Hands-Free Transit Gate Using Visual and Location Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Public transportation fare gates often result in slower throughput due to the need for ticket validation, leading to congestion and potential health risks from touch-point interactions, especially with contactless fare cards.
Innovation Solution
A transit system incorporating an access control point, positioning system, and server that uses mobile device location and visual cues to verify transit user identity and validate passes, allowing touchless passage through fare gates by correlating user location with candidate locations and identifiers, and verifying pass terms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ticket validation is performed at fare gates using mounted validators, then fare verification is achieved, but throughput is reduced and queues form
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the validation process from the physical fare gate location and moves it to a remote server. Validators at fare gates only perform lightweight detection of transit media, while actual verification occurs remotely, eliminating the bottleneck at gate locations and enabling parallel processing of multiple passengers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-validating transit passes on the server before passengers arrive at fare gates. Transit media are registered and validated in advance, so when passengers approach gates, the system only needs to verify pre-computed validation data, dramatically reducing wait times.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If contactless fare cards are used, then touch-point transmission is reduced, but cards must be placed very close to validators requiring physical contact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical proximity-based validation system with an optical detection system. Validators use optical sensors to detect transit media from a distance, eliminating the need for passengers to physically touch or place cards in close proximity to validators, thus maintaining contactless benefits while improving ease of operation.
3Reliability
If traditional fare validation is performed, then ticket verification is achieved, but passenger experience deteriorates due to friction and confusion
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by allowing passengers to pre-register and validate their transit passes through mobile applications or online portals before reaching fare gates. The automated optical detection at gates requires minimal passenger action, and the system handles verification autonomously, eliminating friction and confusion for infrequent riders.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary remote server that handles complex validation logic and passenger information management. This intermediary processes verification requests, manages transit pass data, and communicates results back to validators, simplifying the interaction at fare gates and improving overall passenger experience.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces congestion and health risks by enabling touchless verification and authorization, improving throughput and passenger experience while maintaining secure payment validation.
Implementation Method 1
A first location of a transit user is identified using a positioning system and a mobile device based on radio frequency information received from the mobile device
Data Source
AI summary
A transit system including an access control point, a positioning system, a tracking system, and a server. The access control point provides a passage to a transit user for taking a trip through the transit system. The server receives a first location and visual cues of the transit user. The first location is determined using the positioning system and a mobile device. Candidate locations and visual cues of other transit users are obtained from the tracking system. The server correlates the first location to a candidate location and compares the visual cues of the transit user with the other transit users. A correlated location is determined and the first location and the visual cues of the transit user are verified. The server verifies terms of a transit pass of the transit user. Based on the verification, usage of the transit pass is allowed for passing through the access control point.