WO2010058058A1

WO2010058058A1 - Arrangement and related method for analysing and controlling traffic conditions at borders

Info

Publication number: WO2010058058A1
Application number: PCT/FI2008/050664
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ilmari Sikander; Sampo Hietanen; Jukka Partinen
Original assignee: 4Destia Oy
Priority date: 2008-11-18
Filing date: 2008-11-18
Publication date: 2010-05-27

Abstract

Arrangement and method for facilitating the management of cross border traffic, wherein preparations are taken to obtain information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to a number of border stations (204, 206, 208), each of which being associated with a border crossing, to obtain information (220, 226) indicative of traffic, and preferably weather, situation relative to each border station, to determine performance indicia relative to each border station on the basis of the obtained information, and to provide the determined performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom to one or more external parties.

Description

ARRANGEMENT AND RELATED METHOD FOR ANALYSING AND CONTROLLING TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AT BORDERS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Generally the invention relates to logistics and traffic management. In particular, however not exclusively, the invention pertains to analyzing the performance status of border stations, which are monitoring cross-border traffic, and preferably to managing the traffic situation at associated border areas.

BACKGROUND

Considering prior art in general, logistic problems associated with national borders, such as traffic congestion, are globally well-recognized.

For example, Finnish and US officials have addressed the problem of increasing cross-border road traffic, e.g. truck traffic (Finland/Russia and USA/Mexico borders, for instance), and related delays in border crossing. Finnish Road Administration already provides substantially real-time data of traffic situation at the eastern border and the U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a program for relieving traffic congestion at borders (see

Similar problems arise worldwide; for instance, Hong Kong-based companies often exploit cheaper manufacturing costs available in China, which causes various cross-border logistics problems to be solved.

In addition to more specific cross-border traffic challenges, congestion phenomenon in "normal" road traffic has also been inspected and various analysis methods have been proposed for road traffic management. In point of fact, dynamic traffic man- agement has rapidly become an important research topic. Parties that have been active in developing traffic analysis, traffic control, route planning and guiding, etc. solutions include, but are not limited to, different navigation technology companies and vehicle (parts) manufacturers. Both large conglomerates and specialized niche firms seem to conduct research on the topic.

With reference to figure 1 , one scenario for reducing local load at a certain border crossing is described. Namely, a traffic control center 102 is situated at a location that is physically remote from the border crossing 106. Vehicles are routed through the traffic control center 102 in order to be pre-screened and processed for travel through the zone near the border crossing(s) along a virtual traffic lane. The virtual traffic lane is described as a vehicular roadway, or a combination of roadways, that lead from the traffic control center to the border crossings. The virtual traffic lane is the preferred roadway or combination of roadways between the traffic control center and the border crossing, and is selected from a plurality of preferred routes. The route selection within the urban area 104 is performed by the center 102 on the basis of prevailing traffic conditions, for example. Each preferred local border traffic route includes a series of traffic monitoring stations, where the monitoring stations are provided periodically along the route to allow monitoring and analysis of the traffic conditions along each route, and also to allow tracking of specified pre- screened vehicles within the route. The virtual traffic lane consists of a specified travel route for a period of time, and it may be then changed to an alternative roadway or series of roadways, as determined by travel conditions within all possible preferred routes. The virtual traffic lane exploits existing infrastructure, but selects and prioritizes traffic routes within the existing infrastructure based on traffic volume, the type of traffic using the roadways, immediate traffic conditions, the time of day, and other factors which affect traffic flow. RF(ID)-based, GPS (Global Positioning System) and visual, e.g. camera, monitoring of vehicles are mentioned as real-time means for analyzing the traffic flow and vehicles between the center 102 and the crossing point 106.

US7336203 (Border Gateways) discloses one example of a prior art arrangement for pre-screening, tracking and controlling vehicles heading towards a border cross- ing.

Notwithstanding the advantages and benefits offered by the above or other solutions in analyzing and/or managing the traffic flow close to a certain border or in general, certain problems still exist therewith naturally depending on each particular use case. Namely, many contemporary and without doubt somewhat clever arrangements for dynamic route (re-)selection and navigation concerning specially e.g. rush hour or accident situations in urban traffic do not, however, cover the special features of cross-border traffic in view of performance of the border stations or the near-by road network, for example. Some prior art systems require considerable amount of additional infrastructure, such as additional controlling stations or roadside sensors, to be deployed and new personnel to be hired in order to get the system working efficiently. In other cases, the environment close to the target border station may be in reality so versatile in contrast to a certain problematic geographi- cally limited area near the border that a single new traffic control node and related monitoring or control equipment just cannot be positioned optimally so as to accommodate and sequence the cross-border traffic without causing excessive additional hassle and delays for the traffic. Further, merely monitoring the traffic rela- tive to certain alternative roads between an intermediate point, such as a control center, and the border crossing, may not give a truthful figure of the overall logistic situation at the border.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the embodiments of the present invention is to at least alleviate one or more of the aforesaid drawbacks evident in the prior art arrangements in the context of border stations and cross-border traffic. The objective may be generally achieved with an arrangement for analyzing various capabilities and current per- formance of border stations in order to enable more efficient management of cross- border traffic.

