U.S. patent application number 15/913052 was filed with the patent office on 2018-07-12 for method and apparatus for sharing toll charges among several toll service subscribers.
The applicant listed for this patent is GEOTOLL, INC.. Invention is credited to Jaime Andres Borras, WYATT DRAKE GEIST, Timothy J. McGuckin.
Application Number | 20180197265 15/913052 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 61257884 |
Filed Date | 2018-07-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180197265 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GEIST; WYATT DRAKE ; et
al. |
July 12, 2018 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SHARING TOLL CHARGES AMONG SEVERAL TOLL
SERVICE SUBSCRIBERS
Abstract
A method for apportioning a vehicular toll among toll service
subscribers in a vehicle can include determining a number of
occupants in the vehicle in order to determine a toll amount, and
dividing the toll amount among the toll service subscribers in the
vehicle. The method can also detect the number of occupants and/or
toll service subscribers in the vehicle automatically, or by
prompting toll service subscribers to enter the number of
occupants.
Inventors: |
GEIST; WYATT DRAKE; (Davie,
FL) ; Borras; Jaime Andres; (Pembroke Pines, FL)
; McGuckin; Timothy J.; (Cooper City, FL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
GEOTOLL, INC. |
Cooper City |
FL |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
61257884 |
Appl. No.: |
15/913052 |
Filed: |
March 6, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14032956 |
Sep 20, 2013 |
9911169 |
|
|
15913052 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20130101;
G06Q 50/30 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 50/30 20060101
G06Q050/30; G06Q 10/00 20060101 G06Q010/00 |
Claims
1. A method of determining how to apportion tolls, comprising:
determining, by a first toll service subscriber, that the first
toll service subscriber is in a vehicle; determining, by a first
toll service subscriber, that there is at least one other toll
service subscriber in the vehicle; and indicating to a toll service
system by the first toll service subscriber a toll sharing
selection to share toll amounts among the first toll service
subscriber and the at least one other toll service subscriber.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first toll
service subscriber is in the vehicle is performed by detecting a
speed of the first toll service subscriber above a preselected
threshold speed.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first toll
service subscriber is in the vehicle is performed by the first toll
service subscriber linking with a wireless communication interface
of the vehicle.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the first toll
service subscriber is in the vehicle is performed by receiving a
message from the toll service system indicating that the first toll
service subscriber is co-located with the at least one other toll
service subscriber.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that there is at
least one other toll service subscriber in the vehicle is performed
by at least one of: using a near field communication protocol to
communicate with the at least one other toll service subscriber,
using a wireless local area network to communicate with the at
least one other toll service subscriber, using an ultrasonic
communication protocol to communicate with the at least one other
toll service subscriber, or receiving a message from the toll
service system indicating the presence of the at least one other
toll service subscriber.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that there is at
least one other toll service subscriber in the vehicle is performed
by receiving a user input identifying the at least one other toll
service subscriber.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a number
of occupants of the vehicle and transmitting the number of
occupants in the vehicle to the toll service system.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the number of
occupants of the vehicle comprises the first toll service
subscriber receiving a message over a wireless link with the
vehicle an indication of a number of seats occupied in the
vehicle.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the number of
occupants of the vehicle comprises receiving an input from a user
of the first toll service subscriber that indicates the number of
occupants.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the
first toll service subscriber, from the toll service system an
indication that the vehicle is approaching an access to a toll lane
on a roadway having both the toll lane and a non-toll lane and an
estimated travel time difference between the toll lane and the
non-toll lane; and displaying to a user of the first toll service
subscriber the estimated travel time savings.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the
toll service system at the first toll service subscriber, an
identifier; and the first toll service subscriber configuring an
associated toll tag to respond to a toll reader using the
identifier.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the identifier
comprises receiving an identifier that indicates to the toll reader
a number of occupants in the vehicle.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein indicating the toll sharing
selection is performed in response to receiving a prompt message
from the toll service system requesting the first toll service
subscriber to select either toll sharing or to refuse toll
sharing.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein indicating the toll sharing
selection indicates a proportion of toll that is to be debited to
an account corresponding to the first toll service subscriber.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the
first toll service subscriber, transaction information indicating
that a toll tag device associated with the first toll service
subscriber has been read by a toll reader; and transmitting the
transaction information to the toll service system.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE
[0001] This application claims the benefit of, and is a divisional
of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/032,956, filed Sep. 20,
2013, which is titled the same as this application, the entirety of
which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to vehicular toll
systems, and more particularly to dividing toll charges among
several entities using the same vehicle.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Tolls have long been used to fund the construction and
maintenance of roads. Such roads are often referred to as tollways.
