SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR BILLING BASED ON A DURATION OF A SERVICE PERIOD

• US 20170337598A1
• Filed: 06/07/2017
• Published: 11/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: American Traffic Solutions Consolidated LLC
• Original Assignee: Ats Tolling Llc (Verra Mobility Corp.)
• Inventors: Robinson, Benjamin P., Lemon, Debbie, Balachandran, Sarath K.
• Application Number:
  US15/616,816
• Publication Number:
  US 20170337598A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• 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

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for billing based on a duration of a service period, comprises sending fleet data from a third party entity to a toll authority via a toll rental entity, matching toll data with the fleet data by the toll authority, if the toll data matches the fleet data: charging an account by the toll authority and sending the matched data to the toll rental entity, determining, by the toll rental entity, if the sent matched data is related to an opt-in for duration based tolling or an opt-out for duration based tolling, if the sent matched data is related to an opt-in for duration based tolling, charging the third party entity for the duration based tolling, and if the sent matched data is related to an opt-out for duration based tolling, applying at least one of: a fee for the duration based tolling, a toll usage amount, a service fee for the duration based tolling, and a service fee for the toll usage.

Claims

1-4. -4. (canceled)

5. A system for providing vehicle users an automatic toll service utilizing vehicle license plate information, the system comprising:

one or more servers configured to receive or retrieve toll data from a plurality of different toll authorities, the toll data indicating detected license plate numbers of a portion of vehicles using the toll roads of the plurality of different toll authorities, the one or more servers comprising;

one or more data storage devices configured to store a database including information indicating license plate numbers for a plurality of vehicles registered to use a toll service provided by the one or more servers; and

one or more processors operably coupled to the one or more data storage devices and configured to charge, for use of the toll roads, parties associated with those of the portion of vehicles that have detected license plate numbers that match the license plate numbers for the plurality of vehicles registered to use the toll service.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to pay the plurality of different toll authorities for the use of the toll roads by those of the portion of the vehicles that have detected license plate numbers that match the license plate numbers for the plurality of vehicles registered to use the toll service by adjusting prepaid accounts for the plurality of different toll authorities.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to pay the plurality of different toll authorities for the use of the toll roads by those of the portion of the vehicles that have detected license plate numbers that match the license plate numbers for the plurality of vehicles registered to use the toll service by paying the plurality of different toll authorities as toll fees are accrued.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein:

the one or more processors are further configured to communicate at least a portion of the information of the database to the plurality of different toll authorities; and

the detected license plate numbers i are associated with the license plate numbers indicated by the portion of the information transmitted the plurality of different toll authorities.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the processors are further configured to identify those of the detected license plate numbers that do not match the license plate numbers of the plurality of vehicles registered to use the toll service as toll violators.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein devices of the plurality of different toll authorities are configured to interact with toll fee tracking devices of the vehicles using the toll roads of the plurality of different toll authorities and automatically charge toll fees for use of the toll roads by the vehicles.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the portion of the vehicles comprises vehicles that were not automatically charged for use of the toll roads using the fee tracking devices.

12. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more servers comprise a server of a toll rental entity and a device of a third party entity.

13. The system of claim 5, wherein the database also includes data indicating payment information for charging parties associated with the plurality of vehicles registered to use the toll service for use of the toll roads.

14. A method of providing a toll service, the method comprising:

receiving a request, through a first communication interface at one or more servers, to enroll a vehicle in the toll service, the request indicating at least a license plate number of the vehicle;

receiving or accessing toll data from one of a plurality of different toll authorities through a second communication interface at the one or more servers, the toll data indicating the license plate number of the vehicle; and

charging a party associated with the vehicle for use of the toll road of the one of the plurality of different toll authorities.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising paying the one of the plurality of different toll authorities for use of a toll road by adjusting a prepaid account associated with the one of the plurality of different toll authorities.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising paying the one of the plurality of different toll authorities for use of a toll road as toll fees are accrued.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving a request to enroll a vehicle in the toll service comprises receiving payment information of an individual associated with the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting, through the second communication interface to devices of each of the plurality of different toll authorities, the license plate number of the vehicle to alert the plurality of different toll authorities that the vehicle is enrolled in the toll service.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle is associated with a toll fee tracking device identifier configured to enable automatic toll fee payment at one or more of the plurality of different toll authorities.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving or accessing the toll data from one of the plurality of different toll authorities comprises receiving the toll data responsive to the vehicle failing to automatically pay a toll fee at the one of the plurality of different toll authorities using the toll fee tracking device.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising equipping the plurality of different toll authorities with license plate recognition (LPR) devices configured to identify vehicles by their license plate numbers.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting an invoice to the party associated with the vehicle.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions configured to instruct one or more processors to:

store data indicating a license plate number of a vehicle in a database of a data storage device responsive to receiving a request to enroll the vehicle to use an automatic toll payment service;

control a communication interface to transmit the license plate number of the vehicle to a plurality of different toll authorities operating a plurality of different toll roads;

process messages received or accessed from the plurality of different toll authorities, the messages indicating use of the plurality of different toll roads by the vehicle as tracked using license plate recognition by the plurality of different toll authorities;

execute a transaction to pay the plurality of different toll authorities for use of the plurality of different toll roads for the tracked usage by the vehicle; and

charge a party associated with the vehicle for the use of the plurality of different toll roads.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to instruct the one or more processors to execute a transaction to pay the plurality of different toll authorities for use of the plurality of different toll roads for the tracked usage by the vehicle by adjusting prepaid accounts associated with the plurality of different toll authorities.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to instruct the one or more processors to execute a transaction to pay the plurality of different toll authorities for use of the plurality of different toll roads for the tracked usage by the vehicle as toll fees are accrued.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer-readable instructions are further configured to instruct the one or more processors to store, in the database, information identifying the party associated with the vehicle.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the information identifying the party associated with the vehicle includes one or more pieces of information selected from the group consisting of a name, an address, a phone number, an email address, a tax identification number, a credit card number, and a bank number of the party associated with the vehicle.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computer-readable instructions are further configured to:

instruct the one or more processors to generate a payment message indicating the tracked usage of the plurality of different toll roads and corresponding fees; and

control the communication interface to transmit the payment message to a device of the party associated with the vehicle.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the messages include strings indicating the license plate number of the vehicle.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein:

the messages include image data corresponding to images captured of a license plate of the vehicle by the plurality of different toll authorities; and

the computer-readable instructions are further configured to instruct the one or more processors to process the image data to extract the license plate number.