ACTIVE TRAFFIC AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20120226434A1
• Filed: 02/24/2012
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)
• Original Assignee: Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)
• Inventors: Chiu, Yi-Chang
• Granted Patent: US 8,744,734 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09 Arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions railroad crossing signals B61L; reflectors E01F, G08B; indicating arrangements for variable information by selection or combination of individual elements G09F9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 430/137 Cobalt complex containing

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing incentives for the public to travel during time windows and routes that help alleviate traffic congestion. The systems described herein include at least two components: a computer server software system that includes various algorithms and database sub-systems; and a mobile device application. Generally, a user may enter an origin, destination, and preferred time of travel for an intended trip into the mobile device application, which transmits the information to a remote server. The server computes a route for the trip and provides the user with available incentives for traveling the route at one or more departure time windows. The user'"'"'s mobile device transmits GPS data to the server, which allows the server to verify whether the user has traveled the route during the specified time window. If so, the server then provides the incentive to the user via the user'"'"'s mobile device or through email.

Claims

1. An active traffic and demand management system, comprising:

a mobile device application executable on a mobile device of a user; and

a computer software server system in operative communication with the mobile device application, the computer software server system comprising a plurality of modules, including;

a route determination module operative to determine a route between a origin and destination pair selected by the user for multiple departure time windows proximate in time to a preferred travel time selected by the user, wherein each of the departure time windows corresponds to a time interval when the user is to depart from the origin and travel along the route toward the destination;

an experienced travel time prediction module operative to calculate predicted travel times between the origin and destination pair for the multiple departure time windows;

an incentive offering module operative to determine a user incentive for each of the multiple departure time windows; and

a validation module operative to receive location information from the mobile device application, and to verify that the user has departed from the origin during a selected departure time window and has traveled along at least a portion of the route thereafter.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the experienced travel time prediction module is operative to analyze historical data and real-time traffic data.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a load balancing module operative to take into consideration previous selections of routes and departure travel times made by other users of the system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the incentive offering module is operative to select incentives based on the departure time windows that would result in the least amount of impact to the route'"'"'s or traffic system'"'"'s congestion.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the incentive offering module is operative to dynamically adjust the incentives allocation based on historical data, real-time data, and existing selections of departure time windows for other users of the system.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the incentive offering module is operative to take into consideration the user'"'"'s preferences or life style information.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the validation module is operative to receive global positioning system (GPS) location data from the mobile device application.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the validation module is operative to analyze the received GPS location data to verify that the user has entered a location proximate to the origin during the selected departure time window, and to verify that the user has successfully completed at least a predetermined portion of the selected route.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the route determination module is operative to calculate multiple routes between the origin and destination at the multiple departure time windows.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the route determination module is operative to calculate one or more routes between the origin and destination at the multiple departure time windows taking into consideration the unit increase of travel time when one additional unit of flow is added to a route.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a roadway condition monitoring and user alert module operative to identify an unscheduled incident on the route, and to send a message to the user providing a notification of the incident.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user behavior analysis module operative to analyze behavioral information received from the mobile device application, wherein the incentive offering module is further operative to modify the incentives offered to the user based on the analyzed behavioral information.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the route comprises one or more roadways on which vehicles may travel.

14. A computer implemented method for managing the flow of traffic, comprising:

receiving an origin and destination location pair and a preferred travel time from a user;

determining a route between the origin and the destination;

determining multiple departure time windows proximate in time to the preferred travel time, wherein each of the departure time windows corresponds to a time interval when the user is to depart from the origin and travel along the route toward the destination;

determining a user incentive for each of the multiple departure time windows;

sending the route, the multiple departure time windows and their associated incentives for display;

receiving from the user a selection of the route and one of the departure time windows and its associated incentive;

receiving location information from the user during the user'"'"'s travel along at least a portion of the route;

verifying that the user has departed from the origin during the selected departure time window and traveled along at least a portion of the route thereafter; and

sending the incentive to the user.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising calculating predicted travel times between the origin and destination pair for each of the multiple departure time windows.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein calculating predicted travel times comprises analyzing historical data and real-time traffic data for the route.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a route between the origin and destination pair and determining multiple departure time windows comprise taking into consideration previous selections of routes and departure travel times made by other users.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a user incentive comprises predicting the departure time windows that would result in the least amount of impact to the route'"'"'s congestion.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining a user incentive further comprises dynamically adjusting the incentives allocation based on historical data, real-time data, and existing selections of departure time windows for other users.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein determining a user incentive further comprises taking into consideration the time difference between each of the multiple departure time windows and the preferred travel time.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a user incentive further comprises taking into consideration the user'"'"'s preferences or life style information.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving location information comprises receiving global positioning system (GPS) location data from a mobile device of the user.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein verifying that the user has departed from the origin during the selected departure time window and traveled along at least a portion of the route thereafter comprises analyzing the received GPS location data to verify that the user has entered a location proximate to the origin during the selected departure time window, and to verify that the user has successfully completed at least a predetermined portion of the selected route.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein sending the incentive to the user comprises sending an email to a designated email address of the user.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a route comprises calculating multiple routes between the origin and destination at the multiple departure time windows.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a route comprises calculating one or more routes between the origin and destination at the multiple departure time windows taking into consideration the unit increase of travel time when one additional unit of flow is added to a route.

27. The method of claim 14, further comprising identifying an unscheduled incident on the route, and sending a message to the user providing a notification of the incident.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising providing an alternate route for the user, and receiving a selection of the alternate route from the user.

29. The method of claim 14, further comprising analyzing behavioral information received from the user and modifying the incentives offered to the user based on the analyzed behavioral information.

30. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a procedure to manage the flow of traffic, the procedure comprising:

receiving an origin and destination location pair and a preferred travel time from a user;

determining a route between the origin and the destination;

determining multiple departure time windows proximate in time to the preferred travel time, wherein each of the departure time windows corresponds to a time interval when the user is to depart from the origin and travel along the route toward the destination;

determining a user incentive for each of the multiple departure time windows;

sending the route, the multiple departure time windows and their associated incentives for display;

receiving from the user a selection of the route and one of the departure time windows and its associated incentive;

receiving location information from the user during the user'"'"'s travel along at least a portion of the route;

verifying that the user has departed from the origin during the selected departure time window and traveled along at least a portion of the route thereafter; and

sending the incentive to the user.