Oh boy! Another acronym... but I like this one AVL = Automatic Vehicle Locator. The Santa Rosa Fire Department has installed them on all 40 of their engines, cars and ambulances. These are GPS units that communicate their locations back to the dispatcher's office. Now with just a mouse click or glance at a computer screen the dispatcher can find the location of a vehicle. This can cut the response time to an accident or fire scene by several minutes if a vehicle is already nearby. The cost was about $15,000 per vehicle.
Read more at
KCRA News
# posted by MapWatch @ Monday, July 19, 2004
