The Telematics industry is one of the fastest-growing sector in the automotive accessory market. Innovation and advancement in technologies, especially in hardware has led manufacturing of compact devices that are faster. The vehicle tracking industry has expanded very well in a short span of time and offers a lot more than customary GPS navigation and tracking to point to a vehicle’s location. The gamut of vehicle tracking includes supporting features to track the load, temperature, riders, movement, and many other related vehicle information.
Modern vehicle tracking systems have an array of services to offer to manage the large fleet.
- Two-way communication between driver and control center.
- Live tracking of vehicles with meters of accuracy.
- Vehicle immobilization.
- Control centers can monitor how fast the vehicle is moving and the stoppage time.
- Fuel tank information.
- Providing live updates on road conditions and traffic jams.
To harness all the functionality that modern vehicle tracking system offers, many governments are working proactively and few has already implemented the VTS in various ways to provide better and more efficient service to its people. One such initiative is done by Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation by procuring 600 vehicle-mounted units (VMU) for using it in Vehicle Tracking and Passenger Information System in the city.
“The system has been tried under a pilot project in the city zone and the results have emerged positive,” an official of the corporation has said. The equipment and the system have been tested in Metro Deluxe and Metro Express buses on the Koti-Madhapur route. The system will be limited to Metro Express and Metro Deluxe buses. Though 3,500 units will be required, 600 will be delivered in the first week of June and the rest later.
Primarily, the system aims to screen the location and the expected arrival time of the buses at boards placed at Bus Stops with the help of GPRS. The VMU, apart from GPRS, will also have a display screen placed on the dashboard which has panic buttons for use in cases of dacoity, fire, accident, et cetera.
Upon pressing the buttons, information will be sent to the corporation’s control room. “Information on floods or traffic jams can also be sent to the display screen,” he said.
As the current pilot project has been successful, the system will be introduced also in other parts of the state where JNNURM buses ply.
The horizon of application of VTS and Fleet management software solutions is leading the transportation and logistics industry towards efficiencies and effectiveness. There are integrated solutions that can just make the task easier, safer, transparent, and effective.