Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol

By Mentor Engineering

The Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) reduces traffic congestion by providing roadside assistance and towing services, free of charge, to stranded motorists on over 540 miles of the Bay Area's freeways.

The FSP services a large portion of the Bay Area's highways and, without a method to track vehicles, it was difficult to ensure the 90 contracted tow trucks were consistently patrolling their beat. The three coordinating agencies also relied on tedious and error-prone hand-written daily service reports, while unreliable radio and data systems created communication difficulties amongst the agencies.

The FSP wanted to implement an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system to ensure drivers were patrolling their routes as contracted. Also, in order to maintain accurate records, the FSP wanted the daily service reports to be sent directly from the driver's vehicles to a central data portal. This would give all three agencies access to correct, up-to-date, and easy-tofind statistical data when needed.