WO2019038725A1

WO2019038725A1 - Method and system for toll booth control for multiple vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2019038725A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/056417
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bhartindu Talwar; Harjinder KAUR
Original assignee: Comvision (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Priority date: 2017-08-24
Filing date: 2018-08-24
Publication date: 2019-02-28

Abstract

The invention relates to facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. The invention comprises of a primary toll booth [104] and a secondary toll booth [106] configured in a series arrangement along a single toll lane. The primary toll booth [104] is configured to receive a first toll as a part of a first transaction from a first vehicle. The secondary toll booth [106] is configured to receive a second toll as a part of a second transaction from a second vehicle. The invention further comprises a controller [102] configured to receive and simultaneously process the first transaction and the second transaction. A status thereof is sent by the controller [102] to at least the boom barrier [110], the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. Based on the received status, the boom barrier [110] is configured to rise.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TOLL BOOTH CONTROL FOR MULTIPLE VEHICLES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of toll collection systems and more particularly to methods and systems for toll collection for vehicles at a plurality of booths along a single lane.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to provide information relating to the field of the invention and thus, any approach/functionality described below should not be assumed to be qualified as prior art merely by its inclusion in this section.

The continuous increase of the number of vehicles owned by each household in a city or town has exponentially increased traffic congestions on roads including highways and toll-roads. A toll-road is generally provided with one or more toll lanes to collect toll taxes from the vehicle drivers. The number of toll lanes, and toll booths provided on a road, is based upon the width of that road. Hence, a narrower road having lesser number of toll lanes becomes congested and results in long queues on the toll booths that compel the drivers of the vehicles to wait in the queues for their turn to pay the toll and pass through.

The conventional system is enabled to collect tolls by only a single vehicle in a toll lane at a given point of time. This system therefore requires the vehicle drivers to spend their valuable time in waiting in the queues at the toll road. This has an adverse effect upon highway throughput and safety, since it not only involves significant economic cost, but also results in reduced productivity due to loss of time of people stuck in queues. Additionally, waiting at the toll plaza causes frustration in the vehicle owners, loss of fuel, pollution and overworked operators at toll booth. Moreover, any failure at the toll booth may further increase the wait time of the travellers.

Various approaches have been made in the art to overcome the above problems. One such solution includes utilizing radio frequency identification ( FID) techniques for toll collection, wherein a device or a "tag" is affixed on a vehicle by the drivers, that acts as a transmitter for identifying the vehicle by its ID (e.g. a serial number) by an RFID detector or reader mounted above the toll booth lane. The serial number detected by the detector is then transmitted to a centralized computer that stores the driver's information, wherein on matching the serial number to any linked account, the appropriate toll amount is automatically decremented from that account as the vehicle travels through the booth.

A drawback of the above-mentioned solution is that a plurality of user accounts for toll-tax payment is required to be maintained. This becomes even more burdensome in areas of high toll traffic volume. Further, such system also raises security and user-privacy issues as it requires extracting and storing vehicle-specific travel records.

Thus, the existing toll collection mechanisms have failed to meet the increased demands created by increased highway traffic. In view of the above, there arises a need to provide for alternative technical solutions to provide for more efficient, faster and safer execution of toll collection.

There exists an imperative need to provide systems and methods for improved toll collection that enable speeding-up of the toll collection process in order to save time, fuel and resources. The system must be enabled to provide for increased traffic capacity on roadways through an effective solution. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the disclosed methods and systems in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter. In view of the shortcomings of the existing systems as discussed in the background section, it is an object of the present invention for providing systems and methods for toll booth control for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. The system of the present invention comprises of a primary toll booth and a secondary toll booth which are configured in a series arrangement along a single toll lane. The primary toll booth is configured to receive a first toll as a part of a first transaction from a first vehicle. The secondary toll booth is configured to receive a second toll as a part of a second transaction from a second vehicle. The system further comprises a controller configured to receive and simultaneously process the first transaction and the second transaction. A status of at least one of the first transaction, the second transaction and a combination thereof is determined by the controller and is indicated to at least the boom barrier, the primary toll booth and the secondary toll booth. Based on the received status, the boom barrier is configured to rise.

