This past week, the Student Senate’s shuttle tracking project went live. The Java-based web-application uses GPS technology to track the position, speed, and direction of shuttles as they move on their route around campus. The pilot system was developed as part of an independent study by Lam Tran ’07 and Jonathan Bidwell ’07 and supported by Facilities, Finance, and Advancement Committee Co-Chair August Fietkau ’08.
By the end of this week, all of the Institute’s seven shuttles will be equipped with the tracking units, even though at most five or six are on the route at any one time. The units collect data from GPS satellites to triangulate their position and then send that data to a central iTrak database. The shuttle tracking system polls that data every 15 seconds and pushes those updates to users.
The project was started last spring after input from many students regarding the system’s reliability and timeliness. “The shuttles were first intended for commuter students who would park near the field house, but their real benefit has been to students in BARH, RHAPS, and Stackwyck,” Fietkau said. “Missing a shuttle can be inconvenient,” he said. “You miss a shuttle; you miss a class.” Fietkau expects the project to reduce the time students have to wait for a shuttle and help students to make their classes on time.
The live pilot officially launches this Thursday and can be seen online at http://shuttles.rpi.edu/ or that day in the Student Government Suite.
