Patent ID: 8606625

Claim:
A method for determining a variable toll for a toll road comprising: determining for a plurality of point-to-point travel segments on a toll road: a plurality of baseline point-to-point traffic volumes; a plurality of baseline point-to-point tolls; and a plurality of baseline point-to-point toll adjustments predicated upon a plurality of instantaneous point-to-point traffic volume deviations from the plurality of baseline point-to-point traffic volumes; determining for the toll road a particular instantaneous point-to-point traffic volume for a particular target vehicle exiting from a particular point-to-point travel segment, said instantaneous point-to-point traffic volume determining based on an effective time interval determined by a distance traveled by the particular target vehicle and an arbitrary vehicular speed; determining for the particular point-to-point travel segment an instantaneous point-to-point toll based upon the baseline point-to-point toll and a baseline point-to-point toll adjustment predicated upon the particular instantaneous point-to-point traffic volume; and applying the instantaneous point-to-point toll to the particular target vehicle, wherein a programmed processor device performs one or more said determining said particular instantaneous point-to-point traffic volume for a particular target vehicle, said determining for the particular point-to-point travel segment an instantaneous point-to-point toll, and said applying.