Patent Publication Number: US-2023147526-A1

Title: System and method for predicting expected time of arrival (eta) of vehicles

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     This Patent Application makes reference to, claims priority to and the benefit from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/277,453, filed Nov. 10, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
     The present invention is directed to a system for predicting expected time of arrival (ETA) of vehicles, more particularly to a system for predicting the ETA of vehicles using electronic toll collection system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Freight transport through highways is a critical component in supply chain industry. In this component, goods or raw material are carried by the freight trucks through long distance to factories where they are processed further. The freight trucks are also used to carry finished goods to dealers, retailers and distribution services. Some examples of freight transport are carrying parts to an automobile factory for assembly, chemicals to synthesize pharmaceutical drugs, new cars to the dealers. These factories or dealers have plans based on the arrival of freight dispatched by their suppliers. As they wait for these supplies to arrive, they incur additional cost if there is a deviation from the ETA. 
     Visibility of the freight truck&#39;s current location and predicting ETA of these freight trucks is crucial for the operation of several industries. Making these predictions more accurate results in valuable benefits like reduced waiting time, reduced cost of production, efficient usage of labour and resources and higher output. These benefits are well captured in industry documents and analyst reports. 
     To solve this problem, there are systems available to track the freight truck from the beginning of journey from sender&#39;s location till end of journey at receiver&#39;s location. Such systems use global positioning system (GPS) technology to locate the current location of freight truck. ETA is then calculated based on (a) remaining distance (RD) to reach the destination and (b) predicted speed (PS) of vehicle in remaining distance. The RD may be easily calculated by subtracting the distance covered so far from total distance. But arriving at the PS for the RD is a challenge. However, there are certain disadvantages of tracking systems that are prevalent today. Present solutions use a) general data instead of specific data for type of vehicle being tracked; b) do not have access to important data in real-time; and c) technology limitations. 
     Current tracking systems use various data and algorithms to arrive at the PS. They have historical data on the actual speed of vehicle in different traffic conditions, different weather condition and in different segments of the highway. They also take actual speed data at different time of the day, day of the week, month of the year and other time windows to calculate their algorithm. These data are structured into time windows and the PS in each of these time windows are calculated and used to predict the ETA. The PS value is one aggregate value for all types of vehicles that have travelled through the highway in the past. Basically, it is one common PS for all types of vehicles. In reality, different types of vehicles travel at different speed based on their physical characteristics, functional requirement, constraints and regulatory restrictions. There are more than ten different sub-categories of freight trucks with each of them having very different characteristics and as a result will have different PS. Hence, using one common aggregated PS for all types of vehicles will result in lower accuracy. 
     Next, current GPS-based systems have data only for a subset of vehicles on the highway and not for all vehicles due to following reasons: a) Current systems use GPS devices for tracking and not all freight vehicles are installed with GPS devices; b) Even if some of them have GPS devices, they upload the data only to the vendor from whom they have bought the tracking system. This causes data for vehicles with GPS devices being fragmented across several disparate vendors and tracking system not connected to each other; c) as a result, the existing tracking system makes ETA prediction based on a fraction of complete data and that leads to less accurate prediction, compared to algorithm run with complete dataset. Vehicle type is not a key parameter for GPS based system and hence this data is not given importance. The absence of this data in a tracking system will make it difficult or impossible to identify vehicle type of vehicle and same or similar vehicles. As a result, these tracking systems can predict PS of generic vehicle type only, which leads to reduced accuracy of ETA prediction of freight vehicles. Data of vehicles traveling in adjacent segment and in the same time window as vehicle provides near real time data and hence increase the accuracy of prediction. Existing systems use historical data for prediction, and which provides lower accuracy of prediction. 
     Tracking systems using GPS-based technology for finding the current location and predicting ETA have some disadvantages due to usage of GPS technology. GPS-based solution relies on mobile network to update the server on its current location. Whenever there is an outage in the mobile network or a vehicle goes through a blind spot in mobile network the real-time ETA updates will be inaccurate or unavailable. They need installation of GPS device in vehicle, which needs initial investment and periodic maintenance cost. They have to be connected to mobile network through mobile service providers, which adds to recurring monthly/annual cost for the cargo carrier. Lastly, GPS related system are more prone to hacking compared to an RFID system. 
     Limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of described systems with some aspects of the present disclosure, as set forth in the remainder of the present application and with reference to the drawings 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Systems and/or methods are provided for predicting expected time of arrival (ETA) of vehicles, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims. 
     These and other advantages, aspects, and novel features of the present disclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram that illustrates a network environment for predicting expected time of arrival (ETA) of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2 A  is a block diagram that illustrates the tracking system for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2 B  is a block diagram that illustrates the computation module of the tracking system for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a sequence diagram that illustrates the sequence of operations for tracking a tracked vehicle, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  collectively depict flowcharts that illustrate exemplary operations for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a system employing a processing system for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a system and a method for predicting the ETA of vehicles. As the conventional tracking systems calculate ETA primarily based on the RD to reach the destination and the PS of the vehicle in the remaining distance, the conventional system suffers from various deficiencies, such as low accuracy, increased waiting time, higher cost of production, inefficient usage of labour and resources, and lower output. In contrast, the proposed system and method provides an improved, easy to use and cost-effective system for predicting the ETA of vehicles using electronic toll collection system. The proposed system and method use specific data for each vehicle to be tracked in real time for accurate ETA predictions. The proposed system and method is capable of making consistent, accurate and smarter ETA predictions by utilizing complete data set of vehicle type and configuration along with data of vehicles traveling in adjacent segment and same window. The proposed system and method may provide all-time uninterrupted ETA predictions without having to make any heavy initial investment and periodic maintenance cost. The proposed system and method further ensures privacy and secrecy of the user as the system requires user authentication and any vehicle gets tracked only on request. The aforesaid and other objectives will become apparent from the ensuing description of the present invention. 
     Definitions: 
     
         
         a) Expected Time of Arrival (ETA): It is the time at which a specific vehicle is expected to arrive at a specific destination. Generally, ETA encompasses date, time, time zone and location specified in terms of postal address or geo location (latitude and longitude). 
         b) Sender: Entity (individual or company) which sends freight to receiver using services of cargo carrier. 
         c) Receiver: Entity (individual or company) which receives freight from sender through services of cargo carrier. 
         d) Cargo carrier: Entity (individual or company) which uses freight trucks to carry freight from sender to receiver location. 
         e) Upstream segments: Segments of toll that have already been crossed by the vehicle at this point of the journey. 
         f) Downstream segments: Segments of the toll way that are yet to be crossed by the vehicle at this point of the journey. 
         g) Segment Time: The amount of time vehicle is predicted to take to cross a given segment, and is represented by t [n] [k, k+1]. Number inside the first square bracket ‘n’ indicates the toll plaza that triggered this calculation, while [k, k+1] indicate the segment between two toll plazas ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ for which this prediction is made. This time includes both the driving time and waiting time at toll plaza at end of the segment. 
       
    
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram that illustrates a network environment  100  for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The network environment  100  includes a tracking system  102  and a plurality of toll plazas  104 , such as a first toll plaza  104   a , . . . , fifth toll plaza  104   e . The tracking system may comprise a computation module  102   a . There is further shown a tracked vehicle  106 , a first plurality of vehicles  108 , and a second plurality of vehicles  110 . The first plurality of vehicles  108  may include same and similar (SaSi) vehicles, such as a first SaSi vehicle  108   a , a second SaSi vehicle  108   b , and a third SaSi vehicle  108   c . The second plurality of vehicles  110  may include non-SaSi vehicles, such as a first non-SaSi vehicle  110   a , a second non-SaSi vehicle  110   b , and a non-SaSi vehicle  110   c . There is further shown an electronic toll collection (ETC) system  112 , comprising a scanning module  113 , communicatively coupled with each of the plurality of toll plazas  104 . The various components of the network environment  100  may be communicatively coupled with each other via a communication network  114 . The network environment  100  may further include various data sources  116  and vehicle owners  118 . The data sources  116  may include various stakeholders, such as ETC partners  116   a , industry associations/consortiums (IA/C)  116   b , vehicle manufacturers (VMs)  116   c , and the Department Of Motor Vehicles (DMV) 116   d.    
     The interactions between the various components in an exemplary deployment diagram, as illustrated in the network environment  100 , is described based on exemplary messaging between such components. When the tracked vehicle  106  travels from the sender location ‘S’ to the receiver location ‘R’, it travels through the toll way ‘W’ and crosses multiple toll plazas, such as the plurality of toll plazas  104 . The plurality of toll plazas  104  are part of the ETC system  112 . As different part of the toll way ‘W’ are operated by different companies, the tracking system  102  may have to interact with ETC of each of these companies, such as the first ETC  112   a  and the second ETC  112   b , for tracking of the tracked vehicle  106 . As shown in  FIG.  1   , the first toll plaza  104   a , the second toll plaza  104   b , and the third toll plaza  104   c  are operated by the first ETC  112   a  and the fourth toll plaza  104   d  and the fifth toll plaza  104   e  are operated by the second ETC  112   b.    
     Crossing data carrying information about license plate, crossing timestamp and toll plaza ID are sent by a toll plaza to their respective ETCs indicated by a first message, ‘M 1 ’ . 
     In certain implementations, license plate in crossing data may be replaced with RFID tag or chassis number of the vehicle. 
     From one or more of the ETC system  112 , the crossing data is received by the tracking system  102  in three possible ways (via the communication network  114 ): 1) directly as indicated by a second message, ‘M 2 ’, 2) through ETC partners, such as  116   a , as indicated by a third message, ‘M 3 ’, or 3) through the vehicle owners  118 , as indicated by a fourth message, ‘M 4 ’. 
     The tracking system  102  may determine the type of vehicle from license plate in a 2-step process. In the first step, the tracking system  102  may provide the license plate number to the DMV  116   d  and retrieves the make and model, as indicated by a fifth message, ‘M 5 ’. Based on the make and model, the tracking system  102  may retrieve vehicle type either from the VMs  116   c , as indicated by a sixth message, ‘M 6 ’, or from the IA/C  116   b , which is a third party who maintains such information for all the manufacturers, as indicated by a seventh message, ‘M 7 ’. In accordance with an embodiment, all the above messages may be received by the tracking system  102  via the communication network  114 . 
     The tracking system  102  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to predict the ETA of vehicles, such as the tracked vehicle  106 . The tracking system  102  may be configured to track the tracked vehicle  106  in its trip from a sender location ‘S’ to a receiver location ‘R’. The tracking system  102  may predict the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106  as the tracked vehicle  106  crosses each toll plaza from the plurality of toll plazas  104  enroute. The tracking system  102  may also predict the location of the tracked vehicle  106  during the trip. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to calculate segment time by taking time difference between ETC scans performed by the ETC system  112 , such as the first ETC  112   a , in two consecutive toll plazas, such as the first toll plaza  104   a  and the second toll plaza  104   b , for the first plurality of vehicles  108  moving ahead of the tracked vehicle  106 . The tracking system  102  may use that time to calculate the ETA for the tracked vehicle  106 . The tracking system  102  may be configured to consider various factors, such as traffic condition (historical and current), road condition (historical and current), weather condition (historical and current), driver profile and mood into consideration, vehicle characteristics, concept of similar vehicles, current condition, weight being carried, and the like. As the tracking system  102  has access to characteristics of the tracked vehicle  106 , the first plurality of vehicles  108  and driver pattern for a trip, that further facilitates the calculation of the ETA. Hence, the prediction accuracy of the tracking system  102  at every toll plaza from the plurality of toll plazas  104  crossing is more than conventional tracking systems which do not have such data, thereby achieving better performance at a fractional cost of conventional GPS-based system. Thus, the tracking system  102  is more accurate than the conventional GPS-based algorithms because the tracking system  102  takes the PS from the same type of vehicle instead a generic type in the same time window. The tracking system  102  further involves acquiring data from multiple sources and running the prediction algorithm every time the tracked vehicle  106  crosses one of the plurality of toll plazas  104 . 
     Each of the plurality of toll plazas  104 , such as a first toll plaza  104   a , . . . , fifth toll plaza  104   e , may correspond to a counter/booth on a toll road where drivers of vehicles, such as the vehicle  106 , the first plurality of vehicles  108 , and the second plurality of vehicles  110  must stop or pass to pay the toll taxes to drive any further. The plurality of toll plazas  104  may be positioned on the toll road, also referred to as a turnpike or tollway, which may be a public or private controlled-access highway in the present day for which a fee (or toll) is assessed for passage. 
     On a toll way ‘W’, for example, upstream segments may be the segments of the toll way ‘W’ that have already been crossed by the tracked vehicle  106  at a point of the trip from the sender location ‘S’ to the receiver location ‘R’. Further, downstream segments may be the segments of the toll way ‘W’ that are yet to be crossed by vehicle  106  at the point of the trip from the sender location ‘S’ to the receiver location ‘R’. Furthermore, segment time may be the amount of time the tracked vehicle  106  is predicted to take to cross a given segment. The segment time is based on a toll plaza that triggered the calculation, and a segment between the two toll plazas for which the time is predicted. 
     The tracked vehicle  106  may correspond to a freight carrier associated with an individual or a legally authorized commercial company that specializes in transporting cargo from one place, such as the sender location ‘S’ to another, such as the receiver location ‘R’ . The tracked vehicle  106  may be categorized into many variant divisions based on each carrier&#39;s business operation. 
     Each of the first plurality of vehicles  108  and the second plurality of vehicles  110  may correspond to a reference vehicle that may be used to predict the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106 . More specifically, based on physical and vehicle characteristics of the tracked vehicle  106  and using a set of reference vehicles, such as the first plurality of vehicles  108 , which have the same or similar characteristics, the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106  may be predicted by the tracking system  102 . Accordingly, the reference vehicle may be categorized as one of the first plurality of vehicles  108  (such as the first SaSi vehicle  108   a , the second SaSi vehicle  108   b , and the third SaSi vehicle  108   c ) or the second plurality of vehicles  110  (such as the first non-SaSi vehicle  110   a , the second non-SaSi vehicle  110   b , and the non-SaSi vehicle  110   c ) for such prediction. Table 1 given below enlists the attributes that may be used to define the SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 . Table 1 classifies four categories of the SaSi vehicles based on how close the reference vehicle is to the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     When the reference vehicle is exactly the same type as the tracked vehicle  106  in all aspects (i.e., all the attributes listed in Table 1), then the reference vehicle may be categorized as Same (Sa). Example comprising, though not limiting to, same make, model, year, and the like. The closest set of reference vehicles to a tracked vehicle, i.e. the tracked vehicle  106 , and this category will be the first in priority while choosing SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 , from available dataset. 
     When the reference vehicle is same as the tracked vehicle  106 , i.e., the tracked vehicle  106 , in critical attributes, but may differ in other attributes, then the reference vehicle may be categorized as Similar  1  (Si 1 ). Critical attributes that match with the tracked vehicle, i.e., the tracked vehicle  106 , may be Chassis Type, No. Of Axles, No. Of Tractor axles, No. of semitrailer Axles, Cargo Type, Maximum Speed, Speed Limiter, and the like. Such category may be the second in priority while choosing SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 , from available dataset. 
     When the reference vehicle is same as the tracked vehicle, i.e., the tracked vehicle  106 , in certain important attributes which has major impacts on the speed of the truck/vehicle, but may differ in other attributes, then they would be categorized as Similar  2  (Si 2 ). The attributes that have impact on the speed may be Chassis Type, No. Of Tractor Axles, Cargo Type, Speed Limiter, and the like. Such category may be the third in priority while choosing SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 , from available dataset. 
     When the reference vehicle is same as the tracked vehicle, i.e., the tracked vehicle  106 , in a very few attributes, but may differ in other attributes, then such vehicle may be categorized as Similar  3  (Si 3 ). The few attributes which have to match are Chassis Type and Speed Limiter. Such category may be the fourth in priority while choosing SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 , from available dataset. 
     A ‘Yes’ in a particular cell of the Table 1 indicates that the reference vehicle should have the exact same value as the tracked vehicle  106  to be considered as a SaSi vehicle. A ‘Yes/No’ may mean that the reference vehicle need not match the tracked vehicle, i.e., the tracked vehicle  106 , values for that particular attribute. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 S.No. 
                 Attribute 
                 Same 
                 Similar 1 
                 Similar 2 
                 Similar 3 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 1 
                 Make 
                 Yes 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
               
