Estimating time travel distributions on signalized arterials

• US 9,293,039 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2014
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Pelmorex Canada Inc.
• Inventors: Rojas, Edgar, Gueziec, Andre, Adda, Kevin, Margulici, J. D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elchanti, Hussein A.
• Application Number:
  US14/323,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20140316688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 628 Days
• Field of Search: 701/119, 701/411, 701/414
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/00 Traffic control systems for road vehicles arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00 ; automatic vehicle control B62D
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0116 from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data

Abstract

A system is provided for estimating time travel distributions on signalized arterials. The system may be implemented as a network service. Traffic data regarding a plurality of travel times on a signalized arterial may be received. A present distribution of the travel times on the signalized arterial may be determined. A prior distribution based on one or more travel time observations may also be determined. The present distribution may be calibrated based on the prior distribution.

Claims

1. A method for estimating time travel distributions on signalized arterials, the method comprising:

receiving travel data about a signalized arterial collected by one or more reidentification devices, the travel data corresponding to data collected within a common time segment in each of a plurality of different days;

receiving real-time travel data about the signalized arterial collected by one or more reidentification devices; and

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor;

normalizes the travel data into a plurality of individual pace values, the pace values expressed as a ratio of time per distance,

calculates an average pace value for the signalized arterial as a linear combination of the individual pace values weighted by distance traveled across the signalized arterial,

estimates a distribution based on the average pace value, travel data, and store the estimated distribution in memory,

calibrates the distribution based on the real-time travel data, and

generates a real-time prediction of the traffic conditions of the signalized arterial based on the calibrated distribution.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel data is received from one or more mobile GPS devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel data is received from one or more reidentification devices.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the reidentification device is a magnetic signature.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the reidentification device is a toll tag.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the reidentification device is a license plate.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the reidentification device is a Bluetooth receiver.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel data is received from a third-party server that collected the data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the server is an open-source server.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for estimating time travel distributions on signalized arterials, the method comprising:

receiving travel data about a signalized arterial collected by one or more reidentification devices, the travel data corresponding to data collected within a common time segment in each of a plurality of different days;

normalizing the travel data into a plurality of individual pace values, the pace values expressed as a ratio of time per distance;

calculating an average pace value for the signalized arterial as a linear combination of the individual pace values weighted by distance traveled across the signalized arterial;

estimating a distribution based on the average pace value, travel data, and store the estimated distribution in memory;

receiving real-time travel data about the signalized arterial collected by one or more reidentification devices;

calibrating the distribution based on the real-time travel data; and

generating a real-time prediction of the traffic conditions of the signalized arterial based on the calibrated distribution.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the travel data is received from one or more mobile GPS devices.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the travel data is received from one or more reidentification devices.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the reidentification device is a magnetic signature.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the reidentification device is a toll tag.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the reidentification device is a license plate.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the reidentification device is a Bluetooth receiver.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the travel data is received from a third-party server that collected the data.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the server is an open-source server.