Other

Yada Schneider

Ian A McDonald

A method for remotely monitoring and managing the operation of fare charging passenger carrying vehicles forming elements of a transportation system. The method is carried out as each vehicle travels a route to pick up and deliver passengers having previously established passenger accounts. The method comprises the steps of maintaining a wireless two-way data link between each vehicle and a system control center having stored passenger account data and maintaining a two-way data link between the system control center and a system management center to allow the system management center to exchange data with the system control center and with each vehicle. A fare charge schedule defining fare charges based on designated criteria is transferred from the system management center to the system control center. The identity of each passenger boarding each vehicle is transmitted to the system control center where the passenger identity is matched with the related passenger account within the system control center. An appropriate fare charge is assessed against the passenger account. A passenger account status report is then transmitted to the vehicle indicating that the fare charge has been accepted or declined. Vehicle passenger boarding is controlled in response to receipt of the passenger status report.

Real time internet-based transit management and control system with wireless vehicular data link

A card-based system electronically transfers funds in real time. A customer card stores digital data representing a unique customer account number associated with a unique, remotely located customer account having at least one vendor-associated subaccount. A merchant terminal having a merchant IP address designating a unique merchant is affiliated with at least one unique vendor for transmitting to a system control center customer transaction data including the merchant IP address, the customer account number read from the customer card and account adjustment data designating either the value of a credit to be added to the vendor-associated subaccount reflecting a customer pre-payment or the value to be subtracted from the vendor-associated customer subaccount reflecting a customer purchase. The system control center maintains a vendor account database and a customer account database. The customer account database associates each customer account number with the unique customer account number, stores the subaccount credit balance corresponding to the specified vendor, receives the customer transaction data transmitted by the merchant terminal, adjusts the customer subaccount value up or down in response to the customer transaction data, transmits to the merchant terminal customer account status information and adjusts the vendor account database to reflect credits resulting from vendor-associated customer transactions.

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Camp Verde, AZ, United States of America

Yada Schneider