Could bus drivers scam their GPS system?

[CyB]

Hello...As passengers we are fighting to keep our local bus...the drivers are in the habit of being really late and then taking long short cuts to the city thereby missing out other stops... The passenger head counts are now low and the bus company is stating non patronage. We are complaining about these short cuts and passengers being missed out.

The bus company are saying these occurrences are just not happening as they have checked up the dates on the Green GPS systems on the buses.

We have all been on the buses when these short cuts are taken. Its like the little man taking on Goliath...the big companies name against the little mans word to the local council who employ the company.

We would like to know if GPS systems of a kind that are used in public transport can be scammed in any way by drivers to cover their tracks.

All comments gratefully received... thanks...

 

[merc]

This is an interesting topic. I don't know why no one responded.'
So, just to give this more exposure I'll respond.

I don't see how the driver can tell the GPS tp show a location other than were he actually is, because ther positions are fixed by satellites and I can't see a lowly bus driver controlling satellites.
It's more likely that whoever is doing the tracking is checking just happens to be doing it when the lucky bus driver gets back on his regular route or
the checker is the bus drivers friend and won't report the mis locations or
and this is more likely the case
The bus company is not really tracking data so they either don't have a clue of what's going on or they simply don't care.
You should find the parent company on line and tell them. I bet they care.

 

[CyB]

This is an interesting topic. I don't know why no one responded.'
So, just to give this more exposure I'll respond.

I don't see how the driver can tell the GPS tp show a location other than were he actually is, because ther positions are fixed by satellites and I can't see a lowly bus driver controlling satellites.
It's more likely that whoever is doing the tracking is checking just happens to be doing it when the lucky bus driver gets back on his regular route or
the checker is the bus drivers friend and won't report the mis locations or
and this is more likely the case
The bus company is not really tracking data so they either don't have a clue of what's going on or they simply don't care.
You should find the parent company on line and tell them. I bet they care.

Great to have a reply after all this time.... Just to put you in the picture..
The Bus Company in my area has responded to our complaints to our Council that the buses on our route are sometimes extraordinarily late and take a very much shorter and different route to town thereby leaving other passengers along route stranded.
The Bus Company did not respond to the Council so our Council sent off our complaints again....

This is how the bus company replied to our Council below....they would have us believe that somehow the GPS system could be accessed on a previous date by their checking department...
Question...Is why systems like this are purchased..(a system to check up and record what employees are up to ??...

Or is the GPS system purely so the driver does not get lost...(which surely would not happen after a few runs on route) This bus company make it sound that the drivers movements can be double checked at a later date... Are you saying this is not possible unless by chance..?

So pleased to get your reply and would be so grateful if you can comment further. *smiles*.

QUOTE FROM BUS COMPANY.
"Our Human Resources Manager has checked the drivers Green Road, a GPS system monitoring drivers movements and can confirm that the driver operated the correct route."

 

[LongWalker]

Perhaps passengers could install tracking apps on their smart phones, record the routes and publish them on the Internet. Then, the bus company could have several sources of tracks that would conflict with the internal company reports.

 

[CyB]

Perhaps passengers could install tracking apps on their smart phones, record the routes and publish them on the Internet. Then, the bus company could have several sources of tracks that would conflict with the internal company reports.

So they are recordable then...Hmmmmmmmmmmn.
This sounds a good idea and possibly the only solution..
Do you know know what one would have to instal in the smart phone?
Cheers and thanks.

 

[rrogers25]

The driver would not be able to trick the gps tracker unless he loaded into the device and changed settings. Even then, he would have to really understand the software. It is very highly unlikely that he or she could do that. A driver could however, make the bus disappear from the system by using a simple jammer or tampering with the antenna.

These would cause gps tracks to disappear though, and not just reroute.

 

[CyB]

Thank you so much for the information...As we were on the buses when they deviated greatly from their normal journey we know it genuinely happened.

We can only assume that after our complaints the First Group denied the occurrences to the Council and used the green tracking system existence as a way to discount what passengers were reporting.

What I would like to know is: Is every single journey that every bus makes recorded on these green systems so they can be checked at later dates. If not, as one of the posters here noted,...they would have had to have been checking the driver at the precise times when he was off route.

The Big Company rules.... The sad thing is that people use the route less because it is unreliable and then it will be taken away due to poor head count of passengers.