DATA LINK INSTITUTE

SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCES

A PROJECT WORK SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN COMPUTER

SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

PROJECT TOPIC:

TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CASE STUDY: VVIP

BY:

ATSYOR ISAAC YAW (CS11110041)

LARYEA, SOWAH EMMANUEL (CS11110223)

SUPERVISOR:

MR. BEN-BRIGHT BENUWA

DECLARATIONThis is to declare that, the research work underlying this

dissertation has been carried out by the under mentioned

students under the supervisor. Both the student and the

supervisor certify that the work documented in this dissertation

is the output of their research conducted by the students as

part of their final year project work in partial fulfillment of

the requirements of Bachelor of Science Degree in computer

Science.

STUDENT (1) STUDENT

(2)

ISAAC YAW ATSYOR LARYEA, SOWAH

EMMANUEL

…………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

SUPERVISOR

MR. BEN-BRIGHT BENUWA

………………………………………………………

I

SIGNATURE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTOur first appreciation goes to the almighty God for blessing us

with his immense knowledge and wisdom that enable us to embark on

this project and come to a successful end of our four (4) years

academic career.

In addition, we owe much gratitude to our supervisor, Mr. Ben-

Bright Benuwa who sacrificed his precious moment to review and

ensure that the necessary advices, corrections and suggestions

given were effected appropriately.

Also, we wish to extend our appreciation to the management of

VVIP Transport Services (Circle Branch) for their cooperation and

information which helped us to model this system to this end of

our research work.

Furthermore, we are grateful to our indefatigable lectures of the

noble department of computer science and information system for

their humor, love, guidance and whose effort towards us was

relentless on this journey. We will forever be thankful for this

instilled lifelong knowledge.

II

DEDICATIONOur dedication goes to the Most High God and our supervisor; Mr.

Ben-Bright Benuwa, who relentlessly assisted and never gave up on

us throughout the project development duration. Besides, our

dedication goes to our cherished loving and hardworking parents,

not forgetting our siblings who continually encouraged and

motivated us and to our loved ones.

III

ABSTRACTThe idea behind this research work is to contribute to the

development of ways by which transport managements go through

their activities on a day to day basis. It aims to provide an

efficient, easy to use work environment for all key users of the

Transport management System (TMS) (thus, administrator, Clients,

and drivers). A look alike or prototype of this system was

developed to aid information gathering from prospective users,

and also to understand the different requirements of users of the

system. The finished systems as well as the prototypes were

developed on web based application tools such as PHP, MYSQL, CSS,

HTML, and the Android Framework etc. The developed system assists

in registration of drivers, vehicles, electronic ticketing, and

management of vehicles in the system which includes online

accumulation of their mileage result and financial recording to

mention a few which would help management to make informed

decisions based on their operations and information management.

IV

Table of ContentsDECLARATION...................................................I

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................II

DEDICATION..................................................III

ABSTRACT.....................................................IV

CHAPTER 1......................................................1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION..........................................1

1.1 INTRODUCTION............................................1

1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.................................2

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT.......................................3

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY......................................4

1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.................................5

1.5.1 GLOBAL OBJECTIVES....................................5

1.5.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES..................................5

1.6 SUBJECT AND FIELD OF STUDY..............................5

1.7 METHODOLOGY.............................................6

1.9 PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH................................7

CHAPTER 2......................................................8

LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................8

2.1 INTRODUCTION............................................8

2.2 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA....................8

2.3 THE EXISTING SYSTEMS...................................13

2.4 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE REVIEWED SYSTEMS..............18

2.5 CONCLUSION.............................................18

CHAPTER THREE.................................................19

LIFE CYCLE DESIGN OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM.....................19

3.1 INTRODUCTION...........................................19

3.2 CRYSTALLIZATION OF THE PROBLEM.........................19

3.3 FLOW CHART FOR THE EXISTING SYSTEM.....................24

V

3.4 FLOW CHART DIAGRAMS....................................27

3.5 DATAFLOW DIAGRAM.......................................31

3.6 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP....................................31

3.7 INDIVIDUAL ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAMS................33

CHAPTER FOUR..................................................35

SYSTEM TESTING, IMPLEMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION.............35

4.1 INTRODUCTION...........................................35

4.2 CONVERTING TO THE NEW SYSTEM...........................35

4.3 TESTING OF THE NEW SYSTEM..............................37

4.4 SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION...................................38

4.5 CONCLUSION.............................................46

CHAPTER 5.....................................................47

RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH..........................47

5.1 INTRODUCTION...........................................47

5.2 SUMMARY................................................47

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS........................................47

5.4 CONCLUSION.............................................48

REFERENCES:..................................................49

APPENDIX A-B.................................................50

VI

VII

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The integration of information and communications technology in

business has revolutionized relationships within organizations

and those between and among organizations and individuals.

Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced

productivity, encouraged greater customer care and participation,

and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs.

Many content-services are been digitalized constantly in our

daily life. To be more convenient and efficient, many kinds of

high technological products have also been personalized,

mobilized, and people can handle their businesses at anytime from

anywhere.

With the advent of computerized Transport Management System which

basically enables the administrator’s and the drivers of the

system to be more proactive in the day-to-day management of the

Vehicles to know the specific time when a particular Vehicle will

be due for servicing, departure and maintenance via tele-message

or what is popularly known as short-message-services (SMS)

1

Transport, a means of moving people, animals and goods from one

location to another, enabling trade between persons, is essential

to the development of civilization [6].

Transport may be public where scheduled services is a key

necessity. Economic growth has always been dependent on

increasing the capacity and rationality of transport [4].

Therefore, a formal approach to transport management: using

models which enable transport forecasting would enable planners

to predict future transport patterns and an increased economic

growth.

1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The main Transportation system in Ghana is accomplished by road,

rail, air and water. Ghana's transportation and communications

networks are centered in the southern regions. Increased

transport investment has helped to increase the number of new

vehicle registrations and transportation alternatives include

rail, road, ferry, marine and air [1].

Road transport is by far the dominant carrier of freight and

passengers in Ghana’s land transport system. It carries over 95%

of all passenger and freight traffic and reaches most

communities, and is classified under three categories of trunk

roads, urban roads, and feeder roads.

2

There has been an increased investment and expansion in the road

transportation of Ghana which hits GH₵1 billion (US$500 million)

in 2012. [5]

There is a Ghanaian Bus Rapid Transit, known as Metro mass

Transit L.T.D, and a Taxicab system connecting the Ghanaian big

cities among themselves, and a Minibuses system, known as Tro

Tros, connecting big cities with the country's rural areas and

small towns. The Ghana Police Service's Motor Transport and

Traffic Unit (MTTU) and the Ghana Highways Authority is

responsible for the maintenance of the Road Traffic Control of

Ghana and the Ghana Road Network (Ghana national highways and

motorways).

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Currently, there is no well-structured system used within the

vehicle Unit of VVIP to properly manage the vehicle's maintenance

process. All the vehicle's maintenance jobs were fully relied

onto the individuals or drivers who is responsible for the

vehicle.

In Ghana, the VVIP Transport Service at Circle in the Greater

Accra Region of Ghana, officially recognized by the Ministry of

Roads and Transport is no exception. The service faces major

challenges in customer satisfaction with regards to undue

3

breakdown of the buses on the road. It is also as a result of the

management not paying attention to vehicles servicing dates

because of the manual way of managing the vehicle maintenance

schedules.

Theft, item loss and retrieval is also a major concern. Customers

and drivers do not have a preview of each other’s information

before they commute on a journey.

The situation when passengers would have a long queue and over-

crowding due to the purchasing of ticket at the sales point.

Nowadays, the used of tele-message or SMS seems very popular to

the nations. SMS is also applicable on many conditions and

environments. Applying SMS approach is also seems to simplify the

jobs or tasks needed to run vehicle's maintenance or organizing.

Therefore, the development of transport management system are

built to cover the entire problem that has been stated above,

besides introducing more effective and efficient system to ease

the transport management system in Ghana.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of study covers vehicle maintenance and ticket

reservation for Transport Management in Ghana.

4

1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.5.1 GLOBAL OBJECTIVES

This is to contribute to an effective and efficient transport

management system by using information and communication

technology and emerging applications to drive the transportation

service delivery.

1.5.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of these research is

1. To develop a computerized system, database driven and

user friendly for the transport management system.

2. To eliminate queuing for order placement, hence to speed

up execution of service delivery to customers.

3. To build alert system for maintenance of vehicles.

4. To build a system which provides a flexible online

payment processing.

5. To track and monitor the movement(s) of the VVIP buses.

1.6 SUBJECT AND FIELD OF STUDY

The subject is Transport Management System and the field of study

is Computer Science and Information Systems.

5

1.7 METHODOLOGY

Data will be obtained from both the primary and secondary

sources, which includes; formal and informal interviews.

The methodology to be used is the prototype.

Analysis, design, and implementation phases run concurrently, and

all three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the

system is completed.

The first prototype is usually the first part of the transport

system that the user will use. The system is shown to the users

and the project sponsor, who provide reaction and comments. This

feedback will be used to re-analyze, re-design, and re-implement

a second prototype that provides a few more features.