               
                 2 
                 Model 
                 Yes 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
               
               
                 3 
                 Year 
                 Yes 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
                 Yes/No 
               
               
                 4 
                 Power 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 5 
                 Chassis Type 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
               
               
                 6 
                 No. of Axles 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Near 
                 Near 
               
               
                 7 
                 No. of Tractor Axles 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Near 
               
               
                 8 
                 No. of semi-trailer 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Near 
                 Near 
               
               
                   
                 Axles 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 9 
                 Turning Radius 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 10 
                 Wheel B ase 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 11 
                 Height 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 12 
                 Length 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 13 
                 Weight 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 14 
                 Cargo Type 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Any 
               
               
                 15 
                 Maximum Speed 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Close 
                 Close 
               
               
                 16 
                 Speed Limiter 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
                 Yes 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The ETC system  112  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to uniquely identify each vehicle passing through each of the plurality of toll plazas  104  and collects fees for usage of toll roads operated by it. The ETC system  112  may uses one or more of a variety of technologies. For example, the ETC system  112  may use RFID technology, wherein an RFID tag is attached to the vehicle and is identified by RFID readers installed in each of the plurality of toll plazas  104 . In another example, the ETC system  112  may use a camera as capturing device, which takes the picture of license plate of the vehicle and may use a software to decode the license plate number. In yet another example, the ETC system  112  may use Bluetooth technology, wherein Bluetooth signals may be emitted from device or mobile phone carried in the vehicle and read by Bluetooth reader in each of the plurality of toll plazas  104 . In yet another example, the ETC system  112  may use manual effort for reading of vehicle license plate and entering it into computer system. It should be noted that the above examples are merely for understanding purposes, and other emerging technologies, such as GPS, is also being evaluated by ETC vendors for deployment, without any deviation from the scope of the disclosure. 
     The scanning module  113  in the ETC system  112  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to scan timestamps of each vehicle at each of the plurality of toll plazas  104  on a real-time basis only with data sharing arrangement with the ETC system  112  or the DMV  116   d . Accordingly, the scanning module  113  in the ETC system  112  may uniquely and reliably identify each vehicle. The scanning module  113  may use one or a combination of the technologies, as discussed above, to improve the reliability identification. 
     The communication network  114  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to facilitate communication between different components, systems and/or sub-systems of the network environment  100 . In various embodiments, the network environment  100  may be implemented using any number or type of communication networks. 
     The communication network  114  may facilitate usage of a plurality of network ports and a plurality of communication channels for transmission and reception of communication data. The communication data may correspond to data received and/or exchanged, via local area network and the wide area network, among the edge resources and the cloud resources, such as the data sources  116 . Each network port may correspond to a virtual address (or a physical machine address) for transmission and reception of the communication data. For example, the virtual address may be an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPV4) or an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPV6) address, and the physical address may be a media access control (MAC) address. The communication data may be transmitted or received via a communication protocol, the examples of which may include, but are not limited to, a short-range communication protocol, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), a Domain Name Server (DNS) protocol, and a Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) Over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCP/IP (CMOT). It may also include mobile protocols, such as GSM, CDMA, LTE, 2G/3G/4G/5G and the like. 
     The data sources  116 , such as the ETC partners  116   a , the IA/C  116   b , the VMs  116   c , and the DMV  116   d , may refer to various entities in the network environment  100  that may provide data to the tracking system  102  for the prediction of the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106 . The data sources  116  may be realized as cloud or remote resources communicatively connected to the tracking system  102  facilitated by internet, short message service (SMS), application programming interface (API), and other communication and messaging systems. 
     Primary Data: When the tracked vehicle  106  starts from the sender location ‘S’, the sender may initiate the tracking by providing a variety of information to the tracking system  102 , such as sender ID, receiver ID, address of the starting location, address of destination location, vehicle License Number, and route which includes all the plurality of toll plazas  104  on the way. The sender may provide additional information, such as weight of the tracked vehicle  106  in the current trip, vehicle make/model/year, milage clocked by the tracked vehicle  106  in the odometer when the trip starts, rest area where the driver may take a sleep break, and a backup driver available for the trip. , that may improve the accuracy of the ETA. 
     Data from ETC Partners  116   a : Data, such as license plate number, toll plaza ID, and time at which the ETC was scanned, by the ETC Partners  116   a.    
     Data from the IA/C  116   b  and the VMs  116   c : Data, such as engine power, chassis type, number of axles, number of tyres, minimum turning circle, and length/width/gross vehicle weight may be provided by the VMs  116   c  based on make/model/year of the tracked vehicle  106 . Such data provides vehicle attributes, one of the key concepts that define the SaSi vehicles. A representative sample of the attributes are provided in Table 1, as provided above. The data may also be retrieved from industry consortiums or third party data providers. 
     Data from the DMV  116   d : Data, such as make/model/year of manufacture, chassis no., engine no., body type, and fuel type, may be provided by the DMV  116   d  based on the license plate number of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     Each of the vehicle owners  118  may correspond to an individual or a company that owns a freight truck that is used to carry the freight from the sender location ‘S’ to the receiver location a′. This information may be available in the records maintained by the DMV along with the license plate number assigned to a vehicle. 
     In operation, the scanning module  113  installed at a toll plaza for an ETC scan of the tracked vehicle  106  and the first plurality of vehicles  108  crossing the toll plaza. The first plurality of vehicles  108  may be identified based on a plurality of predetermined factors. Further, the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to compute a segment time for a plurality of segments from time difference between the ETC scans in two consecutive toll plazas for the first plurality of vehicles  108  moving ahead of the tracked vehicle  106 . A segment may be defined between a starting point and a final destination of a vehicle journey with a toll plaza at beginning and end of the segment. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the computation module may be further configured to compute the segment time based on actual driving time along with actual waiting time of the first plurality of vehicles  108  at the toll plaza. The first plurality of vehicles  108  may be identified based on the predetermined factors through statistical methods or machine learning algorithms such as time series analysis. The plurality of predetermined factors comprises driver characteristics that determine deviation of a driver from an average speed in an upstream segment for addition to predicted value in downstream segments, and a delay at the toll plaza. The segment time may be computed by the tracking system  102  based on a defined criteria. The defined criteria may comprise at least a method, a vehicle type, a time window, and one or more features. The first plurality of vehicles  108  may be travelling in same segment time under similar weather, traffic and road conditions in the same time window. Further, the first plurality of vehicles  108  may be moving ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  by at least one toll plaza. In an event vehicles are outside the same time window, the first plurality of vehicles  108  may be identified from the vehicles based on vehicle characteristics, segment of toll way, and traveling time with differential weights assigned for different time windows. 
     The computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be further configured to compute a segment time for the plurality of segments in an event of presence of the second plurality of vehicles  110  or an absence of toll road, such as the toll way ‘W’. In accordance with an embodiment, in an event of the absence of toll road or a journey with presence of non-SaSi vehicles (i.e., the second plurality of vehicles  110 ), a non-SaSi approach may be adopted based on speed differentiable method or speed ratio methods, time window, toll plaza delay and driver characteristics. 
     Accordingly, the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to predict the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106  based on the computed segment time and a periodic error correction module between successive segments. 
     To summarize, the proposed system uses SaSi data that are not considered by most of the GPS-based system, but important for accurate prediction of ETA of freight vehicles, such as the tracked vehicle  106 . In some GPS-based system where it is considered, the data available for them is a fraction of the total data and hence the accuracy are lower. Also, it is cumbersome, inefficient and unreliable to acquire SaSi data through GPS-based system. The proposed system provides a reliable, real-time and cost-effective method to acquire SaSi data through ETC scans in toll plaza, data fusion from multiple sources, and ML algorithm or Statistical methods to identify the SaSi and calculate ETA. The proposed system predicts the ETA for each segment of the toll way separately based on SaSi behaviour and Time Window for that segment. Thereafter, ETA for all the segments is added to get the final ETA. The proposed tracking system  102  collects data through interaction between computer systems of stakeholders using API and notification designed by the proposed system. Also, algorithm is run on the tracking system  102  from the data thus collected and ETA is sent in real-time to stakeholders registered to receive it. 
       FIG.  2 A  is a block diagram  200 A that illustrates the tracking system  102  for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The block diagram  200 A of  FIG.  2 A  illustrates the tracking system  102  depicting a mobile interface  202 , a web interface  204 , a communication channel  206 , a web server  208 , the computation module  102   a  and an ETA prediction module  210 . There are further illustrated a processor  212 , a memory  214 , and a data storage  216 . Further,  FIG.  2 B  is a block diagram  200 B that illustrates the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. The block diagram  200 B of  FIG.  2 B  illustrates the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  depicting a toll plaza factor determination module  218 , an error correction module  220 , a driver factor determination module  222 , a selection module  224 , a segment computation module  226 , a location finder  228 , and a privacy protection module  230 .  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  are described in conjunction with  FIG.  1   . 
     Referring to  FIG.  2 A , the mobile interface  202  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to present a graphical and usually touch-sensitive display on a display unit associated with the tracking system  102 . The mobile interface  202  may allow a user, such as a mobile user, to interact with various functionalities, such as apps, features, content and functions, of the tracking system  102 . In accordance with an embodiment, the mobile interface  202  may provide one or more panes or windows for viewing communications, files, lists, links, and the like, associated with one or more teams of which the user is a member. In accordance with an embodiment, other panes may be displayed in response to swiping a first pane in a defined direction, such as left-to-right direction or a right-to-left direction. 
     The web interface  204  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to allows a user to interact with content or software running on the tracking system  102  (as a remote server) through a web browser. The content or web page may be downloaded from the web server and the user may interact with such content in a web browser, which acts as a client. 
     The communication channel  206  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to facilitate transmission and/or receipt of communication data. The communication channel may include, but is not limited to, a wireless channel, a wired channel, or a combination of wireless and wired channel thereof. The wireless or wired channel may be associated with a data standard which may be defined by one of a Local Area Network (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a wireless personal LAN (WPLAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), a WAN, and a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), the Internet, cellular networks, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks, short-range networks (for example, Bluetooth® or ZigBee®), and/or any other wired or wireless communication networks or mediums. In accordance with an embodiment, the wired channel may be selected based on the bandwidth criteria. For example, an optical fiber channel may be used for a high bandwidth communication, and a coaxial cable (or Ethernet-based communication channel) may be used for moderate bandwidth communication. In accordance with various embodiments, any, some, combination, or all of the systems, engines, and/or sub-systems of the network environment  100  may be adapted to execute any operating system, such as Linux-based operating systems, UNIX-based operating systems, Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, MacOS, Apple iOS, Google Android, or other customized and/or proprietary operating system. The systems, engines, and/or sub-systems of the network environment  100  may be adapted to execute such operating systems along with virtual machines adapted to virtualize execution of a particular operating system. 
     The web server  208  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to respond to requests generated by a plurality of client devices on the World Wide Web, with the use of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and other protocols. The web server  208  may store and configure all website data to protect data from unauthorized users. The web server  208  may enable accessibility to hosted websites that includes availability of back-end database server services and more. The web server  208  may help in controlling the bandwidth and minimize excess network traffic, thus regulating the overall traffic in the network and preventing downtime caused by surplus web traffic. The presence of the web server  208  may enable the creation of dynamic web pages in popular scripting languages, such as Perl, Ruby, Python, and others. 
     The ETA prediction module  210  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to retrieve an ETA prediction algorithm from the data storage  216 . Based on the execution of the ETA prediction algorithm by the ETA prediction module  210 , the ETA may be predicted for the trip when the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a given toll plaza from the plurality of toll plazas  104 . The execution of the ETA algorithm once is called an ETA Iteration. An ETA Iteration may be triggered whenever the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a toll plaza and during the start of the trip. 
     As described above, a distance between the sender location ‘S’ and the receiver location ‘R’ may consist of multiple segments, with each segment defined by a toll plaza at the beginning and end of the segment. It may be noted that two exceptions are the first and the last segment of the trip, which will have a toll plaza only in one of their ends. 
     The ETA prediction module  210  may initiate the ETA prediction algorithm and calculate the predicted time for travelling each segment separately using a segment algorithm. The returned value may be t[n][k, k+1], where ‘n’ is the toll plaza which triggered the algorithm and [k, k+1] defines a particular segment. In accordance with an embodiment, the selection module  224  may be configured to select a suitable segment algorithm, based on the data available for that particular segment and iteration. The segment algorithm selected by the selection module  224  may be used for arriving at a predicted travelling time t[n][k,k+1]. Once the t[n][k,k+1] is calculated for all the segments, they are added together to arrive at the ETA_AT[n], which is the predicted ETA when the tracked vehicle  106  crossed the toll plaza ‘n’. This is called one iteration of the ETA prediction algorithm. By way of an example, when the tracked vehicle  106  started from the sender location ‘S’, n=0 and ETA_AT[0], i.e., the first iteration of the ETA algorithm, may be expressed as: 
       ETA_AT[0]=t[0] [0,1]+ t[ 0 ] [ 1 , 2 ] +t[ 0 ] [ 2 , 3   ] . . . t[0][last−1,last]
 
