GIS @ Development Magazine - The Asian GIS Monthly , November, 2004 Going Beyond Automatic Vehicle Location Yichun Xie Interim Department Head of geography and geology, Eastern Michigan University Director of IGRE, Eastern Michigan University Dale Goby Executive Director, Office of Student Transportation for Detroit Public Schools Randall Raymond GIS Specialist, Office of Student Transportation for Detroit Public Schools Richard Pizzi President, Electrocomm-Michigan Inc. Automatic vehicle location (AVL) is a necessity for cost effective fleet management but, by itself, will not guarantee achieving the goal. The Integrated Student Transportation Management System (ISTMS) developed at Detroit Public Schools (DPS) is illustrated in this paper as a case study of integrating GIS and AVL in a school bus fleet management application. Automatic vehicle location (AVL) is achieved through use of a device that uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to enable a fleet to track remotely the locations of its vehicles. The main benefit of installing AVL is to improve the accountability of field personnel and the efficiency of fleet dispatching procedure. In school transportation operations, school dispatchers can get a real-time snapshot of a bus's location or a driver's adherence to a scheduled route, and provide parents with an estimated time of arrival. School public safety officers and maintenance operations can use AVL technology to improve response times by being able to dispatch the closest vehicles for emergencies and determine work site activities. Efficient Resource Utilization The ultimate and long-term benefit of AVL is cost savings. As Orkin Inc reports, with a fleet of 5,500 trucks logging 150 million miles each year, the bottom line for better fleet management is the significant cost saving and improved customer service (Aftermarket Business, September 2004, Page 38). Not only is Orkin, Inc. able to track the fleet of vehicles but also provide valuable customer service information. In addition to these benefits, Orkin, Inc. also found worker compensation claims have dropped 32 percent, saving more than US$1 million per year; physical damage claims to vehicles dropped 21 percent, saving US$0.5 million per year; auto liability claims plunged 35 percent, saving more than US$2 million per year. This entire cost savings took place since the installation of an AVL system in 2001. In addition, there is more room for savings, i.e., driving mileage reduction and subsequent cost savings of fuel, and vehicle maintenance and repair, and vehicle replacement. The opportunities for cost savings from the perspective of business rules are vast. These opportunities are also available to money strapped school districts. ......

yxie@emich.edu