CUTR Researchers Awarded Patent on Real-Time Travel Path Prediction and Automated Incident Alerts

On October 1, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent US 8,548,724 – System and Method for Real-time Travel Path Prediction and Automated Incident Alerts – to a team of researchers from the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida.  The patent covers a path prediction method that uses a commuter’s travel patterns to predict their route and destination and transmits road advisories via a GPS-enabled device. Once the user’s location data is transmitted via a GPS-enable device it is then cataloged and stored in a GIS database. The user’s current travel path is then compared to their path history and statistics and a destination is determined based on related spatial and time properties. A warning is then automatically delivered to the user if there is an accident along their predicted path, without requiring any request of input from the user. For more information, contact Sean Barbeau at barbeau@cutr.usf.edu