     When the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the first toll plaza in the toll way ‘W’, n=1 and ETA_AT[1] , i.e., the second iteration of the ETA prediction algorithm, may be expressed as: ETA_AT[1]=t[1][1,2]+t[1][2,3] . . . t[1][last-1,last] 
     The ETA prediction algorithm may iterate till the tracked vehicle  106  reaches the last toll plaza “end- 1 ”, when the last iteration of the ETA prediction algorithm will be executed for the trip. 
     The processor  212  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to determine an executable operation of the tracking system  102  based on executable instructions stored in the memory  214  or commands provided by the user. In accordance with an embodiment, the computing functionalities of the processor  212  in the tracking system  102  disclosed herein may be implemented in one or more silicon cores in a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, an ASIC processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, FPGAs, and other semiconductor chips, processors, or control circuits. 
     It should be noted that the terms “processor” or “microprocessor” referred in  FIG.  2 A  include not only a traditional microprocessor (such as Intel&#39;s® industry-leading x86 and x64 architectures), but also graphics processors, matrix processors, and any ASIC, FPGA, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable logic device, programmable logic array (PLA), microcode, instruction set, emulated or virtual machine processor, or any similar device, combination of devices, or logic elements (hardware or software) that permit the execution of instructions. 
     The memory  214  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to store data supporting various functions of the tracking system. The memory  214  may store a number of application programs or applications running on the tracking system  102 , data for operation of the tracking system  102 , and commands. The memory  214  may store information and/or instructions for use in combination with the processor  212 . The memory  214  may include volatile and non-volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, external disk, the ROM or the RAM, including an operating system (not shown), one or more application programs, other program modules (not shown), and program data. The RAM may be of any type, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), or Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM). A basic input/output system (BIOS) containing the basic routines that helps to transfer information between elements within the tracking system  102 , such as during start-up, may be stored in the ROM. 
     The data storage  216  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to store various algorithms and programs required for predicting the ETA of vehicles. For example, the data storage  216  may store the ETA prediction algorithm that may be retrieved by the ETA prediction module  210  for calculate the predicted time for travelling each segment separately. In another example, the data storage  216  may store various segmentation computation algorithms, such as statistical and machine learning (ML) algorithms, that may be retrieved by the segmentation computation module  226 , in conjunction with the selection module  224 , for computing the segments on the toll way ‘W’. 
     The TPF determination module  218  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to determine the TPF that may correspond to a delay in each toll plaza. The delay in each toll plaza may be factored by adding the time delay due to one or more reasons, such as lane closure in the toll plaza, equipment breakdown, employee absenteeism, system degradation, or other reasons, to the base value calculated. The TPF may be calculated based on a Time Window Factor. 
     Time taken to cross a segment in the toll way ‘W’ is a sum of the time taken to travel the distance and the waiting time at the toll plaza at the end of the segment. Such waiting time is one of the contributors to the segment time and may be accounted for by the TPF. 
     The TPF determination module  218  may trigger an algorithm with toll plaza ID as ‘n’ and Time Window as ‘WTW’ and determine the normal waiting time at the next toll plaza given by ‘n+1’ for tdwmy time window and the current average waiting time in the last  120  minutes of triggering the algorithm. The TPF determination module  218  may take the difference between the two delays as a deviation from normal and assign to the TPF. 
     For ETC which are Outside Time Window ‘OTW’, the TPF determination module  218  may determine the normal waiting time at the next toll plaza given by ‘n+ 1 ’ at the expected crossing time of the tracked vehicle  106 , based on the tdwmy time window. If there is an ongoing delay in the next Toll Plaza, the ETC system  112  may be aware of the reason and will know how long it will take to return to normalcy. 
     By way of an example, if an employee is absent on one shift, then the delay is confined only to that one shift. The delay will persist for about  8  hours ( 1  shift) and then it will gradually get back to normal, for example, in 2 hours. In such case, ‘Persistence of delay’ may be 8+2=10 hours. At the expected crossing time of the tracked vehicle  106 , if the toll plaza will return to normalcy, then this delay will not be factored. If the toll plaza will be running with delay at the expected crossing time of the tracked vehicle  106 , then it needs to be factored into the predicted time to cross that segment t[n][n,n+1]. This value will be zero when sufficient data is not available to calculate the value. 
     The error correction module  220  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to determine a prediction error that corresponds to a difference between actual time taken and the predicted time. When the tracked vehicle  106  crosses an ETC, for example, the first ETC  112   a , it makes a prediction of time it will take to cross each of the downstream segments at that point, which includes the current segment. When the current segment is crossed, there is an opportunity to compare the actual time taken and the predicted time for the current segment. Such difference between the actual time taken and the predicted time is the error in the prediction. 
     When the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza ‘n’, it will make a prediction on the time it will take to cross the current segment it entered, which is [n,n+1]. This is used to calculate the Expected Crossing Time, ‘EXP_CR_TM[n][n+1]’. When the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza ‘n+1’, the actual time taken to cross this segment, ‘ACT_CT_TM[n+1]’, may be determined. The error correction module  220  may determine the error in prediction based on the difference between EXP_CR_TM[n][n+1] and ACT_CT_TM[n+1], expressed as: 
       ER[ n+ 1]=corrFac×(ACT_CR[n+1]−EXP_CR_TM[ n ][ n +1]),
 
     where corrFac will indicate the percentage of error that needs to be corrected. Its value will be arrived based on data. 
     Such error should be factored into the next prediction that will run when the tracked vehicle  106  crosses toll plaza ‘n+1’. 
     In general, for a toll plaza ‘n’, the error correction may be expressed as: 
       ER[ n ]=corrFac×(ACT_CR[n]−EXP_CR_TM[ n− 1][ n ])
 
     When the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza ‘n’, the error is calculated at that point and factored into its prediction of expected crossing time for EXP_CR_TM[n][n+1]. Since EXP_CR_TM for other toll plazas in that iteration are based on the EXP_CR_TM[n][n+1], it is required to be factored only once per iteration and that is at toll plaza ‘n+1’.
     Such value may be zero when sufficient data is not available to calculate the value.   

