Print out the following page and bring it to class with you.
As the city engineer, you need to optimize the cost to have the following number of busses on the road, at the following shift times, and must pay the listed hourly rates. Once drivers come to their shifts, they work a continuous 8 hour period, and then leave. Their pay is based on when their shift starts. For example, because the midnight shift is extremely tiring and dangerous, we have to pay a driver accepting that shift a daily salary of $16/hour * 8 hours to get them to work. Their pay rate does not change 4 am.
Shift | Times | Number of Busses Needed |
Hourly Wage |
A | 12 am – 4 am | 350 | 16 |
B | 4 am – 8 am | 520 | 15 |
C | 8 am – 12 pm | 940 | 12 |
D | 12 pm – 4 pm | 820 | 9 |
E | 4 pm – 8 pm | 1280 | 10 |
F | 8 pm – 12 am | 980 | 12 |
Because of insurance reasons, we can have no more than 500 drivers on the payroll from 12 AM to 4 AM and because of union rules, no shift can bring in fewer than 50 drivers.
Determine how many drivers to hire, and at what hours (shifts) you should have them come to work, as well as how much it will cost to operate the bus system each day.