Abstract—The public transportation system needs some
change for satisfying the commuting needs of the general public.
These systems are operated by state run authorities or by
private parties. The commuters face challenges as far as
accessing the public transportation facility as needed. This is
mostly attributed to the static scheduling of bus trips, within
some pattern, regardless of fluctuations in commuters demand.
This is very common in many countries and Jamaica is not
exception in this respect. There has been quite an amount of
research work carried out in using Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) technology in public transportation
system towards tracking of passengers while they board and
exit the bus. Research has also been carried out on tracking
passengers possessing RFID enabled Smart card and store in
central locations for future viewing if need be, which a privacy
concern is really. Also research has been carried out in using
RFID technology towards tracking of buses by deploying RFID
sensors at traffic stop lights, intersections, etc., for updating bus
arrival time which user can view in his cell phone. In addition
research is being conducted in using mobile agents with RFID
technology towards passenger demand and carrying capacity.
It is therefore clear from literature available on the subject that
there has been no work reported so far in dynamic scheduling
of buses based on passenger demand by means of RFID usage.
So our proposed research work would be on dynamic
scheduling of buses from the point of view of passenger tracking
pattern, which would be noted and included in planning and
scheduling by means of intelligent agents.
Index Terms—RFID, agents, commuters, MATSim.
I. I
NTRODUCTION
The emergence of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Technology has been heralded as a prime solution to the
problem of real-time tracking in the transportation arena. It is
based on automatic identification technology that enables
non-contact reading of data, thus making it ideal for
applications in manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, retail,
healthcare and in public transportation to name a few. RFID
Technology is being viewed as the way forward thus
gradually moving away from the traditional Bar Code system
for the identification of items. RFID’s versatility is proven
more dominant due to the fact that it is a non-line-of sight
technology which does not require items to be handled
manually for reading as RFID readers are capable of reading
tags even when they are hidden. The application of RFID
Manuscript received December 19, 2012; revised February 23, 2013.
Paul. Hamilton is with the Department of computing, University of West
Indies, Jamaica (e-mail: hamilton.pablo@gmail.com)
Suresh. Sankaranarayanan is with Computing and Information Systems,
Institut Teknologi Brunei, Brunei & Visiting Professor, Department of
Computing, University of WestIndies, Jamaica (e-mail:
technology may be enhanced with the use of Mobile Agents,
which are compositions of computer software and data which
also are able to migrate (move) from one computer to another
autonomously and continue its execution on the destination
computer. Having hundreds of vehicles in a public
transportation system one has to employ numerous resources
to keep the system functional and also enable serving the
public’s needs. However, the efforts of these entities are
thwarted by inappropriate trip scheduling, which sees the
companies suffering substantial losses and commuters
inconvenienced. Without appropriate trip scheduling, there
can be many empty buses idly parked at termination points
awaiting rigid departure times while potential passengers
keep crowding at bus stops due to unforeseen circumstances.
This scenario results in having many passengers getting
stranded and also a loss for the bus company in the form of
wasted fuel and other resources. The running of empty buses
when there is low passenger demand foster a bunching of
buses at termination points, where buses are parked with
engines idling and air conditioning units running needlessly,
on account of obeying a static trip schedule which causes
starvation at bus stops, thereby losing potential passengers to
other forms of transportation.
In addition to inappropriate trip scheduling, the issue of
ticketing also bears some passenger inconvenience. This is
attributed to the fact that in many countries like in UK, USA,
Australia and Jamaica utilize a combined cash and cashless
system for payment of fares for the ticket. The current
cashless system predominantly seen in many countries using
a SmartCard [1] which on placing on the Ticketing machine
in bus gets the fare automatically deducted and a ticket
issued bearing the amount paid, date and time of the
transaction along with the remaining value in the card, which
is achieved via the use of an Electronic Ticketing Machine
(ETM). The card is rechargeable and can be personalized in
case of loss or theft, where it may be disabled if desired.
Subsequently, another cashless system was introduced,
known as “SmarterCard”[1] which promised improved fare
collection and passenger flow, among other benefits.
