Electronic barrier and enforcement system and method

• US 8,044,824 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2008
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Road and Tollway Authority (State of Georgia), Georgia Tech Research Corporation (University System of Georgia)
• Original Assignee: State Road and Tollway Authority (State of Georgia), Georgia Tech Research Corporation (University System of Georgia)
• Inventors: Vu, Patrick, Breedlove, John, Slack, Teresa, Guensler, Randall, Miller, Jannine
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout; Brent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fan; Hongmin
• Application Number:
  US12/170,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20090016819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: 340/937, 340/933, 340/506, 701/117, 342/44, 342/454, 235/384, 235/436
• US Class Current: 340/937
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods for implementing an electronic tollway barrier system. Exemplary systems and methods use positive vehicle identification at progressive monitoring locations to determine whether a vehicle has illegally entered a controlled lane across the electronic barrier, ensure that toll locations are not circumvented, and automatically issue citations to violators of the electronic barrier.

Claims

1. An electronic barrier and enforcement system comprising:

a processor;

a memory; and

a plurality of sensing devices located along one or more lanes of travel of a roadway system and operably connected to the processor, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices are configured to detect a presence of each of one or more vehicles in the one or more lanes of the roadway system, and wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices are configured to transmit an output indicative of the presence of each of the one or more vehicles in a designated segment in the one or more lanes of the roadway system to the processor;

one or more identity devices operably connected to the processor, wherein the one or more identity devices are configured to identify each of said one or more vehicles detected by each of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices, and wherein the one or more identity devices are configured to transmit the identity of each vehicle detected by each of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices to the processor;

wherein said processor is configured to determine whether one of said one or more vehicles that is detected adjacent a first position by a first sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices is also detected adjacent a second position by at least a second sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices,

wherein the first sensing device is an entrance sensing device located proximate the first position for detecting the one or more vehicles entering a the designated segment of the said one or more lanes of travel of the roadway system and the second sensing device is an exit sensing device located proximate the second position for detecting the one or more vehicles exiting the designated segment of the said one or more lanes of travel of the roadway system, and

wherein, if one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the entrance sensing device is not detected by the exit sensing device or if one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the exit sensing device is not detected by the entrance sensing device, then the one of said one or more vehicles has committed a prohibited lane change, and the identity of the one of said one or more vehicles is recorded in the memory by the processor for use in automated issuance of a citation against a person identified with the one of said one or more vehicles.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices further comprise the one or more identity devices.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine if one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the first sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices is not detected by the second sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices, and

wherein, when one of said one or more vehicles that is detected adjacent the first position by the first sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices is not detected adjacent the second position by the second sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices, the one of said one or more vehicles has committed a prohibited lane change, and the identity of the one of said one or more vehicles is recorded in the memory by the processor for use in automated issuance of a citation against a person identified with the one of said one or more vehicles.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a third sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices, wherein the third sensing device is an intermediate sensing device located between the entrance sensing device and the exit sensing device and the intermediate sensing device is for detecting the one or more vehicles traveling in the designated segment of the said one or more lanes of travel of the roadway system.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein if one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the intermediate sensing device is not detected by the exit sensing device, then the one of said one or more vehicles has committed a prohibited lane change, and the identity of the one of said one or more vehicles is recorded in the memory by the processor for use in automated issuance of a citation against a person identified with the one of said one or more vehicles.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein if one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the intermediate sensing device is not detected by the entrance sensing device, then the one of said one or more vehicles has committed a prohibited lane change, and the identity of the one of said one or more vehicles is recorded in the memory by the processor for use in automated issuance of a citation against a person identified with the one of said one or more vehicles.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more identity devices comprise means for capturing an image of at least a portion of a vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a transportation operations database that comprises roadway segment information including one or more electronic barrier entry points and corresponding electronic barrier exit points, roadway operating conditions, and roadway segment toll price; and

a vehicle registration database that links vehicle identity information to a registered vehicle owner or other designee;

wherein the processor is configured to compare the presence of each of one or more vehicles in the one or more lanes of the roadway system to the transportations operations database and whether one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by a first sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices is also detected by at least a second sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices to determine when a vehicle has illegally crossed into the one or more lanes of the roadway system; and

wherein the vehicle identity information is compared to the vehicle registration database to determine the registered owners of the one or more vehicles in the one or more lanes of the roadway system and to determine whether a citation should be issued to the registered vehicle owner of the one or more vehicles in the one or more lanes of the roadway system.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the electronic barrier entry and exit points can be flexibly configured and the electronic barrier can be shifted to cover as many lanes of a multi-lane roadway system as desired.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein electronic barrier locations comprising identification of the one or more lanes of the roadway system and electronic barrier entry points and corresponding electronic barrier exit points are communicated to drivers of vehicles via variable message signs.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein electronic barrier locations comprising identification of the one or more lanes of the roadway system and electronic barrier entry points and corresponding electronic barrier exit points are communicated to drivers of vehicles via an internet site and to an in-vehicle display system or to an hand-held device.

12. An electronic barrier and enforcement system comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a plurality of sensing devices located along one or more lanes of travel of a roadway system and operably connected to the processor, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices are configured to detect a presence of each of one or more vehicles in a designated segment of the one or more lanes of the roadway system, and wherein the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices are configured to transmit an output indicative of the presence of each of the one or more vehicles in the designated segment of the one or more lanes of the roadway system to the processor;

one or more identity devices operably connected to the processor, wherein the one or more identity devices are configured to identify each of said one or more vehicles detected by each of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices, and wherein the one or more identity devices are configured to transmit the identity of each vehicle detected by each of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices to the processor;

a transportation operations database that comprises roadway segment information including one or more electronic barrier entry points and corresponding electronic barrier exit points along the roadway segment; and

wherein said processor is configured to determine whether one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by a first sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices is also detected by at least a second sensing device of the at least a portion of the plurality of sensing devices,

wherein the first sensing device is an entrance sensing device for detecting the one or more vehicles entering the designated segment of the said one or more lanes of travel of the roadway system and the second sensing device is an exit sensing device for detecting the one or more vehicles exiting the designated segment of the said one or more lanes of travel of the roadway system,

wherein the processor is configured to compare the presence of each of the one or more vehicles in the one or more lanes of the roadway system to the transportation operations database and whether one of said one or more vehicles that is detected by the first sensing device is also detected by at least the second sensing device to determine when one of said one or more vehicles has illegally crossed into the one or more lanes of the roadway system at a prohibited location between an electronic barrier entry point and an electronic barrier exit point, and

wherein, when one of said one or more vehicles has illegally crossed into the one or more lanes of the roadway system at a prohibited location, the identity of the one of said one or more vehicles is recorded in the memory by the processor for use in automated issuance of a citation against a person identified with the one of said one or more vehicles.