A Vehicle Tracking Device with Built-in Safety Features for Public Transportation Systems

Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) devices have become a fundamental part of fleet management in different transport modes. Besides determining the current geographical position, these devices incorporate additional functionalities to monitor vehicles, such as gas consumption, engine temperature, etc. However, critical security vulnerabilities in developing countries have been omitted by manufacturers, causing fleet transportation difficulties. This article presents an analysis of fleet transportation problems from the AVL operation and proposes a set of requirements to mitigate them. A prototype that meets these requirements is presented and tested.