Several months after the target date for their installation, there are still not any Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in the Davis Square shuttles, affectionately called the "Joeys."
The Joey GPS project was unveiled last year as a way to give students live online updates about the location and arrival times of the shuttle through a Web site.
But the initiative, headed by sophomore and TCU Senator Matt Shapanka, has been delayed several times.
"I want [Joey GPS] to be fully functional before the fall [of 2006]," Shapanka told the Daily last year.
Now the earliest that the GPS system will be available to the public is September, one year later than originally planned.
"Every time I make this prediction, it turns out to be wrong, but in theory it should have happened already," Shapanka said. "The real setback is that there shouldn't be any."
Even so, there have been setbacks in two categories: technology and logistics, Shapanka said.
In the realm of technology, the software powering Joey GPS was updated this year and the new version required adaptation to suit the project's needs, he said.
From a logistical standpoint, getting the GPS device, a cell phone, on the shuttle early in the morning, keeping it on the bus throughout the day, and retrieving it after the Joey stops running so that it could be charged for the next day proved to be a challenge.
Earlier in the project's development, Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) Captain Mark Keith offered to have a police detail take the phone every morning, put it on the bus, and pick it up at the end of the day, Shapanka said.
This system does not, however, account for midday vehicle changes, as two buses are regularly used to shuttle students. Should one bus return to the yard, there is currently no way of ensuring the GPS enabled phone moves to the bus that takes its place. If the phone is not swapped between drivers, it travels to the Yard and there is not enough time to charge it for the next day's operations.
Shapanka has two plans to fix the logistical problems with Joey GPS. The first involves using two phones rather than one, which would avoid the complications of moving one phone between two buses. Another advantage would be that when there are two active buses, both could potentially be tracked.
Adding a new phone could create additional confusion, and before the two phone system can be implemented, Shapanka said that there need to be measures in place to assure that the phones weren't lost.
The other solution is to ensure that Joey drivers are comfortable with the new devices. "[We need to] make sure that all the drivers are on the same page on switching, so if one of the buses breaks down, the driver can grab it and put it on the next bus," Shapanka said.
Keith believes the logistical problems will be solved before students return next semester. "We have several options that we're looking at for storing, charging and moving the GPS devices, and it would be a matter of some discussions with the bus shuttle company as to which of those options will work out best," he said. "But I'm confident that we'll figure out a solution long before the start of the fall semester."
