Dynamic pricing for toll lanes

A method executed using a dynamic pricing toll system for determining a toll charge for vehicles traveling on a toll lane, the method comprising:

• determining via the toll system a rate of change in traffic flow and speed of vehicles traveling on a toll lane;
• determining via the toll system a rate of change in traffic flow and speed of vehicles traveling on a non-toll lane that runs parallel with the toll lane;
• weighting via the toll system the rate of change in traffic flow and speed of vehicles traveling on the toll lane in relation to a current traffic flow and speed for the toll lane;
• weighting via the toll system the rate of change in traffic flow and speed of vehicles traveling on the non-toll lane in relation to a current traffic flow and speed for the non-toll lane;
• and
• determining via the toll system the toll charge by combining the weighted rates of change in traffic flow and speed for the toll lane and the weighted rates of change in traffic flow and speed for the non-toll lane.

A toll system comprising:

• a first sensor for sensing a traffic flow of vehicles traveling on a toll lane;
• a second sensor for sensing a speed of vehicles traveling on the toll lane;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the first and second sensors for receiving information regarding the traffic flow and the speed, of vehicles traveling on the toll lane and configured to:
• determine a rate of change in the traffic flow of vehicles traveling on the toll lane;
• determine a rate of change in the speed of vehicles traveling on the toll lane;
• and
• determine a toll charge for vehicles traveling on the toll lane using a weighting approach that weights the rate of change in the traffic flow by a first factor and weights the rate of change in the speed by a second factor, the first factor depending on whether the rate of change in traffic flow is increasing or decreasing, and the second factor depending on whether the rate of change in speed is increasing or decreasing.

A method executed using a dynamic pricing toll system for determining a toll charge for vehicles traveling on a toll lane, the method comprising:

• determining via the toll system a rate of change in traffic flow of vehicles traveling on the toll lane, the traffic flow being defined as a rate at which vehicles travel pass a section of the toll lane over a predetermined period of time;
• determining via the toll system a rate of change in speed of vehicles traveling on the toll lane, the speed being defined as an average speed of vehicles traveling on the toll lane;
• predicting oncoming traffic conditions via the toll system using a weighting approach that weights the rate of change in traffic flow by a first factor and weights the rate of change in speed by a second factor, the first factor depending on whether the rate of change in traffic flow is increasing or decreasing, and the second factor depending on whether the rate of change in speed is increasing or decreasing;
• and
• determining via the toll system the toll charge for vehicles traveling on the toll lane based on the predicted oncoming traffic conditions.