Topic 188

Transportation: reservation systems, luggage processing, navigation, scheduling and distribution, traffic simulation, smart roads and cars, fuel efficiency and traffic safety systems by Ken Moyer

A computer reservations system is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, they were later extended to travel agents as a sales channel. Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to these travel agents, and so many systems are now accessible to consumers through Internet gateways for hotel, rental cars, and other services as well as airline tickets. The good thing about travel agents are that they can sell tickets at a lower price because they massively buy the air plane tickets with a discount. So the tickets people buy from travel agents are cheaper than what people buy from airline companies.

Luggage processing has become a much stricter thing recently. Now you are allowed to bring inside only limited amounts of liquid. The whole process takes longer because they take more time with every person when checking the luggage. It became more strict because of the fear terrosists attack. The social isssue involved here is that people have to limit there luggage just for the fear of a terroist attack. They say that driving a car or riding on a bus is more dangerous than flying on an airplane. Should airline companies really be so strict about luggage? It is a difficult question to answer.

Navigation is the art and science of determining one's position so as to safely travel to a desired destination. Different techniques have evolved over the ages in different cultures, but all involve locating one's position compared to known locations or patterns. Now navigation is as simple as looking at a monitor.

Airports, train stations, and other transportation systems all distribute their schedule for departure. This helps passengers know when their transportation is arriving and so they can more efficiently use their time. These schedules are usually correct for airlines and trains unless there is an accident or something. But bus transporations tend to be off because of traffic.

Some people will have to wait ten extra minutes than what they expected to go on the bus. So, when the transportation schedules are inaccurate, then it creates frusturations and inefficiency in the society. So, transportation companies should all try to keep their schedules as accurate as possible. I believe that these companies are doing a pretty good job at this.


Intelligent transportation systems is a system of hardware, software and operators that allow better monitoring and control of traffic in order to optimize traffic flow. As a cost-effective solution toward optimizing traffic, ITS presents a number of technologies to reduce congestion by monitoring traffic flows through the use of sensors and live cameras or analysing cellular phone data travelling in cars and in turn rerouting the cars as needed through the use of variable message boards, highway advisory radio, on board or off board navigation devices, and other systems. This reduces traffic and also reduces the chance of an accident. This is socially a good thing because people can efficiently travel safely.

Smart roads are roads that are safer by using high technology. There are many that are actually used due to the high costs. Smart cars are cars that are also safer. There aren’t a lot of these in use due to the high costs. Smart roads and smart cars should make road transportation much safer in the future. The governement not really trying to issue these smart roads and smart cars to create a better society can be a social issue.

Fuel efficiency sometimes means the same as thermal efficiency, that is, the efficiency of converting energy contained in a carrier fuel to kinetic energy or work. If drivers can travel with less gasoline, it will increase efficency by reducing the travel time and will decrease pollution by using less gasoline. This will be a very good thing for society. But not all cars are using fuel efficiency. This can be a social issue because fuel efficiency isn’t being used by some people when it is available. I am sure it is more expensive to use fuel efficient cars.