3,500 Egged buses to get GPS: The $4 million program will take eight months to complete.

Byline: Ran Rimon

Nov. 15--Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd. has begun installing GPS in 3,500 buses at an estimated cost of $4 million. Buses in Jerusalem and those serving rural routes and in outlying areas will be the first to get GPS. The program will take eight months to complete.

Other countries already employ GPS systems. In Germany, it is possible to monitor the precise location of buses on the Internet. Bus company Kavim Public Transportation International (2002) Ltd. has installed a similar system.

The GPS system can be used to plan and map bus movements in real-time, according to changing conditions in the field. The program is expected to greatly save fuel and travel time, thereby significantly reducing air pollution.

The GPS system will also make it possible to avoid road hazards, traffic jams or road accidents by rerouting buses, or increasing the number of buses on a route. Egged also hopes that the system will minimize the theft of buses.

In the third and final stage of the program, an electronic screen will be placed in bus stations, which will display the arrival times of the nearest buses to the station to people waiting.

Copyright (c) 2006, Globes, Tel Aviv, Israel

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