This process continues in a cycle until the analysts, users, and

sponsor agree that the prototype of the transport management

system provides enough functionality to be installed and used in

the organization.

A prototype acts as a sample to test the system process [2].

6

1.9 PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH

The study would be presented as follows:

Chapter 1: General introduction – this includes the proposal to

subject under study.

Chapter 2: Literature Review (On the subject of study) - this

chapter will contain review of existing systems and their

characteristics.

Chapter 3: Life Cycle Design of the proposed System -

Crystallization of the problem – this chapter will bring out the

detailed problem of the existing system. It would also present a

view of the flow of the existing system with models like context

diagrams, data flow diagram and flow chart.

Chapter 4: System Testing Implementation and Documentation –

testing of the new system, implementation of the new system and

system documentation.

Chapter 5: Recommendation – the conclusion and recommendations of

the entire project.

7

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

In today’s technology–driven world, vehicle has become an

essential part of our life that enable us to ease our business

flow. Thus, vehicle industry has been growing very fast due to

increasing needs of the automotive market among customers. Among

the most important parts of vehicle lifecycle is vehicle

maintenance and ticketing.

Electronic Bus Ticketing is the process of ordering tickets and

receiving validation on your electronic device [2].

To deepen the understanding, and for the success of this project,

the literature review focuses on the transportation system in

Ghana, the internet and then narrows down through electronic

commerce (e-commerce) to the electronic means of booking tickets

and vehicle maintenance. The research does not leave out Mpower

Payment Money Technology, the platform that ensures the

electronic payment system when booking tickets.

2.2 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA

2.2.1 ROAD TRANSPORTATION SUB-SECTOR IN GHANA

Road transportation continues to be the most dominant and

accessible in Ghana. The total road network as at the end of 2007

was 64,323 km. Investment in this sub-sector therefore will

directly contribute to poverty reduction by way of:

8

1. Lower transport costs and make the goods consumed by poor

people more affordable and their products more competitive

2. Create employment and increase incomes.

2.2.2 THE INTERNET

The Internet is a communications protocol, a language which

computers use to talk to each other, called TCP/IP.

At the last count (Jul 2007), there were an estimated 489 million

hosts computers connected to internet.

2.2.3 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

E-commerce is the use of electronic communications and digital

information processing technology in business transactions to

create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation

between or among organizations, and between organizations and

individuals [1].

2.2.3.1 DIFFERENT TYPES OF E-COMMERCE

The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business

(B2B); business-to-consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G);

consumer-to-consumer (C2C); and mobile commerce (m-commerce).

For the purpose of this project, B2C e-commerce would be

discussed.

9

2.2.3.2 B2C E-COMMERCE

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies

and consumers, involves customers gathering information;

purchasing

Physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer

products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material

or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for

information goods, receiving products over an electronic network,

online reservation systems etc.

2.2.3 ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEM (EPS)

An electronic payment system (EPS) is a system of financial

exchange between buyers and sellers in the online environment

that is facilitated by a digital financial instrument (such as

encrypted credit card numbers, electronic checks, mobile money or

digital cash) backed by a bank, a telecommunication company, an

intermediary, or by legal tender [1].

2.2.4 MAINTENANCE SYSTEM

The dictionary defines maintenance as follows: “the work of

keeping something in proper condition; upkeep.” This would imply

that maintenance should be actions taken to prevent a device or

component from failing or to repair normal equipment degradation

experienced with the operation of the device to keep it in proper

working order. The need for maintenance is predicated on actual

10

or impending failure – ideally, maintenance is performed to keep

equipment and systems running efficiently for at least design

life of the component.

2.2.5 REACTIVE MAINTENANCE

This maintenance viewpoint allows vehicle to operate to failure,

providing for the repair or replacement of failed component only

when obvious problems occur. Studies as recent as at 2000

indicate this is still the predominant mode of maintenance in

many organizations (Higgins and Brautigam 1994).

Advantages to reactive maintenance can be viewed as a double-

edged sword. If we are dealing with new vehicles, we can expect

minimal incidents of failure. If our maintenance program is

purely reactive, we will not incur capital cost until some parts

breaks down.

Since we do not see any associated maintenance cost, we could

view this period as saving money.

The disadvantage is reality. In reality, during the time we

believe we are saving maintenance and capital cost, we are really

spending more money than we would have under a different

maintenance approach. We are spending more money associated with

capital cost because, while waiting for the vehicle to break, we

are shortening the life of the vehicle resulting in more frequent

replacement. We may incur cost upon failure of the primary device

11

associated with its failure causing the failure of a secondary

device. This is an increased cost we would not have experienced

if our maintenance program was more proactive. Patton et al.

(1994).