In view of the above and other objects, one aspect of the present invention relates to a method for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. A first toll is received from a first vehicle at a primary toll booth and a second toll is received from the second vehicle at the secondary toll booth. The first toll is part of a first transaction and the second toll is part of a second transaction. The first toll and the second toll are received and are simultaneously processed. A status is thereafter determined of at least the first transaction and the second transaction. The status of said at least the first transaction, second transaction is thereafter transmitted to at least one of the boom barrier, the primary toll booth, the secondary toll booth and a combination thereof. The boom barrier is then caused to rise based on the received status.

The foregoing shall be more apparent in the following detailed description of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disclosure of such drawings includes disclosure of electrical components or circuitry commonly used to implement such components. The connections between the sub-components of a component have not been shown in the drawings for the sake of clarity, therefore, all subcomponents shall be assumed to be connected to each other unless explicitly otherwise stated in the disclosure herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a general overview of an exemplary system for toll booth control for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates system architecture for a toll booth, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Figure 3 illustrates a flow chart for a method for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a description of the invention. It will be apparent however, that the invention may be practiced without these specific details and features. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above.

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing systems and methods for toll booth control for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. The present invention comprises of a primary toll booth and a secondary toll booth which are configured in a series arrangement along a single toll lane. The primary toll booth is configured to receive a first toll from a first vehicle. The secondary toll booth is configured to receive a second toll from a second vehicle. The first toll is a part of a first transaction and the second toll is a part of a second transaction. The present invention is configured to receive and simultaneously process the first transaction and the second transaction and indicate a status of said at least one transaction to at least one of the boom barrier, the primary toll booth, the secondary toll booth and a combination thereof. The present invention then determines a status of the first transaction and the second transaction of the primary toll booth and the secondary toll booth respectively. The first vehicle and the second vehicle are allowed to exit by passing through a boom barrier positioned at a rear end of the secondary toll booth which is configured to rise based on the status received. As used herein, "toll booth" may include any infrastructure or device which is configured to receive the toll amount from a vehicle and which may be obvious to a person skilled in the art.

As used herein, "the primary toll booth" is the first toll booth that is encountered by the first vehicle. As used herein, "the secondary toll booth" is the second toll booth that is encountered by the first vehicle.

As used herein, "the second vehicle" is trailing behind the first vehicle. As used herein, a "controller" includes one or more processors, wherein the processor refers to any logic circuitry for processing instructions. A processor may be or may include a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Array circuits, any other type of integrated circuits, etc. The processor may perform signal coding data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the working of the system according to the present disclosure.

As used herein, "connect", "configure", "couple" and its cognate terms, such as "connects", "connected", "configured" and "coupled" may include a physical connection (such as a wired/wireless connection), a logical connection (such as through logical gates of semiconducting device), other suitable connections, or a combination of such connections, as may be obvious to a skilled person.

As used herein, "send", "transfer", "transmit", and their cognate terms like "sending", "sent", "transferring", "transmitting", "transferred", "transmitted", etc. include sending or transporting data or information one unit, component, electronic device or server to another unit or component, wherein the content may or may not be modified before or after sending, transferring, transmitting.

Figure 1 illustrates a general overview of a system [100] for a toll booth control for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. The system [100] comprises of a controller [102], a primary toll booth [104], a secondary toll booth [106], sensor unit [108] and a boom barrier [110]. The controller [102] is configured to monitor and control the status of the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] and the boom barrier [110]. The controller [102] is also configured to receive and simultaneously process the first transaction and the second transaction at the respective toll booths [104, 106]. The controller [102] is further configured to determine the status of at least one of the first transaction and the second transaction and indicate the status to at least one of the boom barrier [110], the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] and a combination thereof. In an embodiment, if a vehicle is determined to be present at secondary toll booth [106], the controller [102] is configured to determine if the toll transaction for the vehicle is complete at the secondary toll booth [106]. The status may comprise of an alert message in case of an unsuccessful transaction. The controller [102] is also further configured to not transmit an alert message and not activate an alert alarm when the first toll is not received by the first vehicle at the secondary toll booth [106]. In an embodiment, the controller [102] is situated in between the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. In another embodiment, the controller [102] is situated near the primary toll booth [104]. In yet another embodiment, the controller [102] is situated near the secondary toll booth [106]. Further, in another embodiment, the controller [102] is situated inside at least one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106].

