Bus company uses GPS to monitor its drivers so that safety of passengers not compromised
By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my
MIRI: The Aidilfitri balik kampung rush has begun, and a bus company here is pulling out all the stops to ensure its passengers get home to their loved ones safe and sound.Miri Transport Company (MTC), which operates passenger and express bus services, has installed remote-sensing tracking devices on each and everyone of its buses plying the long distance routes.MTC express buses travel to Niah, Bintulu, Sibu, Sarikei, Sri Aman, Serian and Kuching, and the global positioning system (GPS) device fitted in the buses provides real-time reading of the speed of the buses.
This “eye in the sky” move can detect if any of its buses are speeding, overtaking dangerously or travelling recklessly no matter where they are in Sarawak .MTC general manager Yeo Yow Shun can monitor everyone of his bus driver’s actions from his laptop.If he detects any of them travelling at high speeds, he will call them up over the mobile phone.Yeo showed The Star how he monitors his buses and his drivers from his laptop and how he can zoom in on them even if they are already 1,000km or more away from him.“We are the only bus company in Sarawak to have fitted this GPS tracking device in every of our long-distance buses.“The speed of everyone of my buses are recorded nonstop and we have staff here who monitor the situation all the time, including myself,” he said here yesterday.“I can see my driver, live from the satellite images beamed into my laptop.“The speed limit of every buses is shown on these satellite images. If my driver is moving below the speed limit, there is a green colour flashing. If my driver starts to speed, the colour will change to yellow and I will start to call them up to find out what they are doing.“Any attempt to speed is immediately detected and my staff and I here at the headquarters can instantly react and check on the driver.
“My company has 28 intra-state buses that ferry passengers from Miri to every other towns and cities in Sarawak between the Miri-Kuching routes daily.“In Miri City
In the meantime, Miri City Brunei Sarawak , are making a beeline to leave Miri.While all these are happening, the shopping centres, agriculture tamus, supermarkets and shops in the city are enjoying a surge in shoppers, especially in the number of Bruneians who have crossed the border here for their Aidilfitri shopping.Miri is a shopping, food and entertainment haven for Bruneians and for expatriates working in Brunei because of the high exchange rate of the Brunei Brunei dollar is equal to the Singapore
when i read this article, suddenly i remember about something. My dad was a part time bus driver.He insist to buy a new mobile phone in order to get GPS function. He said that GPS will help for his job.Global Positioning Systems (GPSs) are now like toy gadgets for almost everybody. They are very easy to use, and work everywhere, maybe not in underground The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.
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Using GPS in school buses and public transportation may seems unnecessary; these buses go on a routine route every day. The drivers are very experienced and know how to handle their job. Even when they are using GPS they might be lose. So, why to have GPS? I had searched on it and there are some situation that a GPS on the board will come handy, the first one is road problem-even the highly maintained vehicles can go wrong sometimes. Having a GPS in the bus, helps the rescue teams get in a manner of minutes to the bus, and avoid delay and frustration for the passengers.
The 2nd one is handling traffic problems which can I said that the position and movement of buses can give an accurate and helpful view of traffic to the traffic control unit. These buses go on fixed routes every day, and are supposed to arrive to each stop at a specific time. It is possible to have a smart control which reconfigure the traffic to ease the congestion.
Plus, the 3rd advantage is ,bus driver can easily find a passenger. Let’s assume one of kids a board has a server medical condition. In the morning, his mother forgot to give him his important medicine, maybe GPS would save his life as the emergency units can reach to the bus in a few seconds
Furthermore, it can preventing crimes. It sounds rare, but it is possible that a psycho takes a school bus and try to drive it to nowhere. Off-the-route behavior of the buses can easily be spotted in the traffic control unit. At that, they can take an action by the security forces having the online position of the bus on the monitoring screens.
In addition, GPS allow them in finding the way out if suddenly they are lose or the bus end up in an area that a driver has no idea what to do and how to get out of there. A GPS is the handy gadget to guide him how to get into the main traffic.
Last word to say is that almost all the buses are equipped with communication gadgets to be in connection with their central control. This may reduce the importance of GPS. Also, cellular phone are all around. They may solve of the problems. However, having the GPS would be a huge advantage, because it doesn’t need a human to operate it.