Urban Fleet Monitoring with GPS and GLONASS

Abstract

The increasing volume of traffic in urban areas has resulted in steady growth of the mean driving time on fixed routes. Longer driving times lead to significantly higher transportation costs, particularly for vehicle fleets, where efficiency in the distribution of their transport tasks is important in staying competitive in the market. For bus fleets, the optimal control and command of the vehicles is, as well as the economic requirements, a basic function of their general mission. The Global Positioning System (GPS) allows reliable and accurate positioning of public transport vehicles except within the physical limitations imposed by built-up city ‘urban canyons’. With a view to the next generation of satellite positioning systems for public transport fleet management, this paper highlights the limitations imposed on current GPS systems operating in the urban canyon. The capabilities of a future positioning system operating in this type of environment are discussed. It is suggested that such a system could comprise receivers capable of integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian equivalent, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and relatively cheap dead-reckoning sensors.