DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE CAMPUS BOOKING TAXI SYSTEM

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Transport demand in most Nigerian cities has increased significantly due to increase in population as a result of both natural increase and migration from rural areas and smaller towns. Fast growth of Nigerian’s population like other developing countries has triggered a greater need for organized public transport system. According to [1], Automation of Bus transport has been gaining more importance because they provide accurate information of buses like reservation, fare charges, route information and bus information from anywhere and anytime. Bus automation covers all aspects of Bus and Taxi transportation and is made up of six modules based on the functionalities of the system namely, Information System Module (ISM), Reservation System Module (RSM), Administrative Management System Module (AMSM), Fleet Management System Module (FMSM), Warehouse Module (WM) and Financial Module (FM).

These modules have been designed to build up an integrated system to cover various aspects of Online Campus Taxi Booking System. They provide information about the Bus enquiries, Buses schedules, Buses fares, Buses ticket reservation, Buses time table enquiry. Based on the study by [1], the Information Management System module is expected to provide detailed information about the Bus transport system namely vehicle registration, route, reservation, cancellation, fares etc. The Taxi/Bus information system that is developed will provided commuters’ access to information, which would allow them choose the optimal route and at the same time effectively manage time.

Also,[2]in his work developed an Intelligent Campus Bus Identification, Monitoring and Management System using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and sensing technologies. A theoretical framework and interface algorithm utilizing RFID and communication technologies, i.e. Global Positioning System (GPS), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Geographic Information System (GIS), were developed for a prototype. The interface algorithm in the control center is able to analyze the location of the bus, information about the driver and the status of the bus, and whether it follows the schedule.

The University of Agriculture Makurdi (UniAgric)is a densely populated institution with a large landmark with lecture halls and other academic and administrative structures widely dispersed. The institution is made up of the North and South core because of the distance apart. This makes movement within the campus to be tedious and cumbersome. Students and lecturers often resolve to commercial transportation within and outside the institution. This makes the transport business in the institution although lucrative but highly unorganized. With so many taxi/Bus to manage and various routes to connect, the task of managing the transportation system of the institution becomes extremely important. The System that is developed is an integrated electronic management system that will help in minimizing the errors that are mostly caused by human mistake. The system is developed as a solution for the transfer of operations from the current manual practices to a more systematic and computerized method. The system is focused on taxi/bus Management Module which will comprise taxi/bus registration and taxi/bus routes allocation.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Currently, the process of booking taxi tickets in University of Markudi is a stressful one. There is a central place students go to buy tickets or board a bus. A staff is paid to stay at the counter and sell tickets to prospective travelers. Students have to go to the counter to buy bus ticket or ask for bus schedule.

Students waste money going to and fro just to make enquiries about routes, price and availability of seats. During peak traveling periods, customers queue up long time to get the bus ticket. Also customers who book a bus for the future must pay cash during reservation. On event of journey cancellation, getting back your deposited becomes a problem.

To curb the above problems, online portal for buying bus ticket system has been developed for the institution. Customer can buy the bus ticket over the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the bus ticket can't be lost, stolen or left behind. In addition, the online system lets the customers check the availability of the bus ticket before they buy bus ticket.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this study is to design and implement an online campus taxi booking system for an institution. To achieve the stated aim, the following specific objectives were laid out:

· Provide a web-based bus ticket buying functions. Customer can buy bus ticket through the online system and no need to queue up to buy bus ticket at the counter.

· Enable customer to check the availability of the bus ticket online. Customer   can check the time departure and arrival for every Transnational’s bus through the system.

· To ease the bus ticket payment by online. Customer has to pay the bus ticket through bank transfers

· To reduce the number of staff at the point of sale. The number of staff at the   counter can be reduced after the online buying bus ticket system launch.

1.4 Justification of the Study

As mentioned in the previous section, the online system is just getting its roots in the country’s transport system. It is very important to the institution, student and Bus Company. It is important to institution because students can check availability of the bus ticket, buy bus ticket, cancel bus ticket and pay the bus ticket online. E-ticket is different with traditional paper ticket because e-ticket is safer, faster, reliable and cheaper. Besides that, this concept can be used by others bus company so that their customers will be satisfied. The profit for the bus company will be increased because the online system will attract more customers and no need to hire many staffs at the counter to sell bus ticket because ticket can be sold efficiency online. Furthermore, the owner can schedule bus routes based on the margin returns. This is done through bus performance comparison. The factors of comparison in this module include but not limited to: the route, operational costs in a particular route and the number of breakdowns per bus.

1.5 Scope of the Project

The system is built using web-based technologies and going to be accessed using any browser through any internet enabled device. The users will gain access to the available buses per certain route and available seats by logging in through the customer’s portal. The system has route verification, ticket booking and ticket status, company information.

The staff will access the system by logging in via the staff portal where they can compare bus performance and monitor other related business performance issues. Buses can be added and edited, routes can be updated. Payments can also be confirmed by the admin.

1.6 Limitation of the Project

The following limitations mitigated against the successful design of the online campus taxi booking system

· User acceptance: some members of the staff may not be of the opinion that the counter system be made online for the fear that this may lead to loss of job.

· Computer literacy level: the intended customers may not possess the relevant ICT skills. To benefit from the proposed system. This may cause the company to some costs by offering to train their customers.

· Limited system testing: improper unit and system testing may pose some usability issues such as delays in some modules.

· Incurred data cost: The system is online, to access it, users must have data subscription. This leads to signification expenses.

1.7 Organization of the Study

This study is developed under five chapters. The first chapter introduces the research topic, stating the background of the intended project, statement of the problems, project objectives, its significance to the society and overall scope. The second chapter reviews related literature on taxi booking systems. It analyses previous research works, their limitations and need for the development of better system. The third chapter discusses the methodology used for the project development, the limitations of the currently used system and reasons the intended system should be chosen over the current system. It also showcases the design processes of the new system. Chapter four showcases the actual running of the developed system. Here proper tests are done to check the strength of the developed system. The developed system is analyzed to determine its conformation with the stated objectives.  Chapter five gives the summary of the project, gives the conclusion and recommends approaches for better system.

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