Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION TOR
CONSUMER DRIYINGACTIVITY SURVEY
FI . D gF TH); INVEN'rr~rr'
The present invention pertains generally to obtaining market research
information, and, more particularly, to collecting data involving the driving
activity of
consumers fox use in obtaining market research information.
13ACKGROUN]Z ART
The science of market research makes use of a variety of techniques to obtain
statistical information on various markets to support business acrd
governmental
decisions. One such market research technique, commonly referred, to as a
"consumer
panel," involves the recruitment of a group of consumers who provide
information on
the attitudes and purchasing behavior of consumers. Consumer panels are used
in a
variety of industries such as automotive, packaged goods, media and
communications,
health care, financial services, and telecommunications, in order to develop
more
effective sales and marketing strategies. Likewise, governmental agencies use
consumer panels in connection with planning with respect to public services
and
policies and infrastructure utilization and design.
Statistical information concerning automobile or other motor vehicle use by ~a
group of consumer drivers over time on a trip-by-trip basis would be of value
to many
commercial enxerprises and governmental authorities. However, as a practical
matter,
conventional consumer-panel market-research techniques are not suitable
fox'obtaining
consumer driving-activity information longitudinally over time. In principle,
members
of a consumer panel of consumer drivers could be provided with vehicle-use
survey
diaries in which to record data pertaining to each instance of their use of a
vehicle over
a prescribed term for a longitudinal survey. However, because of the volume of
driving-activity data which would be desired to be recorded in survey diaries
for each
segment of each trip - identity of driver, starting point, destination,
purpose of trip,
time of day, date, mileage, routes taken, and speeds driven on the various
xoutes taken
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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- recording all of the desired data accurately would be highly burdensome to
the
members of the panel, particularly over the extended period of time desirable
for a
longitudinal statistical survey. Panel members would likely resort to
recording driving-
activity data in the survey diaries on a "iecall" basis after completion of a
multi-
segment trip, which could tend to bias trip-segment data systematically and
thus reduce
the value of statistical information derived from the data. Moreover, only the
most
motivated panel member would be expected to take the trouble to record driving-
activity data diligently for each trip segment over the term of the
longitudinal survey,
even on an after-the-trip recall basis. Unless the panel members were provided
with
sufficient incentives to motivate them to record the desired data diligently,
the accuracy
and completeness of the driving-activity data recorded in the survey diaries
would be
suspect and consequently of little value. On the other hand, if the panel
members were
provided with incentives sufficiently great to motivate them to record the
desired data
diligently for each segment of each trip over the survey term, the incentives
could tend
to influence the driving acfivities of the panel members, which could tend to
bias
statistical information derived from driving-activity data in the survey
diaries and
thereby diminish the value of the information.
A report dated October 1997 entitled "User's Guide for the Public Use Data
Files, 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey," ("the NPTS Report")
prepared by the Research Triangle Institute under the sponsorship of the
Federal
Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation,
describes a
cross-sectional survey of daily personal travel in the United States. The
survey
included data on daily trips of a random sample of the civilian, non-
institutionalized
;~.r., .
population of the United States. According to the report, the data on daily
trips
included the purpose of the trip; the means of transport used; how long the
trip took;
the time of day and day of the week the trip took place; and, if the trip was
in a private
vehicle, the number of people in the vehicle; the age, sex, worker status, and
education
level of the driver; the make, model, and model year of the vehicle; and the
amount of
miles driven in a year by the vehicle. The survey data was collected by
selecting
2
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telephone numbers at random and, by an initial telephone interview,
determining if the
telephone number was that of a household. For each household thus selected
rmdomly, data concerning characteristics of household members and household
vehicles was collected in the initial telephone interview, travel diaries for
each
household member five years of age and older were sent by mail to the
household, and
the household assigned a travel day. The travel diary called for recording
data
concerning each trip taken by the household member assigned the diary on the
travel
day, as well as data concerning each trip of 75 miles or more one way taken in
a two-
week period ending on the travel day. The data recorded in the travel diaries
were
collected by telephone interviews with the household members within six days
of the
travel day. Twice for each of the vehicles of the household, a household
member
provided an odometer reading and the date of the reading by telephone
interview, once
at about Lhe time the data in the travel diaries was collected and once again
two to six
months lacer.
1'he NPTS Report included a number of tables presenting various statistical
analyses of the data collected in the cross-sectional survey. Tables I through
III below
are taken from the NPTS Report - with footnotes omitted - and provide
illustrations of
consumer driving-activity information obtained by conventional survey
techniques.
