Vehicle navigation using timed turn and timed lane restrictions

• US 5,862,509 A
• Filed: 12/20/1996
• Issued: 01/19/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TomTom International BV (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: Zexel Corporation
• Inventors: Sun, Margaret A., Desai, Simon
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US08/771,020
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/202, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 73/178 R, 340/988, 340/990, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• 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

Abstract

Methods for planning an optimum vehicle route from a selected origin to a selected destination with a selected departure time, taking account of the presence of timed turn restrictions and/or timed lane restrictions. Separate methods are provided for recalculation of a suitable route remainder, where an unanticipated timed turn or timed lane restriction or other traffic obstruction, such as a vehicle accident, is encountered enroute. Computations for an optimum route can be performed at the vehicle or at a station that communicates with the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the route has no node with an associated timed turn restriction, denoted "TTR," proceeding to step (6);

(3) when at least one node on the route has an associated TTR, denoted a "TTR node," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at at least one TTR node on the route;

(4) determining if the ETOA for at least one TTR node on the route lies in a buffered time interval of effectiveness, and when no ETOA for any TTR node on the route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TTR for the TTR node, proceeding to step (6);

(5) when the ETOA for at least one TTR node on the route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TTR for the at least one TTR node, redetermining a route for which a turn at the TTR node is not permitted and returning to step (2); and

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined route;

(ii) at least a portion of the redetermined route;

(iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the determined route; and

(iv) n estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the redetermined route.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (5) comprises the steps of:

(5A) when said ETOA for said at least one TTR node on said determined route lies in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of said TTR for said at least one TTR node, forming a modified database from the database, in which a turn at said at least one TTR node is not permitted;

(5B) using the modified database to redetermine a vehicle route from said selected trip origin at said selected time of departure to said selected trip destination; and

(5C) replacing said determined route, used to determine whether said ETOA for at least one TTR node on said determined route lies in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of said TTR for said at least one TTR node in step (5A), by said redetermined route, and returning to step (2).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step (3) comprises the steps of:

(3'"'"') when said at least one TTR node on the route has an associated TTR, consecutively numbering each of the TTR nodes on said route as n=1, . . . N, and estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of said vehicle at TTR node number n, where N is the total number of the TTR nodes present on said route.

4. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the route has no node with an associated timed turn restriction, denoted "TTR," proceeding to step (6);

(3) when at least one TTR node on the route has an associated TTR, consecutively numbering each said TTR node on said route as n=1, . . . , N, and estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of said vehicle at TTR node number n, where N is the total number of the TTR nodes present on said route;

(4) forming a set S'"'"' of said TTR nodes on said route for which an estimated time of arrival ETOA(n'"'"') at a TTR node number n'"'"' satisfies the relation TTR(begin;

n'"'"')-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n'"'"')≦

TTR(end;

n'"'"')+.DELTA.t(buffer;

2), where n'"'"' is an integer lying between 1 and N, TTR(begin;

n'"'"') and TTR(end;

n'"'"') are the times at which the TTR number n'"'"' begins and ends at the TTR node number n'"'"', respectively, and Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) are selected positive time values, and when the set S'"'"' is empty, proceeding to said step (6);

(5) when the ETOA for at least one TTR node on the route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TTR for the at least one TTR node, redetermining a route for which a turn at the TTR node is not permitted and returning to step (2); and

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined route, (ii) at least a portion of the redetermined route, (iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the determined route, and (iv) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the redetermined route.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said step (5) comprises the step of:

(5'"'"') when said set S'"'"' is not empty, forming a modified database from the database in which a turn at any TTR node in said set S'"'"' is not permitted.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of said time values Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) to be between 30 and 300 sec.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

(7) determining whether any portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region that has adopted daylight savings time;

(8) when no portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, making no change in said ETOA at any TTR node, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time;

(9) when a portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time but no TTR node on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said ETOA, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time; and

(10) when at least one TTR node on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TTR node and said ETOA at the TTR node to reflect the applicability of the daylight savings time at that node.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