However, not much has been said in terms of reviews
pertaining to this system. In the buses presently operating,
currently being manned by a single individual playing the
dual role of both driver and conductor, lengthy queues are
formed to enter the buses resulting from delays caused by the
presenting of cards, the collection of cash and making change,
to the issuing of tickets.
Taking above issues into consideration, we here propose a
smart public transportation system wherein RFID and Agent
technology to dynamic bus trip scheduling and an improved
cashless payment system have been applied. This application
Intelligent Agent Based RFID System for on Demand Bus
Scheduling and Ticketing
Paul Hamilton and Suresh Sankaranarayanan
International
Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 2, No. 5, October 2013
399
DOI: 10.7763/IJFCC.2013.V2.194
will see a complete updating of the technology domain in
which public transportation is being scrutinized, by way of
facilitating tracking and scheduling of buses along with the
monitoring of bus/commuter interaction with emphasis on
supply and demand. Being able to display exactly where
buses are located at any particular time along with commuter
density at stops through RFID tagging, will also greatly
enhance scheduling capability. This proposed system is being
implemented by utilizing GMap, onto which the coordinates
for bus stops, bus indicators and commuter populous are
being overlaid. A version of this implementation will be
afforded to commuters via an Android application package
for mobile devices using JADE-Leap agent development kit,
wherein the user may view a map showing his or her current
location and that of a desired bus plus the ability to query bus
schedules. With regard to commuter frequency, a mobile
agent may learn the pattern of the commuters and act
accordingly by automatically presenting the user with
scheduling updates, fare top-up reminders and desired bus
proximity and estimated time of arrival (ETA). RFID enabled
smart cards will be ideal in the context, for commuter polling
and ticket purchasing due to its ease of use and range. The
rest of paper is organized as follows. Section II talks on
literature surveyed on RFID usage in public transportation
followed by the application of Agent technologies. Section
III talks on Agent based RFID Bus Scheduling system which
is our proposed work. Section IV talks on the Architectural
details and system flow proposed, followed by the developed
algorithm for the proposed work. Section V gives the
concluding remarks and future work.
II. L
ITERATURE SURVEY
We will survey in brief in this section on the various
literatures citing the use of RFID and agent technologies for
public transportation usage. It has been expressed that we
have the potential passengers passing through a portal in
different levels of crowdedness (simulated bus door) carry
with them commercial off-the-shelf RFID devices like RFID
smart cards and antennas, in an effort to have them detected.
The idea expressed enables detecting all passengers as they
board and exit the bus. It was an attempt to use the RFID
technology effectively for this type of application. However,
it should be noted that in cases of no “line of sight” between
the devices/smart cards and readers in accordance with the
radiation patterns and positioning of antennas, there may be
performance fluctuations as these factors are critical to
recognition [2].
Research has also been carried out, on the use of pervasive
information systems and their acceptance, compared with
existing user acceptance theories. This is said to be critical
due to the wide variety of system users ranging from novices
to experts. However, evaluating acceptance of information
systems using existing theories may prove challenging as an
individual may use the system without even realizing it, such
as arriving at a bus stop and getting scanned via smartcard
which results in the required bus being dispatched or fast
tracked to that bus stop. Hence a hybrid model is proposed
that incorporates established traditional information systems
user acceptance theories. To facilitate this, a pervasive
system was developed and experiments carried out and
evaluated in a laboratory setting. [3]
Research was also focused on how RFID Technology can
be used to solve problems faced by public transportation
authorities in metropolitan cities by exploring automated
tracking of buses that can be used to provide useful estimates
of bus arrival times and in turn enhance passenger
convenience. However, in any environment of widespread
RFID deployment such as a public transit system where
RFID transceivers may number in the thousands, there will
definitely be challenges faced in the capturing, storage and
retrieval of data. As a result, the study also looks at what is
involved in collecting data which represent events that took
place in the monitored environment and the management of
this data which at times can be in large amounts. Such a real
time tracking and monitoring system is employed which
utilizes an Event, Condition and Action (ECA) framework
[4]. This technique aids in efficiently filtering data to remove
unwanted or inaccurate instances and then categorizing
useful data by aggregation. Also, it is discussed how
collected data can be utilized to predict bus movement in an
effort to improve the service.
