Proactive re-routing of vehicles to control traffic flow

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11774252-B2
Application number	US-202017072587-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2020
Priority date	Dec 29, 2015
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure include a navigation system and computer-implemented methods for proactively re-routing vehicles to control traffic flow. Consistent with some embodiments, the navigation system seeks to reduce traffic flow along primary navigation routes (e.g., routes with relatively short travel times) by re-routing vehicles to alternative navigation routes (e.g., routes with relatively longer travel times) using incentives. As an example, upon detecting a vehicle traveling along an alternative route instead of a primary route, the navigation system updates a data structure that represents a user account of a vehicle occupant to reflect an increased account balance. Consistent with some embodiments, the amount of value provided to an occupant of a vehicle traveling along an alternative routes may be obtained from user accounts of occupants of other vehicles that are traveling along a primary route.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a service provider, the method comprising:
determining, by the service provider, a destination location of a vehicle based at least in part on GPS data received from a computing device that is embedded in the vehicle or associated with an occupant of the vehicle;
identifying a plurality of possible routes to the destination location originating from a current location of the computing device;
identifying one of the plurality of possible routes as a primary route to the destination location based at least in part on a travel time to the destination location when using the primary route;
selecting, by the service provider, an alternative route to the destination location;
causing display of a user interface on the computing device that includes a message including the alternative route and an incentive for the occupant of the vehicle to direct the vehicle to the destination location along the alternative route, wherein an amount of the incentive is based at least in part on a number of vehicles that are currently traveling along the primary route;
receiving, from the computing device, a request to travel to the destination location along the alternative route; and
updating a user account associated with the occupant of the vehicle to include the incentive for traveling to the destination location along the alternative route.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is associated with a passenger in the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein request is received responsive to user input to a control included in the user interface displayed at the computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating the user account further comprises updating the user account by increasing an amount of a value in the user account, the value comprising a currency or rewards points.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein an amount of the value is based on the number of vehicles that are currently traveling along the primary route to the destination location.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein an amount of the value is based on a travel time associated with the alternative route.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein an amount of the value is based on a delta value corresponding to a difference in travel time between the alternative route and a current route.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user account is updated by increasing a number of reward points associated with the user account.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing direction to the destination via the alternative route.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary route to the destination location comprises a route to the destination location which is most frequented by vehicles.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary route has a shorter predicted travel time to the destination location than the alternative route.

12. A system comprising:
at least a memory and a processor to perform operations comprising:
determining, by a service provider, a destination location of a vehicle based at least in part on GPS data received from a computing device that is embedded in the vehicle or associated with an occupant of the vehicle;
identifying a plurality of possible routes to the destination location originating from a current location of the computing device;
identifying one of the plurality of possible routes as a primary route to the destination location based at least in part on a travel time to the destination location when using the primary route;
selecting, by the service provider, an alternative route to the destination location;
causing display of a user interface on the computing device that includes a message including the alternative route and an incentive for the occupant of the vehicle to direct the vehicle to the destination location along the alternative route, wherein an amount of the incentive is based at least in part on a number of vehicles that are currently traveling along the primary route;
receiving, from the computing device, a request to travel to the destination location along the alternative route; and
updating a user account associated with the occupant of the vehicle to include the incentive for traveling to the destination location along the alternative route.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the computing device is associated with a passenger in the vehicle.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein request is received responsive to user input to a control included in the user interface displayed at the computing device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the updating the user account further comprises updating the user account by increasing an amount of a value in the user account, the value comprising a currency or rewards points.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein an amount of the value is based on the number of vehicles that are currently traveling along the primary route to the destination location.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein an amount of the value is based on a travel time associated with the alternative route.

18. A computer-implemented method comprising:
identifying, based on location information obtained from a navigation-enabled device, a plurality of routes from a location of the navigation-enabled device to a destination location;
selecting, from among the plurality of routes, a primary route to the destination location;
detecting that the navigation-enabled device is traveling along an alternative route different from the primary route based on information received from the navigation-enabled device; and
in response to the detecting that the navigation-enabled device is traveling along the alternative route, updating a first entry in a first user account record associated with the navigation enabled device, the first user account record being stored in a network accessible database, the updating of the first user account record including increasing a first current value in the first entry by a first value, wherein an amount of the value is based at least in part on a number of vehicles that are currently traveling along the primary route.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , further comprising updating at least a second user account record associated with a vehicle traveling along the primary route, the updating of the second user account record including decreasing a second current value in a second entry in the second user account record by a second value.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein increasing the first current value comprises increasing a number of reward points associated with the first user account.

Assignees

• Ebay Inc

Inventors

• Glasgow Dane
• Maclaurin Matthew Bret
• Newey Neville Rhys
• VanWinkle Justin
• Hall Christopher Michael
• Mcneill Trista
• Ramadge David

Classifications

• G01C21/3415 Primary

  Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents · CPC title

• G01S19/13

  Receivers · CPC title

• G08G1/012

  from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks · CPC title

• G08G1/0112

  from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD] · CPC title

• G08G1/0133

  for classifying traffic situation · CPC title