     The driver factor determination module  222  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to determine factors, such as driving style and pattern, of each driver. Such driving patterns have impact on the ETA. For example, some of them would like to go ahead of other vehicles, some of them would stick together with other trucks and go as a group, some of them may let other trucks pass them and prefer to go slower, and professional drivers that tend to drive at a constant speed and are generally complaint to regulations. The driver factor determination module  222  may identify such patterns and take them into consideration while predicting their ETA at toll plaza ‘n’.
     1-Segment Pattern: If the tracked vehicle  106  has been in the toll way ‘W’ only for one segment at the point of running the algorithm, then  1 -Segment approach is followed by the driver factor determination module  222 , as under:
       1.Create a list (LST 1 ) of the first plurality of vehicles  108  that have been in the segment [n−1,n] at the same time window as the tracked vehicle  106  and crossed ETC (‘n’) ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  within 60 minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 , which should be noted as a configurable parameter.   2. Calculate the average actual time, ‘AVE ACT_SaSi_TM[n−1,n]’, taken by the vehicles in LST 1  to cross the segment [n−1,n].   3. Determine the actual time, ‘ACT_TBT_TM[n−1,n]’ taken by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross the same segments.   4. Calculate the difference between ACT_TBT_TM[n−1,n] and AVE_ACT_SaSi_TM[n 1,n], referred to as Driver Deviation, ‘DRC_DEV[n−1][n]’ for this segment [n−1,n]. It can be a negative or positive value, based on the tracked vehicle  106  being slower or faster than other SaSi vehicles in the same segment and in the same time window.   
       2-Segment Pattern: If the tracked vehicle  106  has been in the toll way ‘W’ for two segments at the point of execution of the algorithm, then 2-Segment approach is followed by the driver factor determination module  222 , as under:
       1. Create a list ‘LST 1 ’ of the first plurality of vehicles  108  that have been in the segment [n−1,n] at the same time window as the tracked vehicle  106  and crossed toll plaza ‘n’ ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  within 60 minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 . The time period of 60 minutes is a configurable parameter and should not be construed to be limiting the scope of the disclosure.   2. Calculate the average actual time, ‘AVE ACT_SaSi_TM[n−1,n]’, taken by the vehicles in the list ‘LST 1 ’ to cross the segment [n−1,n].   3. Determine the actual time taken, ACT_TBT_TM[n−1,n]′, by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross the same segments.   4. Calculate the difference between ACT_TBT_TM[n−1,n] and AVE_ACT_SaSi_TM[n-1,n], referredto as ‘DRC_DEV_INT[n−1][n]’ for this segment [n−1,n].   5. Create a list ‘LST 2 ’ of the first plurality of vehicles  108  that have been in the segment [n−2,n−1] at the same time window as the tracked vehicle  106  and crossed toll plaza (‘n−1’) ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  within 120 minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 . The time period of  120  minutes is a configurable parameter and should not be construed to be limiting the scope of the disclosure.   6. Calculate the average actual time taken, ‘AVE ACT_SaSi_TM[n−2,n−1]’, by the vehicles in the list ‘LST 2 ’ to cross the segment [n- 2 ,n−1].   7. Determine the actual time taken, ACT_TBT_TM[n−2,n−1]′, by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross the same segments and calculate the difference between ACT_TBT_TM[n−2,n−1] and AVE_ACT_SaSi_TM[n−2,n−1], referred to as Driver Deviation, ‘DRC_DEV_INT[n−2,n−1]’, for this segment [n−2,n−1].   
       

     Thus, for the 2-Segment method, the Driver Deviation is a combination of deviation in the previous segment and the one before the previous, with different weightage assigned for each: 
       DRC_DEV[ n− 1][ n ]=A*DRC_DEV_INT[ n −1][ n ]+B*DRC_DEV_INT[n−2,n−1]][ n] 
 
     where ‘A’ and ‘B’ are weightage given to deviation in the previous segment and the one before previous. For an initial calculation  0 . 8  and  0 . 2  can be taken as values for ‘A’ and ′B respectively.
     More precise values will be arrived based on studies of historical data. This value will be zero when sufficient data is not available to calculate the value.   In addition to the above, the driver factor determination module  222  may follow a  3 -Segment Pattern and 3 Plus Segment Pattern approach.   

     The selection module  224  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to select a specific segment algorithm for a given segment and a given iteration based on the data available at the point of executing the algorithm. Input parameter for the selection module  224  may be the following:
     Method: This parameter can take the values—“Statistical” or “Machine Learning”.   Location: Sender Location ‘S’, Receiver Location ‘R’, and toll plaza ID ‘n’. The Sender Location ‘S’, Receiver Location ‘R’ may be in the form of postal address or geo location.   Type of Time: Actual crossing time, ‘ACT_CT_TM’ and Expected crossing time, ‘EXP_CR_TM’, of an event.   Event Time: Date and Time at which the event occurred along with time zone   License Plate: License Plate number of the tracked vehicle  106 .   Vehicle Attributes: A list of attributes of the tracked vehicle  106 . It is defined by technical specification of vehicle containing, Single Chassis/Tractor-trailer, Number of axles, Number of tyres, turning radius, and the like. Details are enlisted in the Table 1.   Optional Parameters for the selection module  224  may be the following:   RFID Tag: ID of RFID tag attached to the tracked vehicle  106 , issued by ETC organization.   Driver Details: Driving license number and authority of issue.   Laden Weight: Full, Half, Empty.   

     Method: The selection module  224  uses “MLMethods” to leverage Machine Algorithms to predict the ETA for the tracked vehicle  106  if the setting is “Machine Learning”. However, if the setting is “Statistical”, then the selection module  224  uses the following Table 2 to select the suitable algorithm. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Time Window Factor 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                   
                 Within-Time-Win- 
                 Extended-Time- 
                 Outside-Time- 
               
               
                   
                   
                 dow(WTW) 
                 Window (EXTW) 
                 Window (OTW) 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Vehicle 
                 SaSi 
                 SaSi-WithinTime- 
                 SaSi-ExtendedTime- 
                 SaSi-OutsideTime- 
               
               
                 Factor 
                   
                 Window 
                 Window 
                 Window 
               
               
                 Type 
                 Non- 
                 NonSaSi-Within- 
                 NonSaSi-Extended- 
                 NonSaSi-Outside- 
               
               
                   
                 SaSi 
                 TimeWindow 
                 TimeWindow 
                 TimeWindow 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Time Window: When the selection module  224  is invoked, the first factor chosen in the “Statistical” method is Time Window, which is decided based on the input value for Type of Time. The Type of Time at which this event occurred can have two possible values—Actual Crossing Time, ‘ACT_CT_TM’, or Expected Crossing Time ‘EXP_CR_TM’. 
     1)For the ‘ACT_CT_TM’ input value, ‘WTW’ may be assigned as the value for the Time Window factor. 
     2)For the ‘EXP_CR_TM’ input value, using the current time when the algorithm is run, the difference between current time and the ‘EXP_CR_TM’, referred to as Crossing Lag, may be calculated. If the Crossing Lag is less than or equal to ‘WTW’ (Default is 120 minutes which is a configurable parameter), then ‘WTW’ may be assigned as the value for Time Window factor. 
     3)If Crossing Lag is between 2 hours and 8 hours, which is a configurable parameter, then ‘EXTW’ may be assigned as the value for Time Window factor. 
     4)If the difference between current time and ‘EXP_CR_TM’ is beyond 8 hours, which is a configurable parameter, then ‘OTW’ is assigned as the value for Time Window factor. 
     Vehicle Type: When the selection module  224  is invoked, the second factor to be considered in Statistical method is Vehicle Type. Based on the Time Window chosen in the first step, SaSi vehicles in that window and that segment may be retrieved from an ETC database. If one or more SaSi vehicles are available in that Time Window, then “SaSi” is chosen for Vehicle Type factor.
     If SaSi vehicles are not available in that Time Window, then “Non-SaSi” is chosen for Vehicle Type factor.   

     Once the Time Window Factor and the Vehicle Type are chosen for the given segment and iteration, then the suitable segment algorithm is given by the Table 2, as discussed above. 
     Algorithms for some of the common scenarios are listed below. Names of the algorithm are derived based on the values of factors discussed above: VehicleType-TimeWindow. 
     The segment computation module  226  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to compute calculate the time taken for a given segment between two toll plazas l′ and ‘k+ 1 ’. The segment computation module  226  may execute one of a set of segment algorithms from the data storage  216  based on the selection performed by the selection module  224 . 
     The set of segment algorithms give the time taken for the tracked vehicle  106  to travel through a given segment [k,k+1]. A segment algorithm may be invoked by the ETA Algorithm to calculate the end-to-end time. Among them, the algorithm that will be used for a particular segment and for a particular iteration of ETA algorithm may depend on a combination of deciding factors. The selection module  224  may take such deciding factors into consideration and select the suitable segment algorithm for a given segment and iteration.
     Deciding Factors:   To calculate segment time for each segment, following factors may be taken into consideration:
       1. Method: Two methods are available to find the ETA. One is the statistical method and other is the Machine Learning algorithms. The tracking system  102  may be configured to use any one of these two methods. Based on the configuration, the selection module  224  will select the appropriate algorithm. This is a configurable parameter.   2. Vehicle Type: This factor indicates the type of vehicles used as reference for prediction. If reference vehicle of the same types as the tracked vehicle  106  is available in the time window considered, then we choose “SaSi” algorithm for this factor. Else, we choose “Non-SaSi”. Table 1 may to be used to arrive at the correct value   3. Time Window: This factor represents traffic, road and weather conditions while the tracked vehicle  106  is travelling through the segment
           a) SaSi algorithm within Time Window, ‘WTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106  may be used when there are vehicles that have travelled ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  within  120  minutes, which is a configurable parameter.   b) SaSi Algorithm outside Time Window, ‘OTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106  may be used when there are no SaSi vehicles within  480  minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 .   c) SaSi algorithm Extended Time Window, ‘EXTW’, may be used when there are vehicles between  120  minutes and  480  minutes. This is a linear combination of ‘WTW’ with extended window and ‘OTW’ with differing weightages.   
           
       

     ML-Methods(ML): 
     
         
         Such algorithm may be used when the tracking system  102  is configured to use ML algorithms. The configuration may provide two types of information that may help to apply ML techniques — ML algorithms to be used and features to be considered for training model and prediction purpose. 
       
    
     Machine Algorithm 
     
         
         Time-Series algorithm may be used to predict the ETA of vehicles. The tracking system  102  may be configured to use a specific Time-Series algorithm from non-limiting examples, such as Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) algorithms (such as LSTM, Bi-Directional LSTM, and the like), Classical Time-Series algorithms (such as ARIMA, Non-Linear ARIMA), and the like. 
       
    
     Features: 
     
         
         Features are the attributes that impact the prediction of ETA and may be used to train ML models and make predictions, which is a configurable parameter. Candidates for being a “Feature” in the tracking system  102  includes, but are not limited to, Segment ID, Attributes of the vehicles listed in Table 1 (16 Attributes), Time-of-the-day, Day-of-the-week, Week-of-the-Month, Month-of-the year, Traffic Condition, Weather Condition, Road Condition, Toll Plaza Condition, Driver Characteristics, Events impacting road traffic (such as festivals, sports, holidays, political events, social events, religious events, and the like). 
       
    
     SaSi Algorithms 
     A. SaSi-WithinTimeWindow (SWTW): 
     
         
         SWTW algorithm may be used under following conditions: 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e. the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data are available and they are one or more toll plazas ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  at the time of ETC scan for such calculation. 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e. the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are available Within Time Window, ‘WTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106 —travelling ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  in the same toll way segment and within ‘WTW’ minutes of the tracked vehicle  106  (condition for Within Time Window) 
         Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed toll plaza ‘n’ 
         Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’ 
         Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’
       1. Create a list, ‘Lst 1 ’, of all SaSi vehicles, i.e. the first plurality of vehicles  108 , that have crossed toll plaza ‘k’ ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  within ‘WTW’ minutes (for example, 120 minutes).   2. From the list mentioned above, create another list, ‘Lst 2 ’, of vehicles that have crossed next toll plaza ‘k+ 2 ’   3. Find the time taken by all the vehicles in Lst 2  to cross the segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ and calculate their average.   4. The average is the predicted time that will be taken by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross this segment between ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ and named t[n][k,k+1], where ‘n’ indicates the toll plaza that triggered this calculation, and [k,k+1] indicates the segment between the two toll plazas ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ for which this prediction is made.   
     
       
    
     B. SaSi-ExtendedTimeWindow (SEXTW): 
     
         
         SEXTW algorithm may be used under following conditions: 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data are available and they are one or more toll plaza ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  at the time of ETC scan for this calculation 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available within WTW, but available Within Extended Time Window (EXTW) of the tracked vehicle  106 —travelling ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  in the same toll way segment and within Crossing Lag of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
         Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed toll plaza named ‘n’. 
         Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’. 
         Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and  1 +1′.
       1. Calculate the Crossing Lag, based on current time and expected crossing time, ‘EXP_CR_TM’,   2. Create a list, ‘Lst 1 ’, all SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) that have crossed toll plaza ‘k’ at “Crossing Lag” hours ahead current time   3. From the list Lst 1  mentioned above, create a list, ‘Lst 2 ’, of vehicles that have crossed next toll plaza ‘k+1’, at current time   4. Find the time taken by all the vehicles in Lst 2  to cross the segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ and calculate their average, ‘timeThruExtendedTW’.   5. Find the Segment Time calculated using SaSi-time-of-day-previousday, ‘StodP’.   6. If the Crossing Lag is between 2 hours to 4 hours, then give 60% weightage to time-ThruExtendedTW and 40% weightage to time arrived through StodP algorithm. Thus, t[n][k,k+1]=0.6×timeThruExtendedTW+0.4×StodP   7. If the Crossing Lag is between 4 hours to 8 hours, then give 40% weightage to time-ThruExtendedTW and 60% weightage to time arrived through StodP algorithm. Thus, t[n][k,k+1]=0.4×timeThruExtendedTW+0.6×StodP   
     
         SaSi-time-of-day-previous day (StodP): 
         StodP algorithm may be used under following conditions: 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is available. 
         Time Window: The time is the same time of the previous day as the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza and in the same toll way segment. Time window is within  60  minutes of the tracked vehicle  106  crossing ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’ or expected crossing ‘EXP_CR_TM[n][k]’. For example, if the tracked vehicle  106  crosses or expected to cross a toll plaza at 6 PM on Jul. 17, 2020, then the Time Window is between 5 PM and 6 PM on Jul. 16, 2020. 
         Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the toll plaza named ‘n’. 
         Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’. 
         Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’.
       1. Create a list, ‘Lst 1 ’, of all SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) that have crossed toll plaza ‘k’ within  60  minutes of the same time on the previous day.   2. Find the time taken by all the vehicles in the list, ‘Lst 1 ’, to travel between toll plaza ‘k’ and the next toll plaza ′k+1 and calculate the average time taken.   3. The average is the time predicted to be taken by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross segment between ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ based time-of-day algorithm and represented by t[n][k,k+1].   
     