Thereby, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention an arrangement for facilitating the management of cross-border traffic comprises a data transfer inter- face for receiving and transmitting data, and a processing device and a memory for processing and storing data, respectively, the arrangement being configured to:

-obtain information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to a number of border stations, each of which associated with a border crossing,

-obtain information indicative of traffic, and preferably weather, situation relative to each border station,

-determine one or more performance indicia relative to each border station on the basis of the obtained information, and to

-provide the determined performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom to one or more external parties.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for facilitating the management of cross-border traffic comprises: -obtaining information indicative of capabilities and/or status of a number of border stations, each of which associated with a border crossing,

-obtaining information indicative of traffic, and preferably, weather situation rela- tive to each border station,

-determining one or more performance indicia relative to each border station on the basis of the obtained information, and

-providing the determined performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom for exploitation by one or more external parties.

In the above aspects, the provision of performance indicia and/or traffic control data may include transmission of the indicia and/or control data upon request by the re- ceiving party, or via a timed transmission, a broadcast transmission, a multicast transmission, or e.g. via provision of access to database(s) wherein such indicia and/or data is stored. 'Push' and 'pull' type delivery options are possible among other data delivery alternatives. The provided information may be delivered directly to the end user, or intermediate entities, such as radio stations in the case of infor- mation broadcast over a radio channel, may be utilized for both information delivery and acquisition. The end users may include e.g. logistics companies, private/professional users (e.g. truck driver), governmental organizations such as customs or road administration, ports, etc.

For instance, the traffic control data may include specific control data for different traffic management purposes such as data for controlling traffic lights or bars, and/or it may include higher level data for control center(s) that may determine the more specific control procedures. Additionally or alternatively, the traffic control data may include instructive data to individual road users or user groups in a form of navigation instructions, for example. The traffic control data, such as the aforementioned instructions, may be provided on a predetermined carrier, such as a radio carrier or a fixed network carrier signal.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, several border-crossings and re- lated border stations may be tracked substantially in parallel as it is possible to dynamically (re)route and divide traffic between a plurality of crossings depending on the prevailing situation and e.g. intended destination of vehicles. In one embodiment of the present invention, the information indicative of capabilities and status of a border station may indicate static information such as at least one information element selected from the group consisting of: data on the waiting/parking facilities for cross-border traffic (e.g. size (such as the geographical size and/or max. allowable number of accommodated vehicles or of parking squares) or location of the parking areas), number of lanes/gates, queuing discipline or system (e.g. turn number), (total) number of personnel, office hours, and location data such as geographical position or distance to the corresponding border station on the other side of the border. The information may be optionally given (traffic) type- specifically, e.g. for passenger traffic and goods traffic separately. The information may be direction-specific, if available. The information obtained to assess a single border-crossing may cover data on only one border station of the crossing or include data on both opposing stations, either separately or as combined information. In practice, there are often two border stations per a crossing point or a geographi- cally limited 'border area', one for both entities ruling the adjacent border areas. In that case, the capabilities and status of the border stations may be closely or practically completely linked together as if one of the stations acts as a bottle neck, also the traffic (flow) at the other station will likely suffer in a similar fashion, which is described in more detail hereinafter.

In addition or alternatively, dynamic information may be indicated, such as at least one information element selected from the group consisting of: data on the actual on-site presence of personnel, number of lanes/gates in use, and open/closed operative status. The above remarks concerning a certain border-crossing point and mul- tiple stations or type/direction-specificity apply also in this case. The dynamic information may also be used for predictive purposes concerning the future values of capability/status information.

In the aforesaid or another embodiments, the information indicative of traffic situa- tion relative to each border station may indicate the current traffic situation at the corresponding border area and/or the forthcoming traffic situation at the border area, the latter being possibly estimated on the basis of available logistic data, customs (transit system) data such as community (e.g. NCTS, New Computerized Transit System) or TIR (Transport International Routier) transit system data, and/or traffic monitoring data such as sensor data. For example, incoming traffic flow, passing rate, and queue may be monitored or estimated. Traffic and optionally weather data may be stored as statistical history data for future (traffic) prediction purposes. The data may be obtained from private persons/road network users, com- panies (e.g. logistics companies) or governmental organizations (e.g. road administration, ports, etc.).

The information may be determined on the basis of one side of the border/one bor- der station only, or it may comprise combined data on the aggregate crossing point, e.g. two opposing border stations defining a border (crossing) area, in general. However, in some cases data merely gathered on the basis of one border station only, e.g. the receiving station (relative to traffic direction), also reflects the situation of the whole border-crossing area, e.g. source station-receiving station, due to the serial nature of traffic between the border stations. For example, a congested source station may negatively affect the traffic situation of the receiving station what comes to the achieved passing rate or input flow of the vehicles at the second station. Alternatively, congested receiving station may also cause congestion at the source station due to long queue extending from the receiving station to the source station and possibly even beyond that.

The border area may thereby include e.g. predetermined area(s) of one or two (opposing) border stations and their facilities, such as parking lots, and optionally the intermediate, typically road, border zone area between the border stations, i.e. sub- stantially the whole border(-crossing) area. The traffic situation may be indicated by a traffic flow or e.g. via the relationship between incoming and outgoing (-passed) vehicle flows relative to (one or more predetermined area(s) of) a border station or the larger border area. The traffic situation may also be indicated as the number of vehicles detected in a predetermined location such as a parking lot of the border sta- tion.

