Abstract
This paper proposes development of an android app to improve the transportation services for bus rental companies that provides transport for University Of Malaya’s students. It intends to reduce the waiting time for bus students, thereby to stimulate sharing of updated information between the bus drivers and students. The application can run only on android devices. It would inform the students about the exact time of arrival and departure of buses on route. This proposed app would specifically be used by students and drivers of University Of Malaya. Any change in the scheduled movement of the buses would be updated in the software. Regular alerts would be sent in case of delays or cancellation of buses. Bus locations and routes are shown on dynamic maps using Google maps. The application is designed and tested where the users assured that the application gives the real time service and it is very helpful for them.
II- INTRODUCTION
As we all know, the mobile phone industry is one of the fastest and most dynamic business sectors today. The market sector and the ever-growing and demanding consumers always want to have more and they want it better than ever. Having a mobile phone for us makes lives easier. The invention of mobile phone has gone tremendous leaps in innovation and new applications. Advances in communications, upgrades in radio frequency and developments on the internet had given mobile phones more sophisticated but easy to use in applications.
Mobile phones also now are equipped with navigation systems such as GPS or what we call is Global Position Satellite that aids travelers, tourists, adventurers and navigators on getting the most accurate view on their present location. Not only that, it is also assist them in searching for the nearest establishment that they want to look for such as restaurants, hotels, malls, banks, police stations and other places of interests.
Nowadays the operation of a bus system in University Of Malaya was not that good as the movement of the busses were affected by unusual conditions as the day progresses such as unexpected delays which they are not able to adhere to predefined timetables. The increased waiting time and the uncertainty in bus arrival make the main public transport system unattractive for the passengers who are the students from University Of Malaya. Other than that, the real-time bus position and the time monitoring system uses GPS technology along with different application to fetch data and with the software that display the data online along with different busses on different route to the user also not functioning very well.
The main objective for this research are to improve the bust system by adding the necessary additional features into the application, like accurate bus timing, correct bus numbers and moreover adding a GPS tracker into it. Besides, we are also planning to improve the input in the form of selection of the source and destination and selection of the bus travelling the distance to display the entire details about the routes and also track the location of the respective bus and give the map for the same.
III- LITERATURE REVIEW
There are many studies that were formed about this topic, and the solutions were all similar in some ways, only there was multiple approaches. Here are some of the factors that are related to the project identified by other researchers:
– Everyday problems such as traffic congestion, unexpected delays, randomness in passenger demand, irregular vehicle dispatching times take place and as a result of which the schedule of the buses is affected: as all researchers agree on this point, and the implemented system should identify the type of passengers and problem that it is facing. [Mrs. K. P. Kamble, 2012] identifies the type of problem that a bus tracking system is facing as a local and not global issue that is constrained by a limited geographical space.
– Real-time Tracking to solve the waiting issue: Almost every research paper touch on the point that real time tracking system is the best solution to solve problems mentioned earlier, [Mrs. K. P. Kamble, 2012] mentions that early system that used trigger points, such as door open/ close, for sending tracking data were proven inefficient.
– Technology used to implement solution (GPS, GSM): As [Global Positioning System for Object Tracking, International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887) Volume 109 – No. 8, January 2015] confirms that there are multiple approaches of implementing a real-time solution, only that the most commonly and most efficient one is the use of GPS to GSM technologies, this approach is confirmed as a GIS service for using a geographical system.
– User application used to convey implement the solution: [Dhruv, P., Rahul, S., & Vikas, M. (2017)] suggest the use of a web application to convey the tracking information, as it is more efficient and reachable by users regardless to used phone. However, [Real Time College Bus Tracking Application for Android Smartphone,Real Time College Bus Tracking Application for Android Smartphone, Volume 6 Issue 2 Feb. 2017] argue that android system is becoming more popular and implementing and android system will satisfy the need of this system, as most users will have access to such devices.
– Safety applications and considerations: [Savitha, S.C., Natya, S., & Parinitha, J. (2014)] focuses on the safety concerns related to the problem and consider it as an important factor related to bus tracking and suggests implementing a no-phone while driving system embedded in the tracking system which forbids the driver from using his phone while driving. Also, it suggests building a special bumper to protect the tracking devices from getting damaged in accidents or overtime, which might give fallacious results to the user.