2.2.6 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

According to the engineering handbook, preventive maintenance

could be defined as actions performed on a time or machine – run

–based schedule that detect, preclude, or mitigate degradation of

a component or system with the aim of sustaining its useful life

through controlling degradation to an acceptable level.

While preventive maintenance is not the finest maintenance

program, it does have several advantages over that of a purely

reactive program. Preventive maintenance (lubrication, filter

change, etc.) will generally run the equipment more efficiently

resulting in dollar savings. While we will not prevent equipment

catastrophic failures, we will decrease the number of failures.

Minimizing failures translate into maintenance and capital cost

savings. Palmer et al. (1999).

2.2.7 MPOWER MONEY PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY AS ELECTRONIC PAYMENT

SYSTEMS FOR THIS PROJECT.

For this project, Mpower payments, MTN mobile money, Airtel money

and Tigo cash are the options to making mobile money payments

when doing online ticket reservation.

12

Alternative to making payments online is pay at the counter after

reservation is done online.

2.3 THE EXISTING SYSTEMS

2.3.1 ABHIBUS TRANSPORT COMPANY

Abhibus Transport Company, an Indian based bus transportation

company runs an e-ticketing system. Users of the system can do

searching schedules of buses, searching of buses types, tickets

booking online, ticket cancellation as well as do e-payments.

Below is the screen shot of the system.

Figure 2.0 shows screenshots of the system;

Fig 2.0 showing the Home Page of Abhibus Transport Company

The system uses card technology as a means of payments. The cards

used here are VISA Card, MasterCard, etc.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS:

13

The user goes online and view buses schedules. He or she then

selects the trip source and destination as well as date and time

as shown in Fig 2.0. One way or two way option is available for

user. User then search buses and select the type of bus. A window

opens displaying all seats the bus has so that user can choose a

seat. The then continues by providing personal information,

selecting mode of payment and supplying required payment

information. Clicking a ‘Pay now’ pay now button previews the

user to all ticket information for the trip and thank you message

as well; and printing is done. This ticket is presented at the

point of boarding for verification.

2.3.2 MAKEMYTRIP SERVICES

Makemytrip is also a third party Indian company that offers a

variety of online services including buses, air, hotels

reservation services etc. Debit cards, net banking, credit cards,

cash cards and mobile banking are the means by which customers

make payments.

14

Fig 2.1 showing the Homepage of MakemyTrip

Fig. 2.2 showing the mode of payments in MakeMyTrip

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS:

In fig 2.1 and fig 2.2, user goes online and chooses buses, then

whether domestic or international. He or she then selects

15

departure city and destination as well as date of departure and

date of return (optional).Also, providing email and hotel to

lodge are available and optional. Clicking ‘continue’ sends the

user to a window where the bus operator and the type of bus are

selected in order to view and select seat and boarding point.

Clicking ‘continue’ sends the user to a window where the user

provides the personal information, payment type (as debit cards,

net banking, credit cards, cash cards and mobile banking) and the

information required. Clicking ‘continue’ previews the user to

the ticket information and welcome message. User then prints the

ticket to present at the point of boarding for verification.

2.3.3 TRAVELYAARI BOOKING SERVICES COMPANY

Another review was Travelyaari Booking Services Company, the

largest third party Indian company that offers a real time bus

tickets booking services, where people can book tickets online.

It has similar functionalities as that of the Abhibus Company.

Fig 2.3 Home Page of Travelyaari

16

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS:

In fig 2.3, the user goes online and view buses schedules. He or

she then selects the trip source and destination as well as

either one way or two way trip. User then search buses and select

the bus operator, bus type, departure date and time. A window

displays the buses details. The user selects a bus and provides

personal information, payment type and the required payment

information. Clicking ‘Reserve’ displays successful reservation

information as well as the ticket details.

2.3.4 THE COCA COLA BOTTLING COMPANY GHANA LIMITED

Upon reviewing the current system at The Coca Cola Bottling

Company Ghana Limited (TCCBCGL) office, on vehicle maintenance

schedule is carried out. The system upon analysis we saw a number

of deficiency in the system that does not order well for the

smooth operation of work by technician, administrators and

management of the company.

How the Current System Work

The current flow of business at the TCCBCGL organization section

is described below. Flow of business cut across all major company

premises, this has been summarized below:

i. The driver at any point in time can send information to

the maintenance manager on the need to carry out

maintenance on the work.

17

ii. The maintenance manager then checks on the availability

of manpower, tools and spare parts to carry out this

maintenance.

iii. Depending on the availability of tools or manpower the

maintenance will be carried out.

