Pollution Fee Charging System for Road Traffic Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods to reduce road traffic in polluted areas often involve banning certain vehicles, which can be unfair and ineffective, and may increase air pollution in residential areas or maintenance costs for small roads, while also raising concerns about manual enforcement and privacy.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses existing technology to charge a pollution fee to vehicles entering areas with high substance concentrations, with fees varying based on vehicle type, emission levels, and passenger count, encouraging diversion around polluted zones without banning specific vehicles or increasing pollution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If vehicles are banned from polluted areas, then air quality is improved, but enforcement complexity and privacy concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual enforcement mechanisms with automated electronic systems. Measurement stations automatically detect substance concentrations, the central system processes data and determines fee obligations, and onboard units in vehicles handle payment. This substitution of mechanical/manual enforcement with automated electronic systems resolves the contradiction by improving air quality monitoring while reducing enforcement complexity and privacy intrusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables vehicles to automatically determine their own fee obligation based on real-time concentration data from measurement stations. The onboard unit in each vehicle autonomously calculates the pollution fee based on vehicle type, emission levels, and measured concentrations, then handles payment without human intervention. This self-service approach improves air quality enforcement while minimizing enforcement complexity and privacy concerns.
2Reliability
If manual enforcement methods are used, then privacy concerns are reduced, but enforcement efficiency and accuracy decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary onboard unit in each vehicle that acts as a mediator between the central system and the vehicle owner. This unit automatically receives concentration data, calculates fee obligations, and handles payments without requiring human officials to interact with drivers. The intermediary approach ensures accurate enforcement through automated calculations while minimizing privacy intrusion by eliminating manual data collection and human-to-human interaction.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If pollution fees are charged to all vehicles, then air quality improves, but fairness between different vehicle types decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the principle of local quality by differentiating pollution fees according to specific vehicle characteristics. The system considers vehicle type, emission levels, and other local properties of each vehicle to calculate appropriate fees. This ensures that vehicles with higher emissions pay more while cleaner vehicles pay less or nothing, thereby improving air quality while maintaining fairness across different vehicle types through localized, property-specific fee structures.
4Productivity
If real-time monitoring is implemented, then air quality control improves, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the traffic control system into independent, modular components: measurement stations that detect concentrations, a central system that processes data, and onboard units in vehicles that handle individual fee calculations and payments. This segmentation allows real-time monitoring to be implemented efficiently through distributed, specialized units rather than a monolithic complex system, thereby improving traffic control efficiency while managing system complexity through modular architecture.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention refers to a system for controlling road traffic, the system comprising: a measurement station measuring a substance concentration in ambient air; a central system configured to charge a pollution fee to a vehicle when the substance concentration in a pollution zone exceeds a threshold value; wherein fees rates depend on properties of the vehicle such as: the weight of the vehicle, whether or not the vehicle is a private passenger car, a vehicle with an approved need to deliver goods, a public transport vehicle or an emergency vehicle; the system also comprises CCTV cameras, traffic counters and ANPR systems, the ANPR systems are applied to estimate travel times of the vehicle and the CCTV cameras providing footage of the vehicle.