MODEL-BASED DYNAMIC PRICING FOR MANAGED LANES
Methods and systems for dynamically determining a toll rate with respect to a high-occupancy toll road. A dynamic pricing controller can be configured to include one or more proactive components in association with one or more reactive component to determine the toll rate based on the real-time measurement and future prediction for the high-occupancy toll road. The controller is able to rapidly respond to real-time changes in the high-occupancy toll road and maintain a steady, free-flowing traffic with maximal throughput on the high-occupancy toll lanes.
1 . A method for dynamically determining a toll rate with respect to a high-occupancy toll road, said method comprising:
configuring a pricing controller to include at least one proactive component in association with at least one reactive component to rapidly respond to real-time changes and maintain a steady, maximal traffic flow for said high-occupancy toll road; and
determining a toll rate using said pricing controller based on a real-time measurement and future prediction for said high-occupancy toll road in order to maximize throughput on said high-occupancy toll road while maintaining a free flow-condition thereof.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring a controller structure for said pricing controller to allow for bottleneck management with respect to said high-occupancy toll road and maintain optimal traffic flow under stressed conditions thereof.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein toll lanes associated with said high-occupancy toll road includes multiple access points.
4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising configuring said pricing controller to include feedforward control to calculate said toll rate.
5 . The method of claim 4 further comprising automatically adjusting said toll rate further based on a toll rate adjustment generated by said feedback control.
6 . The method of claim 2 further comprising generating bottleneck determination and target adjustment data to assist in said bottleneck management.
7 . The method of claim 2 wherein toll lanes associated with said high-occupancy toll road includes multiple access points.
8 . A system for dynamically determining a toll rate with respect to a high-occupancy toll road, said system comprising:
a processor;
a data bus coupled to said processor; and
a computer-usable medium embodying computer code, said computer-usable medium being coupled to said data bus, said computer code comprising instructions executable by said processor and configured for:
configuring a pricing controller to include at least one proactive component in association with at least one reactive component to rapidly respond to real-time changes and maintain a steady, maximal traffic flow for said high-occupancy toll road; and
determining a toll rate using said pricing controller based on a real-time measurement and future prediction for said high-occupancy toll road in order to maximize throughput on said high-occupancy toll road while maintaining a free flow-condition thereof.
9 . The system of claim 8 wherein said instructions are further configured to provide a controller structure for said pricing controller that allows for bottleneck management with respect to said high-occupancy toll road while maintaining optimal traffic flow under stressed conditions thereof.
10 . The system of claim 8 wherein toll lanes associated with said high-occupancy toll road includes multiple access points.
11 . The system of claim 8 wherein said instructions are further modified for configuring said pricing controller to include feedforward control to calculate said toll rate.
12 . The system of claim 11 wherein said instructions are further configured for automatically adjusting said toll rate based on a toll rate adjustment generated by said feedback control.
13 . The system of cairn 9 wherein said instructions are further configured for generating bottleneck determination and target adjustment data to assist in said bottleneck management.
14 . The system of claim 9 wherein toll lanes associated with said high-occupancy toll road includes multiple access points.
15 . A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a process to dynamically determine a toll rate with respect to a high-occupancy toll road, said code comprising code to:
configure a pricing controller to include at least one proactive component in association with at least one reactive component to rapidly respond to real-time changes and maintain a steady, maximal traffic flow for said high-occupancy toll road; and
determine a toll rate using said pricing controller based on a real-time measurement and future prediction for said high-occupancy toll road in order to maximize throughput on said high-occupancy toll road while maintaining a free flow-condition thereof.
16 . The processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said code further comprises code to configure a controller structure for said pricing controller to allow for bottleneck management with respect to said high-occupancy toll road and maintain optimal traffic flow under stressed conditions thereof.
17 . The processor-readable medium of claim 15 wherein toll lanes associated with said high-occupancy toll road include multiple access points.
18 . The processor-readable medium of claim 15 wherein said code further comprises code to configure said pricing controller to include feedforward control to calculate said toll rate.
19 . The processor-readable medium of claim 18 wherein said code further comprises code to automatically adjust said toll rate further based on a toll rate adjustment generated by said feedback control.
20 . The processor-readable medium of claim 16 wherein said code further comprises code to generate bottleneck determination and target adjustment data to assist in said bottleneck management.