2.4 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE REVIEWED SYSTEMS

The systems were developed using the optimized website designing

and development techniques, which would help in minimum server

loads and ultra-fast loading and processing unlike the old system

where activities cannot be carried out fast.

The Electronic Traffic Violation system has a clean and user

friendly interface as compared to the other systems were the

interfaces are very complex.

All of the systems have been integrated with a centralized

database platform which provides management user-friendly

interface.

2.5 CONCLUSION

In the course of the literature review, research and case study

on this new system, it had become obvious that Transport

Management System is an economic potential system in Ghana. It

would be very useful and helpful in the transportation system of

Ghana since this kind of buying bus ticket system never exists in

country. It will help customers manage their busy schedules while

gotten their travel tickets reserved.

18

CHAPTER THREE

LIFE CYCLE DESIGN OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Erstwhile to development of any system requires a better

understanding of the problem, opportunity, or the requirement.

This new project is not an exception. A detail breakdown and

analysis have been made to guarantee the full comprehension of

the need for this project, the objectives of the case study, the

advantages and expectation of this project.

3.2 CRYSTALLIZATION OF THE PROBLEM

A VVIP transportation service is a domestic private

transportation company that runs vehicles all over the country

and even beyond. The company has several branches at different

locations of the country

The company requires an online application to be developed, where

customers can conveniently reserve tickets and also ensure an

effective maintenance of their vehicles.

The existing system has no online booking capabilities and inept

vehicle assessment and maintenance therefore disables customers

to book tickets online as well as inform drivers of pending

servicing.

3.2.1 EXISTING SCENARIO:

VVIP Company provides the transportation facility with the

following features to the customers;

19

Luxury buses

Regular buses

They maintain all the records of the bus reservation at the counter

through manual means.

Telephone reservations and bookings are possible. Seats are

allocated at the time of booking.

3.2.2 MISSION OF THE COMPANY

Our foundation is built on providing safe, reliable and

affordable passenger transport while delivering to our clients

the highest standard of professional and efficient service.

3.2.3 FACT FINDINGS

A lot of effort has been made to gather information to support

this work. The veracity of the information is not questionable

because relevant and authentic citations or references are made

alongside.

3.2.4 FEASIBILITY STUDIES

The objectives of this study is to find out whether this project

can be done or worth doing. It will also bring out the challenges

or comfort that potential users may demonstrate.

3.2.5 TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY

Technical feasibility is the measure of the practicality of a

specific technical information system solution and the

20

availability of technical resources. Often new technologies are

solutions looking for a problem to solve.

This project is technically feasible because it is within the

limits of current technologies. The resources required to get the

project developed is not much of a headache. There are available

software development tools (e.g., php/admin, sms api etc.), the

technical and methodological know-how to get the task

accomplished.

3.2.6 ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY

Economic feasibility is the measure of the cost effectiveness of

an information system solution. Without a doubt, this measure is

most often the most important among them.

3.2.7 OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY

Operational feasibility is the measure of how well particular

information systems will work in a given environment.

3.2.8 OBSERVATIONS

Observation forms the bases for this project. Having involved in

the processes of acquiring a travel ticket especially on busy

schedules reveals the need for this system.

The process is just time consuming, not easily accessible and

laborious to acquire.

21

For the administrators, knowing the total number of

drivers/vehicles and there operational status and licensing

information and mileage is very essential.

3.2.9 INTERVIEW

The premise of VVIP Company was visited to ascertain the

operational details, the challenges the company faces, business

objectives, mission and vision, technological requirements among

others. These were done through face-to-face interview with the

workers of the company after obtaining permission.

3.2.10 RECORDS REVIEW

This methodological technique played an important role in this

systems review.

The Records include:

Ticket books

Standard operating procedures used in the Ticket Handling

System.

Forms.

Through good analysis, the team found answers to questions

relating to:

Standard operating procedure

Reports generation with the existing system.

Document flow (input/output) of the ticket handling system

Process of Issuing of the tickets

22

Aside review of records common to the current system users,

reviewing the internet or web pages of the company plays another

important role in showing the need for this project.

3.3 FLOW CHART FOR THE EXISTING SYSTEM

Fig 3.1 Ticket buying process flowchart

23

3.3.1 OBJECTIVES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE NEW SYSTEM

The system should enable the customer to be able to book tickets

online. It should also enable the database administrator to

manage the database effectively. The system should permit easy

reporting of information in the organization; on all vehicles,

drivers and their licensing information.

Specifically the following objectives must be achieved;

This project seeks to achieve the following objectives;

To automate ticket sales for internet users

To provide timely service to customers

To provide reports to stakeholders of the company. This

would aid in enhancing the administration and operations of

the sales office.

Monitor and maintain vehicles to smooth operations.

