PARKING MANAGEMENT

• US 20120130872A1
• Filed: 11/22/2010
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BAUGHMAN, Aaron K., GRAHAM, Barry M., HAMILTON, Rick A. II, O'CONNELL, Brian M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,460,623 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/246 provided with vehicle proximity-detectors detecting hidden masses, e.g. metal detectors, G01V, e.g. G01V3/00; proximity switches per se H03K17/00; traffic control systems G08G1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space

Abstract

A parking management approach includes associating a payment source with a vehicle identifier. The approach also includes receiving a message indicating initiation of a parking event at a parking location, and updating a parking database to indicate that a vehicle having the vehicle identifier is parked at the parking location. The message includes an identification of at least one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier.

Claims

1. A parking management method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable to:

associate a payment source with a vehicle identifier;

receive a message indicating initiation of a parking event at a parking location, wherein the message includes an identification of at least one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier; and

update a parking database to indicate that a vehicle having the vehicle identifier is parked at the parking location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the vehicle identifier comprises a license plate number or vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle; and

the payment source comprises one of;

a credit card, a debit card, and a prepaid funds card.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving the message comprises receiving the message from a parking location computing device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the parking location computing device obtaining information associated with one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier during the initiation of the parking event.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the obtaining the information comprises one of:

reading a magnetic strip of a payment card;

reading a radio frequency identification tag; and

reading a bar code.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving input defining a specified duration of the parking event, and wherein the message indicates the specified duration of the parking event.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the updating the parking database comprises updating the parking database to reflect the specified duration of the parking event.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an enforcement message indicating a parked vehicle identifier of a parked vehicle;

determining a status of the parked vehicle as one of;

validly parked and invalidly parked; and

transmitting a status message indicating the status of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the enforcement message is received from an enforcement computing device; and

the status message is transmitted to the enforcement computing device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining the status of the parked vehicle comprises comparing the parked vehicle identifier to vehicle identifiers stored in the parking database.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a notification to a user associated with the payment source and vehicle identifier, wherein the notification indicates that an already paid for parking time is about to expire or has expired.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request from the user to purchase the additional parking time in response to the notification; and

updating the parking database to reflect the additional parking time.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the vehicle has left the parking location; and

updating the parking database to reflect that the vehicle is no longer parked at the parking location.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining when the vehicle left the parking location;

comparing an actual time parked at the parking location to a paid-for parking time, based on when the vehicle left the parking location; and

performing one of;

refunding the payment source when the paid-for parking time exceeds the actual parking time, and charging the payment source when the actual parking time exceeds the paid for parking time.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a price for parking at the parking location based on at least one of:

features of the vehicle, time of day, weather, promotions or subsidies, and convenience of the parking location.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying the determined price to a user of the vehicle during the initiation of the parking event.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by the service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

19. A method of deploying a system for parking management, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure, that operates to;

associate a user with a vehicle;

receive a message indicating a current location of the vehicle;

determine available parking spots within a predefined area around the current location of the vehicle; and

transmit a message indicating the determined available parking spots to the user.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining available parking spots comprises analyzing a parking database.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the determining available parking spots is based on at least one of:

pre-defined user preferences, and historical parking data associated with the user.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a message indicating a selected one of the available parking spots;

reserve the selected one of the available parking spots for the user; and

update the parking database to reflect the reserving.

23. A system implemented in hardware, comprising:

a computing device including a parking manager application that operates to;

associate a payment source with a vehicle identifier;

receive an identification of at least one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier when a parking event is initiated at a parking location; and

update a parking database to indicate that a vehicle having the vehicle identifier is parked at the parking location.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

associate a payment source with a vehicle identifier;

receive a message indicating initiation of a parking event at a parking location, wherein the message includes an identification of at least one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier;

determine a price for parking at the parking location based on at least one of;

features of a vehicle having the vehicle identifier, time of day, weather, promotions or subsidies, and convenience of the parking location;

display the determined price to a user of the vehicle during the initiation of the parking event; and

update a parking database to indicate that the vehicle is parked at the parking location;

wherein the vehicle identifier comprises a license plate number or vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle; and

the payment source comprises one of;

a credit card, a debit card, and a prepaid funds card;

the message indicates a specified duration of the parking event; and

the updating the parking database comprises updating the parking database to reflect the specified duration of the parking event.

25. A computer system for parking management, the system comprising:

a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to associate a payment source with a vehicle identifier;

second program instructions to receive data defining of at least one of the payment source and the vehicle identifier when a parking event is initiated at a parking location; and

third program instructions to update a parking database to indicate that a vehicle having the vehicle identifier is parked at the parking location,

wherein the first, second and third program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.