WO2002035477A1 - Method for charging tolls - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for charging tolls for the use by vehicles of toll sections of traffic routes in a traffic network or at least a sub-network of a traffic network, using a device which is located in a user vehicle, respectively and which uses location data that are representative of the actual location of the vehicle and route data that are representative of the geographical course of the toll sections of the traffic routes to determine the respective use of a toll section (or geographical area) by the vehicle. Characteristic data (use data) for the use of the traffic routes is sent wirelessly by the device to a central point for calculating the tolls, closely in time to the actual use of the traffic routes.

Description

Procedure for collecting user fees

description

The invention relates to a method for collecting user fees for the

Use of toll sections of traffic routes in a traffic route network by vehicles according to the preamble of claim 1.

Route sections within the meaning of the present invention can also be limited geographical zones such as inner cities or other delimitable areas.

From EP 0 616 301 B1 a device for determining usage fees for the use of toll sections of traffic routes of a traffic route network by vehicles is known, which is respectively arranged in the vehicle and with on-board means for determining the position of the vehicle, i.e. is provided to determine its current geographical location and also has a vehicle-side storage device in which route data are stored which identify the geographical course of the individual sections of the traffic route network which are subject to tolls.

Furthermore, this device has in its memory data (tariff data) which are assigned to the individual sections of the route which are subject to charges and which are representative of the fee amounts which are due when the respective section of the route is used by the vehicle. A computer unit of this device determines whether the vehicle is subject to a fee

Section used and the amount of fees to be paid in each case. This amount can be debited in each case by a debit unit on the vehicle side connected to the computer unit on a user card (eg credit card). A corresponding system for billing user fees for a toll route network is also known from EP 0 691 013 B1. There is also a vehicle-side device that independently determines the respective vehicle position and has geographic route data and tariff data of the route network subject to user fees, which are used for the

Route usage determined by a vehicle due usage fees and debited from a prepaid credit card carried in the vehicle for use of the route network. As in EP 0 616 301 B1, the signals of a navigation satellite system are preferably used for determining the position of the vehicle. To be a proper one

To ensure billing operation or to be able to control it, an outward-looking signal device is also provided which, after the credit amount on the credit card has been used up, is activated in the event of the vehicle remaining on a route subject to usage billing and thus improper use through along the route makes it possible to identify control facilities that are subject to a toll route network. By debiting the usage fees due from a credit card in the vehicle, it is ensured that the usage fee billing is carried out in a completely anonymous manner, i.e. it is not possible to track the distances traveled by individual vehicles in a way that is not abusive.

EP 0 741 891 B1 discloses a method for determining user charges for traffic routes and traffic areas, which uses a device located in the vehicle, with the aid of this on the basis of position data and tariff data in the vehicle

User fees are calculated and transmitted to a central office via a digital cellular network. In contrast to the two aforementioned systems, it is not the billing of charges in the vehicle that is carried out on a user card or credit card, but the actual billing of the user fees that are due is done by a central office. in the

Vehicle itself is therefore only the respective usage amounts determined independently. Such a central procedure is primarily suitable only for commercial road traffic due to the subsequent traceability of the toll sections of the route used by individual vehicles, i.e. for route-related usage fee billing for trucks and buses, since the data protection requirements are different than for private road traffic.

Common to the aforementioned billing systems is the feature that the individual user fee amounts are determined in each case in the vehicle, so that the vehicle-side device for determining the user fees must have the current tariffs for the use of the route network. On the other hand, this makes it easy to inform the driver of the respective vehicle about the extent of his toll route usage and the expected invoice amount for the usage or the current status of his still available prepaid credit for route usage.

