Classifications

• • 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
  • G07B15/06—Arrangements for road pricing or congestion charging of vehicles or vehicle users, e.g. automatic toll systems
  • G07B15/063—Arrangements for road pricing or congestion charging of vehicles or vehicle users, e.g. automatic toll systems using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method for collecting user fees for the
• Route sections within the meaning of the present invention can also be limited geographical zones such as inner cities or other delimitable areas.
• a device for determining usage fees for the use of toll sections of traffic routes of a traffic route network by vehicles is known, which is respectively arranged in the vehicle and with on-board means for determining the position of the vehicle, i.e. is provided to determine its current geographical location and also has a vehicle-side storage device in which route data are stored which identify the geographical course of the individual sections of the traffic route network which are subject to tolls.
• this device has in its memory data (tariff data) which are assigned to the individual sections of the route which are subject to charges and which are representative of the fee amounts which are due when the respective section of the route is used by the vehicle.
• tariff data memory data
• a computer unit of this device determines whether the vehicle is subject to a fee
• a corresponding system for billing user fees for a toll route network is also known from EP 0 691 013 B1.
• vehicle-side device that independently determines the respective vehicle position and has geographic route data and tariff data of the route network subject to user fees, which are used for the
• the signals of a navigation satellite system are preferably used for determining the position of the vehicle. To be a proper one
• an outward-looking signal device is also provided which, after the credit amount on the credit card has been used up, is activated in the event of the vehicle remaining on a route subject to usage billing and thus improper use through along the route makes it possible to identify control facilities that are subject to a toll route network.
• EP 0 741 891 B1 discloses a method for determining user charges for traffic routes and traffic areas, which uses a device located in the vehicle, with the aid of this on the basis of position data and tariff data in the vehicle
• User fees are calculated and transmitted to a central office via a digital cellular network. In contrast to the two aforementioned systems, it is not the billing of charges in the vehicle that is carried out on a user card or credit card, but the actual billing of the user fees that are due is done by a central office. in the
• Vehicle itself is therefore only the respective usage amounts determined independently.
• Such a central procedure is primarily suitable only for commercial road traffic due to the subsequent traceability of the toll sections of the route used by individual vehicles, i.e. for route-related usage fee billing for trucks and buses, since the data protection requirements are different than for private road traffic.
• the central debiting of the individual usage amounts has the advantage that for the operator of the user fee collection system, e.g. a fee collection agency acting on behalf of the state can perform the usage-based billing of the usage activities carried out by a large number of vehicles with high accuracy and security and, on the other hand, the drivers of the vehicles are released from the need for manual activities to pay the usage fees because the required cash flow to pay the user fees in each case by invoicing and / or in
• Claim 1 specified features. This method can be further developed in an advantageous manner by the features specified in subclaims 2 to 15.
• the present invention is based on a method for collecting
• a traffic route network which can also be a subnet of a more extensive traffic route network
• vehicles by means of a device which is arranged in a vehicle making use of the vehicle and on the basis of position data which is relevant to the current geographical position of the Vehicle are representative, and from route data, which are representative of the geographic course of the chargeable route sections of the traffic routes, the respective use of the chargeable route sections by the vehicle is determined.
• Usage data which are characteristic of the use of the sections of the route which are subject to tolls, are transmitted wirelessly from this facility in each case promptly to the individual uses to a central office for billing the usage fees.
• the term “promptly” is to be understood to mean that the data transmission takes place while the vehicle is traveling. This procedure ensures that the general authorization to use the vehicle is in use
• Vehicle-specific and / or route-specific and / or time-specific parameters are included in the determination of the usage fees, i.e.
• the user fees due according to the respective tariff are generally not independent fixed amounts, but are based, for example, on certain vehicle parameters (e.g. vehicle weight, number of axles, pollutant class, etc.) or location-dependent
• Criteria e.g. location-dependent higher fees for sections of the route with expensive tunnels or bridges
• time-dependent criteria higher fees for times of day or on certain days with particularly high traffic loads
• the determination of the usage fees due is not made in the vehicle, but only in the central office on the basis of tariff data stored on the central side and on the basis of the usage data transmitted by the respective vehicle-side device.
• an estimate is repeatedly made as to whether the part of the fee credit still available or the part of the fee
• Fee credits are sufficient to be able to bill the expected user fee for one or more of the next sections of the toll road network that have not yet been reached.
• a fixed, generalized rate of cost is used as a basis for this estimate, regardless of the actual usage tariff, so that the respective applicable tariff, which may change at short notice (e.g. depending on the actual traffic load on a chargeable section).
• the amount of the still available portion of the fee credit depending on the type of billing method selected, will be transmitted from the central office to the vehicle-side device at least once during a trip. The transmission preferably takes place several times (for example at predetermined time or distance intervals).
