The RFID / GPS system will allow the airport to optimize tracking of the hundreds of shuttles, taxis and commercial vehicles that use the airport roadways.

Already the nation's sixth busiest airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor is taking the initiative to upgrade operations as the Phoenix population continues to grow at an annual rate above 30 percent.

The system will be used to implement new business operations and processes to analyze, monitor, collect usage information and verify usage patterns of vehicles, including a fleet of shuttles that will ferry passengers back and forth to the airport's new rental car center, opening later this year.

The system enables accurate billing of commercial vehicles, provides taxi dispatch services and positions the airport for future upgrades for enhanced vehicle security and tracking functions.

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has four categories of ground transportation providers: scheduled operations, on-demand operations, pre-arranged operations, and inter-city operations, providing a total of more than 1,500 daily operators with multiple operations on the airport roadways.

Supporting TransCore in this initiative is Bridge Technology, a Phoenix company that provides AVL services accessed via the Internet, using GPS-based location technology.

This enables airport shuttle operations, public and private transportation organizations, and municipalities to monitor their vehicles at all times, thereby increasing security, and enhancing passenger service.

Bridge Technology services allow companies to create and monitor routes on maps, assign drivers to routes, monitor time and customize configurations based on security levels.

The company's first AVL system was installed at Oakland International Airport in 2002.

The original system included tracking for 20 buses, seven display and announcement stations, four-airside security, three landside, and two facility vehicles.

The airport has added 41 buses to the system, including 28 rental car center buses.

Gatekeeper Systems, one of TransCore's strategic alliances in the aviation market, will provide aviation software expertise on the project.

TransCore pioneered RFID-based ground transportation management systems for airport access and wireless, cashless transactions, and in 1989 installed the first airport system at Los Angeles International Airport, which experienced a 250 percent increase in revenue collection and a 20 percent reduction in congestion since installing its system.

Since then more than 60 airports, such as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International, Pittsburgh International Airport and Sacramento International Airport have adopted similar systems.

Salt Lake City International Airport estimates that without its wireless tracking system, staff would have to be doubled or tripled to meet temporary FAA mandates.

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