GIS Files: Expert GIS concepts

6.6: Mobile GIS (5)

Telematics

Telematics is the application of location sensing, digital information and wireless communication to solve certain types of problems for vehicular applications. Issues such as safety, mobility or convenience can often be tackled in this way.

For example, consider a congestion management system for vehicles within a city. Each vehicle carries a GPS unit, determining the vehicle’s location, and a radio transmitter sending this information to a central base. The city centre could be designated as a chargeable area, so that drivers of vehicles entering the city centre automatically have a charge debited from their account, to encourage them to take an alternative route or mode of transport. Moreover, the information could be used to determine the locations within the city where there are the most cars, their speeds, and consequently the most frequent traffic jams. This information could then be used to ensure other drivers stay clear of the area.

Another application is the area of automatic vehicle navigation. Although still within the realms of research, the technology required for this is available today. Automatic vehicle navigation would allow vehicles to effectively drive themselves with the aid of sensors in both vehicles and on the road. Vehicles could be made to drive a predetermined route to their destinations without the need for a driver, guided only by a computer and a GPS receiver transmitting the vehicle’s location to a central server. The server would manage all the vehicles on the road, eliminating traffic jams and ensuring that all vehicles stay within speed limits and get to their destinations on time, safely and in complete comfort.

While this sounds futuristic, other telematics applications are already in use. Roadside assistance can be dispatched immediately a vehicle breaks down, with no need for the driver to explain where they are. Emergency services can be dispatched to the scene of an accident as soon as a vehicle’s airbag is released. Fleet management systems can display the locations of all vehicles in a fleet through the use of GPS, so that an operator can dispatch vehicles to locations quickly. In the same way, vehicles can be tracked if stolen with the vehicle’s location transmitted to the police or the owner’s mobile phone…and all with the help of positioning technology, mobile technology and GIS technology. This is telematics.

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