Additionally, in the above or other embodiments the traffic situation elsewhere, e.g. on predetermined near-by or distant areas, e.g. ports (harbours) or roads, may also be tracked and included in the information figures, if considered as having immedi- ate or future effect on the situation at the border, which may be the case provided that the roads substantially lead towards the border etc.

The traffic situation may be indicated (traffic) direction specifically as there may be considerable differences between the directions concerning the amount of traffic, facilities, and/or other factors.

Further, the traffic situation may be indicated type-wise. For example, information on passenger traffic and goods traffic (or private vs. professional traffic) may be in- dicated separately. Different traffic types often have dedicated lanes or gates on roads and/or at border-crossings, which provides for somewhat different traffic situations to take place between the types and may thus render the type-specific monitoring particularly sensible. For instance, occasionally, e.g. during the holiday sea- son, passenger traffic lanes and/or gates may be especially crowded whereas all the other times the goods traffic vehicles populate their facilities at the borders more fully than the passenger traffic.

In one embodiment, determining performance indicia relative to each border station on the basis of the obtained information may include determining one or more viscosity numbers and/or identifiers that provide the recipient of the information with an idea of the prevailing and optionally estimated future situation at the border. The performance indicia may include indications of e.g. maximum traffic flow (may be time dependent, e.g. with one hour resolution) that the border station or the border area is capable of handling without causing or exceeding a predetermined level of congestion etc. Also other indicia such as average waiting/crossing times may be determined. Different relative figures between incoming and passing traffic may be determined for performance evaluation and comparison.

As alluded hereinbefore, the utility of the different embodiments of the present invention arises from a plurality of issues. The performance, or 'viscosity', of desired border stations/crossing-points may be analyzed, ranked, and used for traffic management including guidance and rerouting. The analysis data may include estimated border-crossing times for vehicles queuing at the border station or closing in the border station. Accordingly, the services by the border stations may be enhanced in response to the acquired analysis data. In addition, the embodiments may provide relief on the congestion problems as the traffic may be rerouted, even to a different crossing point, or instructed for later arrival at the border, or to visit remote waiting areas with proper rest facilities, which is also preferred by truck drivers and passen- gers instead of queuing in a vehicle parked on the roadside, for instance. The border-crossing times and especially the actual queuing times at the border may be thus shortened.

The embodiments may provide analysis on both the border station and the road network leading to the border station, and even do this to multiple border stations or border areas. In addition, weather info may be taken into account such that traffic control data, which may also refer to route suggestions or recommendations instead of forced 'control', serves the traffic in view of all these three options. Even fur- ther, the present invention may be applied on both sides of a border, which enables crossing point selection by acknowledging the traffic situation also on the other side, not just on the entering side, of the border, although in some cases the situation on one side also reflects the situation on the other side as well. As mentioned here- inbefore, the latter holds true e.g. in occasions where the receiving border station is the factual bottleneck as it also ultimately jams the source station as well, at least what comes to parking facilities etc. Finally, the present invention overcomes the need to establish pricey border-station specific reception centers and sensor networks for screening and assisting cross-border traffic in reducing the jams at the crossing points.

The present invention may be exploited also in other transit points than mere border crossings. For example, ports (harbour or larger harbor-containing area) or other transit points for traffic may be selected as targets of the principles presented herein for similar performance evaluation or other purposes. Accordingly, the arrangement may be configured to obtain information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to a number of transit points such as ports, to obtain information indicative of traffic, and optionally weather, situation relative to each transit point, to determine performance one or more indicia relative to each transit point on the basis of the ob- tained information, and to provide the determined performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom to one or more external parties. The same versatility applies to the disclosed method.

The expression "a number of may herein refer to any positive integer starting from one (1). The expression "a plurality of may refer to any positive integer starting from two (2), respectively.

The expression "border station" may refer herein to a controlled border crossing point that enables traffic to move from one territory, such as a country or a prov- ince, to another.

In one embodiment an exemplary arrangement in accordance with the present invention is disclosed together with examples of an associated method. The arrangement is used in analyzing the performance of and situation at a number of border stations between two entities such as countries.

Different embodiments of the present invention are also disclosed in the attached dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED DRAWINGS

Next, the embodiments of the present invention are more closely reviewed with ref- erence to the attached drawings, wherein

Fig. 1 illustrates a known solution for routing traffic within an urban area between a traffic control center and a border checkpoint.

Fig. 2a illustrates one embodiment of the arrangement and use scenario thereof in accordance with present invention.

Fig. 2b illustrates the flow of vehicles in one and two directions relative to a border (station).

Fig. 3 illustrates the scenario with a cross-border monitoring and management aspect. Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the method according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram depicting the internals of an embodiment of the arrangement in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Figures Ia and Ib were already contemplated hereinbefore in connection with the review of the background of the invention.

Figure 2a illustrates one use scenario 200 and embodiment of the arrangement according to the present invention. As being obvious in light of the following deliberation, the connecting lines depicted between various elements of the figure imply physical traffic entrance/exit connections, such as a physical road or other passage, between each element and a road network 202. The broken lines depict at least log- ical data transfer (connections) taking place between various entities. All possible road or data transfer configurations have not been illustrated for clarity reasons in the figure and also alternative connection models may be exploited depending on each particular use case, which becomes apparent to a skilled person on the basis of the following.