       
    
     C. SaSi-OutsideTimeWindow (SOTW): 
     
         
         SOTW algorithm may be used under following conditions: 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is available. 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available within ‘WTW’ and ‘EXTW’, but are available Outside Time Window, ‘OTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106 . There are no SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) available within  480  minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
         Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed toll plaza named ‘n’ 
         Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’ 
         Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’
       1. Calculate predicted time using StodP algorithm, ‘t_from_StodP’, for this segment.   2. Calculate predicted time using Sdow algorithm, ‘t_from Sdow’, described below, for this segment.   3. Calculate predicted time using Stdwmy algorithm, ‘t_from Stdwmy’, described below for this segment.   4. Predicted time for this segment is given by the following expression:   
     
       
    
       t[ n ][ k,k +1]=X*t_from_StodP+Y*t_from_Sdow 
       +Z*t_from_Stdwmy 
     where X, Y and Z are weightage for each algorithm and its values are arrived after studying historical data 
     SaSi-day-of-week (Sdow):
     Sdow algorithm may be used under following conditions:   Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is available.   Time Window: The time is the same time of the day on the same day of the week as the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza and in the same toll way segment. Time window is within  60  minutes of the tracked vehicle  106  crossing ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’ or expected crossing ‘EXP_CR_TM[n][k]’. For example, if the tracked vehicle  106  crosses or expected to cross a toll plaza at 6 PM on Jul. 17, 2020 which is Saturday, then the Time Window is between 5 PM and 6 PM of previous Saturday which is Jul. 10, 2020.   Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the toll plaza named ‘n’   Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’   Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’
       1. Create a list, ‘Lst 1 ’, all SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) that have crossed toll plaza ‘k’ within  60  minutes of the same time and same day of the previous week.   2. Find the time taken by all the vehicles in Lst 1  to travel between toll plaza ‘k’ and the next toll plaza ′k+1 and calculate the average time taken.  3 . This average is the time predicted to be taken by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross segment between ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ based the day-of-week algorithm and represented by t[n][k,k+1].   
       

     SaSi-tdwmy(Stdwmy): 
     
         
         Stdwmy algorithm may be used under following conditions: 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is available 
         Time Window: The time is the same time of the day, same day-of-week, same week-of-month and same month-of-year, in the previous year as the tracked vehicle  106  crosses the toll plaza and in the same toll way segment. Time window is within  60  minutes of the tracked vehicle  106  crossing ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’ or expected crossing ‘EXP_CR_TM[n][k]’. For example, if the tracked vehicle  106  crosses or expected to cross a toll plaza at 6 PM on Jul. 17, 2021 which is the 3 rd  Saturday in July, then the Time Window is between 5 PM and 6 PM on Jul. 18, 2020, which is the 3 rd  Saturday of July in the previous year. 
         Event: The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the toll plaza named ‘n’ 
         Trigger: ETC scan at toll plaza ‘n’ 
         Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’
       1. Create a list, ‘Lst 1 ’, of all SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) that have crossed toll plaza ‘k’ within 60 minutes of the same time of the day, same day-of-week, same week-of-month and same month-of-year of the previous year.   2. Find the time taken by all the vehicles in the list, ‘Lst 1 ’, to travel between toll plaza ‘k’ and the next toll plaza ′k+1 and calculate the average time taken   3. This average is the time predicted to be taken by the tracked vehicle  106  to cross segment between ‘k’ and ‘k+1’ based on Stdwmy algorithm and represented by t[n][k,k+1].   
     
       
    
     Non-SaSi Algorithms 
     
         
         Non-SaSi algorithms may use speed differentials method or speed ratio method between cars and trucks. Speed differentials is the difference between average speed of cars and trucks and are available for various states in specific countries, such as the US. A sample representation is given in Table 3 below, collected from a report “Empirical Analysis of Truck and Automobile Speeds on Rural Interstates: Impact of Posted Speed Limits” published by American Transportation Research Institute. Non-SaSi algorithms given below use speed differential method. Similar formulae are available for speed ratio as well. 
         Though primary use of this algorithm is in non-toll way roads, it can also be used in toll way roads when SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available in the dataset. As a result, the term segment in this algorithm may represent a road on the toll way or non-toll way. 
       
    
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
            
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Speed 
                 Sample 
                 Average 
                 Std 
                 85th % 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Limits 
                 Size 
                 Speed 
                 Dev 
                 Speed 
                 Compliance 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 State 
                 Hwy 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Trucks 
                 Cars 
                 Differential 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 CA 
                 I-5  
                 55 
                 70 
                 277 
                 213 
                 61.2 
                 72.6 
                 3.62 
                 4.78 
                 65 
                 77 
                 3.2 
                 8.9 
                 11.4 
               
               
                 IL 
                 I-57 
                 55 
                 65 
                 262 
                 878 
                 64.2 
                 73.2 
                 4.00 
                 5.67 
                 68 
                 79 
                 0.0 
                 7.2 
                 9 
               
               
                 OR 
                 I-57 
                 11.4 
                 65 
                 273 
                 288 
                 60.9 
                 70 
                 2.87 
                 4.52 
                 64 
                 75 
                 1.5 
                 14.9 
                 9.1 
               
               
                 WA 
                 I-5  
                 60 
                 70 
                 139 
                 111 
                 63.3 
                 71.7 
                 3.04 
                 4.07 
                 67 
                 76 
                 17.3 
                 34.2 
                 8.4 
               
               
                 WA 
                 I-5  
                 60 
                 70 
                 154 
                 146 
                 64.5 
                 71.6 
                 2.67 
                 3.52 
                 67 
                 75 
                 22 
                 35.6 
                 7.1 
               
               
                 WA 
                 I-5  
                 60 
                 70 
                 246 
                 159 
                 62.9 
                 72.9 
                 3.28 
                 4.09 
                 66 
                 76 
                 22 
                 26.4 
                 10 
               
               
                 CT 
                  I-395 
                 65 
                 65 
                 184 
                 129 
                 66.4 
                 72.7 
                 3.8 
                 4.53 
                 70 
                 78 
                 45.2 
                 5.4 
                 6.3 
               
               
                 CT 
                 I-84 
                 65 
                 65 
                 156 
                 144 
                 66 
                 73.6 
                 3.16 
                 5.21 
                 69 
                 78 
                 50 
                 5.6 
                 7.6 
               
               
                 CT 
                 I-95 
                 65 
                 65 
                 212 
                 121 
                 66.1 
                 72 
                 3.44 
                 4.68 
                 70 
                 70 
                 43.4 
                 8.6 
                 5.9 
               
               
                 SC 
                 I-85 
                 65 
                 65 
                 433 
                 574 
                 67.2 
                 69.9 
                 4.12 
                 5.29 
                 71 
                 76 
                 35.1 
                 20.6 
                 2.7 
               
               
                 AR 
                 I-40 
                 65 
                 70 
                 169 
                 362 
                 66.7 
                 73.5 
                 3.69 
                 4.32 
                 70 
                 78 
                 32.5 
                 21.8 
                 6.8 
               
               
                 SC 
                 I-26 
                 70 
                 70 
                 276 
                 588 
                 69 
                 72.5 
                 4 
                 5.32 
                 73 
                 77 
                 64.5 
                 28.6 
                 3.5 
               
               
                 MO 
                 I-44 
                 70 
                 70 
                 247 
                 611 
                 68.6 
                 72.6 
                 4.55 
                 4.95 
                 73 
                 77 
                 69.6 
                 31.4 
                 4 
               
               
                 TX 
                 I-40 
                 70 
                 70 
                 131 
                 89 
                 68.6 
                 71.4 
                 3.63 
                 3.98 
                 72 
                 75 
                 76.3 
                 75.3 
                 2.8 
               
               
                 OK 
                 I-40 
                 70 
                 70 
                 168 
                 173 
                 69.4 
                 72.9 
                 3.38 
                 3.84 
                 72 
                 76 
                 57.7 
                 38.7 
                 3.5 
               
               
                 NM 
                 I-25 
                 75 
                 75 
                 36 
                 120 
                 68.9 
                 76.8 
                 5.97 
                 4.24 
                 75 
                 81 
                 86.1 
                 38.3 
                 7.9 
               
               
                 NM 
                 I-40 
                 75 
                 75 
                 276 
                 239 
                 68 
                 75.5 
                 4.2 
                 4.75 
                 73 
                 80 
                 98.2 
                 51.1 
                 7.5 
               
               
                 SD 
                 I-90 
                 75 
                 75 
                 193 
                 213 
                 67 
                 74.7 
                 4 
                 4.21 
                 71 
                 79 
                 98.9 
                 54.9 
                 7.7 
               
               
                 WY 
                 I-90 
                 75 
                 75 
                 140 
                 164 
                 69.8 
                 75.3 
                 4.85 
                 4.45 
                 75 
                 79 
                 91.4 
                 47.9 
                 5.5 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     A. NonSaSi-WithinTimeWindow (NWTW): 
     
         
         When SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available, then this algorithm will be used. 
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is not available. 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available and non-SaSi vehicles (i.e., the second plurality of vehicles  110 ) are available Within Time Window, ‘WTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106 —travelling ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  in the same segment and within ‘WTW’ minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
         Event: There are 3 scenarios this algorithm will be used: 
       
    
     a) The tracked vehicle  106  started from the sender location ‘S’ and travelling in non-toll way road. 
     b) The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the trip and entering into nontoll way road to reach the receiver location ‘R’. 
     c) The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the current toll way and entering into non-toll way road to switch to next toll way road.
     Trigger: Two possible triggers based on the which of the three events mentioned above happened:   

     For event (a) mentioned above, a trigger is sent from computer system of the sender indicating the start of the trip. 
     For event (b) and (c) mentioned above, the trigger is the ETC scan at last toll plaza ‘n’
     Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’   

     1. Using SaSiWTW algorithm and vehicle type as “Car”, arrive at the segment time, ‘SegTimeCar’. 
     2. Calculate the reciprocal of ‘SegTimeCar’, ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     3. Retrieve the Speed differential from the Table 3, for the state and highway of the given segment. 
     4. Divide the distance of the segment by speed differential to get the extra time taken by the truck, ‘DifferentialTime’. 
     5. Subtract the ‘DifferentialTime’ from ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     6. Calculate the reciprocal of the result from subtraction, which gives the Segment Time of the tracked vehicle  106  using this algorithm. 
     B. NonSaSi-ExtendedTimeWindow(NEXTW): 
     
         
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is not available. 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available and non-SaSi vehicles (i.e., the second plurality of vehicles  110 ) are available Within Extended Time Window, ‘EXTW’, of the tracked vehicle  106 —travelling ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  in the same toll way segment and within Crossing Lag of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
         Event: There are two scenarios this algorithm will be used: 
       
    
     a) the tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the trip and entering into nontoll way road to reach the receiver location, ‘R’. 
     b) the tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the current toll way and entering into non-toll way road to switch to next toll way road.
     Trigger: Two possible triggers based on the which the two events mentioned above happened:   

     For event (a) and (b) mentioned above, the trigger is the ETC scan at last toll plaza ‘n’
     Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’   