The primary toll booth [104] is configured in a toll lane and is connected to the controller [102]. The primary toll booth [104] is configured to receive a first toll from a first vehicle. The first toll is part of a first transaction. The primary toll booth [104] is also configured to determine the status of the secondary toll booth [106]. The primary toll booth [104] may also be further configured to determine one or more parameters of the at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. As used herein, the "parameters" may include determination of the speed of vehicle in each lane, counts of the vehicles and lane occupancy readings, average distance between two or more vehicles, the direction of the vehicle, and average speed of the vehicle.

The secondary toll booth [106] is configured in a series arrangement along the toll lane and is connected to the controller [102]. The secondary toll booth [106] is configured to receive a second toll from the second vehicle. The second toll is part of a second transaction. In an embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] are configured to operate in a master-slave model. In an embodiment, the secondary toll booth [106] may also be further configured to determine one or more parameters of the at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle.

The sensor unit [108] is connected to the controller [102] and is configured to determine one or more values for the status indications. The senor unit [108] may comprise of one or more sensors, including a height sensor, an axle sensor mounted along the toll lane (not shown in the figure), one or more cameras, and traffic lights. As used herein, "values" may include the values pertaining to height of the vehicle in each toll lane, the axle information, the movement of the vehicle, the direction of the vehicle. The values obtained by the sensor unit [108] are sent to the controller for determination of a status.

The boom barrier [110] is positioned at a rear end of the primary toll booth [104] and is connected to the controller [102]. The boom barrier [110] is configured to receive a status from the controller [102] and is configured to rise based on the status received. If a successful status is received from the controller [102] for the transactions, the boom barrier [110] is configured to rise and the first vehicle and the second vehicle are allowed to exit the toll booth. The boom barrier [110] is also configured to activate an alarm when the received status from the controller [102] comprises of an alert message. The boom barrier [110] may be a manual barrier or an automatic barrier.

The controller [102], the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106], the sensor unit [108] and the boom barrier [110] are configured to communicate with each other over a network. In one embodiment, the network may be a wireless network, a wired network, or a combination thereof. The network may be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as an intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the internet, etc. The network may either be a dedicated network or a shared network. The shared network may represent an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc.) to communicate with one another. Further, the network may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc. Figure 2 illustrates a general overview of architecture of a toll booth [104, 106]. As used herein, "a toll booth" may be either the primary toll booth [104] or the secondary toll booth [106]. The invention encompasses that only one of the toll booths [104, 106] may comprise of an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f]. In an embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106], both may comprise of a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f]. However, in all embodiments, the invention encompasses that only one of the toll booths [104, 106] may comprise of the audit video camera [104a] and the Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) [104b]. In an another embodiment, only the controller [102] may comprise of an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f].

The audit video camera unit [104a] is configured to capture and determine one or more parameters of the at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. As used herein, the "audit video camera unit" may be a camera, a video recording device or any other device capable of capturing and storing an image which may be obvious of a person of ordinary skill in the art. As used herein, the "parameters" may include determination of the speed of vehicle in each lane, counts of the vehicles and lane occupancy readings, average distance between two or more vehicles, the direction of the vehicle, and average speed of the vehicle.

The Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], connected to the audit video camera [104a], is configured to classify at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle, in one or more categories of vehicles. The AVC device [104b] receives and image of the first vehicle or the second vehicle from the audit video camera unit [104a]. The image received is then analyzed by the AVC device [104b] to determine the category of the vehicle. The determined category is then stored in the database [104e].

The transmitter [104c] is configured to receive information of at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The "information" may include the location data of the vehicle, if the vehicle has a prepaid system. The transmitter [104c] is also configured to store the received information in the database [104e].

