collection of principal on loans to others Purchase of debt or equity securities of others Interest and dividends received on investments Loans extended to others and not included in determining net income Financing Activities Net proceed of issuing debt or equity securities Payment of principal on bonds or bank loans Cash proceeds received from ba nk loans Purchase of the entity’s own shares Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and not included in determining net income Dividends paid to shareholders Variations in Reporting activities for Cash flows A. Operating or Financing activities Transactions with different categories included in cash flows are classified in a different manner. According to IAS 7, Para 12, â€Å"A single transaction may include cash flows that are classified differently. For example, when the cash repayment of a loan includes both interest and capital the interest element may be classified as operating activities and the capital amount is classified as financing activities†. B. Operating or investing and financing activities Some cash flows may be classified as arising from any activities such as ‘interest’, ‘dividend’ ‘income tax’. The detailed provisions of these types are as follows. 216 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Interest: a. For a financial institution, interest paid and interest received are usually classified as operating cash flows (para 33). b. For other enterprise, interest paid and interest received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively, interest paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Interest received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). Dividend: a. For a financial institution, dividends received are usually classified as operating cash flow (Para 33). b. For other enterprise, dividends received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively dividend received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). c. Dividend paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Alternatively dividend paid may be classified as component of cash flows from operating activities in order to assist users to determine the ability of an enterprise to pay dividend out of operating cash flows (para 34). Income tax: a. Taxes on income arise on a transaction that gives to the cash flows that are classified as operating, investing, and financing activities in cash flow statement. While tax expense may be readily identifiable with investing or financing activities, the related tax cash flows are often impracticable to identify and may arise in a different period from the cash flows of the underlying transactions. Therefore taxes paid are usually classified as cash flows from operating activities. However, often it is practicable to identify the tax cash flow within individual transaction that gives rise to cash flows that are classified as investing or financing activity as appropriate. When tax cash flows are allocated over more than one class of activity, the total amount of taxes paid is disclosed (Para 36). In the light of SFAS 95, â€Å"Transaction that enter into the determination of net income† are defined as operating activities and hence, interest received or paid, dividend received and taxes on income are rigidly treated to arise from operating activities. Dividend to stakeholders are treated as cash outflows classified as financing activities (Keiso and Weygandt, 1998: 1275-76) Cash flow statement Practices in Bangladesh Regulatory Framework, in the eyes of the Companies Act 1994 (Act no. 18 of 1994): According to Section 183 of the Companies’ Act 1994 (which came into effect from 1 January 1995), a company is required to present balance sheet, profit and loss account (income and expenditure account, in case of non profit companies). Under section 185, the balance sheet and the income statement have to be prepared according to the forms set out in Part –1 and Part –2 of Schedule XI respectively under which information on consecutive two years (concerned year and Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 217 preceding year) are to be provided. However according to note (g) of the general instruction for preparation of balance sheet (given in part –1 of schedule XI after the horizontal format of the balance sheet), â€Å"a statement of change in financial position shall be included as an integral part of the financial statements, and shall be presented for each period for which the profit and loss account is prepared†. However no specific format of cash flow statement has been prescribed in Companies Act 1994. In the light of the Security and Exchange Rule 1987 (S. R. O No. 237-l/87 dated on 28 September 1987): Under the provision of rule 12 (1) of the Securities and Exchanges Rules (SER) 1987(amended by the section notification No. SEC/ Section 7/SER/03/132 dated 22 october1997 published in the official gazette on 29 December 1997), the annual report to be furnished by an issuer of listed security shall include â€Å"a balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement and notes to the accounts collectively hereinafter referred to as the financial statement’. In the part III of the Schedule of the SER 1987, issues relating to interest paid on short-term borrowing, interest and dividend received income taxes are clearly guidelined. For example, interest paid on short-term borrowing shall be a cash outflow under operating activities; ‘interest and dividend received’ shall be a cash inflow under investing activities. And ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ shall be a cash outflow under financing activities. Under paragraph 35-36, ‘taxes on income’ should be treated as operating cash outflow unless they can be identified in financing and investing activities. Findings of the study To know the extent of cash flows statement reporting practices by Pharmaceutical companies, a survey has been conducted covering twelve annual reports (2009) (For detailed the name of the companies see Appendix-1). The major findings of the study are given below in terms of general variations in reporting and voluntary disclosure. General findings It includes the current format and structure of cash flow statement and the extent of compliance of IAS-7, followed by sample Pharmaceutical Companies in Bangladesh. All the sample companies prepare cash flow statement as required by IAS-7/BAS 7 adopted by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Bangladesh and present it as an integral part of the financial statements. Notes to cash flow statement have been presented as part of the financial statements i n case of all the sample companies.  · The sample companies prepare cash flow statement in vertical form and shows figure of cash flows of the current year and the previous year.  · All the sample companies’ cash flow statement contains a classification of operational, investing, and financing activities.  · The sample companies did not illustrate the policy dopted in determining the formulation of cash and cash equivalents although this is required by paragraph 36 of IAS 7. 