3
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TABLE I (Prior Art)
ANNUAL VEHICLE TRIPS, VEHICLE MILES OF TRAVEL,
PERSON TRIPS, PERSON MILES OF TRAVEL, BY TRIP PURPOSE PER
HOUSEHOLD
VEHICLE PERSON
VEHICLE MILES PER$ON MILES
URPOSE. TRIPS OF TRIPS OP'
TRAVEL TRAVEL
EARNING A LIVING
To or from Work 553 6,492 676 7,740
Work Related Business 80 1,393 100 1,987
Subtotal 633 7,885 776 9,727
FAMILY AND PERSONAL
BUSINESS
Shopping ,501 2,807 775 4,660
Doctor/Dentist 33 309 56 533
Other Family Business 626 . 4,307 924 6,849
Subtotal 1,160 7,423 1,755 12,042
SCHOOL & CHURCH
Subtotal 98 791 337 1,973
SOCIAL & RECREATIONAL '
Vacation 2 205 8 578
Visiting Friends/Family~ 155 1,971 314 3,867
Other Social/Reareational.269 2,588 631 6,128
Subtotal 426 4,764 953 10,573
'
MISCELLANEOUS
Other ~ , 2 28 6 131
Purpose Not Reported 0 4 1 ,.~,.,,
18
Subtotal 2 32 7 ~ 149
TOTAL 2,321 ~ 20,895 3,828 34, 463
4
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
The NPTS Report acknowledges that there had been requests for certain data
related to the survey data, but which were not included in the survey. Among
the data
requested but not included were data concerning how travel of sampled
households
changed over time. According to the NPTS Report, the Nationwide Personal
Tractsportation Survey "is a cross-sectional survey, which means that
different
households were selected for the sample each time it is conducted. The
[Nationwide
Personal Transportation Survey] is not currently a longitudinal survey, which
would
involve tracking the same sample households over time." As noted above,
conventional
market survey techniques are impractical for obtaining longitudinal survey
data
concerning consumer driving activity.
United States patent No. 5,406,271 to Sonnendorfer and Wieth ("the
Sonnendorfer and Wieth '271 patent") discloses an infrared communication
system for
shopping carts in a mufti-department self service store. Each shopping cart of
the
system is equipped with a mobile transceiver/display unit which has an
infrared
transceiver, a digital memory, and a display. The mobile transceiver/display
unit can
receive infrared transmissions encoding display informatio~t for storage in
the memory
of the unit and display on the unit's display. Information displayed on the
display of a
mobile transceiver/display unit mounted on a shopping cart can be viewed by a
customer pushing the cart. Each department of the store has a departmental
infrared
transceiver unit with a digital memory located in the department for storing
and
transmitting advertising and other display information specific to the
department for
display on tire mobile transceiver/display units on stropping carts in the
vicinity of the
departmental transceiver unit. The mobile transceiver/display units on the
shopping
carts are adapted to send a confirmation signal back to the departmental
infrared
transceiver unit for storage in the memory of the departmental unit to provide
a record
confirming receipt and display of the display information from the
departmental unit.
As discussed at column 3, lines 6 through 45 of the Sonnendorfer and Wieth
'271
patent, each mobile transceiver/display unit is provided with act identifier
code number
which can be either automatically broadcast or sampled upon activation by the
7
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departmental infrared transceiver units. By recording the code numbers of
system carts
passing in the vicinity of the various departmental transceiver units and the
times the
code numbers were received, the system of the Sonnendorfer and Wieth '271
patent can
determine the route taken by each customer who pushes a shopping cart through
the
store and how long each cart remained in the various departments of the store.
An automatic vehicle location system for fleet management involving the use of
a satellite global positioning system (GPS) is disclosed in United States
patent No.
5,638,077 to Martin ("the Martin '077 patent"). The vehicle location system of
the
patent includes a base station and a fleet of vehicles which can range
throughout a fleet
management area. According to column 5, lines 50 through 59 of the patent,
each fleet
vehicle is equipped with a GPS receiver, a data modem, an antenna, and a
communication network device which can report tracking messages back to the
base
station via the modem. A tracking message from a fleet vehicle includes
identification
of a set of satellite signals received on the GPS receiver in the vehicle.