     1. Using SaSiEXTW algorithm and vehicle type as “Car” arrive at the segment time, ‘SegTimeCar’. 
     2. Calculate the reciprocal of ‘SegTimeCar’, ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     3. Retrieve the speed differential from the Table 3, as described above, for the state and highway of the given segment. 
     4. Divide the distance of the segment by speed differential to get the extra time taken by the truck, ‘DifferentialTime’. 
     5. Subtract the ‘DifferentialTime’ from ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     6. Calculate the reciprocal of the result from subtraction, which gives the segment time of the tracked vehicle  106  using this algorithm. 
     C. NonSaSi-OutsideTimeWindow(NOTW): 
     
         
         Vehicle Type: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) data is not available 
         Time Window: SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) are not available and non-SaSi vehicles (i.e., the second plurality of vehicles  110 ) are available Outside Time Window, ‘OTW’ of the tracked vehicle  106   
         Event: There are two scenarios this algorithm will be used: 
       
    
     1. The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the trip and entering into non-toll way road to reach the receiver location, ‘R’. 
     2. The tracked vehicle  106  crossed the last toll plaza in the current toll way and entering into non-toll way road to switch to next toll way road.
     Trigger: Two possible triggers based on the which the two events mentioned above happened: For event (a) and (b) mentioned above, the trigger is the ETC scan at last toll plaza ‘n’   Prediction for: Segment between toll plaza ‘k’ and ‘k+1’   

     1. Using SaSiOTW algorithm and vehicle type as “Car” arrive at the segment time, ‘SegTimeCar’. 
     2. Calculate the reciprocal of ‘SegTimeCar’, ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     3. Retrieve the Speed differential from the Table 3, as described above, for the state and highway of the given segment. 
     4. Divide the distance of the segment by speed differential to get the extra time taken by the truck, ‘DifferentialTime’. 
     5. Subtract the ‘DifferentialTime’ from ‘ReciprocalSegTimeCar’. 
     6. Calculate the reciprocal of the result from subtraction, which gives the segment time of the tracked vehicle  106  using this algorithm. 
     The location finder  228  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to find the geo location of the tracked vehicle  106  at any point of time during the journey of the tracked vehicle  106 . The geo location may be found based on various parameters, such as last scanned location (n), timestamp ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’, current time, and the like. Most recent scan of ETC may provide a Crossing Data, which may contain the toll plaza ID of the last scan and the timestamp of the last scan. The toll plaza ID ‘n’ maps to a specific physical location of the toll plaza in the toll way ‘W’. It can be represented in terms of geo-location (latitude and Longitude) to align with GPS co-ordinates. A difference between the last scanned timestamp and the current time may provide the time elapsed, ‘tElapsed’, since the last scan. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the predicted speed of the tracked vehicle  106  in that particular segment may be calculated using segment algorithm, distance between the last scanned toll plaza and the next toll plaza and the wait time in the next toll plaza. The segment algorithm to be used may be selected by the selection module  224 . It can be one of the 3—SaSi-WithinTimeWindow (SWTW), NonSaSi-WithinTimeWindow (NWTW) and ML-Methods(ML). 
     In accordance with an embodiment, ‘tElapsed’ may be multiplied with the predicted speed to give the distance travelled by the tracked vehicle  106  during ‘tElapsed’ time, represented by ‘dsDuringElapsedTime’. A point may be marked on the toll way which is ‘dsDur-ingElapsedTime’ away from the toll plaza ‘n’ and that is the predicted current location of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     The privacy protection module  230  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to preserve the privacy of a vehicle owner based on their authorization to use the data of corresponding vehicle data whenever it is shared with other stakeholders. Examples of the vehicle data may include, but are not limited to, vehicle trip details (such as, start location, end location, route, toll plaza in the route, weight and type of cargo carried), vehicle tracking details (such as, RFID attached to the vehicle, ETC Scans at toll plazas, location and ETA predictions at different time during the trip, speed and waiting times), vehicle details (such as License Plate Number, DMV registration, and Vehicle Attributes listed in Table 1), and driver details (such as driving license number, issuing authority, and driving records). The privacy protection module  230  may share the data only on a need-to-share basis. The privacy protection module  230  may provide both fine-grained and coarse-grained control of data sharing. The vehicle owner is fully informed on which data has been shared, to whom and for what purpose. At any point, the vehicle owner may revoke their authorization at a very short notice, either through mobile interface  202  or other user-interface, such as the web interface  204 . 
     In operation, vehicles which have same or similar vehicle characteristics as the tracked vehicle  106 , travelling in the same segment of the toll way ‘W’, travelling under the same or similar weather, traffic and road conditions as the tracked vehicle  106  (deduced by vehicles travelling in the same time window as the tracked vehicle  106  (within ‘w’ minutes of the tracked vehicle  106 , which is a configurable parameter)), and having the same driver characteristics as the tracked vehicle  106  (deduced by their close correlation to speed of the tracked vehicle  106  in the upstream segments) may have close correlation of speed in downstream segments also. 
     Such vehicles may be used as reference vehicles for the tracked vehicle  106 . Since such vehicles are going ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  by at least one toll plaza, they would have already crossed the current segment [n, n+1] and the time taken by them, t[n][n, n+ 1 ], to cross the segment is known at the point of running the algorithm. Such time is the closest prediction for the tracked vehicle  106  to cross segment [n, n+ 1 ]. This is the core premise that helps the tracking system  102  to accurately predict the ETA. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the vehicles may be outside the time window of the tracked vehicle  106 . In such embodiment, the tracking system  102  may use the following conditions for reference vehicles, such as same or similar vehicle characteristics as the tracked vehicle  106 , same segment of the toll way ‘W’, and travelling at the same time-of-day, day-of-week, week-of-month and month-of-year with different weightage for different windows. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the segment computation module  226  may calculate the segment time for a given segment by finding the time difference between ETC scans in two consecutive toll plaza for the SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) moving ahead of the tracked vehicle  106 . This segment time taken from this focussed group of reference vehicles, may be the closest to segment time for the tracked vehicle  106 , for this particular segment. Such approach is more accurate than other GPS-based algorithms because it takes actual driving time plus the actual waiting time in the toll plaza, in the same time window. 
     In accordance with various embodiments, the reference vehicles may be found either through statistical methods or through ML algorithms, as described above in detail. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the driver factor determination module  222  may be configured to factor driver characteristics by finding how much a driver is deviating from the average speed of other SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) in upstream segment and adding such deviation to the predicted value in downstream segments. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the TPF determination module  218  may be configured to factor delay in each toll plaza by adding the time delay due to lane closure in the toll plaza, equipment breakdown, system degradation, and the like, to the base value calculated. The delay may be calculated by finding the normal waiting time at the toll plaza for tdwmy time window and the current waiting time while the algorithm is executed. The difference between the two delays may be taken as a deviation from normal and assigned to the TPF. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the selection module  224  may be configured to select the SaSi algorithm within time window (WTW) in an event the SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle within a defined time period, such as 120 minutes, which is a configurable parameter. In accordance with another embodiment, the selection module  224  may be configured to select the SaSi algorithm outside time window (OTW) in an event no SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle within 480 minutes. In accordance with yet another embodiment, the selection module  224  may be configured to select the SaSi algorithm extended time window (EXTW) along with SaSi time-of-day-previous-day (StodP) in an event SaSi vehicles (i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 ) have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  between a time period, such as  120 - 480  minutes, which is a configurable parameter. In accordance with another embodiment, in an event of the absence of toll road or a journey with presence of non-SaSi vehicles (i.e., the second plurality of vehicles  110 ), the tracking system  102  may adopt a non-SaSi approach based on speed differentiable method or speed ratio methods, time window, toll plaza delay and driver characteristics, as described above in non-SaSi algorithms. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the location finder  228 , in conjunction with the ETA prediction module  210  in the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102 , may be configured to provide a current predicted position of the tracked vehicle  106 , represented as geo co-ordinates (latitude, longitude), for plotting on a map. Described below are exemplary operations for such an implementation:
     1: GetLocation request may be serviced while the tracked vehicle  106  has started from the sender location ‘S’ and not reached the receiver location ‘R’. In such a request, various parameters are sent, such as License Plate Number, Start Location, End Location, Route, and Optional Parameters (such as Driver Details: driving license number and authority of issue, and Laden Weight: Full, Half, Empty).   2: When the request is received, the last received Crossing Data may be identified for the tracked vehicle  106 . Crossing data will contain the toll plaza ID ‘n’ where the crossing occurred, timestamp of the crossing, ‘ACT CR_TM[n]’ and License Plate of the tracked vehicle  106 . This represents the most recent status of the tracked vehicle  106  when ETC scan occurred.   3: Database is maintained by the tracking system  102  where the toll plaza ID to geo location mapping is maintained. Such database is looked up and the geo location for toll plaza ID ‘n’ may be retrieved. This represents the last seen location of the tracked vehicle  106 , along with the time at which it was seen.   4: Predicted speed (PS) of the tracked vehicle  106 in the segment [n,n+1] may be determined using the following method:   5: Select a suitable segment algorithm, such as one of SaSiWTW, NonSaSiWTW or ML-Methods, using the selection module  224  for this segment.   6: Determine the Segment time to cross this segment, t[n][n,n+1] using this selected segment algorithm.   7: Retrieve the waiting time (waitTime[n+1]) for vehicles at the next toll plaza n+1.   8: Subtract the waiting time ‘waitTime[n][n+1]’ from Segment time t[n][n,n+1] to arrive at the timeInMotion. This represent the time when the tracked vehicle  106  was driving or InMotion. timeInMotion[n,n+1]=t[n][n,n+1]−waitTime[n][n+1]   9: Find the distance (ds[n,n+1]) between toll plaza ‘n’ and ‘n+1’   10: Divide the distance ‘ds[n,n+1]’ by timeInMotion[n,n+1] to get the predicted speed ( PS[n][n,n+ 1 ]) for the segment [n,n+1] when the tracked vehicle  106  crossed toll plaza ‘n’   11: Find the time when getLocation request was received, ‘curTime’. Subtract crossing time ACT_CT_TM[n] from ‘curTime’ to get the time elapsed (tElapsed) since the crossing, expressed as:   

       tElapsed=curTime−ACT_CT_TM[n]
     12: Multiply the time elapsed with predicted speed to get the distance (dsDuringElapsedTime) travelled by the tracking vehicle  106  after the last crossing, expressed as:   

