Intelligent Agent Based RFID System for on Demand Bus Scheduling and Ticketing

Abstract

The public transportation system needs some change for satisfying the commuting needs of the general public. These systems are operated by state run authorities or by private parties. The commuters face challenges as far as accessing the public transportation facility as needed. This is mostly attributed to the static scheduling of bus trips, within some pattern, regardless of fluctuations in commuters demand. This is very common in many countries and Jamaica is not exception in this respect. There has been quite an amount of research work carried out in using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in public transportation system towards tracking of passengers while they board and exit the bus. Research has also been carried out on tracking passengers possessing RFID enabled Smart card and store in central locations for future viewing if need be, which a privacy concern is really. Also research has been carried out in using RFID technology towards tracking of buses by deploying RFID sensors at traffic stop lights, intersections, etc., for updating bus arrival time which user can view in his cell phone. In addition research is being conducted in using mobile agents with RFID technology towards passenger demand and carrying capacity. It is therefore clear from literature available on the subject that there has been no work reported so far in dynamic scheduling of buses based on passenger demand by means of RFID usage. So our proposed research work would be on dynamic scheduling of buses from the point of view of passenger tracking pattern, which would be noted and included in planning and scheduling by means of intelligent agents.