The effect of I-Button linked VTS on road traffic safety productivity

The occurrence of road traffic accidents is one of the major challenges facing the road-transport sector globally, causing deaths and injuries, and financial loss. As a strategy to respond to road traffic accidents, most countries have introduced various vehicle management systems such as I-Button Linked Vehicle Tracking System (I-Button linked VTS) to improve road transport safety. This study assesses the effect of the I-Button linked VTS on road traffic safety productivity. In order to achieve the study objective, the MPI-DEA model is deployed to give a comparable road traffic safety efficiency change, road traffic safety technological change, and productivity change between the VTS and I-Button linked VTS based on the secondary data collected from the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) and Traffic Police Department in Tanzania over the period 2017–2024. The study reveals improvement in road traffic safety (i.e. decrease in road traffic accidents) in the awake of adoption of I-Button VTS since MPI > 1. This is evidenced by the lower rate of road traffic safety technological change attained by the I-Button linked VTS when compared with the VTS. On the other hand, both systems reveal consistency in operational efficiency due to attaining an equal road traffic safety efficiency change (EFFCH = 1). The results reveal that the I-Button linked VTS is not properly managed and used appropriately by the key stakeholders (i.e. regulator and drivers). More specifically, the I-Button linked VTS has not significantly minimized the road transport drivers’ malpractices. The findings call all stakeholders to take corrective actions in order to realize the maximum value of the I-Button when connected with the VTS.