Systems and Methods for Shared Parking Permit Violation Detection

Abstract

Provided is a technology that allows, inter alia, two different patrol-vehicles to be used to enforce parking regulations. Unique systems and methods, inter alia, allow a patrol vehicle or the like to collect parking data pertaining to parked vehicles, and to wirelessly transmit such parking data to a server. A later patrol vehicle or the like can wirelessly receive parking data related to parking events related to its parking enforcement situation and determine whether parking violations, such as overtime or permit sharing violations, are occurring using a combination of parking data generated locally and extraneous parking data collected by the previous patrol vehicle.

1 - 26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . A distributed mobile parking enforcement system including a plurality of mobile parking enforcement devices movable to be brought to locations where vehicles are parked to monitor and/or enforce parking regulations, the system comprising:
 at least one first mobile parking enforcement device generating first parking events, each first parking event pertaining to a respective parking instance of a parked vehicle observed by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device and comprising first parking data including at least a vehicle identifier of the parked vehicle and one additional parking parameter observed by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device about the parking instance of the parked vehicle and transmitting the first parking events for storage in a remote parking enforcement server; and   a second mobile parking enforcement device separate from the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device, comprising:
 a wireless interface to obtain, from the remote parking enforcement server, a set of at least one extraneous past parking event taken from the first parking events generated by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device; 
 a data interface communicatively couplable with parking data acquisition hardware to obtain therefrom second parking data pertaining to parked vehicles observed by the parking data acquisition hardware, the second parking data comprising current parking data pertaining to a current parking instance of a nearby parked vehicle and including at least a current vehicle identifier of the nearby parked vehicle and one additional current parking parameter observed by the second mobile parking enforcement device about the current parking instance of the nearby parked vehicle; 
 computer-readable memory storing program instructions; and 
 a processor in communication with the wireless interface, the data interface, and the computer-readable memory. the processor being operable to execute the program instructions for:
 generating a current parking event pertaining to the current parking instance of the nearby parked vehicle using the current parking data; 
 determining a parking violation by searching the set of at least one extraneous past parking event by comparing the current parking event to individual extraneous past parking events in the set of at least one extraneous past parking event to identify amongst the at least one extraneous past parking event of the set a violation parking event for which the vehicle identifier of the violation parking event matches the current vehicle identifier and for which the additional current parking parameter and the additional parameter of the violation parking event indicates a violation of a regulation; and 
 generating a violation event for the nearby parked vehicle and storing the violation event in the computer-readable memory. 
 
   
     
     
         28 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the program instructions for determining a particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device, wherein the wireless interface is to transmit an indication of the particular geographic location to the remote parking enforcement server, and wherein the set of at least one extraneous past event obtained at the wireless interface is selected based on the particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device. 
     
     
         29 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 28 , wherein the data interface is communicatively couplable to a global position system (GPS) unit to obtain therefrom the particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device. 
     
     
         30 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the set of at least one extraneous past parking events generated by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device is selected based on a transmission time of the subset of at least one extraneous past parking event. 
     
     
         31 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the wireless interface is to transmit at least a portion of the violation event to the remote parking enforcement server. 
     
     
         32 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the computer-readable memory comprises a database of parking events, wherein the processor is operable to execute the program instructions for storing the current parking event in the database. 
     
     
         33 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein determining the parking violation comprises:
 comparing, by the processor, the additional parking parameter of the violation parking event and the additional current parking parameter;   generating, by the processor, a tentative violation event based on the result of the comparing and the regulation;   transmitting, by the wireless interface, a request for context data associated with the violation parking event to the parking enforcement server; and   obtaining, by the wireless interface, context data associated with the violation parking event from the parking enforcement server.   
     
     
         34 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 33 , wherein the second mobile parking enforcement device comprises a user interface for providing data to and obtaining input from a user, the user interface to provide at least a portion of the context information to the user and to obtain confirmation that the tentative violation event is a parking violation from the user, wherein the processor being operable to execute the program instructions for determining the parking violation is based at least in part on the confirmation. 
     
     
         35 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the second mobile parking enforcement comprises the parking data acquisition hardware including at least one license plate reader to capture license plate numbers as part of the second parking data pertaining to the parked vehicles observed by the parking data acquisition hardware. 
     
     
         36 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , the second mobile parking device being movable to be brought nearby one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles, wherein:
 the data interface is to obtain from the parking data acquisition hardware subsequent current parking data pertaining to subsequent parking instances of the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles, the subsequent current parking data including at least a subsequent current vehicle identifier for the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles and one subsequent additional current parking parameter observed by the second mobile parking enforcement device about the subsequent parking instances of the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles; and   the processor is to execute the program instructions for generating one or more subsequent current parking events for the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles using the subsequent current parking data.   
     
     
         37 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 36 , wherein determining the parking violation comprises searching the one or more subsequent current parking events by comparing the current parking event to individual subsequent current parking events. 
     
     
         38 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 36 , wherein the wireless interface is to transmit, to the remote parking enforcement server, part or all of the subsequent current parking events. 
     
