JP3861571B2 - Toll road toll collection system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection System) in ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems).
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, on toll roads such as expressways (hereinafter simply referred to as toll roads), traffic jams often occur and users are constantly dissatisfied. One of the causes of this traffic jam is the traffic jam at the toll gate. In recent years, ETC has been used as a measure for reducing traffic congestion at this toll gate.
[0003]
Fig. 5 (a) is a bird's-eye view showing the outline of the toll gate in the ETC currently realized. Fig. 5 (b) is a diagram showing an example of the vehicle-mounted device provided on the passing vehicle side. Fig. 5 (c) These are figures which show the example of the IC card inserted and used for the onboard equipment.
[0004]
The ETC performs two-way wireless communication 5 between a roadside antenna 2 installed at a toll booth 1 and an in-vehicle device 4 mounted on a vehicle 3 as shown in FIG. In the two-way wireless communication 5, information necessary for calculating charges such as identification of personal data of the driver of the vehicle 3 and toll road toll information is exchanged.
[0005]
The vehicle-mounted device 4 is a wireless device installed on the dashboard of the vehicle 3, and includes a liquid crystal display device 6 that displays charge information, an input operation button 7, a notification lamp 8, and a card insertion slot 9. The IC card 11 is inserted from the card insertion slot 9 and used. The IC card 11 records individual driver contract information such as a fee settlement method.
[0006]
When the exchange of necessary information by the two-way wireless communication 5 is completed, the double-open gate 12 (12a, 12b) is opened, and the passage of the vehicle 3 is opened. Then, the toll calculated and displayed on the liquid crystal display device 6 is withdrawn from the driver of the vehicle 3, that is, the contractor account of the IC card 11 at a later date.
[0007]
As a result, the driver of the vehicle 3 can pass through the toll gate non-stop without exchanging tolls with the toll gate staff as in the past, and traffic congestion on the toll road is greatly reduced. That's it.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, ETC currently in practical use requires the installation of a dedicated antenna at the toll gate, and the vehicle must be equipped with a dedicated on-board device. Furthermore, it is necessary for an individual to use to have an IC card in which contract information such as a settlement method is recorded.
[0009]
As described above, in the current ETC, a dedicated antenna must be installed on the toll gate side, and a dedicated onboard device and IC card must be purchased on the user side, so that the ETC can be used. There is a problem that the economic burden of initial investment until it becomes large.
[0010]
In particular, for individual users, the large cost burden for purchasing expensive on-vehicle devices and IC cards was dissatisfied with being unprofitable compared to profits that can be enjoyed by alleviating traffic congestion.
[0011]
In view of the above-described conventional situation, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic toll road toll collection system that eliminates the initial investment of individuals and minimizes the capital investment of a tollgate.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
First, the toll road toll collection system usage registration method according to claim 1 uses a toll road toll collection system by connecting to a toll road management center from a mobile communication means and a vehicle of a vehicle to be used. A number is registered, and based on the information indicating that the registered mobile communication means has approached the entrance gate of the toll road, the access information including the vehicle number is transmitted from the management center to the terminal of the entrance gate. On the basis of the detection of the registered vehicle at the entrance and exit of the toll road, and detection means for detecting the passage of the registered vehicle by detecting the vehicle number at the entrance and exit of the toll road. The toll on the toll road is charged to the owner of the mobile communication means.
[0014]
And based on the detection that the registered vehicle has passed at least the entrance, for example, the basic fee of the system may be charged to the owner of the mobile communication means as described in claim 2 , For example, as described in claim 3 , the basic fee of the system may be charged to the toll road administrator, and for example, as described in claim 4 , the basic fee of the system is allocated to the above-mentioned movement You may make it charge to the owner of a body communication means and the manager of the said toll road.
[0015]
Thus, by using a mobile phone or PHS owned by most people as mobile communication means, an toll road toll collection system with an economical and simple configuration can be constructed.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a toll road toll collection system according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, a person carrying a mobile phone 14 (in the following description, “mobile phone” is used as a generic term for a mobile phone, PHS, and other mobile communication means) is always on board the car 13. To do. The mobile phone 14 may be a driver or a passenger.
[0017]
The position of the automobile 13, that is, the position of the mobile phone 14, is the base station 15 (antenna base station, for example, three base stations A15-1, B15-2, Detected by the base station C15-3). Information output from these base stations 15 is centrally managed by the mobile communication management center station 16.