(7) determining whether said determined vehicle route will pass through any region that is part of a time zone offset;

(8) when said determined vehicle route will not pass through any region R that is part of the time zone offset, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TTR node, and making no change in said ETOA at a TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the time offset;

(9) when said determined vehicle route passes through a region R that is part of the time zone offset but no TTR node on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TTR node, and making no change in said ETOA at a TTR node, that reflects applicability of the time offset; and

(10) when at least one node with an associated TTR on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that is part of the time zone offset, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the associated TTR and said ETOA at the TTR node with the associated TTR to reflect the applicability of the time offset at that node.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) at a station that is spaced apart from and that communicates with said vehicle.

10. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3) (4), (5) and (6) at said vehicle.

11. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the route has no node with an associated timed turn restriction, denoted "TTR," is present, proceeding to step (9);

(3) when at least one node on the route has an associated TTR, denoted a "TTR node," consecutively numbering the TTR nodes as n=1, . . . N, where N is the total number of TTR nodes present on the route;

(4) for at least one integer n (1≦

n≦

N), estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of the vehicle at TTR node number n;

(5) determining if ETOA(n) satisfies the relation TTR(begin;

n)-Δ

t(buffer;

1)-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n)≦

TTR(end;

n)+Δ

t(buffer;

2), where TTR(begin;

n) and TTR(end;

n) are the times at which the TTR begins and ends at TTR node n, respectively, and Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) are selected non-negative time values;

(6) when ETOA(n'"'"') for an index n'"'"' (1≦

n'"'"'≦

N) satisfies the relation TTR(begin;

n'"'"')-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n'"'"')≦

TTR(end;

n'"'"')+.DELTA.t(buffer;

2), determining an alternate vehicle route that begins at the selected origin at the selected time of departure, that ends at the destination, and that does not include a turn at TTR node number n, and returning to step (2);

(7) when ETOA(n) for an index n (1≦

n≦

N) does not satisfy the relation TTR(begin;

n)-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n)≦

TTR(end;

n)+Δ

t(buffer;

2), replacing n by n+1;

(8) when n does not satisfy n≦

N+1, returning to step (4); and

(9) when n satisfies n≦

N+1, displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined vehicle route, (ii) at least a portion of the alternate vehicle route, (iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the determined route and (iv) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the alternate vehicle route.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

(10) determining whether any portion of said determining vehicle route lies in a region that has adopted daylight saving time;

(11) when no portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight saving time, making no change in said ETOA at any TTR node, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight saving time;

(12) when a portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight saving time but no TTR node on said selected optimum route lies in the region R, making no change in said ETOA, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time; and

(13) when at least one TTR node on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TTR node and said ETOA at the TTR node to reflect the applicability of the daylight savings time at that node.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

(10) determining whether said determined vehicle route will pass through any region that is part of a time zone offset;

(11) when said determined vehicle route will not pass through any region R that is part of the time zone offset, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TTR node, and making no change in said ETOA at a TTR node, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the time offset;

(12) when said determined vehicle route passes through a region R that is part of the time zone offset but no TTR node on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TTR node, and making no change in said ETOA at a TTR node, that reflects applicability of the time offset; and

(13) when at least one node with an associated TTR on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that is part of the time zone offset, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the associated TTR and said ETOA at the node with the associated TTR to reflect the applicability of the time offset at that node.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of said time values Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) to be between 60 and 300 sec.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) at a station that is spaced apart from and that communicates with said vehicle.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) at said vehicle.

17. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the route has no link with an associated timed lane restriction, denoted "TLR," proceeding to step (6);

(3) when at least one link on the route has an associated TLR, denoted a "TLR link," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at least one TLR link on the route;

(4) determining if the ETOA for at least one TLR link on the route lies in a buffered time interval of effectiveness, and when no ETOA for any TLR link on the first route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the associated TLR, proceeding to step (6);

(5) when the ETOA for at least one TLR link on the route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TLR for the TLR link, redetermining a route in which time required to travel along the TLR link is increased by a selected time interval Δ

t(TLR); and

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined route, (ii) at least a portion of the redetermined vehicle route, (iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the determined route and (iv) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the redetermined route.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said step (5) comprises the steps of:

(5A) when said ETOA for said at least one TLR link on said determined route lies in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of said TLR for said at least one TLR link, forming a modified database from the database in which said time required to travel along said at least one TLR link is increased by said selected time interval Δ

t(TLR);

(5B) using the modified database to redetermine a vehicle route from said selected trip origin at said selected time of departure to said selected trip destination; and

(5C) replacing said determined route, used to determine whether said ETOA for said at least one TLR link on said determined route lies in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of said TLR in step (5A), by said redetermined route, and returning to step (2).

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said step (3) comprises the step of:

(3'"'"') when at least one link on said route is said at least one TLR link, consecutively numbering said TLR links on said route as N=1, . . . , N, and estimating said time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of said vehicle at TLR link number n, where N is the total number of said TLR links on said route.

20. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the route has no link with an associated timed lane restriction, denoted "TLR," proceeding to step (6);

(3) when at least one link on said route is the TLR link, consecutively numbering each said TLR link on said route as n=1, . . . , N, and estimating said time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of said vehicle at TLR link number n, where N is the total number of said TLR links on said route.

(4) forming a set S'"'"' of said TLR links on said route for which an estimated time of arrival ETOA(n'"'"') at a TLR link number n'"'"' (1≦

n'"'"'≦

N) satisfies the relation TLR(begin;

n'"'"')-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n'"'"')≦

TLR(end;

n'"'"')+.DELTA.t(buffer;

2), where n'"'"' is an integer lying between 1 and N, TLR(begin;

n'"'"') and TLR(end;

n'"'"') are times at which the TLR number n'"'"' begins and ends at the TLR link n'"'"', respectively, and Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) are selected non-negative time values, and when the set S'"'"' is empty, proceeding to step (6);

(5) when the ETOA for at least one TLR link on the route lies in the buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TLR for the TLR link, redetermining a route in which time required to travel along the TLR link is increased by a selected time interval Δ

t(TLR); and

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined route, (ii) at least a portion of the redetermined vehicle route, (iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the determined route and (iv) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the redetermined route.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of said time values Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) to be between 30 and 300 sec.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein said step (5) comprises the step of:

(5'"'"') when said set S'"'"' is not empty, forming a modified database from the database in which the time required to travel along said TLR link number n'"'"' is increased by said selected time interval Δ

t(TLR).

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

(7) determining whether any portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region that has adopted daylight savings time;

(8) when no portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, making no change in said ETOA at any TLR link, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TLR link, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time;

(9) when a portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time but no TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said ETOA, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TLR link, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time; and

(10) when at least one TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TLR link and said ETOA at the TLR link to reflect the applicability of the daylight savings time at that link.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

(7) determining whether said determined vehicle route will pass through any region that is part of a time zone offset;

(8) when said determined vehicle route will not pass through any region R that is part of the time zone offset, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TTR node, and making no change in said ETOA at a TLR link, on said selected optimum route that reflects applicability of the time offset;

(9) when said determined vehicle route passes through a region R that is part of the time zone offset but no TLR link on said selected optimum route lies in the region R, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TLR link, and making no change in said ETOA at a TLR link, that reflects applicability of the time offset; and

(10) when at least one TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that is part of the time zone offset, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the associated TLR link and said ETOA at the TLR link to reflect the applicability of the time offset at that link.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) at a station that is spaced apart from and that communicates with said vehicle.

26. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3) (4), (5) and (6) at said vehicle.