218 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Variation in Reporting Another objective of the survey was to determine which alternatives, permitted by IAS-7, are used most in practice by Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies. It is found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accoun ting treatments. The results are set out in table 1. Table-1 Variations in reporting [Cash flow statement (CFS)] Factors 1 Notes to CFS Options Separately, following the CFS Part of the notes to the financial statements Incorporated in the CFS Total Direct method Indirect method Total Operating activities or no interest Financing Investing activities Total Financing activities or no dividends Operating activities Investing activities Total Part of accounting policy note Nothing disclosed Total Operating activities or no tax Financing activities Investing activities Total Number of companies 0 12 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 2 Operating activities 3 Interest received and Interest paid 4 Dividend received and Dividend paid 5 Definition of cash and cash equivalents 6 Income tax Notes to table 1  · Refer to point 2 of Table 1. According to IAS-7 and SEC Rule 1987, the enterprises are encouraged to report cash flows from operating activities using the direct method. The direct method provides information which may be useful in estimating future cash flows which is not available under the indirect method. All the sample companies followed the direct method in reporting operating cash flows. One company (Pharmaceutical Mithun Knitting Dyeing Ltd. ) discloses cash flows from operating activities under indirect method in notes of financial statements as additional information. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies  ·  · 219 Refer to points 3 4 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown ‘interest received and paid’ under operating activities and ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ under financing activities. Refer to points 5 6 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown â€Å"definition of cash and cash equivalents† in the notes of accounting policy and â€Å"income tax† under operating activities. Voluntary disclosure The survey also included an examination of any additional information that is disclosed regarding the company’s cash flow which is not required by IAS-7, but which may be helpful to the user. For example, separate disclosure of cash flows increases operating capacity and cash flows that maintain operating capacity, disclosure of segmental cash flows, cash flow per share etc. The survey found no company to disclose such additional voluntary information in its cash flow statement. Conclusion and Recommendation A materially misstated cash flow statement, whether it is in terms of incorrect classification in the categories or numerical accuracy, can be misleading to the user and can lead to wrong decisions taken by the users of the statement. The survey has revealed that although sample companies prepare cash flow statement according to International Accounting Standard-7 (BAS-7), there is also a degree of non-compliance. It is, however, found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accounting treatments. To make cash flow statement more informative and useful for users, the companies should disclose additional voluntary information such as cash flow per share in their cash flow statements. Items consisting of cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities should also be clarified in the notes of the financial statements. Due to the limited scope of the present study, a large number of research issues have not been attempted but are identified in the course of the study. Disclosure practices of additional items other than operating, investing and financing activities, disclosure practices differences between listed and unlisted companies, disclosure practices differences between financial and other institutions are some such potential issues for future research. 220 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 References Annual Reports of Sample Pharmaceutical Companies Listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange 2009. Aziz Uddin, A. B. M and Bala. , S. K. ( 2001), â€Å"Cash Flow Reporting in Bangladesh†, The Cost Management, Nov- Dec. ICMAB, p. 13. FASB Discussion Memorandum (1980), Reporting Funds Flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility, FASB, Stanford. Thomas H. Beechy. Joan E. D. Conrod, Intermediate Accounting, second Edition, Chpter 5, Exhibit 5-1 pp. 91 Ghosh, Santi N. (2001),â€Å"Workshop Material on IAS # 7 : Cash Flow Statements† compiled under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)Project, Development of Accounting and Auditing Standards in Bangladesh, The World Bank. Government of Bangladesh (GOB) (1994), The Companies Act 1994 (Act No. 18 of 1994). Gup, B. E. Samson, W. D. 1993. An analysis of patterns from the statement of cash flows. Financial Practice Education, 3(2):73-79. Hendrickson, Eldom. S(1982), Accounting Theory, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. , Illinois, p. 236. Hertenstein, J. McKinnon, S. 1997. Solving the puzzle of the cash flow statement. Business Horizons, 40(1):69-76. International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) (2000), International Accounting Standards 2000 International Accounting Standards Committee, London, â€Å"International Accounting Standard IAS 7 (revised 1992): Cash Flow Statements† in pp. 139165. International Federation of Accounting (IFAC) (1992), IFAC Handbook 1992: Technical Pronouncements (New York: IFAC). â€Å"IAS 7 (October 1977): Statement of Changes in Financial Position† in pp. 812- 816. Khan, M. H. Akter, M. S. Ghosh, S. K (2005), â€Å"Cash Flow Statement Disclosures: A Study of Banking Companies in Bangladesh†. Available at www. pcte. edu. in/site/OJMR/Finance/cashflow. pdf Keiso, Donald, E. and Jerry. J. Weygandt (1998), Intermediate Accounting, John Wiley Sons, Inc. New York, 9th Edition, pp. 1275-76. Lee, T. A. 1982. Cash flow accounting and the allocation problem. Journal of Business Finance Accounting, 9(3):341-352. Lee, T. A (1972), â€Å"A Case for Cash Flow Reporting†, Journal of Business Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 27-36 as quoted in Studies of Accounting Theory, Steyn, B. W. Hamman, W. D. 2003. Cash flow reporting: are listed companies complying with AC 118? Meditari, 11:167-180. Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel, Accounting Principles, 9th edition, John, Wilely and Sons, Inc, pp. 732-733 Wallace, R. S. O. and Choudhury, M. S. I. And Pendelbary, M. 1997), â€Å"Cash Flow Statements: An International Comparison of Regulatory Positions†, The International Journal of Accounting, Vol. 32, No, 1, pp. 1-22 Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 221 Appendix-1 List of the twelve Pharmaceutical companies studied. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Gla xcoSmithKline Bangladesh Limited (2009) The IBN SINA Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd. (2009) BEXIMCO PHARMACEUTICAL LTD. (2009) ORION INFUSION LTD. (2009) ACI Formulation Limited (2009) Ambee Pharmaceutical Limited (2009) Square Pharmaceutical Ltd. (2009) Libra Infusions Limited (2009) BEACOM Pharmaceuticals Limited (2009) Rahman Chemicals Limited (2009) Renata Limited (2009) Therapeutics (Bangladesh) Limited (2009)

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