GPS Tracking Technology Provides Whereabouts of Boats in New York Harbor
19 Mar 2015Vessels and ferries off the New York Harbor go digital with real-time GPS tracking data, provided by city officials.
Just off Staten Island, New Yorkers wait for their ferry boats, but really have no idea when exactly they will dock. However, that is all about to change as the city has approved GPS tracking of the ferries.
Passengers will be able to see where the ferries are at the harbor and when they are waiting at the terminals. The system is being called the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is also used inside the ferryboats managed by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
“DOT decided to install the AIS to allow passengers to see where the ferries were in the harbor while waiting for them at the terminals,” a spokesman for DOT said,
The tracking units on the ferries and other vessels will show the movement of the boats about every five minutes. The GPS vessel tracking website will house a map that is refreshed every 60 seconds to show any change that might have taken place in their location.
AIS was originally developed in the 1990s, when it was added to the previously-used marine radar systems. It was meant to avoid collisions with other vessels by showing the position, name and course of other vessels near the harbor. The vessels are shown as arrows, with the colors of these triangles reflecting the approximate speed of them. A 6-sided polygon (hexagon) depicts vessels stopped.There will be another screen installed at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan in the near future.
The ferries are not the only vessels being tracked with GPS; the same GPS tracking system is also being used for construction vessels at the New York Bridge. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo made the announcement recently that they are starting a GPS system to track the construction vessels around the NY Bridge and harbor. Like the ferries, there will be an interactive map that shows their locations and approximate arrival time at the Hudson River. This lets boaters stay away from an active and potentially dangerous construction one.
Their vision for the construction vessels being tracked is to provide a safer experience for personal and commercial boaters while the crews are working on the new bridge in New York. Cuomo said during his announcement,
“Every precaution we take on this active work one will not only help keep people safe, but will also keep the project on-schedule and ultimately provide drivers with a less-congested commute and a safer bridge to get where they need to go,” commented Cuomo commented.
There are also other safety enhancement being introduced, including GPS tracking of their barges, a training program for deckhands, safety zone around mooring locations provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, and better marine law enforcement patrols.
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