Cards embedded with RFID used in public transportation
enables the tracking of individuals with tracking data being
stored on a central server. This allows an individual’s entire
history to be displayed as desired [5]. Research has also been
conducted on privacy concerns with respect to, not just the
collection of personal information but the aggregation and
centralization of personal information.
Research also looked at an Automated Fare Collection
(AFC) System also known as the Transit Smart Card System.
The advantages of an AFC over a manual fare collection
system is highlighted where the AFC is said to lower labor
costs and increase efficiency in fare collection and
management of this data. The desire to extract more data than
just a deduction of fare from transit smart cards, has led to
research efforts in extracting data such as points of origin
where a passenger would board a bus and have this data
recorded as the passengers’ smart card is scanned. To achieve
this, a Markov chain based Bayesian decision tree algorithm
is developed in this study, where the algorithm is verified
with the use of public transportation vehicles that are
outfitted with GPS tracking and data loggers. Conclusively, it
is stated that data collected to represent points of origin when
a passengers’ transit smart card is scanned, is crucial to the
process of transit system planning [1].
In another research application of electronic payments,
proxy re-encryption and anonymity to the problem of privacy
in public transportation systems that employ electronic
ticketing has been mentioned. The architecture proposed
encompasses the needs of a typical metropolitan
transportation system, preserves the security requirements of
the user and the transit company, while enhancing the privacy
of the passengers. The incorporation of passive RFID
transponders and smart phones enables the use of active
devices and allows for more robust security and privacy that
surpasses the typical passive RFID transponder architecture
[5], [6].
There has also been research conducted on finding a
balance between passenger demand and carrying capacity
International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 2, No. 5, October 2013
400
within a public transportation system, to facilitate a high
quality service at acceptable costs. A proposed Agent-based
Micro-simulation is utilized to evaluate decision making at
the operational level. The introduction of transit smart card
ticketing systems have fostered the growth of agent
population, which facilitated an experiment centered around
four months of individual mobility data from passengers
spanning three(3) modalities in a Dutch public transportation
system to generate agent populations using a unique smart
card dataset
Due to the vast amounts of detailed data captured by the
use of smart cards in a public transportation system,
analyzing all of this data to aid in the decision making
process is no simple undertaking hence the proposal of an
Agent -based Micro-simulation. This simulation sees
individual passengers and vehicles being modeled through
agents that interact with the public transportation system
based on their assigned tasks. In this study, the MATSim
simulation package is used to utilize its active user-base.
MATSim requires all agents in its populous adjust their plans
to improve their effectiveness. Consequently, MATSim will
continue running until maximum efficiency is reached within
the agent population [7].
Research was also done at the appropriate security and
privacy requirements for e-ticketing via RFID technology
while highlighting the inadequacy of existing proposals and
presenting solutions for privacy-preserving e-tickets based
on RFID technology, along with known cryptographic
techniques which will help to discourage ticket forgery.
E-ticket use is stated to help lower operation and
maintenance costs for the transit authority and allow faster
and more convenient verification for passengers than
paper-based or cash-based payment methods [1], [6].
However, the risks associated with e-ticketing, is the use of
spatio-temporal data for the authentication of tickets. It is of
utmost importance that this information is not privy to
unauthorized parties that seek to violate user privacy. As it
stands, there are existing e-ticketing applications which
capture user movement patterns and divulge sensitive user
information. The leaking of this information fosters attacks
on the transportation system in the forms of Impersonation
(unauthorized copying and use of tokens), Tracing
(unauthorized monitoring of users) and Denial of Service
(unauthorized blocking of legitimate users). Although there
are some approaches to authenticating e-tickets and
enforcing privacy, there is no mention of any solution that
explicitly addresses the problem of inadequate user privacy.
However, a solution was presented based on existing
cryptographic tools and current RFID technology that is
based on RFID tokens that are at most capable of performing
symmetric cryptography [8].