The license plate capture camera unit [104d] configured to capture an image of the license plate or any identification device or tag of at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. As used herein, the "license plate capture camera unit" may be a camera, a video recording device or any other device capable of capturing and storing an image which may be obvious of a person of ordinary skill in the art. The license plate capture camera unit [104d] is also configured to store the captured image of the license plate or any identification device or tag of at least one of the first vehicle and the second vehicle in the database [104e]. The invention encompasses that the license plate capture unit [104d] is configured to scan and read an identification device or tag attached to the vehicles. The license plate capture unit [104d] may then interpret the vehicle information received from the identification device on the any of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and send it to the controller [102]. For example, the license plate capture unit [104d] is configured to scan and read an FID/DF C tag attached to any of the first vehicle and the second vehicle. The license plate capture unit [104d] may then interpret the information received from the RFID/DFRC tag attached to any of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and then send it to the controller [102].

The transaction unit [104f] is configured to receive the toll amount as a part of a transaction. The first toll is received as a part of the first transaction and the second toll is received as a part of the second transaction. The invention encompasses that the transaction unit is configured to accept any acceptable mode of payment for completing the transaction. In an embodiment, the transaction unit is configured to accept any form of electronic payment for completing the transaction. For example, transaction unit is configured to accept payment by a mobile wallet application of the user for completing the transaction. In another embodiment, the transaction unit is configured to accept currency in cash payment for completing the transaction. The transaction unit [104f] is also configured to determine a status of the transaction and send it to the controller [102]. The transaction unit [104f] is further configured to store the status of the transaction in the database [104e].

Although only two toll booths [104, 106] are shown in Fig.l, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this is only exemplary and the present disclosure encompasses the system being configured with multiple toll booths [104, 106], may be arranged in a series arrangement for a toll booth control system for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. Further, although only one single lane of toll booths [104, 106] is shown in Fig.l, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this is only exemplary and the present disclosure encompasses the system being configured with multiple lanes of a plurality of toll booths [104, 106], the lanes being arranged in a parallel arrangement for a toll booth control system for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles.

Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary method [300] for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles. The method initiates at step 300. At step 302, a first vehicle approaches the primary toll booth [104] for the payment of the toll. The first toll is received from the first vehicle by the transaction unit [104f] at the primary toll booth [104]. The first toll is part of a first transaction. The invention encompasses that the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] are arranged in a series arrangement along a single lane. The primary toll booth [104] is the second toll booth encountered by the first vehicle for the payment of toll. The first vehicle approaches the primary toll booth [104] after crossing the secondary toll booth [106] without paying a toll at the secondary toll booth [106]. At step 304, a second vehicle approaches the secondary toll booth [106] and a second toll is received from the second vehicle by the transaction unit [104f] at the secondary toll booth [106]. The second vehicle is the trailing vehicle to the first vehicle. The second toll is a part of a second transaction. The secondary toll booth [106] is the first toll booth encountered by the second vehicle for the payment of toll. The second vehicle approaches the secondary toll booth [106] when the first vehicle is present at the primary toll booth [104] for the payment of toll.

The invention encompasses the sensor unit [108] to detect the value of the position of the vehicle and use signs or indications to direct the first vehicle and the second vehicle to the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] respectively. For example, the position of the first vehicle may be detected by the sensor unit [108] and the first vehicle may be shown a sign on a digital board stating that "UNOCCUPIED: PAY TOLL HERE" at the primary toll booth [104]. The first vehicle may also be directed to pass the secondary toll booth [106] to reach the primary toll booth [104]. Similarly, the position of the second vehicle may be detected by the sensor unit [108] and the second vehicle may be shown a sign on a digital board stating that "UNOCCUPIED: PAY TOLL HERE" at the secondary toll booth [106]. The sign of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may change to indicate the presence of a vehicle at the toll booth when the first vehicle and the second vehicle are present at the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] respectively from the values detected by the sensor unit [108]. In an embodiment, the secondary toll booth [104] or the sensor unit [108] may direct the first vehicle to the primary toll booth [104] for payment of toll when the first vehicle is detected at the secondary toll booth by the sensor unit [108] and the first vehicle attempts to pay the toll at the secondary toll booth [106]. For example, the secondary toll booth [106] may indicate a sign of "WRONG TOLL BOOTH" when the first vehicle is detected at the secondary toll booth by the sensor unit [108] and attempts to pay the toll at the secondary toll booth [106] when the primary toll booth [104] is unoccupied. In another embodiment, secondary toll booth [106] may accept the payment of toll when the first vehicle when the first vehicle attempts to pay the toll at the secondary toll booth [106].

