pic: MAR Team Distribution (2016)

[AGPapa]

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[MailmanDelivers]

Interesting to see how the championship seems to be farthest away from the higher-populated team centers. Is there any data on travel distance for these events?

[bkahl]

Originally Posted by MailmanDelivers

Interesting to see how the championship seems to be farthest away from the higher-populated team centers.

Preaching to the MAR choir with that observation

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by MailmanDelivers

Interesting to see how the championship seems to be farthest away from the higher-populated team centers. Is there any data on travel distance for these events?

Originally Posted by bkahl

Preaching to the MAR choir with that observation

Bailey is quoted for truth.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe part of the motivation to put it there was to encourage team growth in that region. Considering it's four years later and the map looks like that, it does not appear to have been especially effective.

I don't have any aggregate data, but I know about 1257's travel times. We're in Union County, the small county with 3 teams in northeast NJ. We typically attend Bridgewater-Raritan (30 minutes away) and Mount Olive (45 minutes away), and MAR Champs is around an hour and fifteen minutes away. It isn't too bad for us, but it's a bit of a hike, and that seems to be a recurring theme with MAR teams.

[wilsonmw04]

Wow, I guess different districts have different ideas about what a "hike" is. I would LOVE to have three events within an hour and 30 minutes of most (vast majority for MAR?) locations in my district.

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

Wow, I guess different districts have different ideas about what a "hike" is. I would LOVE to have three events within an hour and 30 minutes of most (vast majority for MAR?) locations in my district.

Believe me, I was spoiled by being within the North/Central Jersey team cluster. I learned how lucky MAR teams are when I attended FLR with 2791, our second closest regional, which was three and a half hours away.

The farthest I had ever traveled with 1257 was to the Springside Chestnut Hill event my freshman year. It was an hour and a half away, but I got to play 2012 341 so I'd say it was worth it.

[tjf]

Just out of curiosity, what is the 1 team in Monmouth County, NJ? I've been looking into that area and didn't see one...

[Brian Maher]

Originally Posted by tjf

Just out of curiosity, what is the 1 team in Monmouth County, NJ? I've been looking into that area and didn't see one...

I think it's 4128 in Holmdel.

EDIT: It would appear they no longer compete. Not sure who it is then.

[tjf]

Originally Posted by BMSOTM

I think it's 4128 in Holmdel.

Thanks!

[AGPapa]

Originally Posted by tjf

Just out of curiosity, what is the 1 team in Monmouth County, NJ? I've been looking into that area and didn't see one...

That would be 1807, from Allentown, NJ! Here's a full list for each county.

Bergen
1672
1676
2070
4653
6015
6203

Bucks
103
2607
5401

Burlington
87
816
1647
2539
2729
5113
5457
6226

Camden
203
204
4750

Chester
1168
1391
1495
1640
4342

Cumberland
5420

Dauphin
2559

Delaware
484
486
709
2095
2234
4575

Essex
555
714
752
1811
4035
4475
5310
5732
5992

Gloucester
1791
3151

Hudson
3340
5438

Hunterdon
3637

Kent
5938

Kackawanna
1143

Lehigh
834

Mercer
293
1089
1923
2016
2180
2191
2495
2590
5666
5684
5895

Middlesex
25
224
869
1626
2554
3515
4573
5624

Monmouth
1807

Montgomery
272
341
423
433
708
1712
3974
4373
5181
5404
5407

Morris
11
193
2600
4361

New Castle
365
1370
4954
5490

Northampton
5490

Passaic
223
3314

Philadelphia
304
321
1218
3167
3929
4454
4637

Salem
316

Somerset
56
75
102
303
613
1279
1403
2458
2577
4281

Sussex
1989
3142

Union
136
1228
1257

Warren
41
219
6016

Wayne
4285

Wyoming
222

York
225

[Christopher149]

Originally Posted by BMSOTM

...FLR with 2791, our second closest regional, which was three and a half hours away.

Our first closest district event is three hours away. Sure beats when Traverse City was the closest at about seven hours.

[Lil' Lavery]

This also brings to light another point. Does anyone know the precise border of MAR in Pennsylvania? So far it's largely been a non-issue, since the vast majority of teams in PA are clustered in the general area of either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. But at some future point, if teams start springing up in those counties cut in half on this diagram, are they MAR teams or regional teams?

[Brian Sherman]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

This also brings to light another point. Does anyone know the precise border of MAR in Pennsylvania? So far it's largely been a non-issue, since the vast majority of teams in PA are clustered in the general area of either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. But at some future point, if teams start springing up in those counties cut in half on this diagram, are they MAR teams or regional teams?

From the bylaws:

Territory
The Corporation represents a geographical area that includes the entirety of the states of Delaware and New Jersey and the counties of Pennsylvania including Bradford, Sullivan, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Dauphin, York and all counties to the east of the aforementioned.

[SoftwareBug2.0]

Originally Posted by MailmanDelivers

Interesting to see how the championship seems to be farthest away from the higher-populated team centers. Is there any data on travel distance for these events?

I don't have any insight as to the MAR planning committee's inner workings, but just as a point of reference:

My guess for a worst-case travel time to the MAR district championships is 2:18 (from the Dover, DE area).

PNW district championship to the two largest population centers in the district:
4:17 (Seattle, WA)
5:21 (Portland, OR)

This is roughly equivalent to holding the MAR championship in Pittsburgh.

[ezygmont708]

Mid-Atlantic Robotics has a great partnership with Lehigh University. Without going to deep, MAR Champs is a $60,000 event. 80% of MAR teams are within 60 miles of the venue. It is a safe venue in a sub-urban/rural setting, and provides the space needed to effectively run our District Championships.

That said, the Venue Selection Committee and the Competition Committee have continually evaluated a variety of venues. The underlying concerns with these venues is location, capacity and cost.

Princeton University has been approached three times and will not commit to a date until 60 days out from the event. The Sun National Bank Center and the Liacouras Center have also been evaluated. These venues are in Urban Areas and command an steep price for Rental and Labor.

The vast majority of teams have a commensurate travel time to the event, and while there are no Hotels on top of the venue, MAR has each year arranged for transportation to and from a list of hotels in Bethlehem.

The competition committee has taken great measure to try to effectively distribute competitions throughout the region. Venues have been mapped against the geographic distribution of teams.

Should members of MAR have suggestions for additional venues they should direct them to the competition committee whose contact information can be found on midatlanticrobotics.org