Condition-based lane suggestions for travel advising

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017076600-A1
Application number	US-201515122949-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 3, 2015
Priority date	Mar 3, 2014
Publication date	Mar 16, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Users who are traveling on a path between a first location and a second location may be informed by navigation devices about the user's selected route. The path may also feature two or more lanes, which may present comparative advantages (e.g., a toll-restricted lane may present less traffic, and a toll-free lane may present more traffic at a reduced cost). Presented herein are techniques for enabling navigation devices to advise users about the lanes of the path. A travel service may collect information about the respective lanes, such as traffic density and the typical travel duration of users utilizing the lane during various periods, and may transmit information about the predicted travel durations of the respective lanes to the device. Such information may enable the device to advise the user to choose a selected lane, according to the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of facilitating a user traveling a path between a first location and a second location and having at least two lanes, the method using a device having a processor and comprising:
executing on the processor instructions that cause the device to:
for respective lanes of the path, receive from a travel service a predicted travel duration of the lane between the first location and the second location, wherein the predicted travel duration is based on a travel condition of the lane;
compare the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path to identify a selected lane; and
advise the user to choose the selected lane while traveling the path between the first location and the second location.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one lane is associated with a lane restriction for users traveling in the lane; the instructions further cause the device to, for the respective lanes, determine whether the user satisfies the lane restriction of the lane; and identifying the selected lane further comprises: comparing the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path for which the user satisfies the lane restriction of the lane to identify the selected lane.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one lane is associated with a lane cost for users traveling in the lane; and identifying the selected lane further comprises: comparing the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path with the lane costs of the lanes to identify the selected lane.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the execution of the instructions on the processor further causes the device to, for the respective lanes, detect a current lane cost of the lane.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the user has a cost sensitivity; and identifying the selected lane further comprises: comparing the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path with the lane costs of the lanes and the cost sensitivity of the user to identify the selected lane.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the execution of the instructions on the processor further causes the device to:
monitor a driving behavior of the user to detect at least one lane selection by the user of a lane having a lane cost; and based on the at least one lane selection by the user and the lane cost of the lane, determine the cost sensitivity of the user.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the cost sensitivity of the user further comprises:
presenting to the user a presentation including the lane cost of a first lane and a predicted travel lane duration reduction as compared with a second lane; and detecting a lane selection of the user in response to the presentation.

8 . A computer-readable memory device storing instructions that, when executed on a processor of a device, cause the device to facilitate a user traveling a path between a first location and a second location and having at least two lanes, by:
for respective lanes of the path, receiving from a travel service a predicted travel duration of the lane between the first location and the second location, wherein the predicted travel duration is based on a travel condition of the lane; comparing the predicted travel durations of the lanes of the path to identify a selected lane; and advising the user to choose the selected lane while traveling the path between the first location and the second location.

9 . The computer-readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein:
for at least two routes between an origin and a destination, respective routes including a path between the first location and the second location, the device advises the user of a selected route among the at least two routes; and advising the user of the selected lane further comprises: advising the user to choose the selected lane of a path of the selected route between the origin and the destination.

10 . The computer-readable memory device of claim 8 , wherein execution of the instructions on the processor further causes the device to submit to the travel service a travel report indicating a travel duration for a lane of a path between a first location and a second location during a period.

11 . The computer-readable memory device of claim 10 , wherein the travel report further specifies the selected lane of the user while traveling the path between the first location and the second location.

12 . A method of providing a travel service to users respectively traveling on a path, the method using a server having a processor and comprising:
executing on the processor instructions that cause the server to:
upon receiving from a first user a travel report indicating a travel condition for a lane of a path between a first location and a second location during a period, store the travel report;
for the respective lanes of the path between the first location and the second location, determine, for the respective periods, a typical travel duration for the lane according to the travel conditions during the period; and
upon receiving from a second user a request for a predicted travel duration of a selected lane of the path during a selected period, provide a predicted travel duration based on the typical travel duration for the selected lane of the path during the selected period.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the travel report received from the first user specifies the lane of the path traveled by the first user.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the travel report received from the first user specifies at least one intermediate location of the first user while traveling the path between the first location and the second location; and executing the instructions on the processor further causes the server to determine, from the at least one intermediate location, the lane of the path of the first user while traveling the path between the first location and the second location.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
executing the instructions on the processor further causes the server to:
determine, for the respective first users of a first user set traveling the path between the first location and the second location during the period, a travel duration of the first user;
generate a histogram of the travel durations of the first users of the first user set;
identify an arithmetic mean of the travel durations of the histogram; and
associate the arithmetic mean of the travel duration with a lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the period; and
determining the typical travel durations of the respective lanes of the path further comprising: selecting the travel duration associated with the lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the period.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the travel report indicating a speed of the first user while traveling the lane of the path between the first location and the second location; and determining the typical travel durations of the respective lanes of the path further comprising: estimating the typical travel duration of the lane according to the speeds of the first users traveling the lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the period.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the typical travel duration of a lane of the path further comprises: among the travel durations of the first users traveling the lane of the path between the first location and the second location during the period, select a shortest travel duration.

18

Assignees

• Inrix Inc

Inventors

• Scofield Christopher L

Classifications

• B60W2554/00

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• B60W2555/20

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• B60W2552/00

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• A61B5/0531

  Measuring skin impedance · CPC title

• G08G1/0962

  having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages · CPC title