To provide a convenient and efficient service to customers

after orders are made as well as manage vehicles.

3.3.1 PLATFORM ON WHICH THE TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WILL

BE BASED

The system will be based on the following platform PHP, MySQL

(Database), CSS, Dreamweaver CS, and Photoshop CS6.

PHP: PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language

originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web

pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML

24

source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP

processor module, which generates the web page document. It also

has evolved to include a command-line interface capability and

can be used in standalone graphical applications. PHP can be

deployed on most web servers and as a standalone interpreter, on

almost every operating system and platform free of charge.

MySQL (Database): MySQL is robust, powerful, and scalable. It can

be used in applications from tiny web databases to very large

data warehouses with terabytes of data, especially managing large

database of customers.

JavaScript: JavaScript (sometimes abbreviated JS) is a prototype-

based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has

first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language,

supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional

programming styles.

CSS Cascading Style Sheets: (CSS) is a style sheet language used

for describing the presentation semantics (the look and

formatting) of a document written in a mark-up language. CSS is

designed primarily to enable the separation of document content

(written in HTML or a similar markup language) from document

presentation, including elements such as the layout, colors, and

fonts.

25

Photoshop CS6: Adobe Photoshop software creates virtually

anything you can imagine with images. Restore and refine

photographs, combine multiple images to create stunning artwork,

and design for web, video, and so much more.

26

3.4 FLOW CHART DIAGRAMS

FIG. 3.2 Context Flow Diagram for Proposed system

27

FIG 3.3 DATAFLOW DIAGRAM FOR THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

28

FIG 3.4 FLOW CHART FOR ADMINISTRATOR LOGIN

29

FIG 3.5 FLOW CHART FOR USER TASKS

30

3.5 DATAFLOW DIAGRAM

Fig. 3.6 Data Flow Diagram of the system

3.6 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP

Database systems are often modeled using an Entity Relationship

(ER) diagram as the "blueprint" from which the actual data is

stored — the output of the design phase. The ER diagram is an

analyst's tool to diagram the data to be stored

31

FIG. 3.6 ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM

32

3.7 INDIVIDUAL ENTITY RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAMS

ADMIN

passwordname

leveladmin_id

email

FIG.3.7 ADMIN DIAGRAM

33

FIG. 3.8 USER REGISTRATION DIAGRAM

FIG.3.9 DRIVER REGISTRATION DIAGRAM

34

CHAPTER FOUR

SYSTEM TESTING, IMPLEMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Implementation is the process of replacing the old system with

the new system.

4.2 CONVERTING TO THE NEW SYSTEM

There are four different ways of replacing the old system with

the new system, via:

Direct implementation

Phased implementation

Parallel implementation

Pilot implementation

The reason for choosing one implementation type over another

depends upon:

How quickly must the changeover happen?

How important is it to prevent data loss?

What will the cost of the changeover be?

4.2.1 DIRECT IMPLEMENTATION

This is cheapest and fastest but risky.

1. Decide upon a date and time for the changeover

2. At that date and time switch off the old system

3. Immediately switch on the new system

The old system is no longer available and everything must run on

the new system. Problems with the new system can cause major

35

problems for the business. Only suitable for non-critical

systems.

4.2.2 PHASED IMPLEMENTATION

Takes longer to complete the implementation but the risks to the

businesses are less than for direct changeover. Only possible is

the new system can be split into separate working parts e.g.

sales, marketing, payroll etc.

1. Replace part of the old system with new system,

2. Wait until the replaced part is working properly

3. Repeat steps 1-2 with another part

4. Continue until the entire old system has been replaced by the

new system

4.2.3 PARALLEL IMPLEMENTATION

Highly fault tolerant, new system available immediately but very

expensive

1. Leave the old system running

2. Switch the new system on using extra staff to run it

3. Do everything twice, once on the old system and once on the

new system

4. Continue to run both system with twice the staff and twice the

work until the new system is working properly

5. Switch of the old system.

Due to the high cost and doubling of work this is only really

done if the system being replaced is so important that a failure

would cause catastrophic problems e.g. air traffic control

36

computer systems can't be allowed to fail because many people

might die.

4.2.4 PILOT IMPLEMENTATION

If the business has many different offices or sites then this is

an option.

1. One single site is chosen and the old system is replaced with

the new one in the same way as direct changeover but only in

that one site

2. The rest of the business continues to use the old system

3. Once the new system is shown to work well in that one 'pilot'

site then the new system can replace the old one in the rest

of company. [10]

4.3 TESTING OF THE NEW SYSTEM

4.3.1 Unit testing: Testing of individual software components or modules. Typically done by the programmer and not by testers,

as it requires detailed knowledge of the internal program design

and code may require developing test driver modules or test

harnesses

4.3.2 Functional testing: This type of testing ignores the internal parts and focus on the output is as per requirement or

not. Black-box type testing geared to functional requirements of

an application.

