Patent ID: 8463642

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of identifying a vehicle in a toll system, the method comprising: accessing image data for a first vehicle; obtaining license plate data from the accessed image data for the first vehicle; accessing a set of records that include license plate data for vehicles; executing, using at least one processing device, a loosened license plate reading algorithm to: compare the license plate data for the first vehicle with the license plate data for vehicles in the set of records, and identify a set of vehicle candidates from the vehicles having records in the set of records, the identified set of vehicle candidates excluding at least one vehicle having a record in the set of records and the set of vehicle candidates being identified based on results of the comparison of the license plate data, wherein the loosened license plate reading algorithm includes loosened license plate matching criteria or a lowered license plate read confidence threshold to enable generation of a larger set of matching vehicle candidates relative to a license plate reading algorithm designed to identify a single and best vehicle candidate match; and selecting, from the set of vehicle candidates, a vehicle candidate as corresponding to the first vehicle by: accessing second vehicle identifier data for the first vehicle, the second vehicle identifier data being data for identifying a vehicle that is distinct from license plate data; accessing second vehicle identifier data for a vehicle candidate in the set of vehicle candidates, comparing, using the at least one processing device, the second vehicle identifier data for the first vehicle with the second vehicle identifier data for the vehicle candidate in the set of vehicle candidates, and identifying the vehicle candidate in the set of vehicle candidates as the first vehicle based on results of the comparison of second vehicle identifier data.