DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE CAMPUS BOOKING TAXI SYSTEM

1.1 Introduction

An online campus information system for taxis rentals is an automated system that provides businesses with a way to reserve cars (taxis) online from the comfort of their homes, at any time of day, using the internet. The campus taxi business would be able to manage content, view all bookings, and retrieve customer data through the platform’s administration interface. Even for students and staff who lack access to or do not own a vehicle at all, hiring a taxi helps them get around. Customers can access information about taxi schedules and tickets through the campus transportation booking system. These days, checking information online can save a lot of time for customers, eliminating the need for them to visit the counter to inquire about the bus time and schedule. Online problems are very common to everyone. Since the campus taxi transport booking system is a complicated system that is challenging for humans to manage, software can be used in its place, helping to reduce the likelihood of errors by a significant margin.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

The transportation industry has evolved in Nigeria and other nations over the past few decades. Thus, it needs a more dependable method of ensuring client satisfaction. In order to move people or goods from one location to another for brief periods of time, transportation is a service that requires payment from the recipients. The transportation industry was founded to address issues with people and goods moving around. Numerous individuals journey across borders in pursuit of employment opportunities. They constantly start to worry about what to bring on the migration. The development of taxi vehicle is the result of man’s quest to find a solution to this problem. To improve its efficiency and flexibility, an online booking system has been implemented for the campus taxi system shuttle, which has been considered an effective way to transport staff and students between the school and their homes in an academic setting. This method ensures high efficiency in the services provided by campus taxis/shuttles by allowing staff and students to reserve seats online for a later pickup time.

Automated taxi transport is the way in which people and goods are made mobile (Adewumi, 2010). The word "taxi" conjures up images of public transportation for us. However, in the context of transportation, a taxi is a kind of privately owned vehicle with a driver that is typically utilized by an individual or small group of people for a one-way ride. Passengers are transported by taxi to the choices’ locations. While demand responsive transportation, share responsive transportation, and share taxis offer a hybrid mode, the pickup and drop-off locations for public transportation are set by the service provider and not by the traveler.

The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) is a thriving university with a large landmark and various academic and administrative buildings strewn throughout the campus. The institution’s North and South cores are made up of one another as a result of their division. Because of this, getting around the campus is challenging and exhausting. Using commercial transportation both inside and outside of the school is a common decision made by both teachers and students. This results in a highly disorganized, yet lucrative, transport business within the institution. Managing the institution’s transportation system becomes crucial because there are so many taxis and buses to oversee and different routes to connect. The developed system is an integrated electronic management system designed to reduce errors, which are primarily the result of human error.

It is against the background that the developments of this software to facilitate the transition of operations from the current manual methods to a computerized method that is more systematic. The taxi/bus management module, which includes taxi/bus registration and taxi/bus route allocation, is the main focus of the system.

1.3 Statement of Problem

An investigation found that FUTO’s taxi ticket booking procedure is a stressful one. Students can purchase tickets and board buses at one central location. To stay at the counter and sell tickets to potential passengers, a staff member is paid. In order to purchase a bus ticket or inquire about the bus schedule, students must go to the counter.

Transport costs are incurred by students traveling back and forth to inquire about routes, costs, and seat availability. Bus ticket customers have to wait in long lines during periods of high travel demand. Customers must make cash payments when making reservations for buses in the future. If your trip is canceled, it will be difficult to get your money back.

In order to address the aforementioned issues, the organization has created an online bus ticket purchasing portal. The bus ticket is refundable and cannot be misplaced, stolen, or left behind. Customers can purchase the ticket online, any time of day, seven days a week. Before purchasing a bus ticket, customers can also use the online system to verify if the ticket is still available.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to design and implement an Online Campus Booking Taxi System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will:

1. Create an Online Taxi Ticket Purchasing System: Customers no longer have to stand in line to purchase taxi tickets at the counter when they purchase them online.
2. Permit Customers to Verify the Bus Ticket’s Availability via the Internet: Via the system, customers can view the departure and arrival times for each transnational bus.
3. Simplify the Bus Ticket Payment Process Online: The bus ticket buyer must use bank transfers to pay for the ticket.
4. Minimize the Number of Employees Working at the Point of Sale: Following the launch of the online bus ticket purchasing system, the counter staff may be trimmed down.

1.5 Significance of Study

The implementation of the proposed system will be a significant asset to the school since it allows students to purchase, cancel, and check the availability of bus tickets all online. Because e-tickets are more affordable, quicker, more dependable, and safer than traditional paper tickets, they differ from each other.

Additionally, other bus companies can apply this idea to satisfy their customers. The online system will draw in more students (customers), and since tickets can be efficiently purchased online, the bus company won’t need to hire as many employees at the counter to sell tickets. This will increase profit. In addition, the owner has the ability to plan bus routes according to the margin returns. A comparison of bus performance is used to accomplish this.

This study will be helpful to other scholars who want to undertake a research on the same subject matter or take the scope of this research to another state. It will provide additional materials for researchers to make use of for reference purposes.

1.6 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Design and Implementation of Online Campus Booking Taxi System using Federal University of Technology, Owerri (F.U.T.O.) as a case study.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, there were some problems encountered which stood as limitations to the research work. Some of the limitations include:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research Material: Availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).

1.8 Definition of Terms

Taxi Booking:

This involves reservation of a cab for later pick up time by a client.

E-Ticket:

The e-ticket (or electronic ticket) is used to represent the purchase of a seat for a passenger through a website. This form of ticketing is rapidly replacing the old paper tickets.

Reservation:

This means arranging seats, tickets to be kept for the use of a particular person.

Transportation:

It is the means of travelling from one place to another.

Registration:

This means to keep records received from the management for reference purposes.

Management:

It is the co-ordination of all the resources of an Organization through the process of planning, Organization, directing and controlling