GPS Tracking

Carefully set one foot into the street, look to the side, crane your neck and squint. The “Where’s the Bus?” stance is a familiar one for anyone who frequents large metropolitan areas.

Public transit – buses, trains, trolleys and ferries – is a primary form of transportation in most of our nation’s big cities. It’s affordable, it’s readily available and it’s … sometimes … reliable.

One of the most annoying parts of the commute has always been the wait: you’re at the stop on time, now where’s your ride?

GPS tracking has the answer. Vehicle tracking technology gives weary commuters up-to-date information about where their bus is, how fast it’s moving and when it’s going to pull up beside them and open its doors at their feet.

GPS tracking offers a better way to get from Point A to Point B. Could GPS tracking technology mean the beginning of the end of the surly urban dweller?

GPS Tracking Takes Guesswork out of Commuting

Urban stress is partly caused by a concentrated population and traffic congestion. GPS tracking can’t make traffic go away; but by making bus systems run smoother, it is making a significant contribution.

Imagine the day you can log onto a website from any Web-enabled electronic device, click on your route, location and stop and instantly learn when the next bus will arrive. Download Google Earth, Java or another mapping program from your Web browser can see your bus as it progresses on its route, live on a map. You can even program your cell phone to call or text you when your bus is approaching. All you need is a few route-identifying codes. Travelers can plan their days from the comfort of home or in a cozy neighborhood café. Back at the bus stops, the updated arrival information is posted on pole signs and in bus shelters in the form of a countdown timer.

This might all seem like a snapshot of commuter utopia. But it’s reality in many cities across the nation. The streetcar in Portland, Ore., hospital and university facilities in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and the East River Water Taxi in New York are a few examples.

GPS bus tracking can work to make tourists happy as well. Vacationers have very little wait time when they plan travel from hotels and convention centers to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington; Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada and the ski resorts of Vail, Colo.

GPS Tracking of Buses an Offshoot of Vehicle Tracking

GPS tracking systems have been in use in business vehicles and private automobiles for about 10 years. School districts use vehicle tracking to make sure buses pick up and deliver students on time. Why not public transportation?

Vehicle tracking systems capture GPS satellite coordinates and use them to calculate the precise location of the GPS tracking receiver.  Those that show the user the current location of the vehicle, and follow it along its route are called real-time vehicle tracking devices. There are also passive GPS tracking systems, which log the sampling points onto memory, and then the user later downloads the information to a computer.

Public buses would utilize real-time or live vehicle tracking systems, much like the LandAirSea Victoria GPS Tracking System. Each bus would have a GPS tracking receiver and satellites would be used to determine their location. Position updates would be taken every few seconds. With the help of mobile communications, the information would be transmitted to a central computer and monitoring center. Then the information is translated into an understandable, public-friendly format and made available over the Internet.

No public transportation system ever flows on schedule. Weather, traffic, mechanical breakdowns, police emergency, special events and many other variables can cause delays and bottlenecks in service. Bus companies consider it a public service when they can post a schedule that is fluid and accurate. As it is with most GPS tracking applications, quality timing and locating services end up saving busy people time, money and frustration. The benefit of GPS tracking to the bus companies is better service, increased usage and more revenue.

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Tags: Buses, commuters, public transits, Tracking System, trains, Vehicle Tracking

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 3:31 pm and is filed under All Articles, GPS Tracking, GPS Vehicle Tracking, Vehicle Tracking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.