The concept of commercial telematics technology for public transport gaining ground is gradually being linked to intelligent transportation systems, and by extension, smart cities. Hence, commercial telematics technologies are being increasingly implemented in public transportation markets.

This is borne out by a study titled "Commercial Telematics in Public Transportation," by ABI Research (News - Alert), which forecasts that commercial telematics subscriptions for the bus and coach segment will nearly triple to 0.61 million by 2018.

Highlighting the factors that trigger commercial telematics in the public transport market, the study underscores how intelligent transportation systems will go a long way in improving public transport and traffic management, promoting smoother and safer driving in the process.

Local, national, federal and regional governments are primarily responsible for making public transportation safer, easier to use and more environmentally friendly, but in order to make these initiatives succeed, certain things are required.

“Typical requirements include driver behavior monitoring, fuel consumption monitoring and efficiency improvement, passenger information systems and improved customer service, and claims and complaints management," observed Dominique Bonte, vice president and practice director at ABI Research.

And these requirements can be achieved only with the help of the emerging commercial telematics segment for public transport.

"While public transportation is forecast to remain a subset of the much larger commercial telematics space, it presents opportunities for companies to extend and customize current offerings to open up this market,” added Bonte.

In certain markets, commercial telematics is reportedly reaching maturation. In this context, it cited Mix Telematics and GreenRoad, premier providers in the United Kingdom. It also revealed that specialized vendors of real-time passenger information systems, mainly focused on school buses, were developing quickly in the United States.

Daimler also appears to have made inroads into the bus and coach segment with its factory-installed and smartphone-enabled Fleetboard version for buses.

That being so, what sort of impact will the smartphone market have on the commercial telematics for public transport, and how will the concept of intelligent transportation and smart cities be affected? Only time will tell.