27. A method for determining a route of travel for a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) determining a present time and using a computer database to determine a vehicle route from a selected trip origin at a selected time of departure to a selected trip destination;

(2) when the first route has no link with an associated timed lane restriction, denoted "TLR," is present, proceeding to step (9);

(3) when at least one link on the route has an associated TLR, denoted a "TLR link," consecutively numbering the TLR link as n=1, . . . , N, where N is the total number of TLR links present on the first route;

(4) for at least one integer n (1≦

n≦

N), estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA(n)," of the vehicle at TLR link number n;

(5) determining if ETOA(n) satisfies the relation TLR(begin;

n)-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n)≦

TLR(end;

n)+Δ

t(buffer;

2), where TLR(begin;

n) and TLR(end;

n) are the times at which the TLR begins and ends at TLR link n, respectively, and Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) are selected non-negative time values;

(6) when ETOA(n'"'"') for an index n'"'"' (1≦

n'"'"'≦

N) satisfies the relation TLR(begin;

n'"'"')-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n'"'"' )≦

TLR(end;

n'"'"')+Δ

t(buffer;

2), determining an alternate vehicle route that begins at the selected origin at the selected time of departure, that ends at the destination, for which the time required for travel, if any, along the TLR link n'"'"' is increased by a selected amount Δ

t(TLR), and returning to step (2);

(7) when ETOA(n) for the index n (1≦

n≦

N) does not satisfy the relation TLR(begin;

n)-Δ

t(buffer;

1)≦

ETOA(n)≦

TLR(end;

n)+Δ

t(buffer;

2), replacing n by n+1;

(8) when n does not satisfy n≧

N+1, returning to step (4); and

(9) when n satisfies n≧

N+1, displaying, in visually perceptible form or audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the determined vehicle route, (ii) at least a portion of the alternate vehicle route, (iii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the first route and (iv) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination for the alternate vehicle route.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising the steps of:

(10) determining whether any portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region that has adopted daylight savings time;

(11) when no portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, making no change in said ETOA at any TLR link, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TLR link, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time;

(12) when a portion of said determined vehicle route lies in a region R that has adopted the daylight savings time but no TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said ETOA, and making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness for any TLR link, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the daylight savings time; and

(13) when at least one TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that has adopted the daylight savings time, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TLR link or said ETOA at the TLR link to reflect the applicability of the daylight savings time at that link.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising the steps of:

(10) determining whether said determined vehicle route will pass through any region that is part of a time zone offset;

(11) when said determined vehicle route will not pass through any region R that is part of the time zone offset, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TLR link, and making no change in said ETOA at a TLR link, on said determined vehicle route that reflects applicability of the time offset;

(12) when said determined vehicle route passes through a region R that is part of the time zone offset but no TLR link on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R, making no change in said buffered time interval of effectiveness of any TLR link, and making no change in said ETOA at a TLR link, that reflects applicability of the time offset; and

(13) when at least one node with an associated TLR on said determined vehicle route lies in the region R that is part of the time zone offset, adjusting at least one of said buffered time interval of effectiveness for the associated TLR or said ETOA at the TLR link to reflect the applicability of the time offset at that link.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of said time values Δ

t(buffer;

1) and Δ

t(buffer;

2) to be between 60 and 300 sec.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) at a central station that is spaced apart from and that communicates with said vehicle.

32. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of performing at least one of said steps (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) at said vehicle.

33. A method for determining or redetermining a route of travel for a vehicle that is enroute, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) determining a present time and a present location for a vehicle, and using a computer to provide a determined route from the vehicle present location to a selected destination, beginning at a selected time no earlier than the present time;

(2) when the route has no node with an associated timed turn restriction, denoted "TTR," proceeding to step (8);

(3) when at least one node on the route exists with an associated TTR, denoted a "TTR node," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at at least one TTR node on the route;

(4) when the ETOA for each TTR node on the route does not lie in a buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TTR for the TTR node, proceeding to step (8);

(5) where at least one TTR node exists on the route for which the ETOA at the TTR node lies within the buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TTR, redetermining a route, from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, in which a turn at the TTR node is not permitted;

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the redetermined route and (ii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination using the redetermined route;

(7) replacing the determined route, used to determine the ETOA at the TTR node in step (5), by the redetermined route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination;

(8) comparing the vehicle present location with the location of the selected destination;