[0018]
The mobile communication management center station 16 exchanges information with each base station 15 wirelessly or by wire, relays registration information such as a vehicle number among these pieces of information to the use registration center station 17, and positions the mobile phone 14. Similarly, the usage registration center station 17 is notified of the information (that is, the position of the car 13).
[0019]
The usage registration center station 17 performs predetermined communication with the entrance terminal 18 or the exit terminal 19 of the toll road based on the registration information. The entrance terminal 18 and the exit terminal 19 each have the same function. That is, an entrance camera 21 and an entrance gate 22 are controllably connected to the entrance terminal 18, and an exit camera 23 and an exit gate 24 are controllably connected to the exit terminal 19.
[0020]
The entrance terminal 18 and the exit terminal 19 are respectively connected to the entrance camera 21 or the exit based on information such as the vehicle number of the registered vehicle (automobile 13) sent from the mobile communication management center station 16 via the usage registration center station 17. The passage of the automobile 13 is detected by the camera 23, the entrance gate 22 or the exit gate 24 is opened and closed, and the passage information of the automobile 13 is transmitted to the use registration center station 17.
[0021]
The usage registration center station 17 calculates the toll on the toll road based on the passing information of the automobile 13 from the entrance terminal 18 and the exit terminal 19 and charges the credit card company 25 with the toll calculated by this computation. . The credit card company 25 deducts the requested toll from the account of the bank 26 traded by the user, that is, the owner of the mobile phone 14.
[0022]
Although the above data may be exchanged using a dedicated line, it can be exchanged via the Internet at a lower cost than when a dedicated line is constructed.
[0023]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for automatically detecting the position of the mobile phone in the toll road toll collection system. A general triangulation method is used for detecting the position of the mobile phone. That is, as shown in the figure, the mobile phone 14 receives base station codes from the base stations A, B and C, the mobile phone 14 stores the electric field strength of the received signal, and the stored electric field strength is It is transmitted (returned) to the base stations A, B and C together with the station code.
[0024]
For example, the base station code of the base station A is 0101, the electric field strength is 10 dB, the base station code of the base station B is 0111, the electric field strength is 20 dB, the base station code of the base station C is 1111, and the electric field strength is 30 dB. Assuming that the electric field strength corresponding to the base station code is transmitted from the mobile phone 14, for example, 0101-10DB, 0111-20DB, and 1111-30DB. This transmission may be performed when the electric field strength of any of the base stations 15 detected by the mobile phone 14 changes by a predetermined value.
[0025]
The stronger the electric field strength, the closer to the base station 15 that is sending out the signal, so that each base station 15 is stored in advance in an internal storage device in the case of each electric field strength described above. From the table showing the relationship between the electric field strength and the distance, the position of the mobile phone 14 is set to the position of the radius R1 in the base station A, the radius R2 in the base station B, and the radius R3 in the base station C (where R1>R2> R3). It can be recognized that it exists.
[0026]
The usage registration center station 17 calculates the radiuses R1, R2 and R3 by calculating these based on the location information of the mobile phone 14 notified from each base station 15, that is, the data of the radiuses R1, R2 and R3. It can be recognized that the mobile phone 14 is located at the point P where the circles drawn in FIG.
[0027]
In the calculation of the position of the mobile phone 14, since the latitude and longitude of each base station A, B, and C are known in advance, the point P is calculated from the latitude and longitude of each base station A, B, and C. Latitude and longitude can be calculated.
[0028]
The calculation of the radii R1, R2, and R3 may be performed by each base station 15 as described above, or the base station code and the electric field strength are used from each base station A, B, and C. And the use registration center station 17 may collectively calculate from these data.
[0029]
Of course, the base station 15 is not limited to the three stations of the base stations A, B and C as described above, and position detection may be performed by a larger number of base stations. 14 more accurate positions can be recognized.
[0030]
The toll road toll collection system of the present invention functions effectively based on the location information of the mobile phone 14 detected as described above.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing in the toll road toll collection system of the present invention having the above-described configuration. In this process, the usage registration center station 17 stores the position information of all toll roads (or available toll roads) in a storage device (not shown) in, for example, longitude and latitude.
[0031]
In FIG. 3, first, the driver of the automobile 13 shown in FIG. 1 uses the mobile phone 14 to register for a toll road use registration center in order to apply for use registration using the toll road automatic toll collection system prior to the start of traveling. Call the station 17 (S1 is Y). In this process, the owner of the mobile phone 14 used for the application for use registration does not need to be a driver, and the mobile phone 14 is aware of paying the toll for the toll road to be used in the future. Anyone who owns can be used.
