Public Bus Fleet Tracking with Hybrid Bluetooth Beacons and LoRaWAN®

IoT is changing the way cities manage transportation. In the past, people depended on static bus schedules. However, these schedules were often inaccurate due to traffic or unexpected route changes. As a result, many passengers experienced long waits and delays. This was especially common during peak travel times. As a result, the transportation industry is adopting a hybrid solution that combines BLE and LoRa technologies for public bus fleet tracking.

Challenge

A client in San Sebastián, a city in northern Spain, faced this issue with bus tracking and management. Local buses usually arrive every 10 to 20 minutes. Missing one bus can cause a significant delay. The customer used manual methods to check bus locations and schedules. This process took a lot of time and often led to mistakes. The customer needed a better way to track bus arrivals and see how many buses were waiting at the station. They wanted to use this information to manage routes more effectively during busy hours.

Solution

To solve this problem, the customer chose MOKO’s IoT hardware and combined it with their own software. They used the M2 Beacon and the LW003 Bluetooth to LoRaWAN® Bridge. M2 are deployed on each bus, and LW003-B are deployed on each station. These devices work together to improve real-time public bus fleet tracking.

• To detect when a bus arrives at the station.
• To count how many buses are currently waiting.
• To help estimate when the next bus will arrive and how long passengers may need to wait.

This setup gives the customer clear and accurate data. It helps them run the bus system more smoothly and respond faster to changes in demand.

Featured Product

The M2 Asset Tag, powered by Bluetooth Low Energy technology, is an industrial designed tag for asset tracking in harsh environment use cases. With the robust housing case as well as the 1000mAh battery capacity, it can withstand IP67 waterproof and reach to 5 years battery life.

LW003-B Bluetooth to LoRaWAN Gateway integrates Bluetooth and LoRaWAN wireless communication, enabling it to scan Bluetooth Beacon data and transmit this data to a LoRaWAN gateway. The data is then uploaded to a server, allowing for environmental monitoring and indoor positioning capabilities.