Automatic Vehicle Location is a means for determining the location of a vehicle and transmitting this information to a point where it can be used.
Most commonly, the location is determined using GPS, and the transmission mechanism is a radio or cellular connection from the vehicle to a receiver or nearby cell tower. Some other possibilities for determining location are dead reckoning, inertial determination, or RFID (radio frequency id) readers.
Automatic Vehicle Location is a powerful tool for managing fleets of vehicles, from service vehicles, emergency vehicles, and construction equipment, to public transport vehicles (buses and trains).