From the literature review so far presented, it is clear that
RFID Technology have gained favor in most industries
where it is utilized to help streamlining several key processes
that are needed to achieve optimal results. However, with the
widespread use of RFID comes the issue of data privacy and
security which if not carefully managed, may result in the
technology being as troublesome as it is revolutionary. As a
result, there is ongoing research aimed at developing robust
protocols to govern how RFID components communicate,
with added security and privacy features such as
authentication and anonymity. Large scale deployment of
these technologies, require careful planning to alleviate the
challenges associated in order for the effort to be feasible. As
it pertains to the application of RFID Technology in public
transportation, there is a lot to be gained with regards to
improved efficiency of transit systems that would benefit
from reduced costs as a result of better decision making
which in turn passes on an improved service to commuters.
So with that as basis we will now look into our proposed
research on dynamic bus trip scheduling and ticketing system
using RFID and agent technology along with Android
enabled mobile handset.
III. I
NTELLIGENT AGENT BASED RFID BUS TRIP
SCHEDULING SYSTEM
The current public transportation system and its lack of
dynamic trip scheduling capability along with the absence of
a proper quantitative tool to effectively measure commuter
crowding, has left weakened the operating inefficiently and
the consequent loss. However, with the strategic introduction
of RFID combined with Agent technology, these debilitating
effects may be reversed. Before going into our proposed
work in this direction, we first give a brief overview on RFID
Tags, Reader and middleware association.
RFID technology consists of the following three
components, a Tag, a Reader and the Middleware which
interacts with the back-end database. The RFID Tag: consists
of a microchip with data storage, limited logical functionality
and an antenna which is tuned to receive radio frequency
waves emitted by a reader or transceiver for allowing
wireless transmission of data to the reader. For retail
applications, the identifier takes the form of an Electronic
Product Code (EPC). RFID scanners or readers usually
consist of a radio frequency module, a control unit and a
coupling element to interrogate the tags via radio frequency
communication. Readers are usually connected through
middleware to a back-end database. The RFID Middleware
refers to specialty software that sits between the reader
network and the application software to help process the
significant amount of data generated by the reader network.
Middleware is responsible for cleaning the data by
eliminating false reads besides performing aggregation and
filtering of data. Also, by monitoring multiple readers,
middleware can detect the movement of RFID tags as they
pass from the read range of one reader to another [4].
By using RFID enabled smart cards, RFID readers in buses
can be made to get details on the number of. Persons who are
on board a bus at any particular time by the scanning of
passenger held smart cards. This information would then
indicate the under utilization, optimum utilization or
overloading of the service. Also the commuter at bus stops
would key in from their android enabled smart phones, for
the bus they are expecting for their intended destination.
Additionally, the RFID reader affixed to a bus stop or traffic
light will register the presence of a bus outfitted with an
RFID tag. All these information would then enable agent
based system to either inform the passenger of expected
arrival time of bus or dynamically schedule the trip of a bus
International Journal of Future Computer and Communication, Vol. 2, No. 5, October 2013
401
based on passenger requests and the passenger pattern, travel
frequency and so on. Conversely, if an individual requiring
special assistance for example a bus fitted with a wheelchair
lift, he/she would then key in from his/her mobile at the bus
stop, which could initiate a request to fast track such a bus to
that location.
In addition to the commuter held smart cards interacting
with RFID readers inside the bus, the buses themselves could
be tracked via RFID tags and their approximate locations
overlaid on a map such as Google Maps and made available
by the bus company to mobile users for viewing on smart
phones, tablets etc., through which bus schedule and route
queries can be made. Passenger travel patterns could then be
studied by mobile agents that would facilitate the fixing of
bus trip schedules to passengers’ mobiles based on travel
requirements.
