Tehran Taxi Organization (TTO) has introduced a project that incorporates radio frequency identification (RFID) network to better monitor the work of cabbies.
RFID technology which uses electromagnetic fields is globally employed to automatically identify, track, monitor and count ‘tags’ attached to objects.
TTO Chief Alireza Qannadan says, “Some 400 taxis have been tagged with radio frequency trackers,” the local news website Peivast reported.
The TTO uses receivers to track and monitor the tagged cabs. Qannadan added, “If the pilot phase of the project produces the desired results, 7,000 more taxis in the capital will soon be equipped with the tracking system.”
In addition to the first 400 devices more tags and antennas are being installed to expand the pilot, he said.
He earlier told Digiato news website that there are 79,000 vehicles in Tehran’s taxi fleet.
Work is underway to develop other monitoring systems to control and manage the taxi fleet in the capital.
"Video surveillance cameras, GPS and automatic vehicle location (AVL) fleet tracking systems are among technologies that will soon be used for the efficient functioning of taxis," he added.
RFID is a common facility used worldwide for various purposes, namely, retail, advertising, infrastructure management, passports, animal identification and more.
The system is used in many countries transportation network for paying mass transit fares on bus, trains, or subways and to collect tolls on highways.
In addition, some bike lockers are operated with RFID cards assigned to individual users. Plus, some car-sharing services use RFID cards for locking and unlocking cars. In Singapore, the system replaces paper parking tickets.
