NON-LINEAR DYNAMIC PRICING FOR TOLLING SYSTEMS
A method includes receiving sensor data from a sensor system associated with a roadway, the sensor data comprising information for speed and timing of vehicles passing within a managed lane of the roadway. The method further includes determining, based on the sensor data a current level-of-service for the managed lane. The method further includes comparing the current level-of-service for the managed lane with a target level-of-service for the managed lane. The method further includes calculating a price adjustment for the managed lane based on a difference between the current level-of-service and the target level-of-service, the price adjustment having a non-linear relationship between the price adjustment and the difference.
1 . A method comprising:
receiving sensor data from a sensor system associated with a roadway, the sensor data comprising information for speed and timing of vehicles passing within a managed lane of the roadway;
determining, based on the sensor data a current level-of-service for the managed lane;
comparing the current level-of-service for the managed lane with a target level-of-service for the managed lane;
calculating a price adjustment for the managed lane based on a difference between the current level-of-service and the target level-of-service, the price adjustment having a non-linear relationship between the price adjustment and the difference.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target level-of-service comprising a target average vehicle speed.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target level-of-service comprises a target average distance between vehicles.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target level-of-service comprises a target average amount of time in which successive vehicles pass by a fixed point.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target level-of-service comprises a target volume of vehicles for the managed lane.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein target level-of-service is defined relative to a general-purpose lane.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target level-of-service is an absolute value.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor system includes at least one of: cameras, infrared, RADAR, or LIDAR.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a level-of-service is normalized such that the difference between the current level-of-service and the target level-of-service is zero.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the price adjustment factors in a rate of change of the difference.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating the price adjustment uses a function such that when the difference is positive and the current level-of-service is increasing, price is decremented at various amounts as a function of rate of increase for the current level-of-service.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating the price adjustment uses a function such that when the difference is positive and the current level-of-service is decreasing by more than a threshold amount, price is incremented at various amounts as a function of rate of decrease for the current level-of-service.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating the price adjustment uses a function such that when the difference is negative and the current level-of-service is increasing greater than a threshold amount, price is decremented at various amounts as a function of rate of increase for the current level-of-service.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein calculating the price adjustment uses a function such that when the difference is negative and the current level-of-service is decreasing, price is incremented at various amounts as a function of rate of decrease for the current level-of-service.
15 . A method performed by a computing system, the method comprising:
determining a target level-of-service for a managed lane;
with a sensor system, determining a current level-of-service for the managed lane;
displaying a first price for the managed lane;
displaying an adjusted price for the managed lane, the adjusted price being a quantized value and being determined based on a non-linear relationship between price difference and a difference between the current level-of-service and the target level-of-service.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the non-linear relationship is defined by a sigmoid function.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the level-of-service is defined by at least one of: a target average vehicle speed, a target average distance between vehicles, a target average amount of time in which successive vehicles pass by a fixed point, and a target volume of vehicles.
18 . A system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory comprising machine-readable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
receive sensor data from a sensor system associated with a roadway, the sensor data comprising information for speed and timing of vehicles passing within a managed lane of the roadway;
determine, based on the sensor data a current level-of-service for the managed lane;
compare the current level-of-service for the managed lane with a target level-of-service for the managed lane;
calculate a price adjustment for the managed lane based on a difference between the current level-of-service and the target level-of-service, the price adjustment having a non-linear relationship between the price adjustment and the difference.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the target level-of-service is defined relative to a general-purpose lane.
20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the sensor system includes at least one of: cameras, infrared, RADAR, or LIDAR.