The invention encompasses that the first transaction and the second transaction received from the first vehicle and the second vehicle by the transaction unit [104f] are then sent to the controller [102]. The controller [102] then simultaneously processes the first transaction and the second transaction. The first vehicle at the primary toll booth [104] and the second vehicle at the secondary toll booth [106] can be present at their respective toll booths [104, 106] at the same time and the two toll transactions can be processed simultaneously.

At step 306, the one or more parameters are determined by at least one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. In an embodiment, the parameters are determined by the controller [102]. The parameters to be determined may include determination of the one or more categories of vehicle, the license plate number of at least one of the vehicles, the speed of vehicle in each lane, counts of the vehicles and lane occupancy readings, average distance between two or more vehicles, the direction of the vehicle, and average speed of the vehicle. The values of these determined parameters may be stored by the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] in a database [104e]. In an embodiment, the one or more parameters determined for a vehicle are used for calculation of the toll amount for the toll transaction in respect of that vehicle. For example, the classification of the vehicle and the distance travelled by the vehicle may be determined to determine the toll amount for that vehicle. For example, if the classification of the vehicle is determined to be a truck and the distance travelled is determined to be 10km, then the toll amount may be calculated to be high.

At step 308, the status of the first transaction of the first vehicle and the second transaction of the second vehicle is determined. The status may be determined through the use of at least one of the sensor unit [108] and the transaction unit [104f] and the determined status is then sent to the controller [102]. In an embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] determine the status of the other toll booth [104, 106]. In another embodiment, only one of the toll booths [104, 106] determines the status of the other toll booth [104, 106]. In yet another embodiment, the controller [102] determines the status of both the toll booths [104, 106]. As used herein, the "status" of the toll booth may comprise of the indication of the presence of a vehicle at the toll booth, the indication for the processing of a transaction at the toll booth, or the indication of a successful transaction at the toll booth.

The invention encompasses that the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] are configured to operate in a master-slave model. In an embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] may be the master toll booth and the secondary toll booth [106] may be the slave toll booth. The controller [102] is then situated in the primary toll booth [104] which the master toll booth. The controller [102] in the primary toll booth [104] is configured to determine the status of the secondary toll booth [106] and the primary toll booth [104]. The primary toll booth [104] is also then configured to determine all the parameters of the vehicles. If a vehicle is determined to be present at secondary toll booth [106], the primary toll booth [104] may then determine the status whether the toll transaction is complete at the secondary toll booth [106]. The primary toll booth [104] may only have the architecture of the toll booth and comprise an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above.

In another embodiment, the secondary toll booth [106] may be the master toll booth and the primary toll booth [104] may be the slave toll booth. The controller [102]is then configured to be situated in the secondary toll booth [106] which is the master toll booth. The controller [102] in the secondary toll booth [106] may then also determine the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. The secondary toll booth [106] then determines all the parameters of the vehicles. If a vehicle is determined to be present at primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] may then determine the status whether the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104]. The secondary toll booth [106] may only have the architecture of the toll booth and comprise an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above. In another embodiment, the controller [102] may be the master and the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may be the slaves. The controller [102] is then situated outside the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] and is configured to determine the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. The controller then also determines all the parameters of the vehicles. If a vehicle is determined to be present at the primary toll booth [104] or the secondary toll booth [106], the controller [102] may then determine the status whether the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104] or the secondary toll booth [106]. The controller [102] only may be connected to an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above.

In yet another embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may both be the master toll booth. The controller [102] is then configured to be situated inside the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. The controller [102] in the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may then determine the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106], respectively. The primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] then determine all the parameters of the vehicles, respectively. The primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may both have the architecture of the toll booth and comprise an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above, separately. In yet another embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may be the master toll booths and the controller [102] may be a mediator. The controller [102] is then situated outside the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] and is configured to determine the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. If a vehicle is determined to be present at one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106], the controller [102] may then determine the status whether the toll transaction is complete at one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. The primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] then determine all the parameters of the vehicles, respectively. The primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] may both have the architecture of the toll booth and comprise an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above, separately.

