Method, system, and storage medium for integrating vehicle management, transportation and communications functions

• US 6,958,709 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2003
• Issued: 10/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Buck, Carl Martin, Schmidt, Leonard Frederick III, Izbicki, Michael Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Tweel, Jr., John
• Application Number:
  US10/631,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20040088104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 340/994, 340/989, 340/991, 701/23, 701/25, 701/26, 701/201
• US Class Current: 340/994
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

A vehicle management system includes a vehicle location system providing location information indicative of a location of a vehicle. A integrated transportation management tool is coupled to the vehicle location system and receives the location information. The integrated transportation management tool initiates a course of action in response to the location information. The course of action may include altering at least one of speed, capacity and route of the vehicle. Passenger information may also be used by the integrated transportation management tool to determine the course of action. Multiple integrated transportation management tools may be coupled by a network to provide distributed management of vehicles.

Claims

1. A transit vehicle management system for coordinating movement of passengers and vehicles to carry them comprising:

a vehicle location system providing location information indicative of a location of a transit vehicle for carrying passengers;

a passenger status system for monitoring said passengers awaiting arrival of said vehicle at a station and generating passenger information indicative of a number of passengers waiting;

an integrated transportation management tool in communication with said vehicle location system and said passenger status system, said integrated transportation management tool receiving said location information and passenger information indicative of a number of passengers awaiting said vehicle;

said integrated transportation management tool initiating a course of action relative to said vehicle or said passengers in response to said location information and said passenger information.

2. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said passenger status system comprises cameras for monitoring said passengers.

3. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said course of action includes revising a vehicle schedule in response to said location information and said passenger information.

4. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating a public address system in response to said location information and said passenger information.

5. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating communications with said vehicle in response to said location information and said passenger information.

6. The vehicle management system of claim 5 wherein:

said course of action includes sending an instruction to alter speed.

7. The vehicle management system of claim 5 wherein:

said course of action includes sending an instruction to increase capacity.

8. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating communications with a vehicle control system in response to said location information to automatically alter at least one of speed, capacity and route of said vehicle.

9. The vehicle management system of claim 1 wherein:

said integrated transportation management tool detects or predicts a condition, said course of action being determined in response to said location information and said condition.

10. A method for coordinating movement of passengers and transit vehicles to carry them comprising:

obtaining location information indicative of a location of a transit vehicle for carrying passengers using a vehicle location system;

monitoring said passengers awaiting arrival of said vehicle at a station and generating passenger information indicative of a number of passengers waiting using a passenger status system;

automatically initiating a course of action relative to said vehicle or said passengers in response to said location information and said passenger information.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein:

said course of action includes revising a vehicle schedule in response to said location information and said passenger information.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating a public address system in response to said location information and said passenger information.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating communications with a vehicle in response to said location information and said passenger information.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein:

said course of action includes sending an instruction to alter speed.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein:

said course of action includes sending an instruction to increase capacity.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein:

said course of action includes initiating communications with a vehicle control system in response to said location information to automatically alter at least one of speed, capacity and route of said vehicle.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein:

said location information and said passenger information are determined based on a vehicle arriving at a first substation and passengers at said first substation;

said course of action being implemented at a second substation, said course of action altering at least one of schedule, speed, capacity and route of said vehicles at said second station in light of said vehicle location information and said passenger information at said first station.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein:

said first substation is directed to vehicles of a first transportation mode and said second substation is directed to vehicles of a second transportation made;

said second transportation mode is different from said first transportation mode.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein:

said first transportation mode is train and said second transportation mode is bus.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein:

said course of action includes generating a request for an additional vehicle from said second substation for delivery to said first substation.

21. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for coordinating movement of passengers and transit vehicles to carry them, the storage medium including instructions for causing a computer system to implement:

obtaining location information from a vehicle location system indicative of a location of a transit vehicle for carrying passengers;

obtaining passenger information from a passenger status system indicative of a number passengers awaiting arrival of said vehicle at a station;

automatically initiating a course of action relative to said vehicle or said passengers in response to said location information and said passenger information.