Satellite-based bus tracking system to start end of June

off_service SG

"TRIAL runs on 200 buses fitted with a satellite-based bus tracking system that is supposed to eliminate overcharging when bus drivers forget to update fare stages, could start as early as the end of the month.

The success of the tests, expected to take a month, will determine when the automatic updating of fare stages using the global positioning system will be rolled out on all buses, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday.

Bus fares here are calculated according to the number of fare stages travelled.

Bus drivers have had to manually update the fare stages since commuters began using the contactless ez-link card in April last year.

Sometimes they forget, or do it wrongly, resulting in complaints from some passengers about being overcharged.

Setting up and testing the new system began last November.

It was installed in all the 4,000 buses here between then and this April.

So far, contractor ERG Transit Systems, which provided the ez-link system, has conducted the initial tests and corrected software bugs.

Last Friday, it began trying out the programs on two buses. And if the software passes the test, trial runs to check the system's reliability could start by the end of the month, the LTA spokesman said.

The LTA said that the system is being paid for out of the $300 million earmarked for the ez-link system, but did not say how much it cost.

Meanwhile, the ez-link card is set to have more commercial uses beyond paying for public transport.

Information technology service provider Chowiz, which is behind a range of ez-link-related services in schools and food-court chain Kopitiam, is now talking to fast-food and other food and beverage outlets about using the card.

Currently, people can use the cards at Hotel Phoenix's The Food Shop and the Kopitiam outlet at Jurong Point mall, as well as pay for fines on overdue books at the Sembawang Community Library and [email protected], and make purchases at some school canteens.

Tourists can also use it to get discounts at tourist attractions and restaurants.

Hotel Phoenix general manager Noel Hawkes said 20 to 30 out of 300 customers a day, including locals, pay for doughnuts, curry puffs and other savoury food at its cake shop with the card.

The hotel also has special deals for card-carriers. It now offers a latte and curry puff for $1.80 to those who pay with the card. The combination would otherwise cost $4.80.

Its guests can also use their room card keys, which are ez-link enabled, to travel on the bus and train.

Mr Hawkes said the hotel will continue to use the ez-link technology at its cake shop and rooms, but has no plans to extend it to its other restaurants as customers prefer to pay for more expensive items with credit cards.

Kopitiam's Jurong Point outlet, which has been accepting the card at only its drinks stall for about half a year, extended its use to its dessert and fruit sections two months ago.

About 4 per cent of the drinks and between 1 and 2 per cent of the desserts and fruits are bought using the card.

The food-court chain is looking for ways to increase the card's usage, said its corporate communications manager, Ms Low Wye Yee.

It has already earmarked some outlets in the downtown area and new towns such as Sengkang to introduce ez-link technology, but this will depend on the success of the Jurong Point outlet, she said.

Chowiz business development manager Emily Lim said that a 'big food and beverage outlet' is considering the system as means to track its employees' attendance and their temperature records.

Organisations such as the LTA, TransitLink and SMRT already use the card to control employees' access into their premises."

"Ez-link card made easier to use
EXPECT less fuss when paying for a concession pass and topping up the ez-link card:

Students and full-time national servicemen can now buy their monthly concession TransitLink passes at its 77 add-value machines islandwide. The machines are in MRT stations, bus interchanges and bus stops.

Before, the passes could be bought only at ticket offices and had to be encoded manually on an ez-link card.

Users must have an ATM card that allows them to use Nets to pay for the passes.

Those who use the ez-link card will soon be able to link it to their credit card.

The scheme is similar to the current Giro one, where the ez-link card is topped up automatically when its value drops below a certain pre-set level.

A six-month trial is scheduled to start between next month and September.

DRIVER DEPENDENT: Bus drivers have been manually updating the fare stages buf if they forget to do it or make a mistake, commuters can be overcharged.

AUTOMATED SYSTEM: The new set-up - a box behind the driver's seat relies on satellites to keep track of the bus' position."

Article extracted from Straits Time Interactive, 17 June 2003, Article "Bus fares set to go right on track "

Click here to read the article.

Devil1976 SG

Would it CORK UP again?? Shocked Question

the Bear SG

who gives a flying about the damned satellite system?

teach the drivers some discipline first!

xin1jun2 SG

yes i tthink refers to the VLS that my bus driver uncle was showing me that day
Vehicle location system.

apparently that is the GPS thingy

ZYX

the Bear SG

got a question... where else can the bus be?

maybe they should have spent the money on upgrading their buses? or cutting fares instead of gold-plated machines which don't do much...

SBS9818A SG

Yes, the thing is GPS-based, if not how is it to change fare stages accordingly?

TIB1186Z SG

These are apparently to avoid the volley of complains that PTC and the bus companies receive daily due to wrong updating of stages. In addition, it would benefit the bus captains as they do not have to worry constantly about updating the stages, and they can hence focus more on driving more smoothly and safely, or providing better service

TIB1186Z SG

It is easy as a bystander to ask the bus companies to teach the drivers some discipline first.

However, do remember that bus drivers are human, not robots and hence do make errors. In case you think that being a bus driver is a cushy occupation, think again. Bus drivers work 8 to 12 hour days rushing timetables, not withstanding the fact that they have to spend additional time at the depot.

