Mobile Knowledge, a fleet management provider, together with U-Blox, a highly accurate GPS provider, have introduced a unique “Passenger Information Monitor” & Point-of-Sale system being used by New York City’s Yellow Taxi fleet.  Together with dead-on GPS accuracy, real-time fleet-monitoring, and a slew of entertainment options for passengers, the new system aims to make life easier for both the taxi companies and passengers alike.

The NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission approved the system, along with two other similar-functioning systems, and has mandated that all 13,000+ Yellow Cabs operating under its jurisdiction be equipped by August 31st of this year, according to U-Blox.  Quite the initial contract if you ask me, it doesn’t get much better than NYC’s fleet to showcase the new technology. 

The system uses a 10.4-inch touch screen display that shows the vehicle’s position overlaid on a map in real-time, allowing passengers in the back seat to track their progress through the city. The system is able to accurately and reliably track a vehicle through New York’s busy streets thanks to U-Blox’s “dead reckoning technology.” Dead reckoning uses a variety of sensors in combination with GPS satellites to provide 100% road coverage, even in areas with no GPS signals such as streets with high-rise buildings, tunnels, parking lots and other covert environments where GPS signals are un-usable. 

In addition to the benefits for the driver and passenger, the system’s web-based fleet management software offers an array of built-in functions that enable easy, efficient management of drivers and vehicles. A real-time display of the status and whereabouts of taxis provides fleet managers with a clear and accurate picture of their taxi business and automates the previously tedious task of collecting and submitting driver’s log-sheets to the city authority.  Is it just me, or shouldn’t a fleet as large as New York’s already have such a system in place?  It’s not like GPS fleet-monitoring is a brand new technology.

Similar “infotainment” systems I’ve come across in taxicabs are used more for advertising space than anything else.  People riding in Taxis are usually not interested in knowing exactly where they are and how they’re getting there.  Nor, do they want to see one touristy advertisement after another along the way.  I think it’s a cool idea, if the entertainment-value of the system is utilized for something worthwhile, but it looks to me that it benefits the taxi companies and their bottom-lines more than their passengers. 

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm under Technology.

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