The 700-plus radio taxis in Bangalore can now be tracked on a digital map, thanks to Global Positioning system. This will help save costs; keep tabs on drivers, and the speed too.
While the smart device is fitted into the taxis, the Radio Taxi Control Room manages the show. The device, developed by software firm Infodesk, allows cars to be tracked digitally. On a large city screen, we zoom into the location where the vehicle equipped with the GPS is in motion – an electronic blip on the screen indicates whether or not the car is moving.
A table on the corner of the screen indicates the speed: 10 km per hour. The next reading says 18 km per hour… the car picks up momentum. Such readings help keep tabs on speeding drivers. The Radio Taxi Association regularly receives complaints about speeding drivers, who test passengers’ patience.
Go slow! The control room barks at the driver, on the GPS.
The taxis travel great distances to ferry passengers. The drivers travel up to 15 km just to pick them up for a short haul of 5-6 km. Says a spokesman of the Radio Taxi Owners Association, “We often have to do dry runs to pick up passengers and bear the costs ourselves. This is done as a goodwill gesture.”
With the new system, the taxi nearest in the area could be alerted to be at the passenger’s service.
The blip moves again and gathers speed… 36.444 kmph… 47.337 km. Not even a tachometer can be this accurate. Says Pratap Hegde, creator of the software and Infodesk chief, “we have taken care to avoid going over the buildings. We use a digital map, which is quite exact. Yet, care has to be taken to avoid these vehicles from riding over buildings. It swerves off the road on the screen, not off it.”
Infodesk has developed software for a multinational company to keep track of its worldwide oxygen supply. It helps the company check oxygen levels in Shanghai, China the way it monitors these levels in Narayana Hrudalaya, Bangalore.
Oxygen tankers moving around the world can be monitored from the control room and help rushed in case of any mishap. The device allows for accuracy up to five meters
