Personalized Incentive Routing for Traffic Delay Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current navigation systems fail to effectively utilize real-time traffic incidents to offer users productive alternatives during travel delays, often resulting in inefficient use of time for both users and retail/service establishments.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that leverage real-time traffic data to provide personalized incentives to users, encouraging them to re-route to retail or service facilities by calculating the minimal incentive needed to make completing tasks on their list more attractive than enduring travel delays, using a computing device that integrates navigation, incentive generation, and task management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If navigation systems provide alternate routes to avoid traffic incidents, then travel time is reduced, but the alternate route may be longer or involve additional aggravation such as stop signs, traffic lights, deteriorating roadways
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of traffic incidents (delays) into a beneficial opportunity by suggesting detours to retail facilities. Instead of merely avoiding traffic, the system transforms wait time into productive shopping or service time, making the detour attractive through personalized incentives like coupons and discounts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces retail facilities as intermediary destinations between the user's origin and final destination. These facilities serve as mediators that break up the journey, providing both alternative routing to avoid traffic and opportunities for user engagement through shopping or services.
2Loss of time
If navigation systems suggest alternate routes, then users can avoid traffic incidents, but the alternate route may simply become flooded with other drivers attempting to also take the alternate route
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing personalized, location-specific incentives tailored to each user's preferences and the specific retail facilities along their route. Rather than a generic route suggestion, the system customizes the detour experience with relevant coupons and discounts for stores the user is likely to visit, making the alternate route uniquely attractive to each individual.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-calculating personalized incentives and preparing the detour route before the user actually takes it. The system proactively identifies suitable retail facilities, generates relevant coupons, and presents the complete personalized detour package in advance, allowing users to make informed decisions before encountering traffic.
3Productivity
If retail facilities offer incentives to attract users during traffic delays, then user visits increase, but the incentive cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting incentive parameters (coupon value, discount percentage, cashback amount) based on multiple factors including traffic delay duration, user preferences, retail facility type, and probability of user acceptance. This allows facilities to optimize incentive costs by offering higher values when users are more likely to accept and when delays are longer, while reducing costs when delays are brief or user interest is low.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by offering incentives selectively rather than universally. The system calculates the probability of user acceptance for each potential incentive and only presents those with sufficient probability thresholds. Additionally, incentives are tailored to match user preferences and task lists, ensuring partial but targeted engagement rather than broad, costly outreach to all users.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are systems, methods, and computer program products that provide a user with alternative options to incident induced traffic by presenting the user with an alternate route to perform other tasks on a task list when travel is delayed by the incident. The method includes receiving a current location, a navigation route, an expected delay due to an incident, and a list of tasks from the user. Each task in the list may include a value and expected duration. The method further includes computing an incentive for each task in the list based on the received information and a probability that the user will re-route to stop at a facility for fulfilling the task, comparing the incentive and probability to determine which task has a minimal incentive and a greater probability that the user will re-route than not re-route to the facility, and presenting the minimal incentive to the user.