Relax - M'sia to track buses with GPS centre

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M'sia to track buses with GPS centre

The New Paper | Tue, Aug 11 2009

Other plans to prevent accidents include ban on night trips.

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bus

gps

[top photo - WRECK: Malaysia hopes to prevent fatal accidents such as this one near Taiping in 2007.]

FIRST, they ruled that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is mandatory in all express buses.

Now, Malaysia's transport ministry has plans to set up a national centre to track these GPS-fitted express buses via satellite.

All these in an effort to deter reckless driving and speeding - the cause of most express bus accidents along national highways.

According to New Straits Times (NST), the soon-to-be-established hub will operate like an air traffic control centre and track buses fitted with GPS devices 24 hours a day.

Details are being worked out.

Said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat: 'We are trying to set it up as soon as possible.'

A new regulation that came into force last year requires GPS devices to be installed in new express buses.

Several bus companies have installed the devices in old buses as well.

Said Mr Ong: 'The GPS system is a necessity. We are looking at making it compulsory for bus companies to install them in all their buses.'

There was a flurry of proposals to reduce accidents by the authorities after two horrific express bus crashes: the Bukit Gantang crash which claimed 22 lives in 2007 and the Tangkak crash that claimed 10 lives last year.

In 2007, there were 75 deaths from bus accidents. This was reduced to 48 deaths in 2008.

Among some of the proposals are the GPS system, banning night journeys and fitting seat belts for passengers.

To date, only the GPS proposal is being implemented in stages, said NST.

Despite this, some drawbacks will have to be addressed first.

For example, while a company may take disciplinary action against an errant driver, it is unlikely it will report him to the authorities.

The companies will also have to hire extra staff to man the tracking centre and these staff, procedures or action taken against drivers may not satisfy official requirements.

Said Mr Ong: 'Having GPS devices installed in buses is meaningless if not monitored closely.

'Right now, it is up to the bus company (to take action).'

Establishing a national monitoring centre will solve this problem.

Mr Ong said a mechanical speed limiter might also be used to cap the speed of buses.

He said: 'I'm in favour of using both the GPS system and a mechanical speed limiter.'

Limit on driving hours

The ministry is also considering other measures to reduce accidents, such as limiting the number of hours a bus driver can drive.

Added Mr Ong: 'If they must rush for trips, then it is unhealthy.

'Then there is also the issue of quality of sleep. We are now working with our universities on sleep tests for the drivers to gauge the quality of sleep and how it affects their driving.'

On the ruling for two drivers for each bus, he said: 'This also became a problem. More often than not, they ended up chit-chatting.

'At the end of the day, both drivers ended up exhausted.'

Konsortium Bas Express has already implemented GPS trackers in all its fleet of 200 buses.

Since then, its director, Mr SK Lau, said that the company has seen a big reduction in speed among its drivers. The company has also offered a financial incentive to encourage drivers to keep to the speed limit.

Said Mr Lau: 'If we fined them for speeding before, now we provide an incentive of RM10 for each journey completed without speeding.'

He noted that with the GPS system, the company can also keep tabs on whether the buses follow the determined route.

This article was first published in The New Paper.