Providing flexibility in the Vehicle Route Optimization for the AVL-based Transport Monitoring System

Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) based Transport Monitoring System (TMS) has generated
some interest within the research community since decades ago. The emergence of enabling technologies such
as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and advanced cellular communication systems has opened up new
opportunity to this area of research. Vehicle location is now determined in real time and data can be
transferred instantaneously to either centralized or decentralized processors. Implementation of a full fledge
TMS requires components such as communication module, Geographical Information System (GIS),
databases and monitoring application to be incorporated into the system architecture. Once all the elements are
gathered, the project will inevitably become very complex and difficult to deploy efficiently and in a timely
manner. In this paper, we propose a new approach for the design and implementation of a TMS. The approach
that we are proposing relies on the strength and modular nature of a language-based platform. The platform
will not only make the project more manageable but will also enhance it by offering extended collaborative
features. It will also allow modular experimentation of various optimization algorithms in different Vehicle
Routing Problem (VRP) model to be designed and tested for better system performance. With the proposed
framework, AVL based TMS can be built economically and efficiently. Analysis and comparison among
current AVL based systems are also performed in order to investigate the feasibility of the project.