Automatic vehicle location or AVL is a means for determining the geographic location of a moving person, object, or vehicle and sending this information to an application where it can be used. It is a powerful tool for managing fleets of vehicles, from service vehicles, emergency vehicles, and construction equipment, to public transport vehicles (buses and trains). It also is used to track mobile remote assets, such as construction equipment, trailers, and portable power generators. Increasingly, it is being used to more effectively manage a large staff, track probationers and sex offenders, and support dispatch operations.
There are a number of types of AVL solutions, from dispatch solutions to fleet management solutions. The business requirements for any AVL drive different types of applications. For this pilot, a live view of vehicles was selected, as opposed to a dispatch view where the status of all vehicles, including in-vehicle routing, was necessary, or a fleet management where the live view was not necessary.
The County worked with Manley Solutions as its hardware integrator and installer, and Latitude Geographics’ Fleet Tracker as the AVL web-based application to view vehicle locations.
Website
The AVL site showing vehicle locations is password protected. Only authorized users for each department can access (click here to enter).
The county’s AVL pilot tracks the locations of a few vehicles from 9 County departments, in order to provide familiarity with this technology and drive development and investment in this technology.
These departments are:
- Probation
- Mental Health
- Registrar/Recorder
- Public Health
- Children & Family Services
- Community Development Commission
- Library
- Beaches and Harbors
- Animal Care & Control