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 National Transport

Company and Private Bus

owners association.

The increase of Fuel price, pollution and high traffic, drives the people to use

the public transport services,

Now with the country’s 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

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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 usage

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while driving, not wearing seat belt, Driver’s 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 Earth’s

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 Vehicle’s Receiver will collects its location information and

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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

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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 bus’s 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

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GPS monitoring system is showing the Bus is stopped near Mel Fisher heritage MuseumIn Florida, USA

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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Group of Malaysian Control Room Staff monitoring the vehicle movement

Web Based Vehicle navigation system showing the vehicle’s current location

Benefit For the public

Always the public will look for

convenient, efficient, effective and easy

access to any service sector whether it’s

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

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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 Srilankan’s 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

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