[0032]
In other words, the toll on the toll road used is withdrawn from the account of the owner of the mobile phone used to apply for use registration, so if the driver pays the toll, the driver's mobile phone, When paying by the passenger, the passenger's mobile phone, when paying by the parent, etc., the parent's mobile phone may be borrowed and used for the application for use registration. Then, it is only necessary to have the mobile phone 14 used for this application and get into the automobile 13.
[0033]
In addition, since the owner of the mobile phone 14 used in this way and the owner of the traveling car 13 do not have to be the same, the car 13 to be used is also his own car, a friend's car, or a rental car. However, this system can be used.
[0034]
Following the above, the driver applies for registration by notifying the usage registration center station 17 that the toll road will be used and the vehicle number of the traveling vehicle (car 13) at that time. An instruction is transmitted from the use registration center station 17 to the mobile phone 14 to input a vehicle number as registration information via the mobile communication management center station 16 and the nearest base station 15. For example, if the vehicle number is “□ ΔA-1234”, the driver inputs the vehicle number to the mobile phone 14 and transmits the input information. Thereby, a vehicle number is transmitted to the use registration center station 17 as registration information (process S2).
[0035]
By transmitting the registration information, the owner information of the mobile phone 14 and the vehicle number are stored as a pair of data in a storage device (not shown) of the usage registration center station 17, whereby the usage registration center station 17 of this system user is stored. Registration for use is completed. In addition, as described above, the use registration of this system is performed before the start of the operation of the automobile 13, so that the operation of the mobile phone 14 is unnecessary during the operation of the automobile 13, and there is a risk of an accident due to the telephone operation during the operation. Can be prevented in advance.
[0036]
Thereafter, when the automobile 13 starts running, the use registration center station 17 always detects the position of the mobile phone 14 via the mobile communication management center station 16 (process S3). Thereby, the traveling position of the automobile 13 is always detected.
[0037]
When the mobile phone 14 approaches the entrance gate of the toll road (for example, when entering within a predetermined distance from the entrance gate) (S4 is Y), the entrance registration center 18 is connected to the entrance terminal 18 of the entrance gate. The station 17 transmits information that “the car of the vehicle number“ □ ΔA-1234 ”is approaching the entrance” (processing S5).
[0038]
Thus, the entrance terminal 18 does not need to store information on all use registration applicants. For example, even if there are 100,000 use registration applicants at a certain point in the country, there are 10 people near a specific entrance gate. If the terminal is approaching, the entrance terminal 18 only needs to store information on 10 people. Accordingly, the entrance terminal 18 may be provided with extremely simple equipment.
[0039]
An entrance camera 21 is provided at the entrance gate. The entrance camera 21 captures the vehicle number of the traveling vehicle that has approached the entrance gate, and transmits the captured data to the entrance terminal 18. The entrance terminal 18 recognizes the photographed data, determines whether the photographed vehicle number is the registered vehicle number “□ △ A-1234” (processing S6), and uses the registered vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “usage”). If the vehicle number is “registered vehicle” (S6 is Y), the entrance gate 22 is opened (step S7), and if it is not the vehicle number of the registered vehicle (S6 is N), the entrance gate 22 is closed (step S8). It works like that.
[0040]
The entrance gate 22 may be always opened and closed only when a non-use registered vehicle is photographed, or the entrance gate 22 is always closed and only opened when a use registration vehicle is photographed. May be.
[0041]
When the use registration vehicle 13 passes through the entrance gate 22, data indicating the fact of the entrance passage and the passage time are transmitted from the entrance terminal 18 to the use registration center station 17, and this transmission data is received and used registration center station 17 Then, this received data is recorded in the storage device as an entrance passage record of the use registration vehicle 13 (processing S9). At this time, the access information of the registered vehicle used for the entrance gate in the process S5 is deleted.
[0042]
In addition, after transmitting the approach information of the use registration vehicle 13 to the entrance terminal 18 in the process S5, when the use registration vehicle 13 does not enter the entrance gate and moves away from the entrance gate (for example, a specified preset from the entrance gate). If you go out of the distance, cancel the registered vehicle approach information.