The illustrated, however merely exemplary, scenario thus comprises the road network 202 on which the traffic 210, originating e.g. from factory 212, logistics company terminal 214, or port 216, travels towards a border provided with three border stations/crossings 204, 206, and 208, respectively. The aforesaid and other potential sources for cross-border traffic may incorporate manual (e.g. manual inspection and input to a computer system) or automated passage control systems such as RFID tag systems (in e.g. personnel IDs, vehicles, or containers) wherefrom the information about originated traffic can be provided forward. Similarly, the same sources may also act as targets for incoming, potentially cross-border, traffic originated elsewhere. The performance of these source/target entities may depend on various factors such as the infrastructure comprising the parking/storage facilities, number of parallel gates, types/size of vessels served (in ports), opening hours, and other fea- tures. Information on such performance indicators may be further forwarded to external elements, if needed.

For instance, (TIR-originating) EDI-messages (Electronic Data Interchange) that are transmitted in accordance with the NCTS transit system between the informants, such as logistics companies, and the customs, and subsequently between the customs of different countries, or other corresponding customs transit announcement messages, could also be transmitted as such or at least relative to the main substance thereof to the arrangement 218 directly or via one or more intermediate parties so that the near-future border-crossing traffic at a certain crossing point or border in general could be better estimated. When the messages have to be submitted relative to a selected border station and at least a predetermined amount of time prior to the desired border-crossing instant, the estimates can be utilized with enhanced geographical and temporal accuracy. Even if all traffic does not have to follow such transit regulations, a considerable portion of all traffic preferably does and enables also estimation of the overall traffic at border areas.

The information on the capabilities and/or status of the border stations 204, 206, and 208 may be transmitted or otherwise provided to an arrangement 218 by the stations themselves (or customs in general) over an applicable transmission medium, or by third parties/a centralized entity having access to such information. In the illustrated basic scenario the border stations 204, 206, 208 relate to the very same borderline between two parties. In an alternative scenario, there may be more than two parties, e.g. three parties, involved such that each border station 204, 206, and 208 concerns a border between two parties. Even in the latter case, the performance of the border stations may be monitored. Further, traffic instructions, even border station re-selection instructions, may be given at least in relation to the border stations between the same two parties. Static information may be more fixed or more "hard-coded" in the memory of arrangement 218 as it typically remains unaltered at least for a longer period of time while the dynamic information shall be for a longer period of time while the dynamic information shall be either periodically or upon a change updated more frequently. Either information type may be obtained by utilizing automated sensor(s) and/or manual surveillance and subsequent data input, for example.

The road network 202 may be provided with different sensors 226, such as optical sensors (cameras etc.), inductive sensors (e.g. loops), RFID readers (provided that at least part of the vehicles or their passengers carry RFID tags), or pressure sensors, which may be either fixed or portable. The sensors may be maintained by the entity administrating the arrangement 218 or by a number of other entities providing the information to the arrangement 218 over feasible transmission medium.

The sensors 226 obtain and forward data about traffic and optionally weather information in desired or between desired locations. The traffic data may include e.g. traffic flow data as mentioned hereinbefore. Further, the traffic data may comprise travel time data (measured by sensors positioned at two or more locations, for instance), speed data, type data (measured by roadside/road-embedded sensors analyzing the changes in magnetic field as the vehicles pass by, for instance), and traffic volume data. Also roadworks information may be obtained, e.g. from the system of local road administration. Yet, traffic information may be provided by the vehicles/drivers/passengers themselves. For example, mobile phones or other terminal devices, or different kinds of transmitters/tracking devices, possessed by the road users (or installed in their vehicles) may be configured to provide location, speed, or other data explicitly or indirectly. Indirect data provision may refer to localizing the active terminals by the network, which is transparent to the road user, for example. Companies or independent road users may empower via appropriate contracts the arrangement 218 to obtain location information.

In one embodiment one or more taxi companies provide traffic information on the basis of vehicle monitoring data provided by tracking equipment disposed in each taxi. In particular floating car data (FCD), or generally floating vehicle data, may be used as a source of traffic information. Accidents and other unforeseen events can be reported to the arrangement 218 by emergency or traffic control centers, police, road administration, radio stations, or other entities.

The weather data may include air pressure, air humidity, wind speed, rain type (e.g. water or snow) , rain intensity and/or form, sky cloudiness, dew point, and/or air temperature -based data as well as road surface information (e.g. temperature or dry/icy/wet classification, or other conditions), or weather forecast data. The weather data may be transmitted or provided for access by the road administration and/or various, one or more, weather service companies, for example. In addition, the weather data may include indication of the utilized road weather station type(s) or e.g. rain or other sensor types.

The sensor data may include information obtained from the road users either automatically or manually. Automatic reporting may refer to the aforesaid cell phone data acquired from moving vehicles directly or via an operator, said data giving an indication of e.g. the traffic flow. Manually obtained information may include road status reporting calls to a traffic center managed by the road administration, etc. The sensors 226 may be configured to provide data directly to the arrangement 218, e.g. via a wireless or wired connection, or via an external data collector/data provider entity 220, such as road administration, city management or a private company. Further, different entities that send or forward traffic to the network 202, such as the illustrated 212, 214, and 216, may provide the arrangement 218 with logistic data either directly, or via an intermediate party.

One another clever format for transferring e.g. sensor data or other information may be or be at least based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) due to its flexibility and suitability for various data types.