       dsDuringElapsedTime=tElapsed X PS[n][n,n+1]     13: Mark a point along the toll way, which is dsDuringElapsedTime distance away from the toll plaza ‘n’ which was crossed recently. This point is the current predicted position of the tracked vehicle  106 , named ‘curPos’. It can be represented as geo co-ordinates (latitude, longitude), which will help in plotting it on a map.   
     The proposed system and method for predicting the ETA of vehicles may provide various benefits. For example, as the predicted speed is calculated from same type or similar type of vehicles, the accuracy of the prediction at each toll plaza is higher than other tracking systems. The proposed system has complete data of all freight trucks traversed in a given segment of the toll way ‘W’, in the given time window and hence its accuracy is better than GPS-based system which has only a fraction of that data. Further, for segments which the tracked vehicle  106  crossed in the latest time window, accuracy is the best as it is based on traffic, weather and road conditions which are closest to the tracked vehicle  106 . Moreover, for freight trucks which have RFID tag already installed and registered with ETC, the proposed system will cost very less (one-tenth or lesser) compared to GPS-based system, as there is no device cost and no monthly mobile services cost. The proposed system further provides various validations in real-time by third party with high-integrity (called oracle in blockchain industry) using RFID technology. Examples of such validations may include proof-of-travel, proof-of-route (supply-chain decarbonization), and proof-of-compliance to speed regulations. The proposed system may be an alternate technology to the GPS. It can be used as backup system in mission critical tracking, like military vehicles which are critical during GPS blackout. The proposed system is more tamper-proof/hacker-proof relative to GPS. Also, the proposed system is non-intrusive, i.e., no new gadget installation is required. Apart from the above, the proposed system provides better privacy protection and user-authorized data sharing, i.e., vehicle gets tracked only on request. 
       FIG.  3    is a sequence diagram  300  that illustrates the sequence of operations for tracking a tracked vehicle, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG.  3    is described in conjunction with  FIGS.  1 ,  2 A and  2 B . The sequence diagram  300  depicts an exemplary implementation illustrating an interaction between computer systems of stockholders, facilitated by, for example the Internet, short message service (SMS), application programming interface (API) and other communication and messaging systems provided by the communication network  114 . There are shown stakeholders  302 , a sender  304 , a receiver  306 , the tracking system  102 , and the ETC system  112 . The tracking system  102  interacts with a computer system of the sender  304  (which may correspond to a company or an individual sending freight to the receiver  306  using services of a cargo carrier) for triggers and notification. Similarly, the tracking system  102  interacts with a computer system of the receiver  306  (which may correspond to a company or an individual receiving freight from the sender  304  using services of the cargo carrier) for triggers and notification. The tracking system  102  further interacts with the ETC system  112  to send ETC scan data in real-time or with small delay. The tracking system  102  further interacts with the stakeholders  302 , such as the data sources  116  and historical databases, to retrieve data to run the algorithm. For example, the ETC system  112  to map RFID to license plate, the DMV system or the DMV  116   d  to map license plate to make, model and year, the VMs  116   c  and the IA/C  116   b  to map make, model and year with vehicle specification. 
     It should be noted that the above components of  FIG.  3    are for exemplary purposes only. Any number of ETC systems, DMVs, vehicle manufacturers and other stakeholders may co-exist in the same deployment of the tracking system  102 , without any deviation from the scope of the disclosure. 
     All the stakeholders  302  have to be registered with the tracking system  102  and obtain credentials to have access to the tracking system  102 . Exchange of messages and requests between computer system of the stakeholders  302  may be implemented using API and notification services commonly used in, for example, distributed software systems. 
     When the tracked vehicle  106  leaves the sender location ‘S’, the sender  304  sends a track request to the tracking system  102  to start tracking, indicated by ‘Si’. This is the first trigger received by the tracking system  102 . The track request may have following information: 1) License plate number; 2) Start Location; 3) End Location; 4) Route containing all Toll Plazas to be crossed; 5) Optional Parameters: RFID tag number; Driver Details: Driving license number and authority of issue; Laden Weight: Full, Half, Empty; and the like. 
     The tracking system  102  initiates a new trip to track the tracked vehicle  106  and initializes variables related to this trip. The tracking system  102  sends a request to the ETC system  112  to register the trip, indicated by ‘S 2 ’. 
     The tracking system  102  may initiate an event-driven trigger to run the ETA algorithm every time the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a toll plaza during this trip. It runs the ETA algorithm for the first time with data received as part of the track request from the sender  304 . Accordingly, the ETA prediction module  210  may execute the ETA algorithm and calculate the ETA, ‘ETA_AT[0]’, when the tracked vehicle  106  starts from the sender location ‘ 5 ’, indicated by ‘S 3 ’. Such prediction may be transmitted to the stakeholders  302 , indicated by ‘S 4 ’, who have registered for the ETA. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, when the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a toll plaza in the toll way ‘W’, as indicated by ‘S 5 ’, the tracking system  102  gets a notification from the ETC system  112  and receives crossing data, that includes the toll plaza ID, time stamp and the license plate number. The tracking system  102  may receive the crossing data from the ETC system  112  by various means, such as directly from the ETC system  112  as an authorized agent of vehicle owner, from the vehicle owner once the vehicle owner receives the notification from the ETC system  112 , or from the ETC partners  116   a.    
     Receiving the crossing data from the ETC system  112  may act as a trigger for the tracking system  102  to execute the ETA algorithm by the ETA prediction module  210 , as indicated by ‘S 6 ’. When the crossing data is received from the ETC system, the ETA prediction module  210  in the tracking system  102  executes the ETA algorithm and predicts the ETA at that point in time and transmits the result to all stakeholders who have registered for the ETA, as indicated by ‘S 7 ’. The operations ‘S 5 ’ to ‘S 7 ’ are repeated in a loop every time the ETC system  112  performs the ETC scan in a toll plaza when the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a toll plaza. This loop is repeated till the tracked vehicle  106  reaches the receiver location ‘R’. 
     When the final destination, i.e., the receiver location ‘R’, is reached, the receiver  306  sends a notification to the tracking system  102 , indicated by ‘S 8 ’, based on which the tracking is terminated by the tracking system  102 . The tracking system  102  further transmits a notification to the stakeholders  302 , indicated by ‘S 9 ’, and the ETC system  112 , indicated by ‘S 10 ’, about the termination of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     Steps  51  to S 10  in  FIG.  3    is one possible implementation of the system. In certain other implementations, one or more of these steps may not be needed and hence will not be executed. In other implementations, few more steps in addition to the ten steps may be needed based on the different scenarios. 
     It should be noted that the ETA algorithm is triggered by events happening in three locations, i.e., the sender location ‘ 5 ’, the receiver location ‘R’ and the plurality of toll plazas  104 . Aforesaid is one exemplary way to implement an event-driven algorithm. 
       FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  depict flowcharts  400 A and  400 B respectively, that collectively illustrate exemplary operations for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.  FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  are described in conjunction with  FIGS.  1 ,  2 A,  2 B, and  3   . 
     Referring to  FIG.  4 A , at  402 , current system data and time of a start of a trip for the tracked vehicle  106  from the sender location ‘S’ may be obtained and ‘n’ may be initiated to zero. In accordance with an embodiment, the tracking system  102  may be configured to obtain the current system data and time of the start of the trip for the tracked vehicle  106  from the sender location ‘S’ of the sender  304 . The tracking system  102  may be configured to initiate ‘n’ to zero, where ‘n’ corresponds to and n corresponds to toll plaza ‘n’ where ETC scan is performed. Accordingly, the tracking system  102  may initialize the actual crossing time ‘ACT_CT_TM[0]’, referred to as the parameter type of time, to current system data and time for the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     At  404 , vehicle type factor may be obtained based on the license plate. In accordance with an embodiment, the tracking system  102  may be configured to obtain the vehicle type based on the license plate from Data Sources  116 . In accordance with an embodiment, if one or more SaSi vehicles are available in a time window, then the vehicle type factor may be determined as “SaSi”. In accordance with an embodiment, if one or more SaSi vehicles are not available in the time window, then the vehicle type factor may be determined as “Non-SaSi”. 
     At  406 , the trip may be registered with the ETC system  112  for an ETC scan event based on the license plate of the tracked vehicle  106 . In accordance with an embodiment, the tracking system  102  may be configured to register the trip with the ETC system  112  for an ETC scan event based on the license plate of the tracked vehicle  106 . 
     At  408 , it may be determined whether n&lt;=(endpos- 1 ). In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210  in the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine whether n&lt;=(endpos- 1 ). ‘endpos’ corresponds to position of the receiver  306  with respect to the position of the sender  304 . In accordance with an embodiment, n&lt;=(endpos-1) and the control passes to  410 . In accordance with an embodiment, n&gt;(endpos-1) and the control passes to  438 . 
     At  410 , ‘k’ may be initiated to ‘n’. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210  in the tracking system  102  may be configured to initiate ‘k’ to ‘n’, where ‘k’ corresponds to the toll plaza ‘k’ from where the current segment starts. 
     At  412 , it may be determined whether k&lt;=(end-1). In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210  in the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine whether k&lt;=(end-1). ‘end’ corresponds to endpoint. In accordance with an embodiment, k&lt;=(end-1) and the control passes to  414 . In accordance with an embodiment, k&gt;(end-1) and the control passes to  426 . 
     At  414 , it may be determined whether ‘k’ equals ‘n’. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210  in the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine whether ‘k’ equals ‘n’. In accordance with an embodiment, when ‘k’ equals ‘n’, the control passes to  416 . In accordance with another embodiment, when ‘k’ doesn&#39;t equal ‘n’, the control passes to  418 . 
     At  416 , an error to be factored in this prediction is determined at toll plaza ‘n’. In accordance with an embodiment, the error correction module  220  in the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine an error to be factored into this ETA prediction that will execute when the tracked vehicle  106  crosses this toll plaza ‘n’. The control passes to  420 . The calculated error may be expressed as: 
       ER[n]=corrFac×(ACT_CR[n]−EXP_CR_TM[n−1][n])
 
     with typeOfTime=ACT_CT_TM, and evtTime=ACT_CT_TM[n] and corrFac will indicate the percentage of error that needs to be corrected. Its value will be arrived based on data. 
     At  418 , an error is determined to be as zero. In accordance with an embodiment, the error correction module  220  in the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine an error to be zero. The control passes to  420 . The calculated error may be expressed as: 
       ER[n]=0,     with typeOfTime=EXP CR_TM, and   evtTime=EXP_CR_TM[n][k]   
     At  420 , a segment algorithm may be selected for a current segment. In accordance with an embodiment, the selection module  224  in the computation module  102   a  of the tracking system  102  may be configured to select segment algorithm for the current segment. The segment algorithm may be selected by the selection module  224  based on various parameters, such as Method (“Statistical” or “Machine Learning”), Location (Sender Location ‘ 5 ’, Receiver Location ‘R’, Toll Plaza ID−‘n’), TypeofTime(Actual crossing time (ACT_CT_TM), Expected crossing time (EXP_CR_TM) of event), EventTime (Date and Time at which the event occurred along with time zone, LicensePlate (License Plate number of the tracked vehicle  106 , VehicleAttributes (such as, technical specification of vehicle containing, Single Chassis/Tractor-trailer, Number of axles, Number of tyres, turning radius, and the like, as enlisted in Table 1), and Optional Parameters (such as RFID Tag, Driver Details, and Laden Weight). 
     At  422  ( FIG.  4 B ), the ETA time for the current segment may be predicted. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to predict the ETA time for the current segment. In accordance with an embodiment, the predict the ETA time may be expressed as: 
         t [ n ][ k,k+ 1]=SegAlgo0+DRC_DEV[ n− 1][ n ]+ETC_DEV[ n +1]+ER[ n],    
     where SegAlgo( )=AlgoSelector(method, TypeOfTime=typeOfTime, Location=n, Segment=[k, k+1], EventTime=evtTime, VehicleAttributes=vehicleAttributes, OptionalParams=opts)
     SegAlgo( ) corresponds to the SaSi and Time window impact,   AlgoSelector( )corresponds to the selection module  224 ,   typeOfTime=ACT_CT_TM, evtTime=ACT_CT_TM[n], ER[n] 32  ACT_CT_TM[n]   EXP_CR_TM[n−1][k]if k==n, else typeOfTime=EXP_CR_TM, evtTime=   EXP_CR_TM[n][k], ER[n]=0,   DRC_DEV[n−1][n] corresponds to the driver characteristics,   ETC DEV[n+1] corresponds to the delay in next toll plaza, and   ER[n] corresponds to the error correction.   

