Don't Speed and Drive

Marvels of technology:
Yeo (right) showing how he can monitor all his express bus drivers on his laptop.

MIRI:
If his bus drivers have driven beyond the legal speed limit,
this man in Miri City knows
even if his driver is 1,000km away
because he can see every one of his drivers via his laptop.

Miri Transport Company managing director Yeo Yow Shun not only knows when and where his drivers had exceeded the speed limit, he also knows if they have been driving recklessly or if they have been sleeping on the job.

Yeo has installed a powerful Global Positioning System (GPS) on board his fleet of 17 express buses plying the Sarawak roads, enabling him to see his drivers and monitor their every movement 24 hours a day.

He can take punitive action within 24 hours if they are found to be reckless.

Miri Transport is the first in Sarawak, and perhaps in Borneo, to have installed GPS to prevent bus drivers from speeding and sleeping on the job.

Yeo demonstrated the technology at a hotel here yesterday. He showed how he can calculate their speed, their location, whether they are stationary or driving in a straight line.

“I can see them anytime I want. Anyone who speeds will be hauled up for disciplinary action immediately.

“Their speed is charted and jotted down every hour,” he said.

Yeo said the surveillance system was installed a month ago and it was costly.

“We spent a lot of money on this system. It is part of our company’s effort to ensure the safety of our passengers,” he said.

He also announced that his company’s stage buses, plying Miri City limits, will increase its fares by between 20 and 60 sen, following the Government’s recent decision to increase bus fares.

Adapted from The Star Online Newspaper, 26 09 2009.