This is not meant to be a personal attack, but what I think that you had a misunderstanding

the Bear SG

there's no misunderstanding when the driver goes over to the machine at the interchange, swipes his card, wanders over to the bus, pulls out a cigarette, smokes it, drinks his coffee, gathers all his stuff, goes into the bus, turns on everything then opens the door for everyone to come on...

i checked.. he was on-time swiping his card... physically, the bus left the interchange about 7 minutes late...

they're human.. which begs this question: how can management have them work 12 hour shifts? i know it is not an easy job... i've driven a truck and it's not easy.. a bus is worse.. so how can management do something like this to their drivers?

worse, management throws money away by spending it on useless things like this GPS system... showing that they do not trust their drivers, fares aside... this system will allow them to track where the bus is...

in the end, what's the point of gold-plated systems when they don't add much value for the costs?

this is like the accursed NEL being driverless... they could have hired a bunch of drivers (provides employment too!) for the trains and it would be cheaper and safer.. but they're going to go with a bug-filled computer system which in the end will cost them a hell of a lot more...

somewhere along the line, they forgot that they are performing the charade that they are a public service and started to behave like the cartel they are...

SBS9818A SG

Yes, sometimes you must see things from their point of view, there are good and bad drivers, however the former is more prevalent.

TIB1186Z SG

MAy I ask you, how on earth do you know the bus left the interchange 7 minutes late? Don't tell me you look at that inaccurate EDS....

If you have a chance, have a good look at that white laminated card that drivers have as their timetable. Besides listing the way points, you will notice that there are 2 rows at the end, which shows the non-peak and peak arrival times. If your observation is made during the peak hours, then the bus driver in question is on time. Also, the timetables are subject to change due to some reasons, such as the previous bus leaving the interchange late etc., especially for trunk services. The driver may be on time swiping his card to begin his shift, not before the start of the trip. The EZ-link system actually stores those info instead of the interchange, which is sometimes you hear the long beep as the bus nears the interchange and prints out a receipt from the validator.

It is common place to see drivers on 12-hour shifts, they are rather short on manpower. Not convinced? Take for example service 806, a feeder in Yishun. The same bus driver greets me as I board it at 0612 and when I board the same bus at 2030, the same bus driver is still servicing the route. Bus drivers also have to fill in for anybody who is late for their shift for the time being, as the bus companies cannot afford to let one bus sitting there just because the driver is late, especially if the freq. is quite long. It is very hard work, but bus drivers still have to make a living.

However, I somehow agree with you that the NEL should be manned, then it would open few months before this Friday. However, the main reason for LRT,NEL etc. to be driveless is one of prestige and advancement. Singapore needs this somehow, so that other countries would look up to us in terms of transport technology. Ever wondered why many major tech firms set up their business in US rather than in Africa, although start-up and maintainance cost is much higher? It is true that Singapore is being kiasu, but it may attract investors and act as consultancies in this area in the future if the NEL proves successful. It is true that employment is lost in the process, esp. in this times of recession, but in that case, shouldn't Singapore only have primary and low-tech secondary industries like textile factories, and not have so many banks, which is a tietiary industry since the former provides plenty of employment?

Isn't it because of raising our standard of living in the end?!

the Bear SG

EDS?

you mean the tv screen that tells you when the bus is leaving?

if it says, say,

197 SBS1457B 17:47

then it becomes

197 SBS1288C 18:02

and SBS1457B is still in front of you at 17:55 just opening their doors for the pax.. it's on time?

nevermind...

i know drivers need to make a living... we all work for a living..

however, the main bone of contention is this: what the hell are these useless devices being put in buses for?

they drive up costs, and are sometimes pointless... why is it not re-directed at improving the buses, training, maybe hiring a few more drivers?

no one wants to do the dirty, necessary work?
or are the senior management idiots padding their CVs?

SBS9818A SG

Yes, that TV screen, however it's NOT called EDS, EDS is reserved for the electronic display system on TIBS and certain SBST buses. The TV screen at interchanges is called the "Next Bus Boarding Display", NBBD for short.

SBST drivers have it easier, they change shifts in the afternoon at about 2-4pm, not so tough as the TIBS drivers.

TIB1186Z SG

Perhaps so. By the way, my bus rego recognition is quite lousy, but when did 197 have SBS 1288 and SBS 1457, since SBS decided to put up the useless TV ? I dun think it is the MkIV, is it?

SBS9818A SG

Fake rego lahz!

TIB1186Z SG

So? It pays to be accurate, and giving fake regos, especially if in GP or Social Studies, would discredit your entire argument, and you would be damn lucky to just even pass

the Bear SG

good God above! you are anal..

read the thing!

"what if you go to a place, say, tanglin mall"

that makes the statement a hypothetical question! before you sprout BS about "fake regos" and "social studies", i suggest you go learn about the way to use English properly!

sheesh!

off_service SG

The new GPS system for ez-link system is ready for operation.

the Bear SG

so, what does the GPS do?

Airbus330Captain SG

The GPS system is used to track the location of the bus , that is very useful especially if anything happens to the bus , SBST can sends a replacement bus immediately without delay . I remembered the 9120 driver told me that he waited more then 1 hr for the tow truck to come .