Traditionally all vehicles travelling on a road where tolls are
charged had to stop at toll stations in toll plazas located along
the tollway at intervals and pay a toll. Toll stations were either
automated or manned, and required payment in cash. Accordingly,
payment of tolls required vehicles to stop and pay, causing
congestion and delay at each toll plaza.
[0004] In recent years toll agencies have been increasingly using
wireless technology to automate toll payment and speed up the
process to alleviate congestion at toll plazas. Wireless toll
payment has developed to the point that vehicles can drive under a
toll gantry at normal speed, without having to slow down. As
vehicles drive toward a toll gantry the vehicle is detected by the
toll system and a reader for the lane in which the vehicle is
travelling is activated, transmitting a reader signal. A toll tag
device in the vehicle receives and responds to the reader signal,
transmitting a tag identifier that is associated with a toll
account to which payment is charged. The owner of the toll tag
device is responsible for ensuring there are sufficient funds
available in the account. When a vehicle passes a toll gantry and
fails to respond to the reader signal, a photo of the vehicle,
taken as it passes the toll gantry, can be processed to acquire a
license number of the vehicle, and an infraction or citation can be
issued to the registered owner of the vehicle for payment.
[0005] The success of wireless, automated toll payment systems has
also recently been used to generate revenue along roadways that are
subject to periodic congestion merely due to the volume of traffic
at certain times by providing toll lanes alongside non-toll lanes
of the roadway. Typically the toll lanes have very restricted
access and limited exits, in part to prevent people from driving
around toll gantries. Thus, the toll lanes allow drivers a choice
to bypass much of the congestion in the non-toll lanes in exchange
for payment of the toll. Some toll agencies adjust the toll amount
based on the time of day or the amount of congestion in the
non-toll lanes, increasing the toll at times when there is high
congestion and reducing the toll when there is little to no
congestion in the non-toll lanes.
[0006] Toll lane expressways alongside non-toll lanes are, in part,
a response to the problems of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
In many jurisdictions, in an attempt to reduce congestion, HOV
lanes have been established for vehicles carrying more than one
occupant. These lanes typically do not have restricted access, and
while most people observe the HOV, solo drivers often take
advantage of the relatively empty HOV lane rather than staying in
the regular lanes, which tends to defeat the purpose of the HOV,
thus necessitating enforcement of HOV lanes. However, enforcement
of HOV lanes typically requires officers patrolling the HOV, often
stopping offenders during peak traffic hours. The presence of law
enforcement can aggravate congestion as offenders attempt to
quickly change lanes and other drivers slow down upon seeing law
enforcement vehicles patrolling HOV lanes, which further tends to
defeat the purpose of HOV lanes.
[0007] Ideally, jurisdictions would like to encourage people to
carpool or ride share, as well as offer toll lanes for drivers
willing to pay to avoid congested lanes in a way that requires
minimal enforcement activity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0008] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals
refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the
separate views, together with the detailed description below, are
incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to
further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed
invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those
embodiments.
[0009] FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a toll service system that
supports toll sharing in accordance with some embodiments;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a toll system diagram showing a mobile device that
enables wireless payment of tolls in accordance with some
embodiments;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram of a method for sharing toll
charges in accordance with some embodiments;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram of a method for detecting a
number of subscribers to share toll charges in accordance with some
embodiments;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram of a method for sharing tolls
in accordance with some embodiments;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram of a method for providing
travel time savings information of a high occupancy toll lane in
accordance with some embodiments; and
[0015] FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagram of a method for generating a
unique coded identifier for use in a toll system that provides toll
sharing in accordance with some embodiments.
[0016] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the
figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not
necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of
some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to
other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of
the present invention.
[0017] The apparatus and method components have been represented
where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing
only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the
embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the
disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description
herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The embodiments include a method of apportioning toll
payment that involves determining, at a toll service system, an
identity of each of a plurality of toll service subscribers located
together in a vehicle. Each toll service subscriber has a toll
account with the toll service system that is associated with each
toll service subscriber, respectively. The method further includes
receiving, at a toll service system from one of the toll service
subscribers, an indication of a toll transaction occurrence.
Responsive to receiving the indication of the toll transaction
occurrence, the toll service system debits the account of each toll
service subscriber in the vehicle for a portion of a toll amount
for the toll transaction.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a system 100 for operating a toll service and a
toll agency in accordance with some embodiments. A toll agency
refers to, typically, a governmental organization that has
established one or more toll roads or toll lanes that can include
toll plazas or toll stations, and collects tolls from vehicles,
vehicle owners, or others operating vehicles for use of the toll
roads. A toll service refers to an organization that manages toll
accounts for drivers and vehicle operators and owners, and
interfaces with the toll agency or agencies to ensure payment of
tolls collected through automatic wireless toll stations. People
can subscribe to the toll service and set up an account from which
funds can be withdrawn or debited to pay for tolls incurred by the
account holder using a vehicle or vehicles associated with the
account.
