Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/0014—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B15/00—Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points

Definitions

• the invention relates to a public transport system and more in particular a settlement system wherein the wishes of both the passenger and the public transport companies in question can be taken into account.
• a service in this sense may for instance be the sale of the transport ticket in cuestion, or taking care of the transport or a part of the transport on the route and/or for the period for which the ticket in question is valid.
• season tickets in particular of longterm season tickets
• the passenger must decide in advance whether he/she will make frequent use of the public transport for a future period which is sometimes long.
• the passenger must also pay the amount for the season ticket, which is often considerable, in advance, while at that moment it is not certain whether the eventual, actual use of the public transport system does in fact justify the costs of such season ticket.
• the object of the present invention is to provide at least a partial solution to these problems.
• a public transport system comprising means of transport accessible to the public at a charge, which means of transport travel, in operation, predetermined routes operated by one or more operators, with predetermined stops; and sales locations for transport tickets, is characterized in that a least a number of passengers are provided with a registration means comprising readable and writable memory means; that devices are provided by means of which a passenger can write the distance travelled by the passenger in the memory means of a registration means presented by the passenger, while this distance is added in the memory means to a previously registered distance, if any; and that the sales locations are provided with means for reading the total distance registered in the memory means of a registration means and for determining, on the basis of the total distance, the selling price of, and/or the reduction on, a next transport ticket.
• EP-A-0 465 456 It is observed that a public transport system which is so designed that each passenger is both checked in at the beginning of the journey and checked out at the end thereof, is disclosed in EP-A-0 465 456.
• this known public transport system no registration means are used that are carried by the passengers themselves and in which the travelled distance can be registered each time.
• the known public transport system comprises a dense network of communication connections between the means of transport, which are provided with primary registration means, collecting centres and a central processing system. Such a dense communication network is difficult to install, susceptible to failure and at any rate quite costly.
• the starting point is that the new public transport system, and in particular the tariff system used, should be made attractive to the user, i.e. the passenger.
• the information desired by the transport companies for business efficiency and for logistic purposes must result from this without frequent registration being made compulsory.
• a public transport system registration of the transport service enjoyed, in the form of travelled kilometers, rendered by one or several public transport companies, is promoted by a reduction mechanism according to which more reduction is given according as more kilometers have been travelled.
• This reduction includes every form of public transport used, for which the passenger himself has registered the starting point, the transfer point(s), if any, and the end point. Possibly, if the route is known in advance, it could suffice to register the starting point alone.
• the total amount of kilometers travelled by a passenger is for instance added in the registration means and stored in a memory per period of time, for instance per week or per month. Accordingly, on the basis of the travelled distance, for instance in the form of the progressive average of the amount of travelled kilometers per period, a reduction to be given can be calculated when a next transport ticket is sold.
• registration of the travelled distance also includes registration of time information (for instance date, hour, minute, second).
• time information for instance date, hour, minute, second.
• book-off and registration units can be used, which may for instance be located on platforms, in trains, buses and trams and at the entrances and exits of the underground. Registration need not be compulsory for season ticket holders, but it does afford the passenger a reduction when a next or supplementary travel pass is bought. Consequently, the passenger will generally like to register as much as possible to thereby obtain a higher basis of reduction.
• the distribution code for the distribution of monies between the transport companies can be predetermined at the sale, independently of the travelling frequency, and can optionally be corrected with the measured number of fare dodgers.
• Measuring the number of fare dodgers can for instance be carried out by using counting steps or other detection means with which the total number of passengers getting on and off is counted, and comparing the outcome of this count with the number of bookings or registrations that have taken place.
• Underground lines could be closed off entirely, so that when they are entered and left, it automatically becomes possible for the passenger to check in and check out.
• network season tickets are replaced as much as possible by transport tickets for fixed routes or transport tickets for shorter distances, while eventually, due to a constantly increasing reduction when more kilometers are travelled, prices are paid that do not exceed the current prices for transport on the network. Consequently, the reduction scale should be thus progressive that the passenger never pays more than the price of a network year ticket.
• a contactless smart card For registering the travelled kilometers for instance a contactless smart card may be used, as described, for instance, in applicant's European patent application 0 534 559.
• Such card may also form the transport ticket itself, as described for instance in German Offenlegungsschrift 3 911 667 (Bosch), but it is also possible to use the registration means for registration only and, in addition, to use separate tickets for single use.
• the registration means can be provided with a unique identification code, uniquely coupled to the holder.
• the registration means can have a value which can be increased through payment of an amount of money, or can be designed as a conventional credit card or cheque card.
• the sales locations may be provided with corresponding pay and/or value-increase machines.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=19861474

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (8)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (8)

• 1992
  • 1992-11-04 NL NL9201924A patent/NL9201924A/nl not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1993
  • 1993-11-04 DE DE1993607991 patent/DE69307991T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-11-04 EP EP19930203096 patent/EP0596579B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (8)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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