CITY PARKING SERVICES WITH AREA BASED LOYALTY PROGRAMS

• US 20150066607A1
• Filed: 11/06/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mentis Services France
• Original Assignee: Societe Stationnement Urbain Developpements et Etudes
• Inventors: Fiorucci, Jean-Louis, Rowe, Richard E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,842,346 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0457 the tickets being sent electronically
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/047 using payment protocols involving electronic receipts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/127 Shopping or accessing services according to a time-limitation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0234 Rebates after completed purchase
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0235 constrained by time limit or expiration date
• 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 17/242 provided with token dispensing devices
• 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 1/005 including pedestrian guidance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/133 within the vehicle ; Indicators inside the vehicles or at stops
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/144 on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/147 where the parking area is within an open public zone, e.g. city centre
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 : Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 : for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 : for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Apparatus and methods related providing city services, such as parking, are described. Methods and apparatus for providing parking rewards programs are described. The methods and apparatus can include maintaining accounts for participants in the rewards program, tracking purchases of parking and other participant activities and determining parking awards based upon the activities. The parking rewards programs can be used to incentivize behaviors that balance the use of the parking space commodity according to the needs of different stakeholders, such as the city, residents, merchants and visitors. For example, parking awards and the criteria used for earning awards can be used to encourage particular behaviors while a parking space is being utilized, such as shopping, the use of public transportation or efficient trip planning.

Claims

1. A parking system comprising:

a plurality of parking sensors, each parking sensor including a sensor configured to detect a presence of a vehicle in an area proximate to the sensor, a power supply and a first communication interface configured to communicate parking sensor information associated with the presence of the vehicle to a parking base station;

the parking base station including a processor, a memory, a power supply, a second communication interface configured to receive the parking sensor information from the plurality of parking sensors, a wireless communication interface configured to communicate wirelessly with nearby mobile devices including receiving parking transaction information from the nearby mobile devices, a third communication interface to communicate the parking transaction information and the parking sensor information to a remote server, wherein the parking base station is configured to receive, from a first mobile device, first parking transaction information to purchase parking for a time period and a unique identifier associated with the first mobile device to the remote server via the third communication interface;

a first electronic device configured to wirelessly communicate, over a short distance, unique activity information to mobile devices including transmitting a first unique activity code to the first mobile device; and

the remote server, including a second processor and a second memory, configured to maintain a plurality of user accounts, receive the parking transaction information including the first parking transaction information and the unique identifier associated with the mobile device and the parking sensor information from the parking base station, receive from the first mobile device the first unique activity code, based upon the unique identifier associated with the first mobile device, identify a first user account from among the plurality of user accounts, based upon the first unique activity code, determine a parking activity occurred during the time period and based upon the determination, store a parking reward to the first user account.

2. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the short distance is less than four centimeters.

3. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is configured to communicate using a near-field communication protocol.

4. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is located on a bus or a train.

5. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is located proximate to a location where a government service is provided.

6. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is further configured to generate a time signal which is wirelessly communicated to the first mobile device.

7. The parking system of claim 6, wherein, based upon the time signal, the remote server is configured to determine the unique activity information is received during the time period.

8. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device is configured to receive the unique identifier associated with the first mobile device and send the unique identifier to the remote server.

9. The parking system of claim 8, wherein the remote server is further configured to determine the parking activity occurred during the time period based upon the unique identifier received from the first electronic device.

10. The parking system of claim 1, wherein a first parking sensor among the plurality of parking sensors is configured to communicate with a second parking sensor among the plurality of parking sensors.

11. The parking system of claim 1, wherein a first parking sensor among the plurality of parking sensors is configured to communicate with the first mobile device.

12. The parking system of claim 11, wherein the first parking sensor is configured to directly communicate parking sensor information associated with the presence of the vehicle to the first mobile device.

13. The parking system of claim 1, wherein a first parking sensor among the plurality of parking sensors includes a camera.

14. The parking system of claim 13, wherein the presence of the vehicle is based upon image data received from the camera.

15. The parking system of claim 1, wherein the remote server is configured to receive location information from the first mobile device and select the parking award based upon the location information.

16. The parking system of claim 15, wherein the location information is determined from a GPS sensor located on the first mobile device.

17. The parking system of claim 15, wherein the location information is determined based upon a known location of the first electronic device that is transmitted to the remote server via the first mobile device.

18. The parking system of claim 1, wherein a first parking sensor among the plurality of parking sensors includes a pollution sensor.

19. The parking system of claim 18, wherein the first parking sensor is configured to transmit pollution data associated with the pollution sensor to the remote server via the first mobile device.