School bus: A scenario.

[Buffett and Colbert]

Clearly the 60 kids first is better since you can then take the 40 kids, if you take the 30 kids first you would then need to take 3 trips instead of two.

Until you get sued for discrimination.

[The Evil Reich]

How about taking the 30 and half of the 60 on the 1st trip (dropping the 30 off first), then take the 10 and the other half of the 60 (again dropping off the ones who live closest to the school first).

Or you could stagger the schedules for the different grade levels that attend the school so that you never have more than 60 kids getting out of school at the same time. In my school district, they had elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools on different schedules so the same bus could be used by more than one school. You could use the same concept, even if the different grade levels are all taught at the same school building.

[Nobel Hobos]

Oh crap. I was hoping I'd seen the last of this thread. I really messed up the balance in the scenario. The way I did it in draft, the collective travel time was the same either way so it was more plainly a question of majority vs. minority.

I think my own preferred answer is still the same though. It's what Il Ruffino and Ashmoria said: alternate the two schedules so both groups have a turn at the schedule which favours them.

Oh, and you can't kill the pterodactyls. They're globally endangered, the park ranger will shoot you if you try. And no, you can't shoot the park ranger 'cos he's flying an Apache.

[Nobel Hobos]

Actually, if you look at it, depending on how long it takes to send the 10 kids to their homes, it could be best to do 30-10-60, so that the time taken to get back from the end of the 60 kids run isn't waiting time for someone other than the innocent driver (and who knows, maybe he lives down that path)

The OP states that the final 10 go last, presumably it takes much, much longer to get them home.

Yes, but I shouldn't have stated that they have to go last. That was my own conclusion, and as you note I only implied that it takes much much longer. I should have stated how long.

If I hadn't messed up, the option would have been left open to deliver them first or second. Looking at it now, I think maybe they should get a chance to go home first (one time in ten perhaps?)

[East Fancainia]

Buy another bus.

[New Manvir]

Spend the yearly bus budget arming the children against pterodactyl attacks with rifles and organizing weekly pterodactyl hunts.

[The Soviet Technocracy]

Charge money for the school bus.

Children who don't pay get eaten, and the recorded carnage is sold to a reality television network.

Use proceeds to buy a second school bus.

Host a fundraiser. Buy bicycles for the children. Or just leave them to fend for themselves amongst the pteradactyls. Survival of the fittest, and cure child obesity!

Childhood obesity is a ridiculously over-inflated moral panic.

[New Manvir]

Before making a decision, I need to know the ethnicity of the children

English, with one Irish red head.

[New Manvir]

Charge money for the school bus.

Children who don't pay get eaten, and the recorded carnage is sold to a reality television network.

Use proceeds to buy a second school bus.

But then you wouldn't need a second bus because half the children would be eaten.

[The Soviet Technocracy]

Charge money for the school bus.

Children who don't pay get eaten, and the recorded carnage is sold to a reality television network.

Use proceeds to buy a second school bus.

But then you wouldn't need a second bus because half the children would be eaten.

Not all of them. Simply encourage the children to be creative with fighting off the pterodactyls, and you will get moar money from the reality television networks. As royalties come in, and combined with teh daily charges of paying for the bus (living in Jurassic Park, the families must be rich enough to afford a small daily payment) will ensure that there will be two buses soon enough.

Maybe not enough to prevent 40 children from being eaten, but certainly not half.

[The Merchant Republics]

Charge money for the school bus.

Children who don't pay get eaten, and the recorded carnage is sold to a reality television network.

Use proceeds to buy a second school bus.

But then you wouldn't need a second bus because half the children would be eaten.

I don't see why the other children should get eaten, charge some money for the bus, low as possible to get as many kids as possible on board, but save up until you can buy another.

[Rokartian States]

Buy another bus.

Who drives that bus?

[Olthar]

I'd do what any reasonable school administrator would do: petition the local government to raise taxes, and buy a second bus.

[Nobel Hobos]

But then you wouldn't need a second bus because half the children would be eaten.

I don't see why the other children should get eaten, charge some money for the bus, low as possible to get as many kids as possible on board, but save up until you can buy another.

Obviously I can't stop anyone from trying to find lateral solutions. It's kinda fun.

But I can try to force you to make the decision I asked about. You don't have enough money to buy another bus NOW. Until you get another bus, what schedule would you use?

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EDIT

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I'd do what any reasonable school administrator would do: petition the local government to raise taxes, and buy a second bus.

But in the meantime you have to do what school administrators do all the time. Find the best use of the resources you've actually got.

[New Manvir]

Buy another bus.

Who drives that bus?

Keannu Reeves.

[Olthar]

And no, they can't walk home. There are pterodactyls, and the only way the kids are safe is if the bus stops right outside their house and they run for their lives.

Pterodactyls only eat fish, not children. You should go with velociraptors. It works better.

[Olthar]

I'd do what any reasonable school administrator would do: petition the local government to raise taxes, and buy a second bus.

But in the meantime you have to do what school administrators do all the time. Find the best use of the resources you've actually got.

Buy the bus on a loan. Use the increased tax revenue to pay back the loan.

[Nobel Hobos]

But in the meantime you have to do what school administrators do all the time. Find the best use of the resources you've actually got.

Buy the bus on a loan. Use the increased tax revenue to pay back the loan.

If you don't want to play, no-one's forcing you to post in the thread.

As I said earlier, I messed up the scenario and would have been happy to see the thread die. Towards that end, I won't reply any further to you unless you're going to answer the question I asked. Have a nice day.

[Olthar]

If you don't want to play, no-one's forcing you to post in the thread.

As I said earlier, I messed up the scenario and would have been happy to see the thread die. Towards that end, I won't reply any further to you unless you're going to answer the question I asked. Have a nice day.

I answered your question. It's not my fault you won't accept people thinking outside the tiny box you built. You construct this scenario, thinking that there's only a few select answers. Then, when someone comes along and breaks your scenario with a bit of lateral thought, you throw a hissy fit and leave the thread? No offense, but that seems a little childish to me.

[The Merchant Republics]

I don't see why the other children should get eaten, charge some money for the bus, low as possible to get as many kids as possible on board, but save up until you can buy another.

Obviously I can't stop anyone from trying to find lateral solutions. It's kinda fun.

But I can try to force you to make the decision I asked about. You don't have enough money to buy another bus NOW. Until you get another bus, what schedule would you use?

45/45/10, with a bidding scheme for each seat.

[Nobel Hobos]

Obviously I can't stop anyone from trying to find lateral solutions. It's kinda fun.

But I can try to force you to make the decision I asked about. You don't have enough money to buy another bus NOW. Until you get another bus, what schedule would you use?

45/45/10, with a bidding scheme for each seat.

45? I don't get that at all. Would you drive the long way across town (where 60 kids need to go), with a partially filled bus and then have to do it again?

[The Merchant Republics]

45/45/10, with a bidding scheme for each seat.

45? I don't get that at all. Would you drive the long way across town (where 60 kids need to go), with a partially filled bus and then have to do it again?

I didn't calculate it perfectly, but I imagine, that it would work out just as fast. You'd have two moderately long trips and the two groups waiting a moderately low amount of time.

[Rostovon]

Arm the children.

[The Evil Reich]

And no, they can't walk home. There are pterodactyls, and the only way the kids are safe is if the bus stops right outside their house and they run for their lives.

Pterodactyls only eat fish, not children. You should go with velociraptors. It works better.

These are special ops trained attack pterodactyls.

[Wilgrove]

I would buy a second bus. *nods*