[0043]
There are many entrances to the toll road, so it will continue to pass near the entrance other than the entrance to be entered, but when the registered vehicle 13 moves away from the entrance gate as described above, the registered registered vehicle approach information is canceled. If it does in this way, it will be avoided that it becomes overloaded by many use registration vehicle approach information which entrance terminal 18 accumulates.
[0044]
On the other hand, after the usage registration vehicle 13 passes through the entrance gate 22 and the usage registration center station 17 records the entrance passage of the usage registration vehicle 13 as described above, the position of the usage registration vehicle 13 is the same as in step S3. When detection is performed (processing S10) and it is detected that the use registration vehicle 13 has approached the exit gate (Y in S11), the use registration center station 17 sends "vehicle number" to the exit terminal 19 of the exit gate. The information that “the vehicle of □ ΔA-1234 is approaching the exit” is transmitted (processing S12).
[0045]
Similarly to the entrance gate 22, the exit camera 23 is provided at the exit gate, and the operation of the process S13, S14 or S15 is only the difference between the entrance and the exit, and is the same as the operation of the process S6, S7 or S8. is there. Here, the exit registration is recorded when the use registration vehicle 13 exits the exit gate (processing S16). That is, by this, the vehicle number and the passage time of the use registration vehicle 13 are recorded, and this exit passage record is transmitted to the use registration center station 17, and the use registration center station 17 performs calculation of charging, that is, a toll.
[0046]
The toll calculated by this calculation is charged to the credit card company 25 (process S17). On the basis of this charge, the credit card company 25 deducts the requested toll from the financial institution that the user of the registration vehicle 13, that is, the owner of the mobile phone 14 makes a transaction, for example, an account of the bank 26. Pay to the toll road management organization.
[0047]
Here, for example, two methods are conceivable in the operation after the billing process in step S17. One of them is to first move to the routine indicated by B, and again detect the approach of the next entrance gate, starting from the position detection of the process S3. This processing operation is convenient for a person who frequently uses a toll road, or when a toll road is used a plurality of times in one day drive. In this case, when the user enters a return road on a normal road and eventually stops using the toll road, for example, when returning home, the user moves to a routine indicated by C and cancels the use registration. . In this case, the use registration is not automatically canceled, but the use registration center station 17 is called to cancel the use registration.
[0048]
The second method is a method of moving to a routine indicated by C immediately after the processing of step S17 and automatically canceling use registration. In this method, the user registration is automatically canceled when exiting the toll road, thereby preventing inadvertent billing at the next use due to forgetting to cancel.
[0049]
In addition, it is necessary to prohibit the cancellation of the use registration at least during the process S9 to S16. That is, if the use registration is canceled after passing through the entrance of the toll road and before passing through the exit, detection at the exit becomes impossible. Therefore, it is necessary to perform cancellation prohibition processing at least between the above steps S9 to S16.
[0050]
Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a modification that can simplify the system shown in FIG. In the processing operation of this modification, the processing operations of the processes ST1 and ST2 in FIG. 4 are substantially the same as the processing operations of the processes S1 and S2 in FIG. 3, and in the subsequent processing in FIG. 4, the processing S3 in FIG. In addition, there is no processing operation corresponding to S4, and processing operations of processing ST3 to ST7 corresponding to the processing operations of processing S5 to S9 in FIG.
[0051]
Also, FIG. 4 does not have processing operations corresponding to the processing S10 and S11 of FIG. 3, and the processing operations of the subsequent processing ST8 to ST13 of FIG. 4 are substantially the same as the processing operations of the processing S12 to S17 of FIG. It has become. In this modified example, unlike the case of FIG. 3, the use registration of process ST14 is automatically canceled immediately after process ST13.
[0052]
Further, in the process S2 of FIG. 3, only the vehicle number is registered as the use registration information, but in the process ST2 of FIG. 4, the entrance and exit of the toll road to be used are registered in addition to the registration of the vehicle number. That is, for example, registration is performed such that the entrance gate is entered at Hachioji on the Chuo Expressway and the exit gate is exited at Kawaguchiko. Usage registration information is transmitted to the entrance terminal 18 in process ST3, and usage registration information is transmitted to the exit terminal 19 in process ST8. This can be applied when a toll road route to be used is determined in advance. In step ST3, the usage registration information may be transmitted to the entrance terminal 18 and the exit terminal 19 at the same time, and the process ST8 may be omitted. With this usage method, the processing operations of steps S3 and S4 and steps S10 and ST11 of FIG. 3 are not required, and the burden on the usage registration center station 17 side that provides the services of this system can be reduced.