(9) when the vehicle has reached the selected destination, proceeding to step (14);

(10) when the vehicle has not reached the selected destination, determining whether the vehicle is following the route;

(11) when the vehicle is following the route, returning to step (2);

(12) when the vehicle is not following the route, reascertaining and displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least a portion of a reascertained route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at the present time;

(13) replacing the route, used to determine whether the vehicle is following the route in step (10), by the reascertained route, and returning to step (2); and

(14) indicating that the vehicle has reached the selected destination.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said step of determining whether said vehicle is following said route in said step (10) comprises the steps of:

tracking said vehicle location;

determining if said vehicle location is within a selected distance d_thr from said route; and

when said vehicle is within the predetermined distance d_thr from said route, determining that said vehicle is following said route.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of:

determining and storing at least one sub-optimal route from said vehicle present location to said selected destination; and

when no TTR node exists on the route for which the ETOA at this TTR node lies within said buffered time interval of effectiveness for this TTR node, examining at least one sub-optimal route as a candidate route in determining said redetermined route in said step (5).

36. The method of claim 33, further comprising the steps of:

determining and storing at least one sub-optimal route from said vehicle present location to said selected destination; and

when said vehicle is following said route, examining at least one sub-optimal route as a candidate route in ascertaining said reascertained route in said step (12).

37. The method of claim 33, further comprising the step of:

when said vehicle has reached said selected destination, terminating monitoring of said vehicle present location.

38. A method for determining or redetermining a route of travel for a vehicle that is enroute, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) determining a present time and a present location for a vehicle, and using a computer to provide a determined route from the vehicle present location to a selected destination, beginning at a selected time no earlier than the present time;

(2) when the route has no link with an associated timed lane restriction, denoted "TLR," proceeding to step (8);

(3) when at least one link on the route exists with an associated TLR, denoted a "TLR link," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at at least one TLR link on the route;

(4) when the ETOA for each TLR link on the route does not lie in a buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TLR for the TLR link, proceeding to step (8);

(5) where at least one link exists on the route for which a TLR is present and for which the ETOA at the TLR link lies within the buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TLR, adding an estimated non-negative time increment to the time required to travel along the TLR link because of presence of the lane restriction, and redetermining a route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, taking into account the time increment added to the time required to travel along the TLR link;

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the redetermined route and (ii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination using the redetermined route;

(7) replacing the determined route, used to determine the ETOA at the TLR link in step (5), by the redetermined route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination;

(8) comparing the vehicle present location with the location of the selected destination;

(9) when the vehicle has reached the selected destination, proceeding to step (14);

(10) when the vehicle has not reached the selected destination, determining whether the vehicle is following the route;

(11) when the vehicle is following the route, returning to step (2);

(12) when the vehicle is not following the route, reascertaining and displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least a portion of a reascertained route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at the present time;

(13) replacing the route, used to determine whether the vehicle is following the route in step (10), by the reascertained route, and returning to step (2); and

(14) indicating that the vehicle has reached the selected destination.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein said step of determining whether said vehicle is following said route in said step (10) comprises the steps of:

tracking said vehicle location;

determining if said vehicle location is within a selected distance d_thr from said route; and

when said vehicle is within the predetermined distance d_thr from said route, determining that said vehicle is following said route.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising the steps of:

determining and storing at least one sub-optimal route from said vehicle present location to said selected destination; and

when no TLR link exists on the route for which the ETOA at this TLR link lies within said buffered time interval of effectiveness for this TLR link, examining at least one sub-optimal route as a candidate route in determining said redetermined route in said step (5).

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of:

determining and storing at least one sub-optimal route from said vehicle present location to said selected destination; and

when said vehicle is following said route examining at least one sub-optimal route as a candidate route in ascertaining said reascertained route in said step (12).

42. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

when said vehicle has reached said selected destination, terminating monitoring of said vehicle present location.