Several border stations 204, 206, and 208, or the arrangement 218 while determining the traffic and/or weather conditions relative to multiple stations, may be con- figured to utilize data from the same one or more sensors 226. This may typically take place when the border stations 204, 206 are closely situated whereby the same traffic and/or weather conditions affect them both, i.e. the monitored traffic areas of the stations overlap.

The road network 202 may also be provided with traffic control system 228 that may be (remotely) controlled, either directly or via an external entity like the road administration or e.g. the city in charge, on the basis of the generated performance indicia and/or traffic control data. The arrangement 218 may derive at least part of the traffic control data by itself, or it may be completely generated by external enti- ties such as the traffic-controlling party in view of the performance data provided by the arrangement 218. The control system 228 may include various (dynamic) traffic control means such as traffic signs, traffic lights, traffic guides, bars, etc. as controlled by a remote entity. The traffic control data may further instruct the vehicles closing the border to remotely wait for a proper time slot for border crossing. The data may route the vehicles to certain areas suitable for the purpose or just indicate the slot to arrive at the border station/take care of related formalities. The aforesaid areas may refer to facilities 224 that include e.g. parking areas or more comprehensive break joints, which may encompass shop(s), motel, sanitary facilities, lounge(s), etc. The facilities 224 may be pre-existing, but also new ones may be built, if needed on the basis of performed analysis in light of the border- traffic. For example, if certain border station 204, 206, 208 is typically overcrowded by vehicles waiting for border crossing, it might be also business-wise sensible to construct a new remote break joint to serve the drivers/passengers while they are waiting for their turn to show up at the border and/or take care of the remaining customs formalities, if any, without a need to wait on the spot for hours, possibly without any services and amusement.

Alternatively, the traffic control data may include navigation instructions relating to a route towards a certain border and/or (re-)determination of a (new) border station/crossing point based on the available performance data. In order to validly determine a border-station for a vehicle, the arrangement 218 or another entity deter- mining the route on the basis of information at least partly obtained from the arrangement 218, is preferably informed of the final or at least intermediate destination of the vehicle behind the border (or on the side of the arrangement if the vehicle is arriving from the other side) so that the cost e.g. in terms of the total travelling time may be calculated for a plurality of alternative routes with different crossing points. A part of the route determination for calculating the cost may be conducted by utilizing some desired prior art navigation solution, but the effect of the border station and border crossing shall be preferably taken into account by utilizing the determined performance indicia.

In one embodiment the effect of the border station may include an estimate of the waiting time at the station, wherein the estimate may be based on at least one of the information elements selected from the group consisting of: estimated arrival at the border station, estimated border traffic flow (incoming, passing and/or queuing) at the time of arrival, type of vehicle, performance indicia relative to the border sta- tion, and available logistic or clearance data of the vehicle. It will be appreciated by skilled persons that e.g. the performance indicia may include or be at least partially determined based on the traffic flow data, and also the other above elements may have a corresponding interrelationship. In one embodiment, see the scenario 250 of figure 2b, the performance indicia is exploited and it includes a viscosity number describing the performance of a border station on a predetermined scale, for example. The scale may be a numeric range between x and y, wherein x and y are numbers, such as a range from about 0 to 5, or from about 0 to 10. The scale may also be a symbolic or a textual one. As merely a simple example of the foregoing, the viscosity number V per border station or border area could be determined, preferably traffic direction and/or type -specifically, at time instant t (given as e.g. 24h or 12h am/pm clock time) via different traffic flow parameters and queue size as follows:

V (t) = PASSING RATE OF VEHICLES (t) / ( INCOMING VEHICLES (t) + QUEUE SIZE (t) )

wherein the value of the portion between the brackets may be limited to a predetermined limit such as five and rounded to the nearest integer so that the equation results in a numerical value in the range [0, 5], for instance;

PASSING RATE OF VEHICLES (t) refers to current sensor/monitor data (e.g. last hour or other (sliding) average), mathematical derivative based on available static and/or dynamic capability/status info, and/or statistical history data available from previous days at about the same instant, for example, wherein the information type may be e.g. X vehicles / hour. The passing ('crossing') rate, or 'flow', of vehicles cross the border may be rather static during the opening hours of the border station and if the border station is closed at instant 't' based on the available status information, the associated passing rate is obviously zero;

INCOMING VEHICLES (t) refers to available sensor/monitor data with e.g. sliding average, statistical history data, and/or combination thereof. Incoming vehicles are vehicles that arrive at the border station in order to pass the border. For example, INCOMING VEHICLES (t) = announced incoming vehicles (t) x A + incoming vehicles (at t during the last month on average) x B. Alternatively, INCOMING VEHICLES (t) = announced incoming vehicles (t) x C. A, B, and C may be predetermined or adaptive multipliers. For example, A could be about 0.6, B about 0.4, and C about 1.2, wherein C is dependent on the monitored statistical dependency between the number of timely announced (e.g. TIR) and in reality incoming vehicles. The information type may be e.g. X vehicles / hour; and QUEUE SIZE (t) may refer to queue now (based on sensor/monitor data, for instance) with possible time correction factors, statistical history data, and/or combination thereof. For example, QUEUE SIZE (t) = queue now + (cumulative incoming traffic estimate until instant t - cumulative passed traffic estimate until instant t)

Preferably, monitored sensor data is stored and exploited as at least a part of the future's statistical history data.

