Patent ID: 8768753

Claim:
A method for providing third-party-operated vehicle users an automatic toll service utilizing vehicle license plate information, the method comprising: transferring license plate numbers of third-party-operated vehicles from a third party entity computer to a toll authority computer via a toll rental entity computer; sending, from the toll rental entity computer to the toll authority computer, pre-payment for future toll usage by third-party-operated vehicles, wherein the pre-payment is sent by the toll rental entity computer to the toll authority computer prior to the third-party-operated vehicles using the toll authority; capturing, via an image capture module at the toll authority, license plate images of vehicles using the toll authority; extracting, via the image capture module, license plate numbers from the captured license plate images; receiving a service request, wherein the service request comprises subscription for the automatic toll service with the toll authority by the third-party-operated vehicles for which license plate numbers have been transferred to the toll authority; determining, by the toll authority, if the extracted license plate numbers match the license plate numbers of the third-party-operated vehicles associated with the service request; and responsive to a determination that the extracted license plate numbers match the license plate numbers of the third-party-operated vehicles associated with the service request, sending toll usage data associated with the license plate numbers of the third-party-operated vehicles for billing.