System and method for monitoring children using school and daycare transportation

• US 7,233,240 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2005
• Issued: 06/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Barbara N. Phillips
• Original Assignee: Barbara N. Phillips
• Inventors: Phillips, Barbara N.
• Primary Examiner(s): TWEEL JR, JOHN ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US11/125,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20060017564A1
• Time in Patent Office: 770 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.13, 340/539.11, 340/572.1, 340/572.2, 340/573.1, 701/207
• US Class Current: 340/539.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• 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 system includes a global positioning system that tracks and monitors the school and daycare transportation, a plurality of barcode scanners which enter the children into the system and a plurality of barcode bracelets, with a barcode bracelet provided to each of the children that is scanned with the plurality of barcode scanners when a child is entering onto and coming off of the school and daycare transportation. There is also a plurality of school stations that enter and remove the drivers from the system and a central control center that constantly monitors the plurality of school stations and the global positioning system, the plurality of barcode scanners and the plurality of barcode bracelets.

Claims

1. A transportation monitoring and tracking system for monitoring passengers and transportation operators using passenger transportation, comprising:

a geographical positioning system for tracking and monitoring passenger transportation in said transportation monitoring and tracking system;

a plurality of portable unique identification devices provided to all passengers and transportation operators;

a plurality of unique identification device readers that read and identify said plurality of portable unique identification devices provided to all passengers and transportation operators;

a plurality of destination station unique identification device readers located at a common destination of said passenger transportation that read and identify said plurality of portable identification devices provided to all passengers and transportation operators;

a central control station for continuously monitoring input received from said geographic positioning system, said plurality of portable unique identification devices provided to all passengers and transportation operators, and said plurality of destination station unique identification device readers, and determining if there are any passengers identified by said plurality of unique identification device readers but not identified by said plurality of destination station unique identification device readers at an end of a transportation route; and

a database for storing and retrieving information correlating specific portable unique identification devices to individual passengers and individual transportation operators.

2. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said geographical positioning system is a global positioning system.

3. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said geographical positioning system has a communication link to said central control station that updates said central control station with real-time geographical positions of said passenger transportation.

4. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said central control system is notified of passenger absences and said central control system inputs an absence code for passengers designated as absent.

5. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said end of said transportation route is determined by said portable unique identification devices of transportation operators read by said destination station unique identification device readers.

6. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said central control system calculates transportation route times and generates periodic historical reports of transportation route times based on said geographical positioning system or said unique identification device readers and said destination unique identification device readers.

7. The transportation and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein said portable unique identification devices comprise portable barcode devices, and said unique identification device readers comprise barcode scanning devices.

8. A method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system, said method of monitoring and tracking comprising:

entering information regarding a specific passenger into a central database;

issuing a portable unique identification device to said specific passenger wherein said portable unique identification device corresponds to information regarding said specific passenger from said step of entering;

reading said portable unique identification device of said specific passenger upon entering a specific transportation vehicle in said transportation system to create an entrance information record of said specific passenger;

communicating said entrance information record to a central control station;

reading said portable unique identification device of said specific passenger upon exiting said specific transportation vehicle at a destination station unique identification device reader to create an exit information record of said specific passenger;

communicating said exit information record to said central control station;

comparing said entrance information record to said exit information record at said central control station; and

generating a record from said step of comparing.

9. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

communicating geographical coordinates of said transportation vehicles to said central control station by a geographic positioning system located on each of said transportation vehicles.

10. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 8, wherein said portable unique identification devices comprise portable barcode devices, and said unique identification device readers comprise barcode scanning devices.

11. A method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system, said method of monitoring and tracking comprising:

entering information regarding a plurality of passengers into a central database;

entering information regarding a specific transportation operator in said central database;

issuing portable passenger unique identification devices to each of said plurality of passengers wherein each of said portable passenger unique identification devices corresponds to information regarding each of said plurality of passengers from said step of entering information regarding said plurality of passengers;

issuing a portable operator unique identification device to said specific transportation operator wherein said portable operator identification device corresponds to information regarding said specific operator from said step of entering information regarding said specific transportation operator;

reading said portable operator unique identification device of said specific transportation operator upon entering a specific transportation vehicle in said transportation system at the beginning of a transportation route to create a transportation route initiation record for said specific transportation operator;

communicating said transportation route initiation record to a central control station;

reading said portable passenger unique identification devices of said plurality of passengers upon entering said specific transportation vehicle in said transportation system to create an entrance information record for each of said plurality of passengers;

communicating said entrance information record for each of said plurality of passengers to said central control station;

reading said portable passenger unique identification device for each of said plurality of passengers upon exiting said specific transportation vehicle at a destination station unique identification device reader to create an exit information record for each of said plurality of passengers;

communicating said exit information records to said central control station;

reading said portable operator identification device of said specific transportation operator upon completion of said transportation route to create a transportation route completion record for said specific transportation operator;

communicating said transportation route completion record to said central control station;

determining the completion of said transportation route based on the step of communicating said transportation route initiation record and communicating said transportation route completion record to said central control station;

comparing said entrance information records of each of said plurality of passengers to said exit information records of each of said plurality of passengers at said central control station;

determining if there are any entrance information records with corresponding exit information records, and generating a record of all corresponding entrance and exit information records;

determining if there are any entrance information records without corresponding exit information records, and generating a record of all entrance information records having no corresponding exit information records;

identifying said specific passengers having no corresponding exit information records based on said step of determining if there are any entrance information records without corresponding exit information records, by retrieving specific passenger information corresponding to specific passenger unique identification information from said central database; and

notifying the location of said destination station unique identification device reader of any passengers having not corresponding exit information records at said location of said destination station unique identification device reader.

12. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 11, said step of notifying further comprising calling emergency services with information provided from:

1) said step of identifying said specific passengers having no corresponding exit information records;

2) said location of said destination station unique identification device reader;

3) said transportation operator; and

4) said transportation route.

13. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 11, wherein said specific transportation vehicle has a geographic positioning system in communication with said central control station, further comprising the step of:

communicating real-time geographic positioning information to said central control station during said transportation route.

14. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 11, further including the step of:

receiving notification of passenger absences at said central control station;

designating, at said central control station, information regarding passenger absences;

considering said information regarding passenger absences in said step of determining if there are any entrance information records without corresponding exit information records.

15. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 11, wherein said specific transportation vehicle has a geographic positioning system for communication geographic positioning information with said central control station, further comprising the steps of:

calculating transportation route times based on said geographical positioning system information, or based on said steps of

1) reading said portable passenger unique identification devices of said plurality of passengers upon entering said specific transportation vehicle, and

2) reading said portable passenger unique identification device for each of said plurality of passengers upon exiting said specific transportation vehicle; and

generating periodic historical reports of transportation route times based on said step of calculating.

16. The method of monitoring and tracking passengers, transportation operators and transportation vehicles in a transportation system of claim 11, wherein said portable unique identification devices comprise portable barcode devices, and said unique identification device readers comprise barcode scanning devices.