[0020] Accordingly, a vehicle 101 can contain one or more toll
service subscribers or subscriber devices 102, 103. As used herein,
the term toll service subscriber refers alternately either to a
small, portable computing device that includes one or more radio
transceivers or the person who uses such a device and subscribes to
a toll service, depending on the context. Examples of toll service
subscribers include, for example, cellular or "smart" phones,
tablet computing devices, personal digital assistants, and so on.
In addition to radio interface(s), a toll service subscriber 102
includes a graphical display and input means to allow a user of the
toll service subscriber 102 to interact with, and control operation
of the toll service subscriber 102, as well as memory and a
processor to execute program code for applications, programs,
operating systems, and other software elements, such as, for
example, a toll service application 118. The memory includes read
only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), and can include
other types of memory such as flash memory, and can include memory
expansion such as memory card slots. In some embodiments the toll
service subscriber 102 can be associated with an RFID tag device
104 to enable wireless toll transactions for payment of toll when
the vehicle 101 is travelling on tollways using wireless toll
payment systems.
[0021] The RFID tag device 104 contains identity information that
can be used for conducting wireless transactions. Accordingly, the
RFID tag device 104 includes at least two radio frequency (RF)
interfaces. A RF interface is a wireless radio interface and
includes an antenna and transceiver that operate according to a
defined protocol or air interface. The air interface defines
channel format, timing, modulation, and other aspect for radio
communication. The RFID tag device 104 includes a first RF
interface 107 to communicate with the toll service subscriber 102
via radio link 108, and a second RF interface 105 to communicate
with another device, such as an RFID reader 110, over radio link
112. The radio links 108, 112 indicate communication between the
devices over their respective RF interfaces. The RFID tag device
104 can be held against, or substantially close to the toll service
subscriber 102, such as by forming the RFID tag device 104 in the
form of a card with an adhesive layer to affix the RFID tag device
104 onto a surface (such as a back surface) of the toll service
subscriber 102 as indicated by arrows 106. In some embodiments the
toll service subscriber 102 and RFID tag device 104 communicate via
radio link 108 using a near field communication (NFC) protocol,
such as that specified by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) or International Electrotechnical Commission
standard (IEC) 18000-3 which has an effective range of about 10 cm
and operates at 13.56 MHz. Typically the NFC communication between
the toll service subscriber 102 and the RFID rag device 104 will be
encrypted for security purposes. In addition to exchanging data
over the radio link 108, the toll service subscriber 102 can power
the RFID tag device 104 via radio link 108. The energy of the NFC
signal from the toll service subscriber can be collected in the
RFID tag device and used to by the RFID tag device 104 to respond
to the toll service subscriber over link 108, as well as for RFID
operations via radio link 112. Radio link 112 between the RFID tag
device and RFID reader 110 can be a RFID interface, such as, for
example, that specified by ISO/IEC 18000-6C, ISO/IEC 18000-6B, the
Interagency Group (IAG) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) standard,
or other known RFID interface standards. In some embodiments, the
link 112 can be specifically configured to operate according to a
vehicular toll standard for use in wireless tollway systems. In
such embodiments, the RFID reader 110 can be a tollway reader that
is positioned over a traffic lane of a toll road. The RFID reader
110 includes an antenna and transceiver to support communications
with RFID tag devices, as is known. As the RFID tag device 104
passes by the reader 110, a signal from the reader 110 causes the
RFID tag device 104 to respond via link 112 with identification
information to identify the RFID tag device 104. Furthermore, the
reader 110 can, in some embodiments, transmit transaction
information to the RFID tag device 104 via link 112. The
transaction information can include information such as an
identification of the reader 110, location, a toll amount, the
time, and so on. In some embodiments the reader 110 does not
transmit transaction information to the RFID tag device 104, and
the RFID tag device 104 only indicates to the toll service
subscriber 102 that it has been read (i.e. that it has responded to
a reader signal).
[0022] The toll service subscriber 102 contains and executes a toll
service application 118 that allows the toll service subscriber 102
to facilitate toll transactions, including processing transaction
information received from the RFID tag device 104 or transaction
information generated by the toll service subscriber 102 upon
receipt of an indication of a transaction by the RFID tag device
104, and forwarding the transaction information to an account
server 122. The toll service application 118 also enables toll
sharing, allowing the toll service subscriber to share toll
payments with other toll service subscribers travelling in the same
vehicle 101, such as toll service subscriber 103. By sharing tolls
it is meant that each toll service subscriber 102, 103, is
responsible for a portion of the toll, where the sum total of the
respective toll portions paid by each toll service subscriber unit
102, 103 is equal to the toll amount.