Lastly a cashless payment system may also be facilitated
with the use of RFID technology, wherein upon boarding a
bus, a passenger may pay for a ticket via his/her RFID
enabled smart card. Here, the passenger simply waves the
card within a few centimeters of an RFID reader installed in
the bus and has his/her account debited and a ticket issued. In
the event of the passengers’ account approaching a
low-balance, a top-up reminder may be also sent to his/her
mobile. Along with each smart card tag, information about
the holder of the smart card will also be provided. This could
prove useful if an individual has to be identified for whatever
reason later. For example, in the case of vandalism of buses, a
camera may capture the act but if the individual cannot be
identified visually, then there may be a chance to capture the
person’s identity if he or she is the holder of a RFID smart
card.
IV. A
RCHITECTURE OF INTELLIGENT AGENT RFID
TECHNIQUE FOR BUS TRIP SCHEDULING
For the proposed research work, we now give the
architecture as shown in Fig. 1
The architecture shows that a commuter possessing RFID
inside a bus and the information sent to an agent based
system of Bus Company. In addition location of the bus at a
traffic stop light intersection and at bus stop also detected by
the RFID fitted in the bus and these information sent to the
agent based system which facilitates users possessing mobile
to query the location and schedule of the bus and view it on
GMAP on their mobile. In addition commuters at bus stop
can request for a bus by keying in from his/her mobile which
the agent based system of bus company receives and
accordingly expected arrival time of bus is sent to the mobile
handset of the user or bus trip is scheduled dynamically based
on number of requests for the bus, passenger pattern from
past history, number of passenger information from RFID
reader of bus, etc. The estimated time of arrival for buses will
be derived from historical data gathered on buses operating in
a particular area focusing on the various schedules, the
estimated time to travel between stops or termination points,
traffic congestion patterns and the current position of the
buses with respect to latitude and longitude. All these
communications from RFID tags and mobile devices of users
to the agent based system happens wirelessly though wireless
network.
Now based on the schematic shown in Fig.2, we here
describe the functioning of bus/commuter tracking by RFID
technology towards scheduling of bus by means of Data Flow
diagram. We have shown in Fig.1 that commuters and buses
can be tracked by RFID reader and accordingly a bus can be
scheduled. We now show in Fig.2 as how when RFID tag is
detected, data is captured by the agent based system for
scheduling of buses. The system functioning be explained
now.
The agent based system includes RFID data management
facility system which is essentially a RFID data server
containing RFID event handler towards logging the events
triggered by bus at check-points like stop lights and bus stops
and also commuter swiping their RFID enabled smart card.
Also Expected Time of arrival of bus calculations will be
performed by the RFID Data Management System and
relayed to the mobile user’s handset, which itself will be
responsible for requesting and displaying the Gmap
component along with the different Gmap features for map
manipulation. This information about RFID event logging is
actually stored in RFID event database pertaining to
passengers and Buses. In addition details on commuters
possessing RFID enabled smart card is stored in Smart
card/commuter database which is checked for authenticity
when swiping for boarding the bus or keying from mobile for
requesting for bus and accordingly the event logged in RFID
event database.
Bus, Route and Bus Schedule databases are interlinked as
they are dependent on each other one way or the other. Bus
database would contain the RFID identification of bus
towards querying for trip schedule and route. Route and bus
schedule database gives information to user on route and
schedule of bus which is based on location information
received from RFID reader fitted at bus stops and traffic stop
light. This information is displayed by the agent to user’s
mobile handset on their GMAP We now would show the
sequence of activities involved in the proposed system by
means of a Sequence diagram shown in Fig.3.
In the sequence diagram shown, passenger boarding and
exiting the bus possessing RFID enabled smart card are
logged in the RFID event database. As passenger board the
bus possessing RFID smart card, RFID reader fitted in bus
reads it and sends to RFID data management system which
logs the event and accordingly verified for authenticity by
checking with commuter database. Once verified, the
information stored in RFID event database along with
location, date and time. The same applied towards passenger
exiting bus. This information can be used if need be towards
any vandalism or activity happened in bus for verification.
Now that the passenger would use his Smart card which got
credit to pay and get the ticket against RFID ticketing
machine in bus. Once ticket issued automatically credit
amount gets deducted and the same is updated in RFID event
database. This sequence is shown in Fig.4.