The central debiting of the individual usage amounts has the advantage that for the operator of the user fee collection system, e.g. a fee collection agency acting on behalf of the state can perform the usage-based billing of the usage activities carried out by a large number of vehicles with high accuracy and security and, on the other hand, the drivers of the vehicles are released from the need for manual activities to pay the usage fees because the required cash flow to pay the user fees in each case by invoicing and / or in

Account debiting is possible (postpaid procedure). Of course, this system can also work with a prepaid value credit, for which a corresponding credit account is kept in the central clearing house (prepaid method). Because of the large number of vehicles that are subject to usage fee billing, the communication effort that is of considerable importance for the data exchange between the vehicle-side device for determining the individual usage fee amounts and the central accounting office is of considerable importance. In order to keep the effort as low as possible, instead of transmitting each individual partial amount for the partial routes during a trip, it is also possible to provide that a certain sum of individual amounts is carried out in the vehicle before this sum is transmitted to the head office with the necessary individual information for billing , This reduces the communication effort accordingly to a fraction of the effort otherwise required. Since the determination of the individual amounts in the vehicle takes place autonomously, it is possible, as already mentioned above, at any time to inform the driver of the amount of the to inform user fees incurred up to that point or about the current status of a user credit value credit. This can ensure that a given credit line is not exceeded in the case of the postpaid procedure, namely that the previous loan is settled in good time and a new credit line is made available, or that the credit balance is prepaid in good time.

It is the object of the present invention to propose a generic method in which, without using the vehicle-related determination of the individual amounts to be billed when using a route network subject to usage fees, the charges can nevertheless be reliably billed using the postpaid method or the prepaid method. It should therefore be ensured that timely replenishment of a user fee credit balance or a renewal of the credit line can be carried out without the risk that if the journey continues through the chargeable route network, individual amounts will be billed against an insufficient credit or credit line fails, ie the general usage authorization of the respective vehicle (meaning the ability that the respective fee amounts can actually be debited, i.e. readiness for debiting) can no longer be guaranteed and therefore unauthorized use of the route takes place ("illegal driving") if the vehicle remains in the route network subject to usage fees ,

This object is achieved according to the invention by a method with the

Claim 1 specified features. This method can be further developed in an advantageous manner by the features specified in subclaims 2 to 15.

The present invention is based on a method for collecting

User fees for the use of toll sections of traffic routes in a traffic route network, which can also be a subnet of a more extensive traffic route network, by vehicles by means of a device which is arranged in a vehicle making use of the vehicle and on the basis of position data which is relevant to the current geographical position of the Vehicle are representative, and from route data, which are representative of the geographic course of the chargeable route sections of the traffic routes, the respective use of the chargeable route sections by the vehicle is determined. Usage data, which are characteristic of the use of the sections of the route which are subject to tolls, are transmitted wirelessly from this facility in each case promptly to the individual uses to a central office for billing the usage fees. In this context, the term “promptly” is to be understood to mean that the data transmission takes place while the vehicle is traveling. This procedure ensures that the general authorization to use the vehicle is in use

(Willingness to book), which is linked to the existence of a sufficiently high unused portion of either a prepaid fee credit or a fee credit with a predetermined maximum amount, which can be obtained without interruption in good time by effecting a payment transaction at the expense of the vehicle operator (e.g. driver or vehicle owner). Vehicle-specific and / or route-specific and / or time-specific parameters are included in the determination of the usage fees, i.e. The user fees due according to the respective tariff are generally not independent fixed amounts, but are based, for example, on certain vehicle parameters (e.g. vehicle weight, number of axles, pollutant class, etc.) or location-dependent

Criteria (e.g. location-dependent higher fees for sections of the route with expensive tunnels or bridges) or also according to time-dependent criteria (higher fees for times of day or on certain days with particularly high traffic loads).

In such a method it is provided according to the invention that the exact

The determination of the usage fees due is not made in the vehicle, but only in the central office on the basis of tariff data stored on the central side and on the basis of the usage data transmitted by the respective vehicle-side device. In the vehicle-side device, an estimate is repeatedly made as to whether the part of the fee credit still available or the part of the fee

Fee credits are sufficient to be able to bill the expected user fee for one or more of the next sections of the toll road network that have not yet been reached. According to the invention, a fixed, generalized rate of cost is used as a basis for this estimate, regardless of the actual usage tariff, so that the respective applicable tariff, which may change at short notice (e.g. depending on the actual traffic load on a chargeable section). It is envisaged that the amount of the still available portion of the fee credit, depending on the type of billing method selected, will be transmitted from the central office to the vehicle-side device at least once during a trip. The transmission preferably takes place several times (for example at predetermined time or distance intervals). Furthermore, the invention provides that the vehicle-side device in the event that there is no confirmation for an adequate amount of the available fee credit or of the

Fee credits results in a signal to the driver asking to buy a new fee credit or the central office to settle the almost exhausted fee credit and to make a new fee credit available. With the settlement of the fee credit, the initiation of the cash flow is from the traffic route user or a body authorized by him

Operator of the billing system meant. For example, this is an account debit from a driver's bank account or a freight forwarder, to which the respective route-using vehicle belongs.

