Method for highway congestion management using dynamic paid upgrade for automobiles to use fast lanes

• US 20030020634A1
• Filed: 07/26/2001
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath, Banerjee, Dwip N., Patel, Kamal Chandrakant
• Application Number:
  US09/915,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20030020634A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/928
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/065 by counting the vehicles in a section of the road or in a parking area, i.e. comparing incoming count with outgoing count

Abstract

A method, program, and system for managing traffic flow on a road system are provided. The invention comprises associating a user fee with a particular lane on a road, monitoring all vehicles within the lane, and charging the user fee to all vehicles within the lane. In one embodiment, monitoring vehicles within the designated lane is done by means of radio frequency A identification (RFID) readers which interrogate transponders within a vehicle and identify the driver or vehicle. The driver/vehicle is associated with a user account and the user fee is charged directly to the account.

Claims

1. A method for managing traffic flow on a road system, the method comprising:

associating a user fee with a particular lane on a road;

identifying a vehicle within the lane by means of radio frequency identification (RFID), wherein a RFID reader interrogates a transponder within the vehicle, and wherein RFID is used to track the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling within the lane;

associating the vehicle with a user account; and

charging the user fee directly to the user account.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

alerting enforcement officials if the vehicle cannot be associated with a valid user account.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein RFID readers are placed in the surface of the road at set distance intervals.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user fee is in proportion to the total distance a vehicle travels within the lane.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user fee varies with the time of day.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user fee varies with the day of the week.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user fee varies according to current traffic flow.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an in-vehicle information system (IVIS) which provides user fee information to drivers.

9. The method according to claim 9, wherein the IVIS combines user fee information with routing and navigation information.

10. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system, for managing traffic flow on a road system, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for associating a user fee with a particular lane on a road;

instructions for identifying a vehicle within the lane by means of radio frequency identification (RFID), wherein a RFID reader interrogates a transponder within the vehicle, and wherein RFID is used to track the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling within the lane;

instructions for associating the vehicle with a user account; and

instructions for charging the user fee directly to the user account.

11. The computer program product according to claim 10, further comprising:

instructions for alerting enforcement officials if the vehicle cannot be associated with a valid user account.

12. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the user fee is in proportion to the total distance a vehicle travels within the lane.

13. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the user fee varies with the time of day.

14. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the user fee varies with the day of the week.

15. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the user fee varies according to current traffic flow.

16. The computer program product according to claim 10, further comprising instructions for providing in-vehicle user fee information to drivers.

17. The computer program product according to claim 16, wherein the user fee information is combined with navigation and routing information.

18. A system for managing traffic flow on a road system, the system comprising:

a first register which associates a user fee with a particular lane on a road;

a identification component which identifies a vehicle within the lane by means of a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader which interrogates a transponder within the vehicle, wherein RFID is used to track the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling within the lane;

a second register which associates the vehicle with a user account; and

a third register which charges the user fee directly to the user account.

19. The system according to claims 18, further comprising:

an alert mechanism which alerts enforcement officials if the vehicle cannot be associated with a valid user account.

20. The system according to claim 18, wherein RFID readers are placed in the surface of the road at set intervals.

21. The system according to claim 18, further comprising an in-vehicle information system (IVIS) which provides user fee information to drivers.