Current GPS tracking growth this year continues to take place through the satellite development and launching activities up beyond the air. As accuracy continues to improve and technology enables even more widespread coverage through the efforts of governments around the world, users on the ground level also continue to increase—for personal, commercial, and military uses. Despite the ongoing concerns and debates over the appropriateness of GPS tracking and its applications, statistics seem to prove that usage continues to increase. And at the local government level, pressure to equip fleets with GPS also continues to increase.
According to a report in 2007, 17% of all American adults owned and used GPS devices. Among these users, 67% possessed devices that were portable or hand-held. Only 25% were using built-in devices.
Just a few years later, the sales of cell phones equipped with GPS increased dramatically and car companies began to include more models with built-in GPS systems. Recreational activities and social networking using GPS tracking seems to positively affect the overall integration of GPS tracking into the everyday life of Americans. Rare is the purchase, these days, of a phone or electronic device without wifi-enabled GPS or a built-in navigating system. Tracking becomes an easy “next step” for users already interfacing with GPS systems in multiple ways.
In fact, the tracking of teen drivers has now become so popular that companies offering technology options abound and the safety benefits for this personal application of GPS technology are becoming widely accepted.
Commercial Tracking
As fleet GPS tracking has become increasingly popular, the uses for GPS on a commercial level continue to be explored and applied. Now considered an essential aspect of management and accuracy, the following commercial fleets in America commonly include GPS tracking—of both the vehicles and their drivers:
- Public transportation
- Heavy equipment
- Trailers
- Trucking
- Community service
- School buses
With companies providing fleet tracking services with the latest technology, commercial GPS tracking can take place on a small or large scale for any business owner who is concerned about keeping accurate data on company vehicles.
Town & Country County Tracking
For some, the stigma associated with being tracked seems to be the issue; primarily used as a tool to catch or record misbehavior, GPS tracking implies suspicion of some type or another—whether irresponsibility, immaturity, or criminal activity. However, in many counties already equipping their vehicles with GPS tracking, significant improvement in response efforts and coordinated teamwork were among the major motivations for implementing the systems.
Citizens sometimes object to the outfitting based on a mistrust of the local government’s use of the data—and, of course, the cost involved. In a recent announcement from a county in California, for example, the estimated cost of equipping an entire fleet of 44 county vehicles and maintaining the equipment for a year was $33,000.
Tracking the Benefits
Although taxpayers may cringe, teenagers resist, and equipment operators object, GPS tracking growth on ground level has just begun. And the benefits are barely getting started too.
Maintaining a focus on the three major groups above, just a few of these benefits include accurate data, precise vehicle diagnostic information, immediate emergency assistance, and drastically enhanced communication systems between backups and collaborators.
| Benefits | Primary Benefited Users | Additional Equipment |
| History of data | Teenage drivers Fleet drivers County employees | Software |
| Diagnostics | Fleet drivers County employees | Software Chip |
| Emergency Assistance | Teenage drivers Fleet drivers | None |
| Improved Communication | Fleet drivers County employees | Dependant on needs |
GPS tracking growth doesn’t necessarily indicate mistrust. As transportation continues to explode in this modern world, keeping that transportation and activity as safe and effective as possible is a natural outgrowth of where the technology of our culture is going.
With the ongoing research and development of the latest satellites and the increasing applications of GPS tracking, private lives will continue to become more public and accountability for trust and responsibility heightened. But the essential characters and reputations of those individuals who keep America on the move and progressing will remain individual. Those who continue to perform with outstanding diligence could rise to the top more quickly as technology comes to their aid, helping them to find even more ways to reach goals safely and efficiently.
Growth of GPS on the Ground Level
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