Automated transit validation rule updating

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9905055-B2
Application number	US-201615165252-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	Aug 17, 2015
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for automatically determining and implementing fare validation rules based on analysis of rejected transactions from one or more fare validators. In some embodiments, a server or other monitoring system can monitor rejected transactions, determine a common characteristic among all the rejected transactions, and create a validation rule change that would permit the use of fare media having the common characteristic. In some embodiments, the validation rule change may be reviewed and/or modified by a transit agent or other human supervisor. Accordingly, among other benefits, validation rule changes can be automatically created and quickly implemented where a number of rejected transactions indicate previous validation rules may be incorrect.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer server comprising:
a communication interface configured to obtain a plurality of rejected transactions from one or more fare media validators of a transit system, each rejected transaction of the plurality of rejected transactions indicative of when a respective fare media was not able to be validated by one of the one or more fare media validators of the transit system when the respective fare media was presented at the one of the one or more fare media validators of the transit system; and
a processing unit coupled with the communication interface and configured to:
analyze the plurality of rejected transactions to determine at least one common characteristic among all rejected transactions of the plurality of rejected transactions causing, at least in part, the rejection of each rejected transaction of the plurality of rejected transactions;
determine a validation rule change based on the analysis of the plurality of rejected transactions, wherein:
the validation rule change is a change in one or more validation rules used by the one or more fare media validators of the transit system, and
the validation rule change, when implemented by the one or more fare media validators of the transit system, is configured to cause the one or more fare media validators of the transit system to allow future transactions having the at least one common characteristic, resulting in:
the one or more fare media validators of the transit system validating fare media used in the future transactions when the fare media is presented at the one or more fare media validators of the transit system,
the one or more fare media validators of the transit system activating an access control point associated with the one or more fare media validators of the transit system in response to the validating fare media, and
the activated access control point associated with the one or more fare media validators of the transit system moving a physical obstacle to grant one or more users of the fare media physical access to the transit system; and

send, via the communication interface, information indicative of the validation rule change to the one or more fare media validators.

2. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
generate a report for review by a user; and
send the information indicative of the validation rule change based on an authorization input from the user.

3. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to, prior to analyzing the plurality of rejected transactions, determine that the plurality of rejected transactions comprises at least a threshold number of rejected transactions.

4. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to, prior to analyzing the plurality of rejected transactions, determine that the plurality of rejected transactions occurred within a threshold period of time.

5. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the at least one common characteristic indicative of at least one of:
a time period during which a fare media is valid,
a date during which a fare media is valid,
a location in which a fare media is valid,
an encryption key of a fare media,
a concession related to a fare media, or
a fare media type, or
any combination thereof.

6. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to cause the communication interface to obtain a plurality of rejected transactions from a remote database.

7. The computer server of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to cause the communication interface to obtain a plurality of rejected transactions from the one or more fare media validators in the transit system over a period of time.

8. A method of updating one or more validation rules in a transit system, the method comprising:
obtaining a plurality of rejected transactions from one or more fare media validators of the transit system, each rejected transaction of the plurality of rejected transactions indicative of when a respective fare media was not able to be validated by one of the one or more fare media validators of the transit system when the respective fare media was presented at the one of the one or more fare media validators of the transit system;
analyzing, with a processing unit, the plurality of rejected transactions to determine at least one common characteristic among all rejected transactions of the plurality of rejected transactions causing, at least in part, the rejection of each rejected transaction of the plurality of rejected transactions;
determining a validation rule change based on the analyzing, wherein:
the validation rule change is a change in the one or more validation rules used by the one or more fare media validators of the transit system, and
the validation rule change, when implemented by the one or more fare media validators of the transit system, is configured to cause the one or more fare media validators of the transit system to allow future transactions having the at least one common characteristic, resulting in:
the one or more fare media validators of the transit system validating fare media used in the future transactions when the fare media is presented at the one or more fare media validators of the transit system,
the one or more fare media validators of the transit system activating an access control point associated with the one or more fare media validators in response to the validating fare media, and
the activated access control point associated with the one or more fare media validators of the transit system moving a physical obstacle to grant one or more users of the fare media physical access to the transit system; and

sending information indicative of the validation rule change to the one or more fare media validators.

9. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising:
generating a report for review by a user; and
sending the information indicative of the validation rule change based on an authorization input from the user.

10. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising, prior to analyzing the plurality of rejected transactions, determining that the plurality of rejected transactions comprises at least a threshold number of rejected transactions.

11. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising, prior to analyzing the plurality of rejected transactions, determining that the plurality of rejected transactions occurred within a threshold period of time.

12. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising determining the at least one common characteristic indicative of at least one of:
a time period during which a fare media is valid,
a date during which a fare media is valid,
a location in which a fare media is valid,
an encryption key of a fare media,
a concession related to a fare media, or
a fare media type, or
any combination thereof.

13. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising obtaining a plurality of rejected transactions from a remote database.

14. The method of updating the one or more validation rules in the transit system of claim 8 , further comprising obtaining a plurality of rejected transactions from the one or more fare media validators in the transit system over a period of

Assignees

• Cubic Corp

Inventors

• Smith Gavin
• Reymann Steffen
• Packham Jon

Classifications

• G06Q20/405

  Establishing or using transaction specific rules · CPC title

• G07C9/22

  in combination with an identity check of the pass holder · CPC title

• G06Q10/06 Primary

  Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• G07B15/00 Primary

  Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points (handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00) · CPC title

• G06Q20/401

  Transaction verification · CPC title