The above formula is preferably direction-dependent, i.e. determined separately for both directions. Instead or in addition to such formulae, also tables may be utilized in defining the viscosity or other performance indicia.

A waiting time estimate may be provided on the basis of the obtained information by relation (incoming vehicles + queue size) / passing rate, for instance.

This embodiment may be utilized by road users such as logistics companies or other entities interested in the performance of the border station/area in view of optimizing the selection of a crossing point and timing the arrival at the border.

In addition to or instead of vehicle-based analysis, the performance estimation may be based on flow and queue figures of persons passing the border e.g. in the same or lower number of vehicles. For example, in case the border station comprises a specific lane for passenger traffic, the customs procedure, e.g. duration, may also be estimated on the basis of the passenger flow (passing/incoming) and queue(s).

With reference to the scenario 260 of figure 2b (numerals 1 and 2 represent opposite directions in border traffic), in a supplementary or alternative embodiment, which may be particularly useful for parties that are interested in comparing the performance of the border stations relative to available resources, wherein one such party could be customs itself, another viscosity number may be determined as follows:

V2 (t) = ( PASS 1 (t) + PASS2 (t) ) / CAPSTAT

wherein PASSl refers to an indication or a derivative of passing rate of vehicles (number of passed vehicles per time unit such as hour, for example) in one direction (considering the traffic from a standpoint of a border party e.g. the outgoing traffic leaving the territory of the party after passing the border formalities/border station), note the text "FLOW OF PASSED VEHICLES 1" in the merely exemplary figure 2b. The passing rate may be determined on the basis of vehicles that have passed the customs control point and/or have left the border station, for example. Alternatively, the passing rate may be determined on the basis of other criteria or points at the border. The indication may be thus equivalent to the PASSING RATE OF VE- HICLES described hereinbefore, or it may refer to a further indication derived therefrom, such as the V (t) taking into account the flow of incoming vehicles and/or existing queue, or some other indication;

PASS2 refers to a corresponding indication or a derivative thereof in opposite direc- tion, e.g. direction of traffic arriving from the foreign territory, see the text "FLOW OF PASSED VEHICLES 2" in the merely exemplary figure 2b highlighting this;

CAPSTAT refers to capabilities and/or status information relating to the border station. The unit of CAPSTAT indicator variable may be vehicles/hour, for example, so that the resulting V2 has no any specific unit. As one further example, the CAP- STAT variable may be determined via personnel, facilities, and status data as follows:

CAPSTAT = PERSONNEL INDICATOR + FACILITY INDICATOR + STATUS INDICATOR

wherein PERSONNEL INDICATOR may include a value such as an integer value in a predetermined range, e.g. range from about 1 to 5, on the basis of the number of personnel at the border station. The actual number may be mapped as desired. For example, over 100 persons may be converted into 5, whereas 50-99 persons is converted into 3, and 1-49 persons into 1 ;

FACILITY INDICATOR may refer to border station facilities and infrastructure given a numerical value e.g. in the range [1, 5]. For instance, differentiation of per- sonnel and goods traffic may increase the value and exceptionally small parking/queuing facilities may lower the value; and

STATUS INDICATOR may refer to a numerical value determined on the basis of the opening hours of the station, for example. If the utilized range is [1, 5], the value 5 may be given when the station is 24h, practically always, open and vice versa.

CAPSTAT may be alternatively defined as being at least partially dynamic and time dependent (i.e. CAPSTAT (t) ) such that e.g. PERSONNEL INDICATOR indicates the current or estimated future (at instant t) number of on-site personnel and/or STATUS INDICATOR indicates the current or estimated future (at instant t) opening status (open/closed), for instance. Also other resource and status variables may be utilized in constructing the CAPSTAT.

In addition to or instead of technical parameters defining the CAPSTAT or some other indicator, or a portion thereof, also financial aspects such as budget could be included in the calculations. A skilled person will appreciate that e.g. the amount of personnel or opening hours may naturally be indirect indications of the budget as well. For, instance, the running costs or budget (or income/profit, if any) of a border station could be used to define a variable or e.g. a multiplier/divider in the utilized formula for obtaining the viscosity number.

As an example, if one border station could be described with PASSl as 40, PASS2 as 30, and CAPSTAT as 7, the resulting V2 would be 70/7 = 10. Now if the passing rates PASSl and PASS2 remain constant relative to some other border station, but the CAPSTAT indicator is higher (i.e. the capabilities/status information imply higher capacity), such as 9, the V2 figure would be 8 when rounded to a nearest integer. This, i.e. higher viscosity indicator value, could be interpreted so that the first station performs slightly better considering the available resources.

The utilized numerical ranges may be selected and scaled so as to always produce the end value in a predetermined range, e.g. range of about [1, 10], or the end-result may be compressed or cropped to fit in the predetermined range. Instead or in addi- tion of numbers, also textual (e.g. qualitative such as good, average, or bad performance) or symbolic (e.g. thump up, horizontal, or down) evaluation may be given. The textual or symbolic representation may be produced directly or be derived from the numerical value.

Also V2 may be determined so as to concern both sides, i.e. border stations, of a border crossing area such that the traffic flow information such as passing rates, incoming traffic rates, or queuing situation reflect the combination of the situation at that particular border area instead of a single station. Alternatively, independent evaluation results of both stations of a single border area may be combined to pro- duce an aggregate figure. The combination may not have to be linear as concerning e.g. both traffic directions between the two parties, only the worse ( the aforementioned bottle-neck, i.e. the lower) flow figure may be taken into account; the better flow does not necessarily affect the obtained overall performance of the area, if the flow in either direction is essentially serial in nature, which is indeed the most typical scenario.