4.3.3 End-to-end testing: Similar to system testing, involves testing of a complete application environment in a situation that

mimics real-world use, such as interacting with a database, using

network communications, or interacting with other hardware,

applications, or systems if appropriate.[8]

37

4.3.4 USERS EXPOSURE/TRAINING

It is important to enlighten the users of the system fully about

the system. Although the user manual is provided some user might

prefer and get accustomed to the system quickly by a physical

training. Where intended users and developer use the system and

it is recommended that the administrator be groomed well for an

effective and efficient usage of the system. Thorough training

would not take more than half a month to complete.

4.4 SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION

This is the user manual and system documentation of version 1.1

of the full-spectral first-development of the transport system

which focuses on the result and finance of a typical transport

system.

It includes general flows of the program that explain what goes

on in the system. The documentation guides users to navigate

through the system once the user enters the system. It also helps

remember details of the system. It also enables users’ effective

use of the system.

4.4.1 ABOUT THE SYSTEM

The initiative to develop the new computerized system is mainly

to tackle the problems of VVIP transport in the areas of ticket

booking and vehicle management. The online system would reduce

queues at the bus terminals when monies are being paid and the

staff including driver activity are collected. It’s an active

application which keeps drivers and administrators updated,

providing bills, timetables, notices and reports for proper

updates on activities in the company. It is intended that being

an administrator, driver, and client, should be able to access

the system at any given point in time and location as long as

38

there’s an access to the internet. The administrator would be

provided with information from all aspects of the system, the

drivers can easily input vehicle mileage and it’s made easy for

drivers.

4.4.2 USER MANUAL

This is very important as it helps users have an understanding of

the system. The user manual is put together to give users

guidelines about the system.

User manual provides important information on ‘how to use a

product’ to end-users, with proper use of a device there is less

risks or difficulties with its use. It usually comes with all

software and this system is not exempted. However this is not the

only benefit, though probably the biggest.

Here are the vital notes to be taken regarding this system:

Gaining entrance to the system, the user is expected to open any

web browser and type in the address into the URL.

The first page to pop up is the homepage where the user is

expected to choose from the list of account types in the system

(administrator, client, and driver). With the login, an email is

expected, which should include these two special characters

“@and.” and an easy to remember password of your choice.

4.4.3 ADMINISTRATOR

The administrator has access for to all aspects of the system.

The administrator also grants access to all users of the system

thereby ensuring security and integrity in the system.

The administrator gains access to the system by typing into the

URL of the preferred browser ‘vvip/pages’ after which he enters

39

his login details i.e. Username and password, access is granted

and he can perform the following activities:

Add users to the system (drivers, staff, etc.).

View client details which include client result, financial

information.

Receives reports from staffs.

Send reminders to drivers via SMS.

Manage all financial details.

4.4.3 CLIENT

Each client in this system is registered into the system is given

the login details (username and password). With these details the

client can have access to his or her profile in the system.

Clients can perform the following functions:

View and also print his bookings.

View his financial details.

View schedule timetable.

4.4.4 DRIVERS/STAFF

Staffs/drivers are also registered into the system by the

administrator, and with this detail he can perform his respective

duties in the system.

40

4.4.5 SOME SNAPSHOTS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

FIG 4.0 Homepage

The figure 4.0 above shows the homepage of the company’s where

the public can visit and learn about the services the company

renders.

41

FIG 4.1 LOGIN PAGE

The figure 4.1 above shows the portal which allows users both old

and new to access resources within the system through

authentication by username and password.

FIG 4.2 ADMINISTRATOR PANEL

The figure 4.2 above shows the Administering panel after the

Admin has login using username and password.

42

FIG 4.3 TICKET BOOKING PANEL

The figure 4.3 above helps customers to patronize online ticket

reservation.

FIG 4.4 TRACK SCHEDULER

43

The dashboard fig 4.4 above shows how to use the scheduler to

capture detail information about every bus. For instance, the

type of bus, destination, date and time of every trip. Also, it

enables management to preview the daily operational movement of

the buses for their decisions making.

Fig. 4.5

The figure 4.5 above shows how information content on the report

generating slip.

44

FIG 4.6 REPORT PREPARATION PORTAL

The figure 4.6 above shows the portal for computing varying

degrees of reporting from the system.

45

FIG 4.7 DRIVER INFORMATION DESK

The figure 4.7 above portrays detailed information about the drivers of the company.

