# US 2023/0056836 A1 · System and method to preserve user's privacy in a vehicle miles traveled system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2023/0056836 A1 - Document ID: US20230056836A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/890,060 - Filed: 2022-08-17 - Published: 2023-02-23 - Earliest claimed: 2021-08-17 - Assignees: Geotoll, Inc. - Applicants: Geotoll, Inc. - Inventors: Jaime Andres Borras; Wyatt Drake Geist - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230056836A1 ## CPC - G07B 15/02: taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems (G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24) - G06Q 20/0655: {e-cash managed centrally} - G06Q 20/085: {involving remote charge determination or related payment systems} - G06Q 20/145: {Payments according to the detected use or quantity} - G06Q 20/308: {using the Internet of Things} - G06Q 30/0284: {Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters} - G07B 15/063: {using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station (identification of vehicles G08G)} - H04L 9/50: {using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees} - G06Q 20/389: {Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction} - G06Q 2220/10: Usage protection of distributed data files - H04L 2209/56: Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash - H04L 2209/84: Vehicles - G07B: TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A road usage charge system uses a proprietary blockchain to conduct transactions for road usage fees. While driving, a mobile device or equivalent tracks the vehicle location, speed, time of day, day of week, and any other parameter that may be used to modify a base road use fee are tracked and applied to conditional modifiers of the smart contract to create a new transaction block. As a result, the tedious reconciliation process normally associated with vehicular payments can be avoided. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A blockchain based road usage charge method, comprising: determining, at a vehicle, that the vehicle is moving; while the vehicle is moving, in an iterative loop: determining a location of the vehicle; determining a region type for a roadway on which the vehicle is traveling by comparing the location of the vehicle to one or more geofence definitions, wherein the region type indicates a base usage rate; determining whether a surcharge condition applies and adding the surcharge if the surcharge applies; determining a distance driven on the roadway; and writing the distance driven and total of the base usage rate and surcharge in an encrypted block in a blockchain. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is moving is performed by a mobile device based on a change of location indicated by a GPS subsystem of the mobile device while the mobile device is connected to an audio system of the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprises writing the MAC address of the vehicle audio system into the block. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the region type comprises determining whether the vehicle is in an urban, suburban, or rural region. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: at a settlement time, a VMT agency decrypting the block of the blockchain to obtain a cumulative record of distance driven, region locations, and surcharges, along with payment information; and the VMT agency processing a payment using the payment information. ### Claim 6 A method of protecting a user's location privacy and avoiding a need for reconciliation in a VMT system, comprising: establishing a block in a blockchain for a vehicle, the blockchain composed of a distributed ledger, and wherein a VMT agency can access blocks for the vehicle in order to settle VMT payment; determining, by equipment in the vehicle, a distance driven, a classification of locations where the vehicle is driven based on pre-defined geofence definitions, and determining whether any fee modifier applies to the distance driven or portions of the distance driven; and writing into the block, by the equipment in the vehicle, the distance driven and any fee modifiers that apply; wherein the total distance driven and the fee modifiers for portions of the distance driven are used by the VMT agency to determine a total VMT fee. ### Claim 7 A method for optimizing location accuracy for VMT operation, comprising: at a mobile device which is running a VMT application program. detecting a connected vehicle API, the mobile device connecting to the connected vehicle API and obtaining a vehicle identifier, an odometer reading; the mobile device initiating a new block for the vehicle in a blockchain including the vehicle identifier and odometer reading; the mobile device selecting one of a satellite location receiver of the vehicle or a satellite location receiver of the mobile device; and using the selected satellite location receiver to obtain periodic location fix data that is compared to geofence definitions of roadways in order to determine a roadway being travelled and a VMT fee rate to be applied to distance travelled on the roadway. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein selecting one of the satellite location receiver of the vehicle or the satellite location receiver of the mobile device is performed based one whichever has a smaller location determination error.