• the invention provides that the vehicle-side device in the event that there is no confirmation for an adequate amount of the available fee credit or of the
• Fee credits results in a signal to the driver asking to buy a new fee credit or the central office to settle the almost exhausted fee credit and to make a new fee credit available. With the settlement of the fee credit, the initiation of the cash flow is from the traffic route user or a body authorized by him
• this is an account debit from a driver's bank account or a freight forwarder, to which the respective route-using vehicle belongs.
• GPS Global Positioning System
• GLONASS Global Navigational System
• the position determination could also be carried out with the aid of a position determination system based on terrestrial transmitters or by means of a
• DGPS radio-transmitted correction data
• a digital mobile radio network is expediently used for the communication between the vehicle-side device and the central office responsible for billing, that is to say for the transmission of the data to be exchanged used, preferably according to the standard GMS or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System).
• a prepaid fee credit that is about to be exhausted can expediently be recharged via vending machine stations that are operated in particular at motorway service stations, petrol stations and parking lots along the toll route network. This can be done, for example, using a subscriber card, which is similarly provided for the operation of mobile telephones and on which the characteristic data of the respective vehicle (eg license plate data, vehicle class, pollutant class, etc.) are entered. These data can then be transmitted to the central office via a communication link between the respective machine station and the central office for billing purposes in order to identify or set up the required credit account.
• the payment of the amount of money required to purchase a value credit can be made in cash or, for example, also by means of a check card or credit card or cash card.
• an advantageous further development of the invention provides that such credit purchase can be carried out by means of mobile radio, in particular via the Internet.
• the payment of money can then be effected, for example, by specifying the credit card number of a valid credit card.
• the replenishment of a fee credit is triggered by an external body, for example the forwarding company to which the respective driver of the vehicle belongs, after the driver has contacted his carrier, for example via mobile radio.
• those for Triggering the payment process information is also transmitted via the fixed network.
• the driver can of course take his vehicle out of the toll route network at the next opportunity (e.g. motorway exit) to avoid unauthorized driving in this toll route network.
• the invention expediently provides that that of the vehicle
• Established assessment takes into account the route from the current location of the vehicle to the next machine station or stations located in the direction of travel, at which a charge credit can be replenished. If there is a branching of the toll route network (e.g. motorway triangle or motorway junction) in the direction of travel of the vehicle, the estimate must of course take into account that the vehicle can take different routes on its journey. In this case, the alternative from which the closest machine station is furthest away must be taken into account for the estimation.
• the toll route network e.g. motorway triangle or motorway junction
• the lump sum cost rate used as the basis for the estimate is merely a fixed amount, which is based on the highest fee of the most expensive route section of the traffic network.
• the length of the next leg of the toll route network to be traveled would not matter.
• the general rate used as the basis for the estimate is a distance-based cost rate (kilometer rate) that e.g. based on the most expensive vehicle class (for example, according to the highest permissible number of axles of a vehicle) and / or the most expensive route category.
• the amounts determined in the central office of the billed or to be billed user fees and / or their total and / or, if applicable, a remaining remainder of a prepaid fee credit are displayed by the To continuously inform the driver of the vehicle about the development of the billable fee volume.
• receipt information about previously billed route sections, to which the currently traveled route section belongs is stored in the vehicle-side device for control purposes.
• receipt information also stores the fee credit or fee credit from which the fee for the route sections or the geographic area used for a fee has been or is to be debited.
• control stations that are positioned along the sections of the route that are subject to a fee (stationary or preferably also mobile stations) and, if necessary, to compare it with data from the central office.
• the control stations can have a data connection with the central office.
• the method according to the invention ensures reliable billing of the user fees for the use of toll sections of the route by vehicles, without the need to store the current tariff data for the traffic network in the vehicle-side facilities to be carried by the vehicles.
• the willingness to pay fees properly can be done without interruption, i.e. be maintained by the vehicle without leaving the toll route network.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
• Optical Communication System (AREA)
• Harvester Elements (AREA)
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging Apparatus (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

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ID=7661951

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

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Family Cites Families (10)

• 2000
  • 2000-10-27 DE DE10054378A patent/DE10054378A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2001
  • 2001-10-16 DE DE50115585T patent/DE50115585D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-10-16 AU AU2002223487A patent/AU2002223487A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-10-16 AT AT01988918T patent/ATE476725T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2001-10-16 WO PCT/DE2001/003947 patent/WO2002035477A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2001-10-16 EP EP01988918A patent/EP1344190B1/fr not_active Revoked

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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