DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VEHICLE TICKETING MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC BUSES

1.1 Introduction

A Bus ticket is a piece of paper or card giving the holder the right to travel on public transport (Oxford, 2005). Generally, a bus ticketing system consists of all the activities involved in producing a ticket, which includes, producing tickets, booking ticket, selling tickets, rejection of the tickets, total tickets produced for a trip, total tickets sold and income gained through the ticket selling. A bus ticketing system can let customer to know the information about the bus schedule and ticket. Bus ticketing system is a complex system that is difficult to be managed by human, so as a result software system can be used instead of human, which will help to avoid a big percent of mistakes. Online Bus ticketing system make process of scheduling trips more easier and prevent conflicting in time, also it help customers to book their tickets from their homes and checks the pricing system of the routes, the price of ticket may increase or decrease depending on the season, availability, time of booking, and also depending on the class that customer select and all these factors will be calculated automatically and instantly.

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, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

The transportation community has experienced the beginnings of a cultural shift toward embedding transportation system management and operation into our culture, work ethic Manufacturers, distributors, and third-party logistics companies all have specific business needs and processes concerning the movement of goods and product from sourcing locations to factories to distribution warehouses and retail or Student locations. The movement of product between locations is frequently controlled by software applications referred to as” automated transportation system. To support improved efficiencies in the transportation process, companies will look for an automated transportation system that fits their current and planned operational needs and that can be integrated smoothly with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) or corporate financial systems.

Vehicle Ticketing Management Information System for Public Buses enables the bus company's customer to buy bus ticket online; this is an easy method which saves a lot of time, it will enable customers in their comfort zone, to search for available tickets and get their data easily without any prior experience with queuing at the counter. Online ticketing system is a system that assists not only the passengers but also the bus staff position as an efficient service provider, gaining competitive advantages and also leads to superior control over the reservation process and operation, compared to conventional manual processing. The main feature in this online e-ticketing system is to cater destinations between inter cities within Nigeria. With this system, the passenger can perform an online bus booking at his or her own free time and will consecutively reduce the human traffic in Nigeria.

Electronic vehicle ticketing system would end the use of the hefty 1.5kg ticket racks carried by conductors. It would also end the practice of tearing out tickets and marking fare stages. The conductor would just have to key in the details about the fare stage and the ticket machine would print out the ticket. The machine weighs only 8oograms and is convenient to carry. The parameters are almost like that of a railway ticket, the only difference being that the machine is portable. The machine can print out 2,300 tickets including the journey report in order to facilitate inspection by the corporation’s checking inspectors and the Federal Road safety Corp (FRSC). The ticket machines would help prevent loss on account of malpractice. It would also help in providing adequate data to the corporation particular with regard to boarding of passengers from fare stages and important points. This would help the boarding of passengers from fare stages and important points. This would help the corporation prepare and organize its schedules more efficiently on the basis of traffic demand. Besides, it would provide data on concessions given to various sections.

E-ticket is the easier and quickest way to take bus. The online system is a new system because it hasn't exists in Bus Company and even in ABC Transport. Currently, staffs at the bus ticket counter are using an internal system to sell ticket at the counter. Customers are unable to buy bus ticket online at this moment and have to go to the counter to buy bus ticket. Sometimes, customer needs to queue up a long queue to buy bus ticket and ask for information. This brings a lot of inconvenience to the customers. With the Internet now routinely being used as a resource for Bus Ticket Reservation, customer can buy bus ticket, make payment, and ask for information online easily. Furthermore, staff can sell bus ticket using Vehicle Ticketing Management Information System for Public Buses after checking bus ticket availability for the customer and print the bus ticket to the customer that queue up in the counter.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Investigation revealed the following problem of the existing Vehicle Ticketing Management Information System for Public Buses which entails that:

1. The existing system is time consuming, stressful and more prone to errors in purchasing a ticket, storing of data, and accessing of data.
2. A lot of customer sometimes queue in lines to buy tickets, thereby wasting precious and productive time for both the transport company and the passengers.
3. The manual method of keeping records, accessing data or information become very tedious, because all the files that contained information are not well arranged the way that can be accessed in an appropriate and accurate manner; this will lead to losses of stored information.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this study is to design and implement an Online Vehicle Ticketing Management Information System for Public Buses. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to design and implement an application software that will:

1. Enable passenger to check the availability of the bus ticket, check the time of departure and arrival for every Transnational’s bus online through the system.
2. Enable a customer to cancel/postpone a booked ticket and also rate a driver after travelling with the company bus.
3. Update ticket retrieval and minimize the number of staff at the ticket box and the counter.
4. Enable customers check the time departure and arrival for every bus through the system.
5. Provide a passenger with a web-based bus ticket functions that enable passenger to reserve/book bus ticket through the online system and no need to queue up in the counter.

1.5 Significance of Study

The significance of the study is that it will enable small and medium enterprises and also large scale industries to facilitate the operations involved in the transportation of goods and services from place to place (supply management), maximizing profit by choosing least cost path and most effective options and maintaining proper inventory.

The study will help to flexibly structure your support or help desk environment, communication between customers and services staff will become more transparent. It would also help to serve as a source of reference to all transport companies.

1.6 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Design and Implementation of Vehicle Ticketing Management Information System for Public Buses using ABC Transport in Anambra State as a case study.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

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 project 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. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. 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

Bus: A large motor vehicle carrying passengers on a fixed route.

Ticket: A piece paper or card holder that gives right to admission to a place or event or travel on public transport.

Travel: To be on a journey, often for pleasure or business, and with luggage; to go from one place to another.

Reservation: The action of reserving/booking or arranging for use of a particular person.

Cancellation: The act of deciding that (a planned event) will not take place.

Postponement: An act of arranging for (something) to take place at a time later than that first scheduled.