Booking Ticket in Reserved Accommodation of Transports involves the entry of passenger data.
This entry is mostly done manually in countries like India.
An alternative method using UID-based automatic entry is proposed to do away with the overhead in manual entry.
Will the latency be too significant in fetching passenger data from database using query services?
Basically, will the new system be preferable over the existing system of manual entry in highly populated countries like India where more than 6 hundred thousands of people travel in reserved accommodation in Indian Railways?
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I took a look at your attached paper, and it is clear that you have already anticipated many of the practical issues. (e.g. one person presents an ID but wants to check in six people). While there is no question that the merit of an automated data base look up by some kind of key (UID) is faster / better than manual entry, this system will only be useful and a practical substitute for traditional data entry IF it is available throughout the system and heavily engineered and designed to be resilient and capable.
A hybrid (some paper / some digital) record keeping system is a recipe for havoc. To imagine the design and organization of a capable system to do what needs to be done, I recommend examining air passenger ticketing.
To the list of potential headaches that you mention, I can add one more -- the frustration of people in a queue behind a customer who has a "problem" with their credentials. Are you going to keep a line of 20 - 30 people waiting while you sort this out? At least in the traditional system a manager could make a judgement call on the spot and override any glitch. The problem, as I see it, is that there will be enormous growing pains. The time to check a record through a data base look up will not be the main issue.
Suggestion: One of the benefits of a patented technology is that the invention is disclosed to the point that others can see how the system operates. You may be able to find some good parallels for example in US Telephony patents, where the idea of a central data base accessed with a "key" (or even better a spatial key) can be used to retrieve ancillary data from a network.
Thank you so much Morton for your suggestion.
You have rightly pointed out the key shortfall of the system and your suggestion is definitely a valid context in my country India.
However I think implementing this hybrid system (as you rightly suggested) should be the primary step towards digitization of the reservation procedures.
With due course and better familiarity of the passengers in the digital environment, digitized methods can increase its share.
Thanks again for your views. It really helped.
PARAG ([email protected])
M.Sc. Student Computer Science
St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, INDIA
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