Emerging technologies in areas such as telecommunications are already providing new and fertile ground for Operations Research applications. An example, relevant to our work at OPCOM, is the affordability of real-time vehicle-tracking systems, made possible by satellite global positioning. This has many obvious applications in the transportation industry, such as dynamic, real-time routing.
In the area of public transport, the positioning information gathered can be augmented by other real-time data from passenger count systems, condition monitoring devices and electronic ticketing. This can be used to facilitate fleet management, and for providing enhanced passenger information. The challenge for operations research is to assist in ensuring that the new information is used effectively. For example, vehicle-tracking information can be used to refine travel times models; so that the input-data for optimisation of bus and crew schedules is more accurate.
Incidents, such as bus breakdowns, can be dealt with more effectively if up to the minute information on the fleet is available, and if the effect of any contingency plan can be properly evaluated.
New kinds of services may be possible, such as `demand-driven scheduling' of mini-buses based on locations of passengers calling-in, the location and status of buses, and the use of vehicle-routing. Passenger information--provided through various channels such as information kiosks, the internet and electronic signs at bus stops--will contain actual (rather than scheduled) times, for those services already on the road.