     
         39 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the wireless interface is to transmit at least a portion of the current parking event generated by the processing device to the remote parking enforcement device. 
     
     
         40 . The parking enforcement system of  claim 27 , wherein the second mobile parking enforcement device comprises a user interface for providing data to and obtaining input from a user, wherein the processor is operable to execute the program instructions for:
 causing the user interface to display image data associated with the current parking event and the violation parking event;   obtaining, via the user interface, user input indicative of a confirmation of a match in the image data;   wherein determining the parking violation is based at least in part on the confirmation.   
     
     
         41 . A method for performing parking enforcement using a distributed mobile parking enforcement system including a plurality of mobile parking enforcement devices movable to be brought to locations where vehicles are parked to monitor and/or enforce parking regulations, the method comprising:
 generating, using at least one first mobile parking enforcement device, first parking events, each first parking event pertaining to a respective parking instance of a parked vehicle observed by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device and comprising first parking data including at least a vehicle identifier of the parked vehicle and one additional parking parameter observed by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device about the parking instance of the parked vehicle and transmitting the first parking events for storage in a remote parking enforcement server; and   obtaining, at a wireless interface of a second mobile parking enforcement device separate from the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device, a set of at least one extraneous past parking event taken from the first parking events generated by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device;   obtaining, at a data interface of the second mobile parking enforcement device, second parking data from parking data acquisition hardware communicatively couplable to the data interface, the second parking data pertaining to parked vehicles observed by the parking data acquisition hardware and comprising current parking data pertaining to a current parking instance of a nearby parked vehicle and including at least a current vehicle identifier for the nearby parked vehicle and one additional current parking parameter observed by the second mobile parking enforcement device about the current parking instance of the nearby parked vehicle;   generating a current parking event for the nearby parked vehicle using the current parking data;   determining a parking violation by searching the set of at least one extraneous past parking event by comparing the current parking event to individual extraneous past parking events in the set of at least one extraneous past parking event to identify amongst the at least one extraneous past parking event of the set a violation parking event for which a vehicle identifier of the violation parking event matches the current vehicle identifier and for which the additional current parking parameter and an additional parameter of the violation parking event indicates a violation of a rule; and   generating a violation event for the nearby parked vehicle and storing the violation event in a computer-readable memory.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising:
 determining a particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device; and   transmitting, by the wireless interface, an indication of the particular geographic location to the remote parking enforcement server;   wherein the set of at least one extraneous past event obtained at the wireless interface is selected based on the particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein determining the particular geographic location of the second mobile parking enforcement device comprises obtaining, at the data interface of the second mobile parking enforcement device, the particular geographic location from a global position system (GPS) unit. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein the set of at least one extraneous past parking events generated by the at least one first mobile parking enforcement device is selected based on a transmission time of the subset of at least one extraneous past parking event. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising transmitting, by the wireless interface, at least a portion of the violation event to the remote parking enforcement server. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising storing the current parking event in a database of the computer-readable memory. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein determining the parking violation comprises:
 comparing, by the processor, the additional parking parameter of the violation parking event and the additional current parking parameter;   generating, by the processor, a tentative violation event based on the result of the comparing and the regulation;   transmitting, by the wireless interface, a request for context data associated with said particular extraneous past parking event to said parking enforcement server; and   obtaining, by the wireless interface, context data associated with the violation parking event from said parking enforcement server.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , comprising:
 providing, via a user interface for providing data to and obtaining input from a user, at least a portion of the context information to the user and to obtain confirmation that the tentative violation event is a parking violation from the user; and   wherein determining the parking violation is based at least in part on the confirmation.   
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein obtaining second parking data from the parking data acquisition hardware comprises capturing, by at least one license plate reader, license plate numbers as part of the second parking data pertaining to the parked vehicles observed by the parking data acquisition hardware. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising:
 moving the second mobile parking device nearby to one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicle;   obtaining, at the data interface and from the parking data acquisition hardware, subsequent current parking data pertaining to subsequent parking instances of the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles, the subsequent current parking data including at least a subsequent current vehicle identifier for the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles and one subsequent additional current parking parameter observed by the second mobile parking enforcement device about the subsequent parking instances of the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles; and   generating one or more subsequent current parking events for the one or more subsequent nearby parked vehicles using the subsequent current parking data.   
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein determining the parking violation comprises searching the one or more subsequent current parking events by comparing the current parking event to individual subsequent current parking events. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 50 , comprising transmitting, by the wireless interface, part or all of the subsequent current parking events to the remote parking enforcement server. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising transmitting, by the wireless interface, at least a portion of said current parking event generated by the processing device to the remote parking enforcement server. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 41 , comprising:
 causing a user interface of the second mobile parking enforcement device to display image data associated with the current parking event and the violation parking event;   obtaining, via the user interface, user input indicative of a confirmation of a match in said image data;   wherein determining the parking violation is based at least in part on the confirmation.