According to
the Martin '077 patent, the base station can process the information received
from the
fleet vehicle in accordance with an algorithm specified in the patent to
determine the
position of the vehicle to an accuracy of ten meters or better without
imposing an
excessive communications burden on the system.
SL1MMARY OFSH . INV .~rrnN
We have invented a method and system which may be used to obtain consumer
driving-activity market research information accurately and efficiently
employing
automatic vehicle-location tracking gear and which avoids problems of the,
prior art
IlOted above.
The method of the invention for obtaining consumer driving-activity market
research information includes the steps of selecting a plurality of panelists
to form a
consumer driving-activity pastel. . The panelists making up the consumer
driving-
activity panel may be, for example, consumer drivers, trackable motor
vehicles, or
8
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households with consumer drivers. At least one subject trackable motor vehicle
and at
least one subject consumer driver is in association with each panelist of the
consumer
driving-activity panel. The subject consumer driver in association with the
panelist has
use of the subject trackable motor vehicle in association with the panelist.
For
statistical utility, the subject trackable motor vehicles in association with
the panelists
collectively forming the consumer driving-activity panel provide
representatives from a
varied plurality of vehicle-classification categories such as automobiles,
vans, and
sport-utility vehicles. The subject consumer drivers in association with such
panelists
provide representatives from a varied plurality of demographic categories such
as sex,
age groups, and income levels.
The method of the invention includes the additional step oF, for each panelist
in
the consumer driving-activity panel, storing panelist attribute data
corresponding to the
panelist in a data processing system. The panelist attribute data includes
vehicle-
classification data such as manufacturer and vehicle type concerning each
subject
trackable motor vehicle in association with the panelist, and demographic data
such as
sex, age and a representative income level concerning each subject consumer
driver in
association with the panelist.
The method of the invention includes the further steps of, for each subject
trackable motor vehicle and each trip portion of a sample group of trip
portions driven
by the subject trackable motor vehicle, automatically generating tune-
annotated vehicle-
location data approximately tracking the movement of the subject trackable
motor
vehicle during the trip portion by means of automatic vehicle-location
tracking gear on
,'y .P
the subject vehicle and storing the time-annotated vehicle-location data in
digital data
storage. The time-annotated vehicle-location data for the trip portion
comprises a data
sequence encoding successive location coordinates and associated times
approximately
tracking the movement of the subject vehicle during the trip portion.
The method of the invention includes the further step of, for each subject
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WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
trackable motor vehicle and each trip portion of the sample group of trip
portions
driven by the subject vehicle, analyzing time-annotated vehicle-location data.
associated
with the trip portion to generate a set of trip-portion vehicle-use data
including data
encoding the date, the approximate time of day, and the approximate duration
of the
trip portion; the approximate starting point coordinates and the approximate
destination
coordinates of the trip portion; the approximate distance driven by the
subject vehicle
in the trip portion; and a representative approximate speed driven by the
subject vehicle
during the trip portion.
The method of the invention additionally includes the step of, for each
subject
trackable motor vehicle, associating trip-portion vehicle-use data for the
sample group
of trip portions driven by the subject vehicle in the data processing system
with
elements of panelist attribute data corresponding to the panelist of the
consumer
driving-activity panel with which the subject trackable motor vehicle is in
association.
Finally, the method of the invention comprises the step of analyzing
statistically
with the data processing system over a survey group of panelists of the
consumer
driving-activity panel, trip-portion vehicle-use data and associated panelist
attribute data
to obtain consumer driving-activity market research information.
Advantageously, the method of the invention may be used to obtain consumer
driving-activity market research information longitudinally over time.
Preferred consumer driving-activity panels for the method of the invention may
.,t:r ,
be made up of households, trackable motor vehicles, or consumer drivers.
For example, in one preferred method of obtaining consumer driving-activity
market research information of the invention, each panelist of the consumer
driving- .
activity panel is a household. The subject trackable motor vehicle in
association with
the panelist in such preferred method is a motor vehicle of which driver
members of the
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
household have use and the subject consumer driver in association with the
panelist is a
member of the household.
In a second preferred method of the invention, each panelist is a trackable
motor
vehicle. The subject trackable motor vehicle in association with the panelist
in such
preferred method is the trackable-motor-vehicle panelist itself. The subject
consumer
driver in association with the panelist in such method is a consumer driver
having use
of the trackable-motor-vehicle panelist.