[0023] In some embodiments the toll service subscriber 102
initializes the RFID tag device 104 via link 108 before the RFID
tag device 104 interacts with the RFID reader 110 via link 112. For
example, in a vehicular toll embodiment, the toll service
subscriber 102 can determine that the toll service subscriber 102
is approaching a known toll gateway location using location
information and road map data that indicates the location of toll
gateways. When the toll service subscriber 102, is within a
selected distance of a toll gateway, the toll service subscriber
102 can energize NFC link 108 to power up the RFID tag device 104.
As the toll service subscriber 102 and RFID tag device 104 pass
through the toll gateway, the toll transaction occurs over link
112, and the RFID tag device 104 transmits transaction information
to the toll service subscriber 102 via link 108. Any transaction
information received at the toll service subscriber 102 from the
RFID tag device 104 can be processed by the toll service
application 118, which can store the transaction information as
well as display the transaction information upon receipt of the
transaction information, or at a later time upon user request. Once
the RFID tag device 104 completes transmitting to the toll service
subscriber 102 subsequent to the transaction, the toll service
subscriber 102 can shut off the NFC link 108 to conserve battery
life of the toll service subscriber 102.
[0024] In some embodiments the toll service subscriber 102, in
addition to the radio interface to support radio link 108,
comprises another radio interface to communicate at farther
distances, such as a cellular transceiver for communicating over a
cellular radio telephony link 116 with a cellular telephony
infrastructure network 114. The cellular radio telephony link 116
is operated in accordance with a cellular data communications
standard, such as, for example, the Long Term Evolution (LTE)
standard, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), or code division
multiple access (CDMA), among other known standards. The toll
service subscriber 102 can transmit transaction information over
the cellular telephony radio link 116, through a wide area network
120, such as the Internet, to toll service 119 that includes one or
more backend servers 121 and one or more account servers 122. The
backend servers 121 provide toll services as described herein, and
the account servers maintain account information for an account 123
associated with each toll service subscriber 102, 103. The account
servers 122 can be linked to one or more banks 124 to maintain
funding for transactions applied to the account 123.
[0025] The toll service 119 can communicate with a back office
server 128 of a toll agency that is associated with reader 110 over
similar, if not the same, networks 126, 130. The back office server
128 logs transaction information and reconciles payment of funds
due with the toll service 119. Processing the transaction
information is typically performed by batch processing, although in
some embodiments it is contemplated that processing can be
performed on a per-transaction or per-occurrence basis. The toll
service 119 can verify transactions based on transaction
information received from the toll service subscriber 102 using
RFID device 104. The toll service subscribers 102, 103, in some
embodiments, can further include other radio interfaces such as,
for example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface, such
as that described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11 (a, b, g, n, etc.), and often
referred to as "WiFi." In some embodiments the toll service
subscriber 102 can use the near field communication interface 108
to communicate with another device besides the RFID tag device 104,
which can include a networked device that can forward transaction
information from the toll service subscriber 102 to the toll
service 119 so that payment can be reconciled with the toll agency
back office server 128 and debited to the account 123 in proportion
to the respective toll service subscriber's portion of the shared
toll.
[0026] It is contemplated that, in addition to sharing tolls, the
toll service subscribers 102, 103 can provide the toll service 119
with occupant count information indicating the number occupants in
the vehicle 101 (some occupants may not have toll service
subscribers). In toll systems where a discount is given on the toll
amount for vehicles with more than one occupant, the toll service
119 can inform the toll agency, via back office service 128, for
example, of the occupant count presently associated with the
identifier used by RFID tag device 104. In some embodiments the
toll agency can maintain an account service 129 that is
substantially similar to account server 122, or instead of the toll
service maintaining account server 122. A toll agency-maintained
account server 129 can manage accounts 131 for subscribers.
Alternatively, the toll service 119 can assert a discount upon
settling toll transactions with the toll agency. To prevent false
occupant counts (e.g. relying solely on the user of the toll
service subscriber 102), the toll service 119 can make
determinations to reduce the likelihood of false occupant counts
being used to obtain undeserved toll discounts. For example, the
toll service application 118 can report location information to the
toll service 119, which can then determine toll service subscribers
102, 103 which appear to be co-located and moving together. In some
embodiments the toll service application 118 can detect that it is
in a vehicle, such as by monitoring its own location and
determining that it is moving at a speed and along a roadway (using
a map service, for example) indicative of vehicular travel, or by
detecting the toll service subscriber 102 or 103 establishing a
wireless personal area network (PAN) link with the vehicle (e.g
using BlueTooth). To further discourage false occupant count
information being provided to the toll service 119, a law
enforcement application programming interface (API) can be provided
by the toll service 119 to allow law enforcement 125 to determine
how many occupants have been reported for a given vehicle.