In addition to customs and typical road users, such as logistics companies, also ports (-harbours) or some other entities could exploit the above or similar technique for evaluating the performances thereof as to the transit traffic.

The performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom may be provided to the users by the arrangement 218 or intermediate entity 222, such as a radio station, which may utilize e.g. at least one of the following definitions or standards for data delivery over the TCP/IP or RDS (Radio Data System) carrier: TMC, UECP (Universal Encoder Communication Protocol), TEC (Traffic Event Compact), ISO 14819-1, and ISO 14819-6. With RDS at least part of the dynamic TMC bandwidth in addition to static data, such as channel ID, may be utilized for provid- ing performance indicia and/or traffic control data to the users of the road network. For example, the arrangement 218 may transmit the information first to a network node over TCP/IP for subsequent encoding into TMC data to be sent in accordance with RDS data. Also digital broadcasting, e.g. DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), may be utilized for data broadcasting. Further, terminal devices like mobile termi- nals or in-car devices such as navis that are equipped with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) modules and are capable of data transfer over GPRS, for example, may be applied for traffic information reception in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3 discloses an extended scenario or view of an embodiment of the present invention wherein the infrastructure 200 of figure 2 is arranged to communicate with substantially corresponding entities on the other side of the border, i.e. border stations 234, 236, arrangement 230 and third party server 232 associated with at least logically neighboring infrastructure 240. To highlight the fact that the border infrastructure on different sides of the border is not necessarily similar, border sta- tion 208 has been illustrated with no equivalent on the opposing side of the border. As described hereinbefore, the analysis may be conducted independently for each border station of a single crossing point, or the whole border area may be at least partially analyzed as an aggregate entity, which may be particularly beneficial in applications wherein e.g. the road users are interested in the overall performance of the crossing point and related waiting time etc. instead of mere border station analysis. However, also analysis of individual border stations on either side of the border may produce valuable data, if e.g. one governing entity such as a country is willing to study and possibly develop its own border stations and the performance of the opposing stations under the control of another regime cannot be tampered in any manner being thus not that interesting.

In one embodiment only a single arrangement 218, 230 on either side of the border takes care of tasks of the present invention concerning the traffic initiating from either side of the border. The arrangement 218, 230 may thus receive information also behind the border line, e.g. from foreign logistics companies, customs, or other information providers. Alternatively, both sides may comprise at least partial arrangements 218, 230 of their own that are then configured to exchange locally gath- ered information for common logistic benefit. Both sides may further comprise external or intermediate entities 220, 232 providing data for the arrangements 218, 230. Correspondingly, performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom may be provided by one or more entities on one or more sides of the border.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of the method according to the present invention. At 402 a start-up phase is initiated wherein necessary servers and data connections are set up and configured for continuous or timed data delivery and processing. At 404 information indicative of the border stations' capabilities is obtained via properly configured data transfer connections e.g. over the TCP/IP. The capabilities may be indicated per each border station, per border area (comprising typically one or two stations and associated information), or with some other resolution. At 406 the traffic information and optional weather information is obtained as described herein earlier.

At 408 the performance indicia relative to the border stations is determined. The performance indicia may include viscosity numbers or other descriptive parameters, or e.g. estimated waiting times at each border station/border (crossing) area. Further, traffic control data may be derived based on the performance indicia. For example, if a navigation system, either in-vehicle or a centralized one, is provided with waiting time information per each border station or crossing in general, wherein the waiting time information may be arrival (on border) time specific, the navigation system may calculate estimates of overall traveling times and/or distances for several alternative routes between a source point, e.g. a port, and destination, such as a logistics company, wherein the source and destination reside on opposing sides of the border, embedding the waiting time information to the calculations so that a route providing minimum traveling time and/or distance is selected with a certain crossing point. On the other hand, the traffic control data may instruct a vehicle to stop at distance from a predetermined crossing point, if the performance indicia show that the crossing is (over)congested and a more feasible crossing instant will follow within predetermined time interval. The broken lines illustrate the option for continuous or timed process of providing the indicia and traffic control data. At 412 the process execution is ended. As being appreciated by skilled persons, the method may comprise additional phases not visualized in the figure and the existing phases may be combined or executed in alternative order depending on the particular use scenario in question.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram depicting the internals of an embodiment of the arrange - ment 218, 230 in accordance with the present invention. The arrangement 218, 230 may in practice be implemented as a server or a group of interconnected servers or other functional entities, for example.

One illustrated functional element that may be included in the apparatus is memory 510, which may be divided between one or more physical memory chips and/or cards, may comprise necessary code, e.g. in a form of a computer program/application, for enabling the control and operation of the arrangement, and further comprise other data, e.g. current settings, user data and/or obtained capability, status, traffic, and weather data. The memory 510 may include e.g. ROM (read only memory) or RAM -type (random access memory) implementations. The memory 510 may further refer to an advantageously detachable memory card/stick, a floppy disc, an optical disc, such as a CD-ROM, or a fixed/removable hard drive.