In a third preferred method of the invention, each panelist of the consumer
driving-activity panel is a consumer driver. The subject trackable motor
vehicle in
association with the panelist in such method is a trackable motor vehicle of
wluch the
consumer-driver panelist has use. 'The subject consumer driver in association
with the
panelist in such method is the consumer-driver panelist himself or herself.
Preferably, the demographic data concerning each subject consumer driver in
association with a panelist of the consumer driving-activity panel includes
data
encoding the age and the sex of the subject consumer driver, a personal income
level of
the subject consumer driver or a household income level of a household of
which the
subject consumer driver is a member, and an education level and an employment
status
of the subject consumer driver.
Preferably, the vehicle classification data concerning each subject trackable
motor vehicle in association with a panelist of the consumer driving-activity
pmel of
,.t .~.,
the method of the invention includes data encoding a manufacturer and a type
of the
vehicle. Additionally, the vehicle classification data preferably includes the
model of
the vehicle, the year the vehicle was manufactured, whether the vehicle was
purchased
or leased, the year the vehicle was purchased or leased, insurance carrier for
the
vehicle, and an odometer mileage reading for the vehicle together with the
date of the
odometer mileage reading.
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In one particularly preferred embodiment of the method of obtaining consumer
driving-activity market research information of the invention, the automatic
vehicle-
location tracking gear on each subject trackable motor vehicle includes a
global
positioning system ("GPS") satellite receiver for receiving GPS satellite
signals fox
determining location geodetic coordinate data specifying the approximate
location of
the subject vehicle at the time the satellite signals were received.
In one preferred embodiment of the method of obtaining consumer driving-
activity market research information of the invention, the data processing
system is
located in a central station and is in communication with wireless receiver
gear. In
such preferred embodiment, each subject trackable motor vehicle is equipped
with
wireless transmitter gear connected to the automatic vehicle-location tracking
gear.
The steps of automatically generating and storing time-annotated vehicle-
location data
for each subject trackable motor vehicle and each trip portion of the sample
group of
trip portions in such preferred embodiment includes continually transmitting
signals
encoding vehicle-location data generated by means of the automatic vehicle-
location
tracking gear from the wireless transmitter gear on the subject vehicle to the
wireless
receiver gear and storing time-annotated vehicle-location data for the trip
portion in
digital data storage of the data processing system at the central station.
Preferably, the
wireless transmitter gear and the wireless receiver gear constitute elements
of a cellular
telephone system.
In a more preferred embodiment of the invention, each subject trackable motor
vehicle includes read/write data storage facilities on board the vehicle
connected to the
r.
automatic vehicle-location tracking gear. The steps of automatically
generating and
storing time-annotated vehicle-location data for each subject trackable motor
vehicle
and each trip portion of the sample group of trip portions in such preferred
embodiment
includes storing the time-annotated vehicle-location data in tire read/write
data storage
facilities on board the subject vehicle. If, as is preferred, the data
processing system of
such preferred embodiment of the method of the invention is located at a
central
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WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
station, the method preferably further includes a step of, for each subject
trackable
motor vehicle acrd each trip portion of a data-report group of trip portions
driven by the
subject vehicle, transferring time-annotated vehicle-location data
corresponding to the
data-report group of trip portions from the read/wrile data storage facilities
on board
the subject vehicle to the data processing system at the central station.
In one such preferred embodiment involving read/write data storage facilities
on
the subject vehicles, the data storage facilities on board each subject
trackable motor
vehicle is preferably adapted to store time-annotated vehicle-location data in
removable
mass-storage media such as a digital magnetic tape, a floppy magnetic disc, or
a
removable hard magnetic disc and the data processing system in the central
station
includes a removable-media reader for reading the removable mass-storage
media.
Preferably, the step of transferring the time-annotated vehicle-location data
corresponding to the data-report group of trip portions from the read/write
data storage
facilities on the subject vehicle to the data processing system in the central
station in
such embodiment includes the steps of storing such vehicle-location data on
removable
mass-storage media in the read/write data storage facilities, removing the
removable
mass-storage media on which the time-annotated vehicle-location data. was
recorded
from the data-storage facilities on the subject vehicle, transporting the
removable mass-
storage media to the data processing system at the central station, and
reading the
removable mass-storage media at the central station with the removable-media
reader of
the data processing system.
In an alternative one such preferred embodiment involving read/wxile data
;y r.,
storage facilities on board each subject vehicle, the time-annotated vehicle-
location data
may be transferred from the data-storage facilities on the subject vehicle to
the data
processing system in the central station by way of a modem and telephone line
connection.
