Communications: electrical – Vehicle detectors
Patent
1993-04-22
1995-06-27
Swarthout, Brent
Communications: electrical
Vehicle detectors
340928, 340937, 340941, 235384, 235381, 364401, G08G 101
Patent
active
054283531
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to road use charging apparatus, that is apparatus to enable charges to be made for the use and general movement of vehicles on roads.
Increasing consideration is being given to the possibility of charging vehicle users for the use of vehicles on certain roads or at certain times. A number of proposals for such road charging systems have been made. These include systems requiring the provision of sensors and transducers along the road system whereby charges can be determined for road use by individual vehicles. Some systems involve the use of a meter within the vehicle which is controlled and activated by the transducers located along the road way. Other systems require a transponder mounted in the vehicle whereby a central control system can monitor vehicle movements and charge appropriately.
There are two problems related to the introduction of a road use charging system of the kinds mentioned above. Firstly, the expense of installing the necessary, infrastructure for a fully automated system in a large city for example would be very high. Secondly, there is perceived to be substantial public resistance to the imposition of a fully automated system which could have the effect of providing a record of individual vehicle movements throughout a city. Also, an automated system could give rise to substantial mistrust of the charging process.
Simpler systems have been proposed which could avoid the need for the substantial capital expenditure on infrastructure, but there remain problems of reliability and flexibility of such simple systems as well as satisfactorily control and enforcement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided road use charging apparatus for use in a vehicle comprising storage means to store a record of the number of credit units used, debiting means arranged when initiated to debit credit units in said storage means, selection means for selecting the rate relative to road usage at which credit units are to be debited in said storage means, and visual indicator means having a geometrically segmented display showing the debiting rate currently employed by the debiting means, the charging apparatus being adapted for location of the visual indicator means relative to the vehicle so that said display is visible from the roadside as the vehicle passes, the display being sufficiently prominent to be readable from the roadside at town driving speeds. Typically, the display is an alphanumeric display.
Thus, this aspect of the invention can provide a relatively simple and cheap apparatus for mounting in a vehicle which can be set and activated to record road usage as the debiting of credit units in the storage means of the apparatus. Importantly, the apparatus has a geometrically segmented or alphanumeric display arranged to be located and sufficiently prominent to be readily readable from the roadside as the vehicle goes past at normal town driving speeds. This display is arranged to show the debiting rate (or road use charging rate) to which the apparatus is currently set. This enables easy supervision and monitoring of the charging apparatus by roadside staff of a controlling authority, perhaps traffic police or traffic wardens. The cost of each charging apparatus could be kept quite low to minimise the cost of initial installation to vehicles, and the infrastructure cost to a controlling authority could also be minimal, requiring only adequate marking of the controlled roadways to notify vehicle drivers of the charging rate to be selected on their charging apparatus. The selected charging rates are preferably rates based on the time spent on a charged road way, rather than distance travelled.
Very preferably, the charging apparatus includes initiating means which is non-selectively operable by a driver of the vehicle to initiate said debiting means to debit at said debiting rate preselected by said selection means and simultaneously to show said rate on the display. With this arrangement, th
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Article from "Road Pricing--the Economic and Technological Possitilities" HMSO 1964.
Swarthout Brent
Tong Nina
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