Policy Brief

Introducing GPS to Public Transport system

Monitor and Navigate Public transport busses using Global Positioning system to cater efficient and better services to Public In Sri Lanka 2/3 of the people benefit from the public transport System and the government spends a lot on this sector; mostly in all parts of Sri Lanka the public sector operates its services. In Sri Lanka transport system run by two main players namely state owned Company National and Transport Bus Private

owners association. The increase of Fuel price, pollution and high traffic, drives the people to use the public transport services, Now with the countrys development and introduction of highways, more people are interested to travel long journeys commute to work from their home town Recently the government has introduced Luxury bus services between major cities. So we have the Resources and high standard roads, and well experienced drivers, and the amount of passengers

But Most of the people are dissatisfied with existing public transport services, due to inaccurate information related to vehicle movement, and some hidden issues. The bus operators are not maintaining the standard IN time and Departure time and delay in arriving to the desired location, some times last minute cancellation of the services due to repair and any unavoidable circumstances. In this case the public faces a major problem and dissatisfaction of the services. We have to come out from the traditional transportation system to Modern High-tech transportation system. Now Sri Lanka is getting more foreign income from Tourists so public transport should be more standardized to fulfill their needs and acceptation therefore public transport should provide facility to see the IN Time and Departure time, seat availability, online booking, distance of the journey and journey time, charges for the journey and current location and stops During travel to refresh oneself. If the authority can find a solution to over come this type of hidden concerns public transportation sector can earn more profit and the country can earn good reputation Most of the accidents and collision are due to over speeding and overloading of passenger, unsafe driving, not following the correct lane, not using the Signals in the turns, lack of Smoke Detection system, mobile phone
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usage while driving, not wearing seat belt, Drivers continuous chatting with other persons, some time this reduce the driving concentration, and other issue inside the bus between the driver and conductor. Low break vacuum level, not checking the fuel level before starting the long distance services, can lead to a major disaster or life lose, and property damages

What Is GPS

GPS (Global Positioning System) This will locate any given location with the help of Satellite and Earths longitude and latitude. This system works with a combination of Receiver and Transmitter and it works based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) This system was originally developed by US defense in 1940 during the world war and the used system was LORAN and Decca Navigator

How GPS works with Transportation

A small device call GPS receiver will be fitted to the vehicle and its connected to various units of the vehicle via a sensor (Break, Ignition, signal, door, smoke detector, Speedo meter, Vacuum tank, Camera, seat belt, Air condition unit, fuel tank and a Weight sensor to masher the current weight of the load)

A special satellite call Global navigation satellite system Sends location data to receiver, the Vehicles Receiver will collects its location information and combine with vehicle information and send back to the main control room or server room, the gathered information will be summarized and can be used with any out put device.

Why GPS for Public Transport?

By using this system, public Transportation can increase the quality of services and the efficiency And provide good services to the public, and reduce redundant work of the staff Both Passenger and the operator can monitor the Movement of the Vehicle and the current location in the Graphical mode and it will be on real time. The schedule time and the departure time will be displayed on the digital board or via a SMS to the Passenger so he can get the movement information and as per that information, the passenger can plan his schedules with out waiting till last minute. With the help of this device the estimated time to reach the desired location will be more accurate.

So little by little more and more people will use this service, due to this the usage of personal vehicle for day to day use will come down, so this will gradually reduce the traffic jam And in a country like Sri Lanka both business and managerial institutions operate in Major cities like Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Badulla, etc., so some times due to emergency the standard rout can be changed in the last minute and early alarm system for road block, so the control room can advise the driver to chose a alternative rout. This will save a lot of time and wastage of fuel.

Benefit for the Government

As we are more in

to Tourism , the public

transport should be more standardized to provide information to the tourists and by using GPS NTC can provide clear idea of where we are and where they need to go and the Time duration to reach the target location Managing the industry will become convenient; the control room will have total control of each vehicle, for example: Bus Movement, speed of the vehicle, the buss current weight, and driving discipline of the driver, next rout arrangement, misuse of the vehicle, bus seat booking, and can give clear information to the waiting passengers, can arrange quick solution for emergencies and vehicle break downs and can

avoid collision between Trains and Bus in the Cross Roads, GPS will clearly show and generate a warning near the Railway Crossing
GPS monitoring system is showing the Bus is stopped near Mel Fisher heritage Museum In Florida, USA

Group of Malaysian Control Room Staff Web Based Vehicle navigation system showing monitoring the vehicle movement the vehicles current location

The top management can get monthly, weekly, and annual reports on total Fuel supply and fuel usage to identify the misuse. The electronic Ticketing machine can be connected with GPS, so the control room can get the passenger count on real time. With GPS Government can earn good profit by introducing GPS Based Advertisement, that means GPS will track the Busses Current Location and based on that it will play the Advertisement related to Shops and Products those are available near the location

For Example: If the Bus is traveling near Bambalapitiya, the Display will play a Advertisement about Majestic Cinema or shop Details around Bambalapitiya
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Benefit For the public

Always the public will look for convenient, efficient, effective and easy access to any service sector whether its Telecommunication, Banking or Transportation. So using GPS the passenger will get correct information related to Bus timing and current location and the system can be connected to web based application so from any where the passenger or any person can monitor the selected bus arrival time and the seat availability. Inside the bus with help of a digital display the passenger can have clear information about the current location, time left for Departure and the lead time to reach the end point and especially for long distance services the passenger can see the lead time for a break to refresh. Weather condition, Hospital and Bank information in case of an emergency

Conclusion
The importance of Tracking and monitoring of public transport will improve the services and the quality, along with this the Passenger will get more information and even can introduce Online Ticketing and RFID Ticketing for regular travelers and for Government employees Adopting any new method will looks complicated in the initial stages, But implementation of such advances efficient system can make the out life easier When ATM system was introduced people ware not interested to use that But now ATM cards have become inevitable to Srilankans Life So with the Help of GPS near future we will have a well structured and Efficient Transport System in Srilanka

For More Reading

Syncromatics Corporation Los Angeles http://www.syncromatics.com Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_tracking_system

Research By
Ganesan Ranjan Jayakumar