The representative approximate speed of preferred methods of the invention,
for
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example, may be an approximate average speed or may be an approximate maximum
speed.
Preferably, the step of analyzing time-annotated vehicle-location data
associated
with each trip portion of the sample group of trip portions comprises using
location
coordinates encoded in the data sequence of the time-annotated vehicle-
location data for
the trip portion to access route-designator data in a location-coordinate-
indexed route-
designator table in digital data storage. The route-designator data so
accessed encodes
a designation of a route taken by the subject vehicle in the trip portion.
More ,
preferably, the route-designator data in the route-designator table includes
data
encoding a speed limit associated with the route designated by the route-
designator
data. The representative approximate speed of the trip-portion vehicle-use
data is
preferably an approximate maximum speed driven by the subject trackable motor
vehicle on the route designated by the route-designator data and the step of
analyzing
time-annotated vehicle-location data associated with each trip portion of the
sample
group of trip portions comprises comparing the approximate maximum speed
driven by
the subject vehicle on the route designated by the route-designator data with
the speed
limit associated with the route.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the method of obtaining consumer
driving-activity market research information of the invention, the step of
analyzing
time-armotated vehicle-location data associated with each trip portion of the
sample
group of trip portions Further comprises using destination coordinates of the
trip-portion
vehicle-use data for the trip portion to access location-designator data in a
location-
~.;.,.
coordinate-indexed location-designator table in digital data storage. The
location-
designator data so accessed encodes a name and type or other designation of a
destination of the trip portion.
Preferably, each subject trackable motor vehicle is equipped with a portable
digital computer having a microprocessor, read/write data storage, and
inputloutput
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facilities. The portable computer is connected to the automatic vehicle-
location
tracking gear on board the subject vehicle. Each trip portion of the sample
group of
trip portions essentially constitutes a trip segment extending from a first
vehicle-
stationary condition at a trip-segment starting-point location to a second
vehicle-
stationary condition at a trip-segment.destination location. Preferably, the
method of
the invention further includes the steps of, for each subject trackabJe motor
vehicle and
each trip segment of the sample group of trip segments, outputting a trip-
segment
,;pcSlling prompt message when the vehicle is located at the trip-segment
starting-point
location using the input/output facilities of the portable computer and
storing in the
portable computer a reply to the polling prompt message entered into the
computer
using the input/output facilities of the computer. Preferably, the trip-
segment polling
prompt message for each trip segment of the sample group of trip segments
includes
prompts for identification of the driver of the subject vehicle, any
passengers in the
subject vehicle, and the purpose of the trip segment. The prompt for
identification of
the driver of the subject vehicle preferably includes a driver-choice menu
output using
the input/output facilities of the computer listing each driver who is a
member of a
household with which the subject vehicle is in association. Likewise, the
prompt for
identification of any passengers in the subject vehicle preferably includes a
passenger-
choice menu listing each member of the household, and the prompt for
identification of
the purpose of the trip segment preferably includes a purpose-choice menu
listing
choices for trip-segment purposes. The step of storing a reply to the polling
prompt
message preferably includes storing a choice of driver selected from the
driver-choice
menu, any choices of passenger.selected from the passenger-choice menu, and a
choice
of trip-segment purpose selected from the purpose-choice menu entered using
the
input/output facilities of the computer.
Preferably, the input/output facilities of the portable computer on each
subject
trackable motor vehicle include a visual display output and a manual keyboard
input or
a touchscreen input. More preferably, the input/output facilities of the
portable
computer include an audio speaker output drivable by voice synthesis software
running
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on the computer and a microphone digitizer input adapted to provide digitized
speech
data to speech recognition software running on the computer.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, for each subject trackable motor
vehicle, a starting point location for each grip segment is identified by
manual entry of
a mark-trip-segment-start message into a portable computer on board the
vehicle by the
driver of the vehicle using input/output facilities of the computer at a time
when the
vehicle is stopped just prior to the start of the trip segment. Responsive to
entry of the
~a ~~
a
mark-trip-start-message in the portable computer, starting-point location
coordinates are
determined and a trip-segment polling prompt message is output using the
input/output
facilities of the portable computer.