Further, in another embodiment, the primary toll booth [104] may be the master toll booth and the secondary toll booth [106] may be the slave toll booth and the controller [102] may be a mediator. The controller [102] is situated outside the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] and is configured to determine the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. If a vehicle is determined to be present at one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106], the controller [102] may then determine the status whether the toll transaction is complete at one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. The primary toll booth [104] then determines all the parameters of the vehicles. The primary toll booth [104] may only have the architecture of the toll booth and comprise an audit video camera unit [104a], an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b], a transmitter [104c], a license plate capture unit [104d], a database [104e] and a transaction unit [104f], as described herein above.

At step 310, the status of the at least one of the first transaction of the first vehicle and the second transaction of the second vehicle is sent to the boom barrier [110]. In an embodiment, the status of the at least one of the first transaction of the first vehicle and the second transaction of the second vehicle is sent to at least one of the primary toll booth [104], secondary toll booth [106] and the boom barrier [110]. If the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] is that of a successful transaction, the method moves to step 312. In an embodiment, if the status of the secondary toll booth [106] indicates that the secondary toll booth [106] is unoccupied and the status of the primary toll booth [104] indicates that the toll transaction is successfully completed, the method moves to step 312. Similarly, in another embodiment, if the status of the primary toll booth [104] received from the sensor unit [108] indicates that the primary toll booth [104] is unoccupied and the status of the secondary toll booth [106] received from the transaction unit [104f] indicates that the toll transaction is successfully completed, the method moves to step 312. In another embodiment, if the status of the primary toll booth [104] received from the sensor unit [108] indicates that a vehicle is determined to be present at primary toll booth [104] and the status of the secondary toll booth [106] received from the transaction unit [104f] indicates a successful transaction, the method determines whether the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104] by the status received from the transaction unit [104f]. If the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104], the method moves to step 312. If the toll transaction is not complete at the primary toll booth [104], the method waits for the toll transaction to be completed at the primary toll booth [104]. At step 312, the boom barrier [110] is configured to rise based on the status received from the controller [102]. The boom barrier [110] allows the first vehicle and the second vehicle to exit when the status of the received of the toll payment indicates that the toll transactions have been completed at the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106]. In an embodiment, the boom barrier [110] allows the one of the vehicles to exit when the status received of the toll payment indicates that the toll transaction has been completed at the one of the toll booths [104, 106] and the status of the other toll booth [104, 106] is unoccupied.

The invention encompasses that the boom barrier [110] is configured to activate an alarm when the received status comprises of an alert message. As used herein, the received status may comprise of an alert message when the toll transaction at any of the booths [104, 106] as indicated by the status received from the transaction unit [104f] is not complete, or when the toll transaction has been completed incorrectly, or when an error has occurred, or when a vehicle attempts to cross a toll booth without payment of the toll amount. The invention also encompasses that the alert message is not generated and an alert alarm is not activated when the first toll is not received by the first vehicle at the secondary primary toll booth [106].

For instance, first vehicle and the second vehicle approach the single toll lane for payment of toll. The sensor unit [108] may detect the position of the first vehicle and the second vehicle and use signs or indications to direct the first vehicle and the second to the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] respectively. The first vehicle crosses the secondary toll booth and stops at the primary toll booth for the payment of toll. The second vehicle then approaches the toll lane and stops at the secondary toll booth. The transactions for the payment of toll are received and processed simultaneously by the controller [102]. The controller [102] may determine one or more parameters for the first vehicle and the second vehicle wherein the parameters include the type of the vehicle and the distance travelled by the vehicle. The status of the first transaction of the first vehicle and the second transaction of the second vehicle is then determined by the sensor unit [108] and the transaction unit [104f] and the determined status is then sent to the controller [102]. Thereafter, status of the at least one of the first transaction of the first vehicle and the second transaction of the second vehicle is sent to the boom barrier [110] by the controller [102]. If the status of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] is that of a successful transaction, the boom barrier rises and allows the first vehicle and the second vehicle to exit the toll lane sequentially. However, if the status of the primary toll booth [104] received from the sensor unit [108] indicates that the first vehicle is present at primary toll booth [104] and the status of the secondary toll booth [106] received from the transaction unit [104f] indicates a successful transaction, the invention determines whether the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104] by the status received from the transaction unit [104f]. If the toll transaction is complete at the primary toll booth [104], the boom barrier [110] rises and allows the first vehicle and the second vehicle to exit the toll lane sequentially. If the toll transaction of the first vehicle is not complete at the primary toll booth [104], the invention provides for the second vehicle to wait for the toll transaction to be completed at the primary toll booth [104] for the first vehicle.