[0027] FIG. 2 is a toll system diagram 200 showing a mobile device
that enables wireless payment of tolls in accordance with some
embodiments. A first vehicle 202 travels in a toll lane 203 and
carries one or more toll service subscribers 204. Vehicles travel
in the direction of arrow 206. A second vehicle 208 travels in a
non-toll lane 209. The toll lane 203 and non-toll lane 209 can be
separated by a barrier, as is known, to prevent vehicles in the
toll lane from switching into the non-toll lane before passing
through a toll station 248, and likewise to prevent vehicles in the
non-toll lane from changing into the toll lane once past the toll
station 248. The driver of the first vehicle 202 can decide to
drive in the toll lane 203 to avoid traffic congestion in the
non-toll lane 209. It will be appreciated that, although only one
toll lane 203 and non-toll lane 209 are illustrated here that there
can be additional lanes of both types of lanes 203, 209.
[0028] The toll service subscriber 204 can include several
components and subsystems, such as a controller 210 that is coupled
to a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 218, a cellular
telephony radio transceiver 212, and NFC transceiver 222, and
memory 214. An toll service application 216 can be stored in the
memory that is executed by the controller 210. The memory 214 can
represent an aggregation of different types of memory, including
ROM memory, RAM memory, bulk storage memory, flash memory, and so
on. The GPS receiver 218 can receive GPS signals 242 transmitted by
GPS satellites 240 to determine the location of the GPS receiver
218 as is known. The toll service application 216 can request
location information from the GPS receiver 218 to compare the
location of the GPS receiver 218 (and hence the location of the
toll service subscriber 204). As the toll service subscriber 204
gets within a certain distance of the toll station 248, the toll
service application 216 causes the toll service subscriber to turn
on the NFC transceiver 222 so that it transmits to an NFC RF
interface 226 on the RFID tag device 224, thereby providing power
(through the energy collector circuitry) to the RFID tag device
224. When the vehicle 202 then passes under the toll station 248, a
toll reader signal is received by an RFID interface 228 of the RFID
tag device 224, and the RFID tag device 224 responds to the reader
signal by transmitting the RFID information, including a
substantially unique identifier, to allow a toll charge to be
debited to an account or accounts associated with the identifier.
Once the RFID tag device 224 has been read by the toll station 248,
an indication of the transaction, including transaction
information, can be transmitted from the RFID tag device 224 to the
toll service subscriber 204 via the NFC RF interface 226.
[0029] The toll service subscriber can further include a wireless
local area network (WLAN) interface, often referred to as a WiFi
interface 230 that operates according to a known WLAN protocol such
as, for example, IEEE standard 802.11 a, b, g, n, etc. The toll
service subscriber 204 can further include a personal area network
(PAN) interface 232, such as, for example, a BlueTooth interface.
Additionally, or alternatively, the toll service subscriber 204 can
include an ultrasonic interface 234 for communicating using
ultrasonic acoustic signals. The toll service application 216 can
utilize the various interfaces 222, 230, 232, 234 to communicate
with other nearby (e.g. in the same vehicle) toll service
subscribers 236. Additionally, or alternatively, the toll service
application can query the vehicle system 238 using the PAN
interface 232, for example. The vehicle system 238 can respond to
the query with occupant information determined, for example, using
seat belt sensors or weight sensors in each seat. The occupant
information can be stored at the backend service of the toll
service and accessed by law enforcement personnel using, for
example, the law enforcement access 125 of FIG. 1. The toll service
application 216 can also prompt 220 a user to enter an occupant
count in some embodiments. The toll service application 216 can
report the occupant count information to the toll service for toll
discounts when using high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes (e.g. lane
203). Additionally, the toll service application 216 can receive
information from the toll service. The information can be received
over a cellular network 244 and can include, for example, expected
travel time savings 246 for using a toll lane compared to a
non-toll lane for a section of road that the vehicle 202 is
approaching, and the toll service application 216 can display or
announce the received travel time savings 246 to the user of the
toll service subscriber 204.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram of a method 300 for sharing
toll charges in accordance with some embodiments. At the start 302
one or more toll service subscribers are powered on and located in
a vehicle. Accordingly, the toll service subscribers can detect or
determine that they are located in a vehicle in process 304, by,
for example, determining movement indicative of vehicular travel,
determining that the movement is along a roadway using GPS
information and a mapping application, or by establishing a radio
link to a vehicle system, or by receiving a message from the toll
service indicating that the toll service subscriber appears to be
moving in a vehicle. The method 300 can then determine, in process
306, whether any toll service subscribers have selected or provided
a subscriber and/or occupant count of the occupants in the vehicle
to the toll service system. If an occupant count has been provided
the method proceeds to process 308 to determine the number of
occupant. That is, a toll service application can attempt to verify
the occupant count, such as by querying other toll service
subscribers in the vehicle, and/or the vehicle system to determine
the number of seats that are occupied in the vehicle. The method
then proceeds to process 310 where the method determines whether
the number of occupants provided matches the number detected. If
yes, then the method proceeds to process 320 where the method
determines whether a subscriber has selected or authorized toll
sharing. If so, then the method proceeds to process 326 where the
method charges toll amounts to each participating subscriber in
accordance with a prescribed proportion. The default proportion can
be each subscriber pays an equal share of the toll, but in some
cases several of the occupants may be paid for out of the same
account, thus increasing the proportion of toll paid by the
corresponding account, such as when, for example, both spouses car
pool with other subscribers. The proportions can be user selectable
in some embodiments. Returning to process 320, if toll sharing has
not been selected, then the method proceeds to process 328 where
the method charges the toll to one subscriber.