There could be a situation where commuter standing at bus
stop wants to know the schedule of bus he is waiting for and
expected arrival time. The commuter uses the mobile
application for requesting bus schedule from database. The
bus schedule retrieved and displayed to commuter’s mobile
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402
as shown in Fig. 5 In addition the commuter would also be
able to view the current location of bus too from GMAP
feature of mobile along with expected arrival time as shown
in Fig. 6
Fig. 1. Architecture of agent based RFID bus scheduling system
Fig. 2. Data flow diagram of bus/commuter tracking
Now in addition to passengers requesting for bus schedule
and viewing via GMAP, there could be situations where lot
of commuters are getting crowded in bus stops and
requesting for particular bus for a certain location. So, in this
case, instead of waiting for the scheduled bus at the expected
time, commuters can use their mobile and key in with RFID
enabled smart card for particular route bus as needed. Now
based on the number of such requests received, the bus
location, passengers on board and the passenger pattern from
past history, a new route bus for the intended destination
would be scheduled dynamically by the agent for the
requesting commuters at the earliest. The sequence of
information now flows from user’s mobile is shown in Fig. 7.
Now similar to commuters requesting for buses at bus
stops, it is also possible in a similar way for people with
special needs to request for a bus supporting the special needs.
This is not based on number of requests like in the previous
case but once commuter with special needs keys in with
RFID smart card or national identification number from
mobile for such a type bus, bus request sent to agent based
system which would look into Bus vehicle database for such
type buses availability and to immediately dispatch the bus to
the commuter’s location. This information flow from the
displayed to user’s mobile is as shown in Fig. 8
Fig. 3. Sequence diagram for boarding/exiting bus
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403
Fig. 4. Sequence diagram for paying ticket
Fig. 5. Sequence diagram for bus schedule
Fig. 6. Sequence diagram for bus with gmap location
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404
Fig. 7. Sequence diagram for commuter key in at bus stop from mobile
Fig. 8. Sequence diagram for special needs of a commuter
V. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, for commuters facing challenges as far as
accessing public transportation as needed is mostly attributed
to the static scheduling of buses, which more often than not
seeing buses operating within the same pattern, regardless of
fluctuations in commuter demand. Quite amount of research
has been carried out in using Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) technology in public transportation system towards
tracking of passengers when they board and exit, tracking of
bus by deploying at traffic stop lights, intersection etc for
updating bus arrival time which user can view form his cell
phone. In addition research has also been conducted in using
mobile agents with RFID towards passenger demand and
carrying capacity.
So based on the research work reported so far, we here
propose an agent based system towards dynamic trip
scheduling of buses by means of passenger tracking who
more or less follow a specific pattern, which also would be
noted and included in forward planning by means of
intelligent agents. In addition commuters requesting buses
with special needs/facility and smart card way of paying
ticket, have been proposed. Lastly commuters be tracked
possessing RFID based smart card while boarding and
exiting bus for future purpose in case of any illegal activity.
The above research work has been reported in the paper in
form of architecture, Data Flow diagram and Sequence
diagrams. We are now carrying out the implementation of
the proposed system using Android and JADE-LEAP agent
development kit.
R
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Paul Hamilton is currently Graduate student pursuing
M.sc computer Science in department of computing,
University of West Indies, Jamaica since 2011. He
hold Bachelor’s degree in computing from University
of West Indies in 2011.
Suresh Sankaranarayanan is currently an Associate
Professor, Department of Computer & Information
Systems, Institute of Technology, Brunei (ITB – A
technological university). Currently he is also
functioning as a Visiting Professor, Department of
computing, Faculty of Pure & applied Science,
University of West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston-7,
Jamaica, West Indies. He has supervised around 30 research students leading
to M.Sc, ME, M.Phil and M.S degrees and currently supervising students
leading to M.sc, M.phil and Ph.d respectively. He has got to his credit, as on
date, about 50 fully refereed research papers published in the Proceedings of
major IEEE international conferences, as Book Chapters and in International
Journals.. His current research interests are mainly towards Wireless Sensor
Networks, Mobile Commerce, Intelligent Agents’ used in the Health,
Commercial and Engineering sectors.
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