July 2008: ST Electronics will be designing, implementing and maintaining an advanced taxi despatch and management system for Sharjah Public Transport Corporation.

The government-owned transport body controls and franchises all passenger transport services in Sharjah, the third largest state in the United Arab Emirates.

ST Electronics's system is based on its locally-developed cetrac iCab automated taxi booking and despatch system. It integrates wireless technology, automated booking and intelligent data-mining to despatch the most suitably available taxi to customers in the shortest possible time.

The solution optimises taxi booking and despatch, and improves productivity by offering various channels for the convenient booking of vehicles by customers, track the whereabouts of the vehicles, and assign jobs to the best-suited vehicle.

Over a period of 15 months from now, ST Electronics will deliver the taxi system to Sharjah Transport.

Key features

These include support for bureau service operations, management of digital map/locations update, seamless integration with other booking channels, automated call-taking and monitoring, computer-aided despatch, automatic vehicle location, fleet management and reporting.

The versatile bureau service supports the sharing of call centre or a single booking number by different fleets and companies; it also supports different booking numbers for individual companies. This feature is beneficial to Sharjah Transport which will be deploying this system to manage a number of taxi fleets owned by various operators.

Over 30,000 vehicles worldwide

ST Electronics has established a track record in providing advanced telematics and fleet management systems to various customers. Over 30,000 vehicles worldwide have been equipped with its products and systems, including Taiwanт€™s first large-scale, fully automated taxi despatch system and Singaporeт€™s largest taxi fleet owners, ComfortDelGro, with a fleet of more than 15,000 taxis.

т€œWith the implementation of this new system, passengers in Sharjah will enjoy better customer service and shorter waiting time,т€ says Abdullah Mohd Al-Zari, director-general of Sharjah Transport.

т€œDrivers will benefit from increased despatch efficiency and fleet owners will experience lower vehicle operating costs. We regard this development of great importance to Sharjah as it will elevate our status as an emirate that offers first-class public transport for our residents and visitors,т€ he adds.

On the US$8 million (about S$12 million) award, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Singaporeт€™s Minister of State for Trade and Industry says there is much scope for Singapore and Sharjah to cooperate in city and infrastructure development. т€œThe ST Electronics-Sharjah Transport project is an excellent showcase of Singaporeт€™s commitment towards deepening the friendship and business relations between our countries,т€ Mr Lee points out.

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