The present invention is configured to provide a technical advancement for a faster solution to meet the increased demand created by the increased highway traffic. It provides for a more efficient, faster and safer execution of toll collection by providing a plurality of toll booths in a single toll lane which are synchronized. Therefore, the invention enables to increase the capacity of the road for collection of toll while keeping the width of the road constant. The invention also provides for using a single set of equipment, while at the same time increasing the number of toll booths in a toll lane. This significantly reduces the impact on the environment as it contributes to keeping the power consumption to the minimum and doesn't require major changes to the already existing infrastructure. It is also provides for a safer and secure method to store vehicle information without maintaining any user accounts information. The invention is enabled to provide for increased traffic capacity on roadways through an effective solution for plurality of synchronized toll booths in a single toll lane arranged in a series arrangement. While the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments, equivalents and modifications are possible and are also encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

WE CLAIM

A toll booth control system [100] for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles, the system comprising;

- a controller [102];

a primary toll booth [104] connected to the controller [102], wherein

the primary toll booth [104] is configured in a toll lane, and

the primary toll booth [104] is configured to receive a first toll from a first vehicle, said first toll being part of a first transaction;

a secondary toll booth [106] connected to the controller [102], wherein

the secondary toll booth [106] is configured in said toll lane, and

the secondary toll booth [106] is configured to receive a second toll from a second vehicle, said second toll being part of a second transaction; and

a boom barrier [110] positioned at a rear end of the secondary toll booth [106]; wherein the controller [102] is configured to receive and simultaneously process the first transaction and the second transaction,

wherein the controller [102] is further configured to indicate a status of said at least one of the first transaction, second transaction and a combination thereof, to at least one of the boom barrier [110], the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] and a combination thereof, and

wherein the boom barrier [110] is configured to rise based on the status received from the controller.

A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] comprises of

an audit video camera [104a] configured to determine one or more parameters of at least one of the first vehicle, the second vehicle and a combination thereof;

an Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) device [104b] configured to classify at least one of the first vehicle, the second vehicle and a combination thereof, in one or more categories of vehicles;

a transmitter [104c] configured to receive information of at least one of the first vehicle, the second vehicle and a combination thereof; and

a license plate capture camera [104d] configured to capture an image of the license plate of at least one of the first vehicle, the second vehicle and a combination thereof . 3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the parameters determined by the audit video camera [104a] may include determination of the speed of vehicle in each lane, counts of the vehicles and lane occupancy readings, average distance between two or more vehicles, the direction of the vehicle, and average speed of the vehicle.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106] are configured to operate in a master-slave model.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said boom barrier [110] is configured to activate an alarm when the received status comprises of an alert message.

6. The system as claimed in claim l,wherein said controller [102]vis configured within at least one of the primary toll booth [104] and the secondary toll booth [106].

7. A method [300] for facilitating collection of toll for a plurality of vehicles, the method comprising;

receiving [302] a first toll from the first vehicle at a primary toll booth [104], said first toll being part of a first transaction and said primary toll booth configured in a toll lane; receiving [304] a second toll from the second vehicle at the secondary toll booth [106], said second toll being part of a second transaction and said secondary toll booth configured in said toll lane;

receiving and simultaneously processing, at a controller [102], the first transaction and the second transaction;

transmitting [310] a status of said at least one of the first transaction, second transaction and a combination thereof, to at least one of the boom barrier [110], the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] and a combination thereof; causing [312] the boom barrier to rise based on the received status.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the status of at least one of the first transaction and the second transaction is determined by at least one of the controller [102], the primary toll booth [104], the secondary toll booth [106] and a combination thereof.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, further comprising of activating an alarm when the received status comprises of an alert message.