TRANSPORT BOARD INSTALLS NEW TRACKING SYSTEM ON BUSES

February 4, 2008 | by Craig Batstone

The Barbados Advocate - Monday January 7, 2008

Transport Board INSTALLS new tracking system on buses

Within the next few days the Transport Board will be improving its ongoing technological thrust by installing another feature on its buses. That feature, when installed, will enable the Board to track the location of its buses.

Lynda Holder, marketing and corporate communications manager with the Board explained that each of the buses in the Board’s fleet is being outfitted with an Advance InterFleet Vehicle Locator (AVL) system, designed to keep track of them on all the Board’s routes on the island.

“The technology that is being installed gives us the ability to track our buses using the Internet and is essentially a locator system with security features which will also assist with our customer service.

“It will be monitored on a daily basis and will also serve as a safety feature for both our passengers and our drivers, especially at night. If a bus is at a particular stop longer than it should be, we can call to make sure everything is okay or have someone from a nearby depot check on the bus to ensure that the driver and passengers are safe,” Holder said.

Craig Batstone of GeoOrbis Inc., the exclusive distributor of the AVL system in the Caribbean, explained that his company had been gathering information on the various routes serviced by the Transport Board in order to fully integrate the system.

“We have collected the majority of the information to date and very soon we should have all,” he said.  “This will aid the Board tremendously in managing its fleet as it gives full visibility to the bus service,” Batstone said.