4.5 CONCLUSION

Pilot running would be implemented for this system, because VVIP

has about five branches and therefore the new system can be

implemented at one of the branches and afterwards the others.

Also one can say because the old system is manual a direct

changeover can be done.

46

CHAPTER 5

RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

5.1 INTRODUCTION

In the course of this project, important facts that can be

incorporated were pointed out, areas such as adding SMS (short

messaging system), to help with convenience in communicating

information to parents at a timely pace. Another area noted and

implemented is the social network platform for students.

Initially drivers were to be given a default username and

password but another implementation is the ability for users to

change their password to a more convenient and secured one once

they are first logged in.

5.2 SUMMARY

Transport management system as explained all through the

documentation is a central place for making all types of

information accessible to an audience of varying range. We have

been able to meet up the standard of a well-built transport

management system. It works as a management information system

that holds details of vital activities in transporting. Transport

management is expected to efficiently satisfy the vital needs of

a typical transport company ranging from management of tickets,

vehicles, drivers details registration, vehicle tracking, and

short messaging services also known as S.M.S which is available

to relay information to administrators in a much more timely

manner unlike the email. This system will also perform

effectively on availability of internet access.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

Our recommendations for future research on this system is to

implement a platform for users to tract and join buses at vintage

47

points, updates be done on a daily bases to improve users

usability. As VVIP is a company with different branches, report

accumulation of all branches should be made possible. Also

trending with technology payment can be made through the system

without having to travel down to VVIP station.

5.4 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, all efforts put in place for the existence of this

system, provides a user friendly interface which helps users to

navigate effectively and efficiently through the system.

Alongside developing the system some corrections were made to

rectify different errors, errors such as logical error, semantic

errors, database errors, all these challenges were succumbed in

the development of this system.

48

REFERENCES:[1] Clark, Nancy L, (November 1994). Transportation and

Telecommunications. La Verle Berry

[2] McBride, J. R, (2002). Introduction to Systems

Analysis, Topic 19, Rapid Application Development. Prentice-Hall

[3] Wyrick, David A.; Chinweike, Eseonu I,

(2008).Integration of Automated Vehicle System Data Acquisition.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute

[4] Stopford, Martin, (1998). Maritime Economics. London.

Routledge.

[5] Commerce, Ghana.5th June, 2013. Adequate

Transportation.http://www.commerceghana.com/why-invest-in-ghana/t

ransportation-in-ghana

[6] Wikipedia.2014. transport.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/transport

[7] Ministry of

Transportation.2014.Transportation.www.mot.gov.gh

[8] Zorayda, R, (2003). E-commerce and E-Business.

Malaysia. e-ASEAN Task Force and the UNDP-APDIP Kuala Lumpur

[9] Opticon, (2009).Mobile Ticketing Solutions. Technical

Paper

[10] ISC(2010).www.isc.org

49

APPENDIX A-B<?php

class myDbClass {

public $mysql;

public $logged_in_user;

function __construct() {

//creating a new instanc eof mysqli class

//open database

$this -> mysql = new mysqli('localhost', 'dbuser',

'password', 'vvip') or die('There was a problem connecting to

the Database');

}

function __destruct() {

//close out the database connection

$this -> mysql -> close();

}

function ValidateUserData() {

if (isset($_POST['Submit2'])) {

$source = $_POST['source'];

50

$destination = $_POST['destination'];

$bustype = $_POST['bustype'];

$date = $_POST['datePicker'];

$deptime = $_POST['deptime'];

$passname = $_POST['passname'];

$mobile = $_POST['mobile'];

$gender = $_POST['gender'];

$_SESSION['source'] = $source;

$_SESSION['destination'] = $destination;

$_SESSION['bustype'] = $bustype;

$_SESSION['date'] = $date;

$_SESSION['deptime'] = $deptime;

$_SESSION['passname'] = $passname;

$_SESSION['mobile'] = $mobile;

$_SESSION['gender'] = $gender;

if ($source == "FROM" || $destination == "TO") {

echo "<h2>Please Select Correct

Destinations</h2><br>";

} elseif ($source == $destination) {

51

echo "<h2>Select Different Destinations</h2>";

} elseif (empty($date)) {

echo "<h2>Please Select Correct Date</h2> <br>";

} elseif (is_numeric($passname)) {

echo "<h2>Please Enter Correct name</h2> <br>";

} elseif (is_string($mobile)) {

echo "<h2>Please Enter Correct number</h2> <br>";

} else {

if ($bustype == "Luxury Bus") {

$this -> select_luxury_cost();

header('location:preview.php');

} elseif ($bustype == "Regular Bus)") {

$this -> select_regular_cost();

header('location:preview.php');

}

}

}

}

52