In a more preferred embodiment of the invention, the starting-point locations
for
trip segments are identified automatically by monitoring a vehicle electric
power system
of each subject trackable motor vehicle. In general, each subject trackable
motor
vehicle has a vehicle electric power system. The vehicle electric power system
is in a
vehicle-electrical-power-on condition when the subject vehicle is being driven
and the
subject vehicle generally is stationary when the vehicle electric power system
is in a
vehicle-electrical-power-off condition. In such preferred embodiment, a
portable
computer on board the subject vehicle is in vehicle-electrical-power-on/off
monitoring
communication with the vehicle electric power system of the vehicle. Such
preferred
method further comprises the steps of monitoring the electric power system of
each
subject traekable motor vehicle with the portable computer on the subject
vehicle to
detect a transition from a vehicle-electrical-power-off condition to a vehicle-
electrical-
power-on condition and, responsive to detecting such power-off to-power-on
transition-
which ordinarily marks the start of a trip segment - outputting the trip-
segment polling
prompt message.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the respective destinations of the
trip segments are identified automatically by monitoring the vehicle electric
power
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system of each subject trackable motor vehicle. In such preferred embodiment,
each
subject trackable motor vehicle is preferably equipped with a portable digilai
computer
having a microprocessor, readlwrite data storage, and input/output facilities.
The
portable computer is connected to the automatic vehicle-location tracking gear
of the
subject vehicle and in vehicle-electric-power-onloff monitoring communication
wilh a
vehicle electric power system of the vehicle. For each subject trackable motor
vehicle
and each trip segment of the sample group for trip segments, such preferred
method
,,.,includes the steps of monitoring the electric power system of each subject
trackable
motor vehicle to detect a transition from a vehicle-electrical-power-on
condition to a
vehicle-electrical-power-off condition and, responsive to detecting uch power-
on-to-
power-off transition which generally marks arrival of a vehicle at a
destination, storing
trip-segment destination location data encoding location coordinates of the
subject
vehicle to define destination coordinates for the trip segment.
Iii an alternative embodiment of the invention, the destinations of trip
segments
are identified by manual entry of mark-trip-segment end messages into a
portable
computer on board each subject vehicle by the driver of the vehicle at times
when the
vehicle is stopped after arriving at a destination.
Preferably, the step of analyzing time-annotated vehicle-location data
associated
with each trip segment of the sample group of trip segments further comprises
using
destination coordinates of the trip-segment vehicle-use data far the trip
segment to seek
location-designator data in a location-coordinate-indexed location-designator
table in
digital data storage of a portable computer on board a subject vehicle. If
found, the
location-designator data encodes a name and type or other designation of a
location far
the destination of the trip segment. In the event no location-designator data
corresponding to the destination coordinates is found in the location-
designator table, a
destination-designation prompt message is preferably output using the
input/output
facilities of the portable computer prompting for identification of a name and
type or
other designation of the destination. Any reply to the destination-designation
prompt
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message is stored in the location=designator table as location-designator data
indexed
with the destination coordinates.
In a particularly preferred method of obtaining consumer driving-activity
market
research information of the invention, the method comprises, the step of, for
each
subject trackable motor vehicle and each trip segment of the sample group of
trip
segments at the trip-segment destination location, using destination
coordinates of the
tripTsegment vehicle-use data for the trip segment to access location-
designator data in a
location-coordinate-indexed location-designator table in a portable computer
on board
the subject vehicle. The location-designator data so accessed encodes a name
and type
designation for the destination of the trip segment. The input/output
facilities of the
portable computer are used to output a destination-activity prompt message
corresponding to the destination designated by the location-designator data
prompting
for information concerning, activities carried out at the destination. Any
reply to the
destination-activity prompt message entered into the portable computer using
the
input/output facilities of the computer is stored in the computer.
Preferably, if the destination designated is a retail store, the destination-
activity
prompt message corresponding to the destination preferably comprises a prompt
for any
amount of money spent at the store. If the destination designated is a
shopping center,
the destination-activity prompt message corresponding to the destination
designated
'0 preferably includes prompts for identification of any businesses visited at
the shopping
center and identification of businesses at the shopping center at which
purchases were
made. If the destination designated is a service station, the destination-
activity prompt
message corresponding to the destination preferably comprises prompts for
identification of the quantity of any gasoline purchased at the service
station and
!5 identification of the price paid for the gasoline.