A processing device 514, e.g. a processing/controlling unit such as a (mi- cro)processor, a DSP (digital signal processor), a micro-controller or programmable logic chip(s), optionally comprising a plurality of co-operating or parallel (sub- )units, is needed for the actual execution of the application code that may be stored in memory 510. Display 512 and keyboard/keypad 516 or other supplementary control input devices, such as keys, buttons, knobs, voice control interface, sliders, rocker switches, etc, may provide the user of the arrangement with data visualization means and control input means. Data interface 518, e.g. a wireless transceiver (GSM, UMTS, WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared, radio/RDS/TMC transmitter, etc), and/or an interface for a fixed/wired connection, such as an USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, a LAN (e.g. Ethernet) interface, or Firewire-compliant (e.g. IEEE 1394) interface, is typically required for communication with other devices such as external data providers and data targets (direct users or intermediate elements in- between). It is self-evident that further functionalities may be added to the arrange- ment and the aforesaid functionalities may be modified depending on each particular embodiment.

The software application for running the arrangement of the present invention may be provided as a software product on a carrier such as a memory stick, memory card, a floppy disc, a CD, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a hard disk, etc, or as a downloadable over a communications network.

Although the description above contains many specifics, these are merely provided to illustrate the invention and should not be construed as limitations of the invention's scope. It should be also noted that the many specifics can be combined in various ways in a single or multiple embodiments. Thus it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the arrangement and method of the present invention without departing form the spirit or scope of the invention. The feasibility of the invention is not strictly limited to road traffic and can be used in the context of other cross-border or transit traffic as well.

Claims

1. An arrangement (218, 230) for facilitating the management of cross-border traffic, said arrangement comprising a data transfer interface (518) for receiving and transmitting data, and a processing device (514) and memory (510) for processing and storing data, respectively, the arrangement being configured to:

-obtain information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to a number of border stations, each of which being associated with a border crossing,

2. The arrangement of claim 1, configured to obtain information relative to a border area extending to both sides of a border and optionally comprising two border stations on each side, wherein said information relative to a border area comprises at least one information element selected from the group consisting of: information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to one or more border stations of the border area, and information indicative of traffic and preferably weather situation relative to one or more border stations of the border area.

3. The arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the information indicative of capabilities and/or status relative to a number of border stations includes at least one information element selected from the group consisting of: data on the waiting or parking facilities for cross-border traffic, number of traffic lanes or gates, number of lanes/gates in use, used queuing discipline or system, number of personnel, number of personnel present, office hours, open/closed status, and location data such as geographical position or distance to the corresponding border station on the other side of the border.

4. The arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the information indicative of traffic situation relative to each border station includes at least one information ele- ment selected from the group consisting of: customs transit data, sensor data, vehicle location tracking data, accident data, floating car data, roadworks data, RFID (radio frequency identification) data, terminal location tracking data, GPS (Global Positioning System) data, traffic flow data, future traffic flow estimate data, incom- ing traffic data, historical traffic flow data, travel time data, historical waiting time data, speed data, and vehicle type data.

5. The arrangement of any preceding claim, configured to obtain said weather data that includes at least one information element selected from the group consisting of: air pressure, air humidity, rain or wetness data, snow data, cloudiness data, dew point data, temperature data, road surface -related data, iciness data, and weather forecast data.

6. The arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the performance indicia rela- tive to each border station include at least one element selected from the group consisting of: estimated current or future waiting time required at the border for border crossing, a numeric performance indicator on a predetermined scale, a symbolic performance indicator on a predetermined scale, and textual performance indicator on a predetermined scale.

7. The arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the performance indicia include an indicator relative to a border station or border area of at least two border stations, said indicator being based on a combination or a derivative of at least one first element selected from the group consisting of: passing rate of vehicles cross the border in a first border-crossing direction, and flow of incoming vehicles arriving at the border for crossing the border in said first direction, and at least one second element selected from the group consisting of: passing rate of vehicles in a second border-crossing direction opposite to said first direction, flow of incoming vehicles arriving at the border for crossing the border in said second direction, queue size, and border station resources.

8. The arrangement of any preceding claim, configured to provide the performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom utilizing at least one technology selected from the group consisting of: XML (extensible Markup Language), TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), TMC (Traffic Message Channel), UECP (Universal Encoder Communication Protocol), TEC (Traffic Event Compact), RDS (Radio Data System), radio broadcasting, wireless or wired communications network broadcasting, wireless or wired communications network mul- ticasting, wired or wireless communications network point-to-point transmission, DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), WLAN (Wireless LAN), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).

9. The arrangement of any preceding claim, configured to derive traffic control data, such as navigation instructions, on the basis of the performance indicia.

10. The arrangement of claim 9, configured to transmit traffic control data that in- structs one or more vehicles to delay approaching the border, optionally instructing said one or more vehicles to park at one or more predetermined areas, further optionally for a predetermined time.

11. A method for facilitating the management of cross-border traffic, the method comprising:

-obtaining information indicative of capabilities and/or status of a number of border stations, each of which being associated with a border crossing (404),

-obtaining information indicative of traffic, and preferably, weather situation relative to each border station (406),

-determining one or more performance indicia relative to each border station on the basis of the obtained information (408), and

-providing the determined performance indicia and/or traffic control data derived therefrom for exploitation by one or more external parties (410).

12. A computer program comprising a code means adapted, when run on a com- puter, to execute the method of claim 11.

13. A carrier medium comprising the computer program of claim 12.