The increasing volume of traffic in urban areas has resulted in steady growth of the mean driving time on fixed routes. Longer driving times lead to significantly higher transportation costs, particularly for vehicle fleets, where efficiency in the distribution of their transport tasks is important in staying competitive in the market. For bus fleets, the optimal control and command of the vehicles is, as well as the economic requirements, a basic function of their general mission. The Global Positioning System (GPS) allows reliable and accurate positioning of public transport vehicles except within the physical limitations imposed by built-up city ‘urban canyons’. With a view to the next generation of satellite positioning systems for public transport fleet management, this paper highlights the limitations imposed on current GPS systems operating in the urban canyon. The capabilities of a future positioning system operating in this type of environment are discussed. It is suggested that such a system could comprise receivers capable of integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian equivalent, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and relatively cheap dead-reckoning sensors.

Because of increasing traffic in urban areas, public transport has to become more attractive and efficient by introducing computer-aided dynamic passenger information and on-line vehicle location. The tram location pilot system described makes vehicle scheduling and control systems independent of expensive location infrastructure (e.g. beacons). It uses on-board autonomous DGPS positioning with dead reckoning and a radio link to the control centre. The evaluation of the measured vehicle positions clearly demonstrates that operational accuracy requirements for public transport applications are met. The whole Tramway Location System (TLS) is structured into the 3 segments: on-board equipment, components of the operation centre and roadside equipment. The trial set-up for dynamic real-time measurements of the positioning accuracy is described, and the results of the evaluation of more than 7300 position fixes at 15 geodetically measured reference points along the tramway are presented. The conclusions indicate that, during runs in city environments, DGPS combined with dead reckoning achieves vehicle positioning precise enough to enable a reliable, improved and up-to-date passenger information service at the stops.