METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A ROAD USAGE CHARGE

摘要

A method and apparatus for determining a distance traveled by a vehicle for the purpose of assessing and settling a road usage charge allows a mobile device to determine distance traveled with a vehicle while paired with a PAN transceiver of the vehicle by using GPS location information. The mobile device can also capture odometer images that are reported to a system that processes the images to obtain the odometer values and find the difference between the odometer values. Once the actual distance traveled by the vehicle is determined by the system, a road usage charge can be determined. Fuel excise taxes paid by the vehicle operator for fuel used by the vehicle can be subtracted from the road usage charge to determine a road usage settlement amount that can be paid from, or refunded to a financial account associated with the vehicle.

主权项

1. A method for determining a vehicular road usage charge, comprising:
detecting, by a mobile phone, a beacon transmitted over personal area network (PAN) by a vehicle; the mobile device pairing with the vehicle over the PAN and determining, based on information received from the vehicle upon pairing with the vehicle, that the vehicle is associated with a financial account managed by a remote server and that is further managed by the mobile device; the mobile device determining movement of the vehicle and a distance the vehicle has moved while paired with the vehicle over the PAN; the mobile device reporting a distance traveled over a period of time by the vehicle to the remote server; and receiving at the mobile device, from the remote server and responsive to reporting a distance traveled over the period of time, a settlement amount for a road usage charge for an actual distance traveled as determined by the financial account server based on the reported distance.