In a preferred development of the method, the position data in the

To determine the vehicle based on signals from a navigation satellite system. Such navigation satellite systems are, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), which is operated by the USA, or GLONASS, which is operated by Russia. Alternatively, the position determination could also be carried out with the aid of a position determination system based on terrestrial transmitters or by means of a

Cellular positioning procedures are carried out. A combination of several systems or radio-transmitted correction data (e.g. DGPS) can also be used to increase availability and accuracy. In the event that such systems are temporarily unavailable, dead-reckoning methods known per se can ensure uninterrupted position determination.

A digital mobile radio network is expediently used for the communication between the vehicle-side device and the central office responsible for billing, that is to say for the transmission of the data to be exchanged used, preferably according to the standard GMS or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System).

As already explained above, in the method according to the invention, as a rule, not every individual traveled partial route is billed, but rather a certain collection is carried out in the vehicle-side device and, if possible, a common data transmission for the characteristic data of the use of several successive partial routes performed.

A prepaid fee credit that is about to be exhausted can expediently be recharged via vending machine stations that are operated in particular at motorway service stations, petrol stations and parking lots along the toll route network. This can be done, for example, using a subscriber card, which is similarly provided for the operation of mobile telephones and on which the characteristic data of the respective vehicle (eg license plate data, vehicle class, pollutant class, etc.) are entered. These data can then be transmitted to the central office via a communication link between the respective machine station and the central office for billing purposes in order to identify or set up the required credit account. The payment of the amount of money required to purchase a value credit can be made in cash or, for example, also by means of a check card or credit card or cash card. In order that a credit purchase or the top-up of an already existing prepaid fee credit account can be carried out without interrupting the journey of the vehicle, an advantageous further development of the invention provides that such credit purchase can be carried out by means of mobile radio, in particular via the Internet. As with other Internet shops, the payment of money can then be effected, for example, by specifying the credit card number of a valid credit card. Of course, it is also possible that the replenishment of a fee credit is triggered by an external body, for example the forwarding company to which the respective driver of the vehicle belongs, after the driver has contacted his carrier, for example via mobile radio. In this case, those for Triggering the payment process, of course, information is also transmitted via the fixed network.

If there is no possibility or unwillingness for the driver to replenish a fee credit, the driver can of course take his vehicle out of the toll route network at the next opportunity (e.g. motorway exit) to avoid unauthorized driving in this toll route network.

The invention expediently provides that that of the vehicle

Established assessment takes into account the route from the current location of the vehicle to the next machine station or stations located in the direction of travel, at which a charge credit can be replenished. If there is a branching of the toll route network (e.g. motorway triangle or motorway junction) in the direction of travel of the vehicle, the estimate must of course take into account that the vehicle can take different routes on its journey. In this case, the alternative from which the closest machine station is furthest away must be taken into account for the estimation.

In the simplest case, it can be provided in the method according to the invention that the lump sum cost rate used as the basis for the estimate is merely a fixed amount, which is based on the highest fee of the most expensive route section of the traffic network. In this case, the length of the next leg of the toll route network to be traveled would not matter. A much more realistic estimate can, however, be achieved if the general rate used as the basis for the estimate is a distance-based cost rate (kilometer rate) that e.g. based on the most expensive vehicle class (for example, according to the highest permissible number of axles of a vehicle) and / or the most expensive route category.

Expediently in the vehicle while driving at least in terms of time

The amounts determined in the central office of the billed or to be billed user fees and / or their total and / or, if applicable, a remaining remainder of a prepaid fee credit are displayed by the To continuously inform the driver of the vehicle about the development of the billable fee volume.

