GPS-Ticket: Automated Public-Transport Fare Collection System With Cellular Based Remote Transport Scheduling Facility
GPS-Ticket: Automated Public-Transport Fare Collection System With Cellular Based Remote Transport Scheduling Facility
GPS-Ticket: Automated Public-Transport Fare Collection System With Cellular Based Remote Transport Scheduling Facility
Public Transport Problem 1: Fare collection rules of public transport system in India is highly non standard and truly unfair to the traveler and involves huge manual errors. The reason, the fare collection system charges a passenger based on some predefined distance intervals and not on the true distance traveled. For example, in an average city bus a passenger traveling for the first 3 km will be charged say 5 Rs and the next 3 km will add an additional 3 Rs (5+3=8) and so on. The major drawbacks in this are explained here. This is unfair from the passenger point of view because a person who travels just 1 km will be charged the same amount as a person who travels 3 km. A person traveling 4 km will be charged 3 Rs more than a person traveling 3 km. A person traveling 10 km on two transits is charged higher than a person travels the same 10 km on a single transit. The system is highly non standard across the country since each state has its own rules for fixing the travel fare. The fare collection process is still done by manual labors and hence got all kinds of human mistakes.
Public Transport Problem 2: One of the perennial problems faced by the public is to know the current location of the public bus and the exact arrival timing of it at each bus stop. This is faced by people both in rural as well as urban areas which results in unwanted loss of time simply by waiting at the bus stop. It can be questioned whether our transport authority itself has got any knowledge regarding this. So there is no coordination between all of these domains namely, public bus, people and transport authority. Abstract: Our project aim is to design a system that will automate the public transport fare collection process using GPS and contactless smartcard technologies as well as provide a GSM facility to know the present location of the public vehicle and the arrival time at a particular bus stop. The system keeps track of each passenger and charges them accurately based on the total distance traveled by the passenger. Apart from this, the passenger will be able to know the current balance in his smartcard account and can recharge it when needed. Description: The public bus unit has a GPS receiver to find the distance traveled by the passenger during their journey. This unit controls the public bus door gates intelligently using dual Servo Motor, one for entry side and the other for exit side. The passenger entry and exit information is known through this gate control coupled with the smartcard ID. The device communicates with the smartcard using IEEE 802.15.4, a 2.4GHz wireless protocol during the identification and payment process. Each smartcard is equipped with EEPROM permanent memory, a microprocessor and a wireless transceiver. The payment process automatically begins when the smartcard comes near the public bus unit within a range of around 10cm. The public bus unit can also function as a recharge machine for the smartcard. To achieve this smartcard must be inserted into its slot and the user should enter an authentication password and the amount to be recharged using the integrated keypad and the card will get recharged with the amount entered. This is a manual process and should be done by a human operator. A Graphics LCD and a keypad assist this process. The public bus unit also has a GSM modem for cellular connectivity and the user can query it via a simple SMS that has the desired bus stop name coded in it. The bus unit will then send the user an SMS that has the information about the present location of it in terms of the GPS coordinates / location name and the probable arrival time to the bus stop the user mentioned in his SMS. The device could also be used to track the passenger flow in different locations at different times. This data could be used to optimize the public bus number and frequency of visits. The result can be viewed on the user interface display. The device is built around a high performance, low power 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller from NxP Semiconductors. Software Tools Used:
Software Libraries Used: Graphics Library NMEA 0183 packet decoder via UART protocol GSM Driver Software via UART protocol IEEE 802.15.4 protocol stack via SPI protocol Cortex-M3 Peripheral Device Driver Library CMSIS from ARM
Project Advantages:
Our system will eliminate the non standard fare collection rules that are prevailing in our country. This will remove the need human labors to collect fare and hence removes the human mistakes associated with this. Integrate Remote location announcement system via SMS will make passenger time very efficient and avoid needless waits and anxiety. The system can also be used by the traffic authorities to control and manage their transportation. The public bus device and smartcard communicates wirelessly making the fare collection process a rapid one in crowded city buses. Secured data transmission based on IEEE 802.15.4 prevents the possibility of fraud that could be possible with other technologies like RFID etc.., More functionality can be integrated such as GPS based location announcement etc.., The device could also be used to track the passenger flow in different locations at different times. This data could be used to optimize the public bus number and frequency of visits.