Monday, December 1, 2003
Pocket PC Driven Taxi Dispatch
Posted by Andy Sjostrom in "SOFTWARE" @ 07:49 AM
Dispatching taxis, or cabs as some say, using GPS is increasingly popular among taxi companies. Instead of loud and disturbing yelling across radios, between switch board and taxis, the company can silently and efficiently dispatch the most appropriate taxi to a pick-up location. The latest development in this scenario involves a Pocket PC Phone Edition (Qtek 1010/XDA), TomTom 2 and a GPS antenna. The Swedish company "Digital Studion" just released Mobile TTDS which is deployed to 300 taxis in Stockholm. This means that standard Windows Mobile compatbile software and hardware are used instead of more expensive and less feature rich proprietary solutions.
"The system knows which zone the cabs are in and the cabs are given a queue number when they are available and are entering a new zone. One advantage compared to existing systems, is that when the driver is waiting for a booking, he doesn't need to be in the car. He just unplugs his Qtek from the car holder and takes it with him. The system remembers his last position and he can still receive bookings. Another obvious advantage is of course that it uses standard components, standard hardware (PocketPC), standard communication (GPRS) etc."
"The system knows which zone the cabs are in and the cabs are given a queue number when they are available and are entering a new zone. One advantage compared to existing systems, is that when the driver is waiting for a booking, he doesn't need to be in the car. He just unplugs his Qtek from the car holder and takes it with him. The system remembers his last position and he can still receive bookings. Another obvious advantage is of course that it uses standard components, standard hardware (PocketPC), standard communication (GPRS) etc."
