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The government of Guangzhou in China is opting to use GPS tracking to monitor the use of all its official vehicles. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province and the third largest city in China. Naturally, that means it takes a lot of government work to keep the city clean, safe, and prosperous. In fact, the GPS system is to be installed on about 10,000 official vehicles. Each vehicle currently costs about 25,000 to 35,000 yuan per year to operate. That’s a huge budget, not to mention a potential headache to keep organized.

Cities around the world have been installing GPS fleet tracking system as a way to monitor their administrative vehicles. The benefits include keeping employees accountable and greatly reducing operating costs. Each vehicle that is equipped with a GPS tracker can be monitored and coordinated from a central location. The tracking device on each vehicle sends signals to satellites that determine its map coordinates, and that information is channeled to a computer with special software. Here the information can be monitored and evaluated to plan more efficient travel routes, reduce fuel costs due to unnecessary delays and/or idling time, keep workers on task, and increase worker safety.

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, developed by the Chinese company OLinkStar Co., Ltd., has capabilities comparable to the U.S. Department of Defense’s system. Last year the city tested a couple of pilot programs. These test programs reduced operating costs per vehicle by about twenty-five percent, or 7,000 yuan per vehicle. The BeiDou GPS units cost 1,659 yuan each, and the system will take 16.6 million out of the yearly budget. Overall, the savings are definitely worth the initial price – an estimated savings of 70 million yuan per year is expected.

Each time another city decides to use a tracking system, the benefits to that city’s civilians multiply. Public services become more efficient; for example, waste pick-up gets more organized and transportation increases its punctuality. Public safety becomes more effective; police can be dispatched more quickly to the site of each incident. And public funds become available for other projects that can beautify the city and improve the quality of life for many citizens. Those newly freed funds can be funneled into road work, education, or even tax breaks that encourage citizens to invest in local businesses. Ultimately, the improvements resulting from better management go far beyond the budget numbers and can never be fully measured.

Article Written by Kadence Vyra