[0031] Returning to process 310, the method can alternatively
proceed from process 310 to process 312 where the method determines
whether the vehicle is approaching a HOT lane. If not, the method
can proceed to process 328 and charge a single subscribe for
non-HOT lane tolls. Alternatively, even non-HOT lane tolls can be
shared by the subscribers in the vehicle using substantially the
same processes. Returning to process 312, if the vehicle is
approaching a HOT lane, the method proceeds to process 314 where
the toll service system gathers travel time information for the HOT
and non-HOT lanes and transmits an estimated travel time savings to
the subscriber so that the subscriber can determine whether to
enter the HOT lane or not. In process 316 the method 300 determines
whether the vehicle has entered the HOT lane. If so, the method 300
proceeds to process 318 and can provide a discount based on the
number of occupants, and then proceed to process 326, described
previously. Returning to process 316, if the vehicle is not in a
HOT lane, the method can proceed to process 328. It is contemplated
that some tollways can charge a minimum toll in non-HOT lanes, and
allow users who car pool to receive a discount in HOT lanes.
[0032] Returning to process 306, if no subscriber has selected a
number of occupants, the method 300 proceeds to process 322 where
the method can prompt one or more subscribers to provide an
occupant count of the number of occupants in the vehicle.
Additionally, a proportion can be provided as to how to apportion
the toll charges to each subscriber in the vehicle that is
participating in the toll sharing. The method 300 can then proceed
to process 324, where the method 300 can receive the toll sharing
selection at the toll service system, which notes the selected
sharing. Any discounts for using HOT lanes can also be applied. The
method 300 then proceeds to process 326 to charge the subscribers
according to the selected sharing. Finally, once the payment
arrangement is decided, the method ends 330.
[0033] FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram of a method 400 for detecting
a number of subscribers to share toll charges in accordance with
some embodiments. The method 400 can commence from the start 402 by
determining that several toll service subscribers are moving
together in process 404. The determination can be made by the toll
service subscribers reporting to the toll service system that they
are moving. The method 400 can then proceed to process 406 where
the method determines if there is an ability for the toll service
subscribers to detect occupants in the vehicle (the number of
occupants can be different than the number of subscribers). If not,
the method proceeds to process 410 where the method 400 sends a
prompt from the toll service system to each subscriber in the
vehicle to accept toll sharing, and they can indicate a sharing
proportion. The method 400 then proceeds to process 430 where the
method 400 splits toll charges among the subscribers according the
selected proportion, or equally as a default. Returning to process
406, if there are occupant detection means available (e.g. querying
the vehicle system, ultrasonic communication, local low power radio
interface, and so on) the method 400 can proceed to process 408 to
determine if there is any toll service subscriber paired with the
vehicle system (e.g. using BlueTooth.TM.). If so, then it can be
assumed, in some embodiments, that the paired toll service
subscriber is the main account holder (412) and that the paired
toll service subscriber will be associated with an RFID tag device
used to perform wireless toll transactions and the method 400
proceeds to process 428. If, in process 408, there are no
subscribers paired to the vehicle system, the method 400 can
proceed to process 414 in an attempt to receive occupant count
information from the vehicle (e.g. seat belt, seat weight sensors).
If the vehicle system can provide the information, then the method
400 proceeds to process 434 and the seat information is used as the
occupant count. The method can optionally allow a user or
subscriber to verify the occupant count and toll sharing
proportions in process 428. The method 400 then proceeds to process
430, where the toll charges are split accordingly.
[0034] Returning to process 414, if the vehicle system cannot
provide seat sensor information, the method 400 can proceed to
processed 416, 420, and 424, which are each different means for
attempting to determine the number of subscribers in the vehicle.