Advantageously, receipt information about previously billed route sections, to which the currently traveled route section belongs, is stored in the vehicle-side device for control purposes. Advantageously, such receipt information also stores the fee credit or fee credit from which the fee for the route sections or the geographic area used for a fee has been or is to be debited. In this context, it is particularly advantageous that

To be able to query receipt information for control purposes wirelessly, in particular by means of DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), by control stations that are positioned along the sections of the route that are subject to a fee (stationary or preferably also mobile stations) and, if necessary, to compare it with data from the central office. For this purpose, the control stations can have a data connection with the central office.

The method according to the invention ensures reliable billing of the user fees for the use of toll sections of the route by vehicles, without the need to store the current tariff data for the traffic network in the vehicle-side facilities to be carried by the vehicles. The willingness to pay fees properly can be done without interruption, i.e. be maintained by the vehicle without leaving the toll route network.

Claims

claims: 1.Procedure for charging user fees for the use of toll sections of traffic routes in a traffic route network or at least a subnet of a traffic route network by vehicles with the aid of a device which is arranged in a vehicle making use of the vehicle and on the basis of position data which is relevant for the current position of the vehicle are representative, and route data that are representative of the geographic course of the chargeable route sections of the traffic routes determine the respective use of a chargeable route section (or geographic area) by the vehicle, whereby characteristic data (usage data) for the uses by the device transmitted wirelessly to a central point for usage fees promptly to the uses, whereby it is ensured that during use the general usage authorization (in the sense of a Bu willingness to repair) of the vehicle, which is linked to the presence of a sufficiently high unused portion of either a prepaid fee credit or a fee credit with a predetermined maximum amount, in time by effecting a payment transaction to the account of the operator of the Vehicle (e.g. driver, keeper) can be obtained without interruption, and vehicle-specific and / or route-specific and / or time-specific parameters are included in the determination of the usage fees, characterized in that - the exact determination of the usage fees due only in the Central office is based on tariff data and the usage data transmitted by the respective facility, - That the vehicle-side device repeatedly makes an assessment as to whether the part of the fee credit or fee credit still available is sufficient to be able to bill the expected usage fee for one or more of the next sections of the toll road network that have not yet been reached, whereby for the Estimation based on a fixed, flat-rate cost rate regardless of the actual usage tariff, - that the amount of the remaining part of the fee credit or fee credit is transmitted by the central office to the vehicle-side facility during the journey, and - That the vehicle-side device, if the estimate does not receive a confirmation of a still sufficient amount of the available fee credit or fee credit, issues a signal to the driver as a request to buy a new fee credit or has the central office settle the almost exhausted fee credit and one to provide new fee credit. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the position data in the vehicle based on signals from a navigation satellite system, in particular GPS (Global Positioning System) or GLONASS, or a position determination system with terrestrial Transmitters or a combination of different positioning systems can be determined. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the position data are determined with the aid of correction data (e.g. DGPS). 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a dead reckoning for uninterrupted position determination Procedure is used. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the transmission of data between the vehicle-side device and the central office takes place by means of digital mobile radio, in particular according to the standard GMS or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System). 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the prepaid fee credit is charged without interrupting the journey of the vehicle by means of a credit purchase effected by means of mobile radio via the mobile Internet. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the credit purchase takes place via vending machine stations, in particular vending machine stations at motorway service stations, petrol stations and parking lots along the toll road network. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a credit card or a check card or a for the credit purchase Money card is used. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the estimate made by the vehicle-side device takes into account the route from the current location of the vehicle to the next machine station or stations located in the direction of travel. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the lump-sum cost rate used for the assessment is a fixed amount, which is based on the highest user fee of the most expensive route section of the traffic network. 11. The method according to any one of claims to 9, characterized in that the flat rate rate used as the basis for the estimate is a track rate rate rate (kilometer rate). 12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the cost rate is based on the highest, most expensive vehicle class and / or the most expensive route category. 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that in the vehicle during the journey, at least at intervals, the amounts of user fees determined in the central office and / or the sum thereof and / or possibly a remaining remainder of a prepaid one Fee credit is displayed. 14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that receipt information about billed or traveled route sections is stored in the vehicle-side device, which indicate the fee credit or the fee credit from which the fee for the route sections were or are to be debited. 15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the acknowledgment information for control purposes can be queried wirelessly, in particular by means of DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) from control stations along the sections of the route which are subject to a fee and, if necessary, can be compared with data from the central office.