Enhancing Transportation Service in the Local Community Using Fleet Tracking and Data Management
Ikechukwu K. Azogu, Neda Masoud, Marguerite L. Zarrillo, Hong Liu · Transportation Research Board 90th Annual MeetingTransportation Research Board · 2011
This project demonstrates that basic mobility management tools such as fleet tracking and data management can provide more efficient operations when applied to small transportation providers. These smaller scale providers are often connected to facilities such as councils on aging, assisted living facilities and university campuses providing student transportation. They have clients such as the elderly, disabled, people of low income, and college students. These providers often do not need and cannot afford commercial expensive mobility management software systems. In addition, they are often staffed by non-technical, part-time employees and volunteers, and thus, are unlikely to adopt or deploy theses systems without assistance. This study develops and presents a generic tracking system that is readily and easily deployed by small transportation providers. It is low cost but effective. A generic architecture is designed with the core capabilities of fleet tracking and data management. Its implementation targets open source software, free Internet hosting, low equipment costs and low global position system (GPS) service costs. The generic system has been applied to three fleets and software has been customized for three small local transportation providers. The application has a lasting value as the open source is ready for deployment to other small transportation providers.