[0053]
Also, in this case, if you have forgotten to cancel due to a sudden change of schedule after usage registration by automatically canceling the usage registration within 2 days after applying for usage registration, for example within 2 days It is possible to prevent problems that occur in
[0054]
Various methods can be applied to the billing method of this system. First, from the viewpoint of the user, there is an advantage that traffic congestion at the toll gate is alleviated, so the basic usage fee is charged to the user side and the normal toll is charged to the user. As another method, from the viewpoint of the road manager, there is an advantage that personnel costs can be reduced since no staff is required to collect tolls. Therefore, the basic usage fee is collected from the road manager and is collected by the user. It is possible to charge only the toll. Moreover, since both road managers and users can enjoy the benefits, basic usage fees may be apportioned appropriately and collected from both road managers and users.
[0055]
In addition, the method of the modification shown in FIG. 4 reduces the burden on the system service provider, so it is possible to reduce (discount) the basic usage fee or the toll including the toll fee from the case of FIG. is there.
[0056]
As described above, the toll road automatic toll collection system of the present invention is configured so that it is not necessary to operate the mobile phone while driving the automobile from the viewpoint of risk prevention, and the charge is especially reduced by reducing the data amount of the user. The terminal facilities at the entrance and exit are constructed as easily as possible.
[0057]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the use of the automatic toll collection system using a mobile phone or the like and the registration of the vehicle number to be used only pay the toll on the spot at the toll booth of the system. As long as you have a mobile phone, it is economical because there is no need for an initial investment for a special device such as a vehicle-mounted device. It is convenient and convenient because it can be used immediately with any vehicle or car rental.
[0058]
Similarly, it is possible to construct a toll road toll collection system simply by accepting registration of the toll collection system using a mobile phone and the vehicle number to be used. Since an existing vehicle recognition camera can be used, capital investment can be minimized, which is economical and convenient.
[0059]
Thus, by using a mobile phone or PHS owned by most people as mobile communication means, an toll road toll collection system with an economical and simple configuration can be constructed.
[0060]
In addition, since it is only necessary to register the automatic toll collection system and the vehicle number to be used before the start of driving, there is no need to operate the mobile phone during driving, which makes it safe for driving. Therefore, a very preferable system can be constructed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a toll road toll collection system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of automatically detecting the position of a mobile phone in the toll road toll collection system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing in an automatic toll road toll collection system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a modified example of processing in the toll road toll collection system according to an embodiment.
[Fig. 5] (a) is a bird's-eye view showing an outline of the toll gate in the ETC currently implemented, (b) is a diagram showing an example of an on-board device provided on the passing vehicle side, and (c) is an on-board device. It is a figure which shows the example of the IC card inserted and used.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toll booth 2 Road side antenna 3 Vehicle 4 Onboard equipment 5 Two-way radio communication 6 Liquid crystal display device 7 Input operation button 8 Notification lamp 9 Card insertion slot 11 IC card 12 (12a, 12b) Gate 13 Car 14 Mobile phone 15 Base station 15-1 Base station A
15-2 Base station B
15-3 Base station C
16 Mobile communication management center station 17 User registration center station 18 Entrance terminal 19 Exit terminal 21 Entrance camera 22 Entrance gate 23 Exit camera 24 Exit gate 25 Credit card company 26 Bank

Claims (4)

The mobile communication means connects to the toll road management center to use the toll road automatic toll collection system and registers the vehicle number of the vehicle to be used, and the registered mobile communication means enters the entrance of the toll road Based on information indicating that the gate has been approached, approach information sending means for sending approach information including the vehicle number from the management center to the terminal of the entrance gate, and detecting the vehicle number at the entrance and exit of the toll road A detecting means for detecting the passage of the registered vehicle, and charging the toll of the toll road to the owner of the mobile communication means based on detection of the registered vehicle at the entrance and exit Automatic toll collection system.   2. The toll road automatic toll collection system according to claim 1, wherein a base fee of the system is charged to an owner of the mobile communication means based on at least a detection that a registered vehicle has passed the entrance.   2. The toll road fee automatic toll collection system according to claim 1, wherein the toll road manager is charged a basic fee of the system based on at least detection that the registered vehicle has passed the entrance.   2. The toll according to claim 1, wherein the basic fee of the system is apportioned based on the detection that the registered vehicle has passed at least the entrance, and the owner of the mobile communication means and the toll road administrator are charged. Automatic toll collection system.

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