43. Apparatus for determining a route of travel for a vehicle that is enroute, the apparatus comprising:

a location determination system, denoted an "LD" system and carried on said vehicle, that receives LD signals and estimates or obtains (i) the present time and (ii) the present location of said vehicle, a display that can receive and visually or audibly display at least one of (a) an estimate of the vehicle present location and (b) at least a portion of a vehicle route; and

a microprocessor and associated memory that contains information on a selected destination, that receives information on at least one of (i) the present time and (ii) the vehicle present location, and that is programmed to perform the following steps;

(1) determining a route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at a time no earlier than the present time;

(2) when the route has no node with an associated timed turn restriction, denoted "TTR," proceeding to step (8);

(3) when at least one node on the route exists with an associated TTR, denoted a "TTR node," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at at least one TTR node on the route;

(4) when the ETOA for each TTR node on the route does not lie in a buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TTR for the TTR node, proceeding to step (8);

(5) when at least one TTR node exists on the route for which the ETOA at the TTR node lies within the buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TTR, redetermining a route, from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, in which a turn at the TTR node is not permitted;

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form and audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the redetermined route and (ii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination using the redetermined route;

(7) replacing the route, used to determine the ETOA at the TTR node in step (5), by the redetermined route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination;

(8) comparing the vehicle present location with the location of the selected destination;

(9) when the vehicle has reached the selected destination, proceeding to step (14);

(10) when the vehicle has not reached the selected destination, determining whether the vehicle is following the route;

(11) when the vehicle is following the route, returning to step (2);

(12) when the vehicle is not following the route, reascertaining and displaying, in visually perceptible form or audibly perceptible form, a reascertained route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at the present time;

(13) replacing the route, used to determine whether the vehicle is following the route in step (10), by the reascertained route, and returning to step (2); and

(14) indicating that the vehicle has reached the selected destination.

44. Apparatus for determining a route of travel for a vehicle that is enroute, the apparatus comprising:

a location determination system, denoted an "LD" system and carried on said vehicle, that receives LD signals and estimates or obtains (i) the present time and (ii) the present location of said vehicle,

a display that can receive and visually or audibly display at least one of (a) an estimate of the vehicle present location and (b) at least a portion of a vehicle route; and

a microprocessor and associated memory that contains information on a selected destination, that receives information on at least one of (i) the present time and (ii) the vehicle present location, and that is programmed to perform the following steps;

(1) determining a route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at a time no earlier than the present time;

(2) when the route has no link with an associated timed lane restriction, denoted "TLR," proceeding to step (8);

(3) when at least one link on the route exists with an associated TLR, denoted a "TLR link," estimating a time of arrival, denoted "ETOA," of the vehicle at at least one TLR link on the route;

(4) when the ETOA for each TLR link on the route does not lie in a buffered time interval of effectiveness of the TLR for the TLR link, proceeding to step (8);

(5) where at least one link exists on the route for which a TLR is present and for which the ETOA at the TLR link lies within the buffered time interval of effectiveness for the TLR, adding an estimated non-negative time increment to the time required to travel along the TLR link because of presence of the lane restriction, and redetermining a route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, taking into account the time increment added to the time required to travel along the TLR link;

(6) displaying, in at least one of visually perceptible form or audibly perceptible form, at least one of (i) at least a portion of the redetermined route and (ii) an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the selected destination using the redetermined route;

(7) replacing the route, used to determine the ETOA at the TLR link in step (5), by the redetermined route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination;

(8) comparing the vehicle present location with the location of the selected destination;

(9) when the vehicle has reached the selected destination, proceeding to step (14);

(10) when the vehicle has not reached the selected destination, determining whether the vehicle is following the route;

(11) when the vehicle is following the route, returning to step (2);

(12) when the vehicle is not following the route, reascertaining and displaying, in visually perceptible form or audibly perceptible form, a reascertained route from the vehicle present location to the selected destination, beginning at the present time;

(13) replacing the route, used to determine whether the vehicle is following the route in step (10), by the reascertained route, and returning to step (2); and

(14) indicating that the vehicle has reached the selected destination.