IV- METHOD
Materials needed to create the system:
1- A GPS, GSM connected board that can be installed on buses.
2- A database server that will have the entries updated to.
3- An android app with a reliable algorithm and UI.
1) The GPS, GSM tracking board:
UM buses have already a monitor board that shows the route that bus is currently on, our tracking board will build upon this, and it will be connected between the driver’s input switch and the monitor output, hence we will use a logical board programmed in Assembly language.
When the driver enters a route, this will activate a flag indicating tracking is on, which will send a GPS request every (t) second to the GPS Server using the GPS chip, which will respond with the latitude and longitude of the current bus location, then the latitude and longitude will be sent through GSM to the address of the app backend database server every (t) seconds. When the driver selects route other than a predefined set of routes, the tracker will turn off, which will notify the system that this bus is off.
2) The database and online backend server:
The database should be an online server that would serve as a backend for the tracking app. The GSM chip will send the required data to a specific address through GPRS, the required data would be the latitude and longitude of the bus, and the specific address is a pre-set web server that accesses the online database, we propose using Amazon Web Services for such task, which provides a static web-address to add entries into the web database.
3) The android app and the algorithm needed:
When mentioning the android app, we should discuss the user’s perspective. The user has two ways of accessing a bus:
1- Through a route:
When the user enters a route, the app calculates all buses riding this route, and shows a map (using Google Maps API) with the buses’ locations highlighted, then it takes the user’s current GPS location and sorts the buses according to each bus ETA using MPAC algorithm and tags each bus with a banner indicating which one is the closest to the user location. When the user selects a bus, it shows the bus plate number, model and estimated time of arrival.
2- Through a destination:
When the user enters a destination, the app calculates the nearest bus route through Euclidean search algorithm and calculates the number of routes needed to reach the destination, then provides an interface where the routes needed are listed, and beneath each tab there’s a screen initiating a route search with the location where the last route will be dropping the user, or which bus stop the user will pick up this route.
The app would calculate each bus's location through acquiring access to the AWS online database, and then checking the database for updates every (t) number of seconds, and with each update it identifies which buses are operating with the latitude and longitude of each bus, and using Google Maps API, it can position each bus in the right position, which enables it to do other calculations needed for the app to function.
V- DISCUSSION
The proposed solution to the bus delay is a real-time tracking system, the issues that we face are numerous, such as traffic, engine down, extreme weather or just normal personal delay. Old systems have mainly two problems, a not functioning tracking system due to the many variables in UM busses, e.g.: bus route, service time, change of schedule, change of buses, …, etc. The other problem is the bad tracking app, where it does not offer expected time of arrival, being unreliable, has a bad UI and it is not kept up-to-date.
Our approach to solve these issues is by having a GPS tracking system, that communicates with the app backend through the GSM network, with the ability to monitor routes changes automatically, and calculate the ETA for the user according to the user’s GPS location, while keeping the user updated with bus’s current situation and location.
First, the bus driver will choose a route, which will turn on the monitoring chip and signals the board connected to the GPS chip, then the GPS will retrieve the Latitude and Longitude Of the bus location, send the information through GSM to the bus tracking server and updates the entries. Finally, the app will update the results, and based on the previous data, it will calculate the ETA and the bus’s current situation.
This will solve most of the problems brought by older system and will help advance the bus system to solve our proposed issues, as the students will have reliable results that would help them manage their bus waiting time wisely.
VI- Conclusion
This proposal plans to deal with the issue with long waiting times students of the University of Malaya are currently having with the buses. It’s essentially important to improve the existing bus tracking application and the bus management system to improve transportation services.
For the application, GPS based system is used to meet the needs of the intended purpose. The central server would play significant part in keeping all the data which connects the students and the bus driver. Considering the potential of GPS system, this app without a doubt can improve the existing bus management system for students.
Essentially, this system is user friendly and accurate. The system will keep track of the numerous buses running in various routes across the campus with precise location. As well as providing an alert message in the app in case of any emergency occurs. Giving student the upper hand to range the time of departure from college to classes.