In process 416 the method 400 attempts to use a NFC interface to
detect other subscribers in the vehicle. In process 420 the method
400 attempts to use a WiFi interface to detect other subscribers in
the vehicle. In process 424 the method 400 attempts to use
ultrasonic communication interface to detect other subscribers in
the vehicle. Processes 416, 420, 424 can be used alternately, or in
combination. If any of the processed 416, 420, 424 can be used,
they each can provide a count of other subscribers in corresponding
processes 418, 422, 426. Once a count of subscriber/occupants is
obtained the method 400 can optionally allow the count to be
verified or edited/adjusted in process 428. The method 400 then
proceeds to divide toll charges accordingly in process 430,
whereupon the method 400 ends at process 432.
[0035] FIG. 5 is a flow chart diagram of a method 500 for sharing
tolls in accordance with some embodiments. From the start 502 the
method 500 proceeds to determine that the toll service subscriber
is located in a vehicle, which can be performed by the toll service
application. The method 500 then determines if there is more than
one toll service subscriber in the vehicle in process 506. If not,
then the method merely apportions the entire toll amount for toll
charges to the one toll service subscriber. If there is more than
one toll service subscriber detected in process 506, the method 500
can proceed to process 508 to determine if the other toll service
subscriber(s) are sub-accounts of the same account. If so, then in
process 510 the main account is charged for all toll amounts. If
not all of the detected toll service subscribers are sub-account
holder, the method 500 proceeds to process 514 to determine if
there has been a selection of the number of occupants. If not, then
in some embodiments the method 500 can proceed to process 532 to
determine if the route being followed is a common route for one of
the toll service subscribers. A common route is one which is
frequently or regularly travelled by a subscriber. If so, then in
process 534 the method 500 can charge all toll amounts to the toll
service subscriber associated with the route. If several toll
service subscribers share the common route, the toll amount can be
split among them. If the route is not a common route, the method
500 can proceed to process 536 to determine whether any of the toll
service subscribers are paired with the vehicle system. If so, the
method can proceed to process 512 and charge the toll normally
(e.g. to one subscriber). If there is no toll service subscriber
paired with the vehicle system, the toll service system can prompt
each toll service subscriber to accept toll sharing, and allow the
subscribers to provide toll sharing proportions in process 538. The
method 500 can then proceed to process 540 where the method 500 can
divide toll amounts accordingly.
[0036] Returning to process 514, if the number of occupants is
selected or determined, the method 500 can proceed to process 516
to determine if the number of occupants selected matches with a
number of occupants determined to be in the vehicle (e.g. by
performing method 400). If so, the method 500 proceeds to process
520 to determine if sharing has been selected. If sharing has been
selected, then in process 522 the toll service subscribers are
charged equally, or in proportion as indicated. If sharing has not
been selected in process 520, then one subscriber account is
charged for the full toll amount, such as the subscriber who
entered the number of occupants.
[0037] Returning to process 516, the method 500 can alternatively
proceed to process 518 where the method 500 determines whether the
vehicle is approaching a HOT lane, or a tollway that has a HOT
lane. If not, then the method 500 proceeds to process 524 and one
subscriber is charged for tolls (or alternatively tolls are divided
among subscribers in the vehicle). If the vehicle is approaching a
HOT lane, the toll service system can gather traffic information
and determine a travel time savings that can be achieved using the
HOT lane instead of the non-HOT lanes. The method 500 can then
determine if the vehicle is in the HOT lane in process 526. If so,
then the number of occupants can be used to determine a toll
discount in process 530. If the vehicle is not in a HOT lane, then
the method 500 can default to process 524.
[0038] FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram of a method 600 for providing
travel time savings information of a high occupancy toll lane in
accordance with some embodiments. At the start 602, it has been
determined that the vehicle is approaching a HOT lane, meaning that
the vehicle is on a road way that, farther down the roadway from
where the vehicle is presently located, a HOT lane begins. Thus,
the method 600 provides travel time information for the HOT and
non-HOT lanes so the driver can determine which to use.
Accordingly, in response to determining that the vehicle is
approaching a HOT lane, the toll service system can gather traffic
information for the HOT and non-HOT lanes ahead using, for example,
data acquired from WAZE, NAVTEQ, or traffic.com APIs in process
604. If there is traffic information for the HOT lane in process
606, the method 600 proceeds to process 608, where the toll service
system can use a recent number ("X") of traffic times of the
non-HOT lanes (which can be adjacent the HOT lanes) and subtract
them from the a recent HOT lane travel time over the same distance.
The method 600 can then proceed to process 610 to find the largest
difference. In process 612 the method 600 determines if there is a
travel time savings. If there is no travel time savings, the method
600 can proceed to process 616 and report that there is no time
savings between the HOT and non-HOT lanes. If there is a
significant different in travel time, as determined in process 612,
then the method 600 can proceed to process 614 where the method 600
reports the largest different in times and the potential maximum
travel time saving the driver may expect by using the HOT lane.