     At  424 , expected crossing time at the next ETC may be calculated. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to calculate the expected crossing time at the next ETC. The calculation may be expressed as: 
       EXP_CR_TM[ n ][ k +1]=EXP_CR_TM[ n ][ k ]+ t [ n ][ k,k +1] 
     The expected crossing time at the next ETC may be calculated and control passes to  412  ( FIG.  4 A ) by incrementing the value of by value of  1 , and the loop continues until k&gt;(end- 1 ). 
     At  426 , expected time of arrival at the end point may be predicted when the tracked vehicle is at n. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to predict the expected time of arrival at the end point when the tracked vehicle is at n, which may be expressed as: 
       ETA_AT_[ n ]=EXP_CR_TM[ n ] [endpoint-1] 
     At  428 , notification may be sent to all stakeholders registered for ETA. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to send notification to all stakeholders registered for ETA. 
     At  430 , crossing or REACHED notification may be awaited for the next toll plaza. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to wait for crossing or REACHED notification for the next toll plaza, which may be expressed as: 
       evt=waitForEvent( ) 
     At  432 , when an event is received it may be determined if it is a crossing or REACHED event. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine that the event is crossing, and the control passes to  434 . In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to determine that the event is REACHED, and the control passes to  438 . 
     At  434 , crossing data may be updated. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to update the crossing data based on the following expression: 
       crossingData=evt.crossingData 
     Control is passed to  436  after incrementing the value of ‘n’ by 1. 
     At  436 , Crossing Time, ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’, may be updated. In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to update the crossing time based on the following expression: 
       ACT_CT_TM[n]=crossingData.crossingTime 
     Crossing Time, ‘ACT_CT_TM[n]’, may be updated and the control passes back to  408  ( FIG.  4 A , and the loop continues until n&gt;(endpos- 1 ). 
     At  438 , REACHED notifications may be sent to registered stakeholders  302 . In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to send REACHED notifications to registered stakeholders  302 . 
     At  440 , ETC scan event may be deRegistered with the ETC system  112 . In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210 , in conjunction with the computation module  102   a , of the tracking system  102  may be configured to deRegister with the ETC system  112  for ETC scan event. Accordingly, the tracking of the tracked vehicle  106  may be terminated. 
       FIG.  5    is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a system employing a processing system for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG.  5   , the hardware implementation shown by a representation  500  for the tracking system  102  employs a processing system  502  for predicting ETA of vehicles, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, as described herein. 
     In some examples, the processing system  502  may comprise a hardware processor  504 , a non-transitory computer readable medium  506 , a bus  508 , a bus interface  510 , and a transceiver  512 . The processing system  502  may further comprise the mobile interface  202 , the web interface  204 , the communication channel  206 , the web server  208 , the computation module  102   a , the ETA prediction module  210 , the TPF determination module  218 , the error correction module  220 , the driver factor determination module  222 , the selection module  224 , the segment computation module  226 , the location finder  228 , and the privacy protection module  230 , as described in detail in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B . 
     The hardware processor  504  may be configured to manage the bus  508  and general processing, including the execution of a set of instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium  506 . The set of instructions, when executed by the hardware processor  504 , causes the tracking system  102  to execute the various functions described herein for any particular apparatus. The hardware processor  504  may be implemented, based on a number of processor technologies known in the art. Examples of the hardware processor  504  may be a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, and/or other processors or control circuits. 
     The non-transitory computer readable medium  506  may be used for storing data that is manipulated by the hardware processor  504  when executing the set of instructions. The data is stored for short periods or in the presence of power. The non-transitory computer readable medium  506  may also be configured to store data for one or more of the mobile interface  202 , the web interface  204 , the communication channel  206 , the web server  208 , the computation module  102   a , the ETA prediction module  210 , the TPF determination module  218 , the error correction module  220 , the driver factor determination module  222 , the selection module  224 , the segment computation module  226 , the location finder  228 , and the privacy protection module  230 . 
     The bus  508  is configured to link together various circuits. In this example, the tracking system  102  employing the processing system  502  and the non-transitory computer readable medium  506  may be implemented with bus architecture, represented generally by bus  508 . The bus  508  may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific implementation of the tracking system  102  and the overall design constraints. The bus interface  510  may be configured to provide an interface between the bus  508  and other circuits, such as, the transceiver  512 , and external devices, such as the ETC system  112 , the data sources  116 , and the vehicle owners  118 . 
     The transceiver  512  may be configured to provide the tracking system  102  with various other apparatus, such as the external devices. The transceiver  512  may communicate via wireless communication with networks, such as the Internet, the Intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN). The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communication standards, protocols and technologies, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Long Term Evolution (LTE), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and/or Wi-MAX. 
     It should be recognized that, in some embodiments of the disclosure, one or more components of  FIG.  5    may include software whose corresponding code may be executed by at least one processor, for across multiple processing environments. For example, the mobile interface  202 , the web interface  204 , the communication channel  206 , the web server  208 , the computation module  102   a , the ETA prediction module  210 , the TPF determination module  218 , the error correction module  220 , the driver factor determination module  222 , the selection module  224 , the segment computation module  226 , the location finder  228 , and the privacy protection module  230  may include software that may be executed across a single or multiple processing environments. 
     In an aspect of the disclosure, the hardware processor  504 , the non-transitory computer readable medium  506 , or a combination of both may be configured or otherwise specially programmed to execute the operations or functionality of the mobile interface  202 , the web interface  204 , the communication channel  206 , the web server  208 , the computation module  102   a , the ETA prediction module  210 , the TPF determination module  218 , the error correction module  220 , the driver factor determination module  222 , the selection module  224 , the segment computation module  226 , the location finder  228 , and the privacy protection module  230 , or various other components described herein, as described with respect to FIGs. lA to  3 . 
     Various embodiments of the disclosure comprise the tracking system  102  that may be configured to predict the ETA for vehicles, such as the tracked vehicle  106 . The tracking system  102  may comprise, for example, the mobile interface  202 , the web interface  204 , the communication channel  206 , the web server  208 , the computation module  102   a , the ETA prediction module  210 , the TPF determination module  218 , the error correction module  220 , the driver factor determination module  222 , the selection module  224 , the segment computation module  226 , the location finder  228 , and the privacy protection module  230 . 
     The scanning module  113  installed at a toll plaza for ETC scanning the tracked vehicle  106  and same and similar (SaSi) vehicles crossing the toll plaza. The SaSi vehicles, i.e., the first plurality of vehicles  108 , are identified based on a plurality of predetermined factors. The plurality of predetermined factors may comprise driver characteristics that determine deviation of a driver from an average speed in an upstream segment for addition to predicted value in downstream segments, and delay at toll plaza. 
     The computation module  102   a  may be configured to compute a segment time for plurality of segments from time difference between the ETC scans in two consecutive toll plazas for the SaSi vehicles moving ahead of the tracked vehicle. the segment time is computed based on a defined criteria. the defined criteria comprises at least a method, a vehicle type, a time window, and one or more features, wherein each segment from the plurality of segments is defined between a starting point and a final destination of a vehicle journey with a toll plaza at beginning and end of the segment 
     The computation module  102   a  may be configured to compute the segment time for the plurality of segments in an event of presence of non-SaSi vehicles or absence of toll road. in an event of the absence of toll road or a journey with presence of non-SaSi vehicles, a non-SaSi approach is adopted based on speed differentiable method or speed ratio methods, time window, toll plaza delay and driver characteristics. 
     The computation module  102   a  may be configured to compute the error at a first segment of the two successive segments based on correction factor derived from actual crossing time and expected crossing time, and factor the computed error in predicting arrival at second successive segment. 
     The computation module  102   a  may be further configured to compute the segment time based on actual driving time along with actual waiting time of the SaSi vehicles at the toll plaza. In accordance with an embodiment, the SaSi vehicles travelling in same segment time under similar weather, traffic and road conditions in the same time window are tracked. In accordance with an embodiment, the SaSi vehicles are moving ahead of the tracked vehicle by at least one toll plaza. In an event vehicles are outside the same time window, the SaSi vehicles are identified from the vehicles based on vehicle characteristics, segment of toll way, and traveling time with differential weights assigned for different time windows. In accordance with an embodiment, the SaSi vehicles are identified based on the predetermined factors through statistical methods or machine learning algorithms such as time series analysis. 
     The segment computation module  226  is selected using the selection module  224  for determining predicted traveling time based on method, location, actual or expected crossing time, event time, license plate of vehicle, features of the tracked vehicle  106 , or other parameters. the features comprise of segment ID, vehicle attributes, time, traffic, weather, road conditions, toll plaza condition, driver characteristics and events impacting road traffic. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, SaSi algorithm within time window (WTW) of the computing module is selected in an event the SaSi vehicles have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle within a configurable time period. In accordance with an embodiment, a SaSi algorithm outside time window (OTW) of the computing module is selected in an event no SaSi vehicles have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle within a configurable time period. In accordance with an embodiment, a SaSi algorithm extended time window (EXTW) along with SaSi time-of-day-previous-day (StodP) of the computing module is selected in an event SaSi vehicles have moved ahead of the tracked vehicle between a configurable time range. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, a crossing lag is computed based on current time and expected crossing time, and wherein in an event the crossing lag is between a configurable time range, at least a first weight is assigned to timethruextendedTW algorithm and a second weight is assigned to the StodP algorithm. In an event the crossing lag is between a configurable time range, at least a first weight is assigned to the timethruextendedTW algorithm and a second weight is assigned to the StodP algorithm. 
     In accordance with an embodiment, the ETA prediction module  210  may be configured to predict the ETA of the tracked vehicle  106  based on the computed segment time and periodic error correction module between successive segments. 
     Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the non-transitory computer readable medium  506 , having stored thereon, computer implemented instruction that when executed by a processor causes the tracking system  102  to execute operations to predict ETA of vehicles. The proposed system may execute operations comprising scanning a tracked vehicle and same and similar (SaSi) vehicles crossing a toll plaza. The SaSi vehicles are identified based on a plurality of predetermined factors. The tracking system  102  may execute operations comprising computing a segment time for plurality of segments from time difference between the ETC scans in two consecutive toll plazas for the SaSi vehicles moving ahead of the tracked vehicle. The segment time is computed based on a defined criteria. The tracking system  102  may further execute operations comprising computing the segment time for the plurality of segments in an event of presence of non-SaSi vehicles or absence of toll road. The tracking system  102  may further execute operations comprising predicting the ETA of the tracked vehicle based on the computed segment time and periodic error correction module between successive segments 
     The proposed system and method for predicting the ETA of vehicles may provide two solutions as described above. The two solutions are ETA Solution and Location Solution that may be used in the following scenarios as a primary tracking method for the tracked vehicle  106 . The two solutions may be further used as a secondary tracking method for the tracked vehicle  106 , playing the backup role during GPS outages. The two solutions may be further used as an auditing tool to validate the GPS method, when a new vendor is on-boarded or new scenarios arises in the workflow. 
     As described above, the existing conventional solutions have many disadvantages in tracking system. For example, algorithms use general data instead of specific data for the type of vehicle being tracked, important data can&#39;t be accessed in real-time, and technology limitations. The proposed system and method overcome such challenges and provide two solutions — the ETA Solution and the Location Solution that are based on a unique combination of data fusion, and real-time data collection combined with an algorithm, which enhances the accuracy of ETA. 
     The proposed solution predicts the time taken to cross a given toll way segment, by a set of SaSi vehicles, which are similar to the tracked vehicle  106 . This segment time taken from this focussed group of freight trucks, i.e., the set of SaSi vehicles, will be the closest time for the tracked vehicle  106  to cross this particular segment. Prediction can be based on either real-time data for the SaSi vehicles or historical data available for them. In addition, it observes the driver characteristics in the segments already crossed(upstream) at any point of time, and factors that behaviour into the segments yet to be crossed (downstream). Further, the tracking system  102  calculates the segment time, by taking time difference between ETC scans in two consecutive poll plaza for the SaSi vehicles moving ahead of the tracked vehicle  106  and uses that time to calculate ETA for the tracked vehicle  106 . This approach is more accurate than other GPS-based algorithms because it takes actual driving time plus the actual waiting time in the toll plaza, in the same time window. The proposed solution involves acquiring data from multiple sources and running the prediction algorithm every time the tracked vehicle  106  crosses a toll plaza. Further, ETC scan timestamps for the tracked vehicle  106  and SaSi may be obtained on a real-time basis only with data sharing arrangement with ETC or its partners. While other methods have taken traffic condition (historical and current), road condition (historical and current), weather condition (historical and current), driver profile and mood, no other system has taken vehicle characteristics, concept of similar vehicles, its current condition, weight being carried, and the like, as considered by the proposed solution. As the proposed system has access to characteristics of the tracked vehicle  106 , SaSi vehicles and driver pattern for the trip, it takes this specific information and calculates the ETA. Hence its prediction accuracy at every toll plaza crossing is more than other conventional tracking system which do not have this data. It achieves a better performance at a fractional cost of GPS-based system. 
     As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer to physical electronic components (for example, hardware) and any software and/or firmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware, and/or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As used herein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise a first “circuit” when executing first one or more lines of code and may comprise a second “circuit” when executing second one or more lines of code. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example” set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform a function whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and/or code (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by some user-configurable setting. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., ASICs, by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any nontransitory form of computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action. 
     Another embodiment of the disclosure may provide a non-transitory machine and/or computer readable storage and/or media, having stored thereon, a machine code and/or a computer program having at least one code section executable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machine and/or computer to perform the operations as described herein for predicting ETA of vehicles. 
     The present disclosure may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to conduct these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, either statically or dynamically defined, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form. 
     Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, algorithms, and/or operations described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or combinations thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and operations have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in firmware, hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination thereof. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, physical and/or virtual disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, virtualized system, or device such as a virtual servers or container, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is communicatively coupled to the processor (including logic/code executing in the processor) such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. 
     While the present disclosure has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be noted understood by, for example, those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications could be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined, for example, in the appended claims. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from its scope. The functions, operations and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.