Computers move taxis forward

From the Ayr Advocate, Friday 24 June 2011 (Page 5), by Kate Morrissy

BURDEKIN Taxis now have state-of-the-art in-car computers that rival any major city's taxis in Australia and the world.

After two months of testing and training, the computers became fully operational recently, with the old taxi system abandoned and the new system taking over.

Manufacturer of the equipment, SmartMove, based in Adelaide, provided five of the systems that have provided a huge improvement in the overall operation of the taxi service.

SmartMove technical support officer, Steve Nyveld, said the in-car computers take on a number of roles that benefit not only the drivers, but customers also.

'They have a GPS, mobile phone, collect data, provide driver security, track who is picked up from where and their destination, speed up dispatch and, because they are internet-based, allow dispatch from other centres if needed,' he said.

'They can be likened to Big Brother, who is always watching, but in a good way.'

Burdekin Taxis operation manager, Shane Gist said so far, the systems had been flawless and they were in the last stage of converting the old system to the new.

'They have been very successful so far and we have seen a huge improvement in our service,' he said.

'We are just giving them a last test run, before we fully convert from old system to the new one'.