[0039] Returning to process 606, if there isn't commercial traffic
reporting service available, the method 600 proceeds to process 618
where the method estimates velocity for the non-HOT lane based on
reported travel times (which can be reported to the toll service
system by other toll service subscribers using the non-HOT lane)
and the known distance. In process 620 the travel time for the HOT
lane can be estimated by assuming vehicles can travel at the speed
limit of the HOT lane. In process 622 the method 600 can subtract
the reported or detected HOT lane estimated travel time from the
travel times reported for the non-HOT lanes, and the difference is
reported to the toll service subscribers as the amount of time that
can be potentially saved by using the HOT lane. Once the time
savings (if any) is provided to the toll service subscriber, the
method 600 can then terminate 624.
[0040] FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagram of a method 700 for
generating a unique coded identifier for use in a toll system that
provides toll sharing in accordance with some embodiments. In
embodiments where a configurable RFID tag device is used, the toll
service subscriber can configure the RFID tag device with a unique
identifier that can be obtained from the toll service system. At
the start 702 a toll service subscriber can determine that an
identifier is needed. In process 704 the toll service system can
receive a request for an identifier from a toll service subscriber,
including a count of the number of occupants in the vehicle. In
process 706 the method 700 can generated a coded unique identifier
that is then associated with one or more subscriber accounts. The
coded unique identifier can include coded information that
indicates the number of occupants in the vehicle. In process 708
the toll service system can transmit the coded unique identifier to
the toll service subscriber. In process 710 the toll service
subscriber can configure an associated RFID tag device with the
coded unique identifier, where, upon the RFID tag device receiving
a read signal when passing a toll station, the RFID tag device will
respond with the coded unique identifier, which is recorded by the
toll agency for later toll settlement. The coded unique identifier
can be decoded by the toll agency to determine the number of
occupants in the vehicle and charge a corresponding discounted
toll. Once the RFID tag device is configured, the method 700 can
then terminate 712.
[0041] The embodiments described herein provide the benefit
determining the number of occupants in a vehicle that is using a
toll lane, as well as the ability to split the toll amount among
the occupants or subscribers in the vehicle. In some embodiments
the toll is not split, but rather charged to a single toll service
subscriber account, although the toll amount can be discounted
based on the number of occupants in the vehicle. This allows
roadway authorities who operate a toll agency the ability to reward
high occupancy vehicles with toll discounts (including a total
exemption), and it allows travelers the ability to reduce the
amount of toll they each pay by apportioning the toll amount(s)
among several others. In some embodiments the detection of other
toll service subscribers and occupants in the vehicle can be
automatic, and in some embodiments the detection can involve a
manual process where one or more toll service subscriber users
enter the number of occupants into their respective toll service
subscriber or subscriber device for transmission to the toll
service system.
[0042] In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have
been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art
appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made
without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in
the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to
be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and
all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope
of present teachings.
[0043] The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any
element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to
occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a
critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all
the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims
including any amendments made during the pendency of this
application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
[0044] Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first
and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to
distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action
without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such
relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms
"comprises," "comprising," "has", "having," "includes",
"including," "contains", "containing" or any other variation
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that
a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,
includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those
elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or
inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element
proceeded by "comprises . . . a", "has . . . a", "includes . . .
a", "contains . . . a" does not, without more constraints, preclude
the existence of additional identical elements in the process,
method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes,
contains the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or
more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms
"substantially", "essentially", "approximately", "about" or any
other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood
by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting
embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, in another
embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in
another embodiment within 0.5%. The term "coupled" as used herein
is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and not
necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is
"configured" in a certain way is configured in at least that way,
but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.
[0045] It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be
comprised of one or more generic or specialized processors (or
"processing devices") such as microprocessors, digital signal
processors, customized processors and field programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs) and unique stored program instructions (including
both software and firmware) that control the one or more processors
to implement, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuits,
some, most, or all of the functions of the method and/or apparatus
described herein. Alternatively, some or all functions could be
implemented by a state machine that has no stored program
instructions, or in one or more application specific integrated
circuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of
certain of the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of
course, a combination of the two approaches could be used.
[0046] Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a
computer-readable storage medium having computer readable code
stored thereon for programming a computer (e.g., comprising a
processor) to perform a method as described and claimed herein.
Examples of such computer-readable storage mediums include, but are
not limited to, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a
magnetic storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM
(Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory) and a Flash memory. Further, it is expected that
one of ordinary skill, notwithstanding possibly significant effort
and many design choices motivated by, for example, available time,
current technology, and economic considerations, when guided by the
concepts and principles disclosed herein will be readily capable of
generating such software instructions and programs and ICs with
minimal experimentation.
[0047] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the
reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.
It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to
interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition,
in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various
features are grouped together in various embodiments for the
purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure
is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the
claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly
recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect,
inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single
disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby
incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim
standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
* * * * *