This article discusses subtropical storm Alberto coming to Florida and bringing heavy rain, winds, and tornados with it. The article also talks about the flooding and small tornados that will result from the storm, and warns people to look out for weather warnings.
The problem discussed in this story is that there are many storms approaching that are causing dangerous local weather. This weather is also keeping people stuck inside as a result of dangerous wind conditions.
Associated with this problem is that because Floridians are stuck inside from summer storms, more electricity is being used. Many people also use speakers to project rain and wave noises to sleep to at night. Instead of racking up a high electricity bill and using unnecessary power that could cause environmental problems, making a device that could amplify the natural sounds of the rain could help Floridians to sleep through these indoor rainy summer days in an environmentally friendly way.
Anyone living in range of these storms who is getting stuck inside as a result of the weather, especially people who use a sleep machine who could save money on electricity, would be who has the problem.
The article is about how the Public Transit Agency has spent a lot of money trying to create an app that will help riders have better awareness of bus arrivals and capacity levels in order to increase customer satisfaction and compete with services such as Uber and Lyft. However, it is failing because few people use it that are aware of it, and few people even know the app exists.
The problem is the lack of awareness for the app, but also that the app is only for smartphone users and may be limiting the number of bus riding consumers who may have access to a smartphone and therefore the number of customers who can actually utilize the app.
I think the public transit system may be assuming the lack of app use is due to a lack of promotion, but there may be some other factors that lead to opportunities for new entrepreneurial ventures. One thing they aren’t considering is that their new services are only for smart phones and some bus riders do not have the means to afford updated smart phones or smart phones at all. There could be a text reminder system where an individual can subscribe to certain routes, and get notifications for when that bus is approaching their typical stops. But another problem may be consumers having to go out of there way to get to the bus stop. The bus system may have simply become outdated so maybe they should start selling more expensive subscription passes where they could offer home pickup services so consumers would not have to find a way to get to the bus stop.
The Public Transit Agency who spent the money to implement this new app system would be the one who has the problem and would therefore be the one interested in spending more to have the most effective system in order to compete with other transit services.
"Rely on official sources in a storm"
https://global-factiva-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9UNI006200&an=PMBP000020180527ee5r0000e&cat=a&ep=ASI
The problem is how natural disasters can be unreasonably exaggerated on social media to the point where the public doesn't know how to react or prepare. This can cause an unnecessary crisis.
The Emergency Management Service would be who has the problem of needing to better communicate storm updates and provide the public with reliable information during natural disasters.
"3rd-grades see reading gains, lag state average"
The Problem is that many third graders are not fully prepared for these FSA tests and therefore are not passing. The children can move onto fourth grade if they can prove they are ready in other ways through literary tests etc, but it is poorly representing the district education wise when children have low scores.
The one who has the problem is the School District of Palm Beach County because it is their job to make sure educational facilities in the district are thriving and up to state standards, which means children need to pass the state exams.
"Bus driver called hero for saving a girl's life"
The problem is that the current ways of gaining the attention of drivers approaching an unloading school bus are not effective enough because they can be hard to notice and therefore leads to situations like the one outlined in the story above.
The School District of Palm Beach County would be the one who has the problem and would want to invest in a product like this because it is their responsibility to ensure the students opting to take the bus home are fully protected and safe.
Hi Katia,
ReplyDeleteYou posted some interesting articles. I especially liked your ideas about the article entitled “Rely on Official Sources in a Storm.” I was surprised that the Emergency Management Service in Palm Beach County isn’t using more social media than Twitter. I know several people who do not subscribe to Twitter, so there could be many people who are missing out on important messages. I agree with your ideas to make the information more accessible and interactive, so they can reach the widest number of people possible.
Ashley Decker
Hi Katia!
ReplyDeleteGood post- I just want to add a few observations.
One big problem that might occur during heavy storms is losing electricity. This condition would adversely affect users of sleep machines and any other medical equipment.
About the public transportation services- it seems to me that it might be prohibitively expensive for most users of public transportation to pay the fees that would be needed for home pickup. Most people in Florida that use public transportation do so because they can not afford any other means of transportation. It’s not like in New York City, where people use the subway because it is so much more convenient and faster than traffic-clogged city streets. Perhaps the solution would be to do a customer survey of which zip codes use and street addresses use public transportation the most, and place stops close to those areas.
I think people should rely on official sources of information during a heavy storm, not just on anyone on social media’s opinion. Social media has become the new type of “mob,” and often it doesn’t take much to incite a mob to riot. However, if the Emergency Management Service has had communications breakdowns, they do indeed need to investigate ways of ensuring that they get necessary information out to the public.
Do you know that many people think that state educational testing should be discontinued? Among other reasons, because some children do not test well, and some children are highly active, and become bored and restless, and not able to focus, during testing. Testing does not always accurately reflect whether a person has learned the relevant material!
I think that about the bus driver story, it is everyone in the community who also has the problem. Everyone has a vested interest in keeping children safe. Distracted driving has become a huge problem because of all the things clamoring for drivers’ attention.
These comments are in no way meant to detract from your observations, which were very good. They are meant to illustrate that different people see things differently, and that often more than one group of people has the problem. The challenge becomes how to solve the problem most effectively for the largest group of people.