City parking services with area based loyalty programs

Abstract

Apparatus and methods related providing city services, such as parking, are described. Methods and apparatus for providing parking rewards programs are described. The methods and apparatus can include maintaining accounts for participants in the rewards program, tracking purchases of parking and other participant activities and determining parking awards based upon the activities. The parking rewards programs can be used to incentivize behaviors that balance the use of the parking space commodity according to the needs of different stakeholders, such as the city, residents, merchants and visitors. For example, parking awards and the criteria used for earning awards can be used to encourage particular behaviors while a parking space is being utilized, such as shopping, the use of public transportation or efficient trip planning.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 and is continuation-in-part of PCT / US2010 / 020799, titled “Providing City Services Using Mobile Devices And A Sensor Network,” filed Jan. 12, 2010 by Fiorucci et al., which claimed priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 285,860, filed Dec. 11, 2009, titled “Providing City Services Using Mobile Devices And A Sensor Network” and PCT / US2010 / 020799 further claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 320,237, filed Apr. 1, 2010, titled “Providing City Services Using Mobile Devices And A Sensor Network,” each of which is incorporated by reference and for all purposes.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The described embodiments relate generally to systems for providing services in a city environment. More particularly, the present embodiments relate to methods and apparatus for providing transp...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]A mobile device can be generally characterized as comprising, a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, a display, an input mechanism, a first communication interface configured for communication with a cellular network or a wireless data network, a second communication interface configured to receive information related to available parking broadcast from one or more local sensor nodes in communication range of the mobile device, the information including a location of the available parking. The processor can be configured to 1) determine a current location of the mobile device; 2) output a map to the display, said map including streets, the location of the mobile device and the location of the available parking; 3) receive a request to initiate a transaction to purchase parking via the input mechanism, 4) generate the transaction to purchase the parking via one or more communications with a remote device; and 5) receive an electronic receipt from the remote device indicating the parking is purchased.

[0010]A sensor node can be generally characterized as comprising a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, a communication interface, and one or more sensors for detecting objects in an area where vehicles are parked. The processor can be configured to 1) receive data from the one or more sensors, 2) to determine, based upon the data, whether there is an unoccupied space in the area that can be utilized for parking of a vehicle; 3) to broadcast information relating to the unoccupied space including location information associated with the unoccupied space, 4) control a first time interval associated with how often the determination of whether there is the unoccupied space is made; and 5) control a second time interval associated with how often the information relating to the unoccupied space is broadcast.

[0011]A server can be generally characterized as comprising: a processor, a memory coupled to the processor and a communication interface for communicating with a plurality of mobile devices; where the processor can be configured to receive a request for a parking purchase from a first mobile device, said request including information including location information gathered by the first mobile device from one or more local sensor nodes in communication range of the first mobile device. The processor can be configured to 1) verify th...

Problems solved by technology

On city streets, parking spaces are a shared and limited commodity.

Further, the policies can dictate penalties, such as fines, when a local parking policy associated with a particular space is violated.

One disadvantage of the parking policies is that they are static and not easily adjusting to changing conditions, such as the availability of parking in a particular area at a particular time or the needs of a particular individual at a particular time.

Another disadvantage of the parking policies is that only penalties are provided to discourage certain parking behaviors.

The negative incentives and their enforcement are a common complaint for individuals that live, work and visit a typical large city.

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