ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF VEHICLE TRANSIT
The environmental impact of vehicle transit through an area is often evaluated through indirect and/or aggregate metrics, such as visibility and/or health effects from smog, or the contamination of air or water quality. However, such environmental metrics may be inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, and/or insufficient to inform a user of a vehicle as to the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of his or her vehicle on the environment. Instead, a vehicle device may collect driving metrics for a vehicle, and may transmit such driving metrics to an environmental monitoring service, which may correlate such driving metrics for the vehicle with the environmental impact. A notification of environmental impact may be transmitted back to the vehicle device, which may present the environmental impact to the user, and/or may adjust an autonomous operation of the vehicle, such as a speed or route of the vehicle, in view of the environmental impact.
1 . A method of informing a user about an environmental impact of vehicle transit in an area, the method involving a device having a processor and comprising:
executing, by the processor, instructions that cause the device to:
receive, from a vehicle device of a vehicle, a vehicle report identifying a location of the vehicle within the area and at least one driving metric of the vehicle;
evaluate the at least one driving metric of the vehicle to assess an environmental impact of the vehicle on the area; and
notify the user about the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
receiving the vehicle report further comprises: receiving, from the vehicle device of the vehicle, a vehicle report identifying at least one driving metric according to at least one vehicle telemetry input of an operating property of the vehicle; and
assessing the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area further comprises: evaluating the at least one vehicle telemetry input of the operating property of the vehicle to assess the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the device further has access to an environmental impact database identifying, for respective driving metrics, the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of vehicles operated with the driving metric; and
assessing the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area further comprises: correlating the at least one driving metric of the vehicle with the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle according to the environmental impact database.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions by the processor further causes the device to, upon determining an environmental impact of vehicle transit of a vehicle on an area according to a selected driving metric, update the environmental impact database with the environmental impact.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
respective vehicles have a vehicle type;
receiving the vehicle report further comprises: receiving, from the vehicle device of the vehicle, an identification of the vehicle type of the vehicle; and
assessing the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area further comprises: comparing the at least one driving metric of vehicles of the vehicle type to determine the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
respective locations within the area is described by an environmental parameter; and
assessing the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area further comprises: comparing the at least one driving metric of the vehicle transit of the vehicle with the environmental parameter of the location of the vehicle to determine the environmental impact on the area.
7 . A server that informs a user about an environmental impact of vehicle transit in an area, the server comprising:
a processor;
a vehicle report receiver that receives, from a vehicle device of a vehicle, a vehicle report identifying a location of the vehicle within the area and at least one driving metric of the vehicle; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide a system comprising:
an environmental impact evaluator that evaluates the at least one driving metric of the vehicle to assess an environmental impact of the vehicle on the area; and
an environmental impact notifier that notifies the user about the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area.
8 . The server of claim 7 , wherein:
the vehicle comprises a vehicle device and is operated by a driver; and
the environmental impact notifier transmits, to the vehicle device for presentation to the driver, a notification of the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area.
9 . The server of claim 7 , wherein:
the vehicle report receiver further determines a period including the vehicle travel of the vehicle in the area;
the environmental impact evaluator:
aggregates the environmental impact of vehicle transit on the area according to the period of the vehicle transit, and
compares the environmental impact of vehicle travel on an area during respective periods to identify an environmental impact trend; and
the environmental impact notifier further notifies the user of the environmental impact trend.
10 . The server of claim 7 , wherein:
vehicle transit in the area is restricted by a transit control; and
the system further comprises: a transit adjuster that instructs the transit control to restrict vehicle transit in the area according to the environmental impact of the vehicle transit on the area.
11 . The server of claim 10 , wherein:
the transit control further assesses a vehicle transit toll for vehicle transit in the area; and
the transit adjuster instructs the transit control to adjust the vehicle transit toll according to the environmental impact of the vehicle transit on the area.
12 . The server of claim 11 , wherein:
respective vehicles have a vehicle type;
the transit control further assesses a vehicle transit toll for vehicle transit by a selected vehicle according to the vehicle type of the selected vehicle; and
the transit adjuster instructs the transit control to adjust the vehicle transit toll of respective vehicle types according to the environmental impact of the vehicle travel of the selected vehicle on the area.
13 . A vehicle device that notifies a user of a vehicle about an environmental impact of vehicle transit of the vehicle in an area, the vehicle device comprising:
a processor;
a location detector that detects a location of the vehicle;
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide a system comprising:
a vehicle telemetry detector that detects at least one driving metric of the vehicle;
a vehicle report transmitter that transmits, to a transit service, a vehicle report indicating the at least one driving metric of the vehicle and a location of the vehicle; and
an environmental impact notifier that, upon receiving from the transit service a notification of an environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area, presents the notification of the environmental impact to the user.
14 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein:
the vehicle is operated by the user during a travel period; and
presenting the notification to the user further comprises:
identifying a tally of the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area during the travel period; and
presenting the tally to the user.
15 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein:
receiving the notification from the transit service further comprises: receiving, from the transit service, a comparison of the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area with the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of a second vehicle on the area; and
presenting the notification to the user further comprises: presenting the comparison of the environmental impact of the vehicle with the environmental impact of the second vehicle.
16 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein presenting the notification to the user further comprises: presenting, to the user, a recommendation of a vehicle transit adjustment that reduces the environmental impact of the vehicle transit of the vehicle on the area.
17 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein:
the vehicle transit involves a route of the vehicle to a destination;
the system further comprises: a route adjuster that identifies an alternate route to the destination that reduces the environmental impact of the vehicle on the area; and
the environmental impact notifier further recommends the alternative route to the user.
18 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein:
the vehicle transit involves a route of the vehicle to a destination;
respective locations within the area are associated with an environmental sensitivity to vehicle transit;
the system further comprises: a route adjuster that identifies an alternate route to the destination through locations within the area that together exhibit a lower environmental sensitivity to vehicle transit than the locations of the route; and
the environmental impact notifier further recommends the alternative route to the user.
19 . The vehicle device of claim 13 , wherein:
vehicle transit in the area is restricted by a vehicle transit toll; and
the environmental impact notifier further notifies the user of the vehicle transit toll incurred by vehicle travel of the vehicle in the area.
20 . The vehicle device of claim 19 , wherein notifying the user of the vehicle transit toll further comprises: notifying the user of the vehicle transit toll before the vehicle enters the area and incurs the vehicle transit toll.