It is preferred for the embodiment of the method of the invention which
involves outputting destination-activity prompt messages on a portable
computer on
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board each subject trackable motor vehicle for the method to include a seep
of, for each
subject tracleable motor vehicle, reprogramming the portable digital computer
on the
subject vehicle from time to time to change~destination-activity prompt
messages output
using the input/output facilities of the computer. For example, a destination-
activity
prompt message could be changed by reprogramming the portable computer of each
subject vehicle to prompt for identification of whether the subject consumer
driver had
encountered a particular advertising campaign pertaining to the destination
designated
cozresponding to the prompt message.
..
Certain practices are preferred to tend to insure that a consumer driving-
activity
panel provides reliable information concerning attitudes and driving behavior
among
the general driving population. Such preferred practices involve the following
matters,
which are discussed below: representative sampling and recruitment procedures;
effectively continuous vehicle-location data collection; post-data-collection
processing;
and non-biasing relationship management.
IS 1. Representative am ling and Recruitment Pro~es~
Candidates invited to join a consumer driving-activity panel should preferably
represent the characteristics of the general population along two dimensions:
individual
demographic attributes of drivers associated with panelists and vehicle
classiFcation
attributes of vehicles associated with the panelists. With respect to
individual
demographic attributes, the age and sex ratios of drivers associated with the
panel
should preferably conform to the general age and sex ratios of all drivers.
For
example, a preferred consumer driving-activity panel would include a
proportional
number of older female drivers to the number of older female drivers in the
driving
population generally and a proportional number of teenage male drivers to the
number
?5 of teenage male drivers in the general driving population. With regard to
vehicle
classification attributes, the vehicles driven by drivers associated with the
panel
preferably should conform to the vehicle profile of~the general driving
population with
respect to manufacturer, age and type. To obtain a representative consumer
driving-
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activity panel, statistical quota sampling techniques are preferably employed
to ensure
representation by the panel of drivers and vehicles respectively on their
individual
demographic attributes and vehicular attributes.
As noted above, consumer driving-activity panels of preferred embodiments of
the invention may be constituted of households, consumer drivers, or trackable
motor
vehicles. Preferably, panelists of a consumer driving-activity panel are
selected on a
,..household-by-household basis by market-survey criteria applied to the
households.
,v ,
Each household to which the market survey criteria are applied should have at
least one
member wlto is a licensed driver and who has the use of an automobile or other
motor
vehicle associated with the household. Preferably, for each household of the
survey
group, household demographic data is obtained, including the number of members
of
the household, household income level, and the age and sex of each automobile
driver
in the household.
The number of panelists in the consumer driving-activity panel preferably
exceeds 2,000 for purposes of statistical utility and more preferably exceeds
10,000.
2. Fffertively .ontin ~o ~s y~hicle-Location Data oll ction
Each subject vehicle in association with a panelist of the consumer driving-
activity panel is fitted with automatic vehicle-location tracking gear. The
vehicle-
location tracking gear permits the geographical location of the subject motor
vehicle to
be tracked automatically effectively continuously at least during such times
as the
vehicle is being driven. In particular, the automatic vehicle-location
tracking gear
permits time-a~~notated vehicle-location data to be collected automatically
for each trip
segment a subject vehicle is driven. Such vehicle-location data includes a
data
sequence preferably encoding successive location longitude-and-latitude
geodetic
coordinates of the vehicle and corresponding successive times as the vehicle
is driven
over the trip segment.
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In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a central tracking station
includes
vehicle-location-tracking communication equipment for remotely tracking the
respective
locations of all the subject vehicles associated with the consumer driving-
activity panel
effectively simultaneously by means of communicating with remote location
identifier
gear on the vehicles. For example, the central tracking station may employ
cell-site
trilateration techniques to remotely track the locations of the subject
vehicles.
Preferably, the central tracking station includes wireless telephonic or other
communication equipment which enables the particular driver of a subject motor
..
vehicle to be identified for each trip. '
In a more preferred embodiment, each subject motor vehicle is fitted with a
GPS receiver unit for receiving location-defining signals from GPS satellites
and
deriving from the location-defining signals geodetic coordinates for the
location at
which the signals were received. Suitable GPS receiver units are commercially
available which can be mounted in an automobile or similar motor vehicle and
5 connected to a portable computer by means of a GPS unit controller card
which plugs
into a standard "PC Card" connection slot of the computer. One such GPS
receiver
unit is commercially available under the trade name "Etak Sky Map" from ETAK,
Inc.
of Menlo Park, California. Another such GPS receiver unit is commercially
available
under the trade name "Door to Door Co Pilot" from TravRoute Software of
Princeton,
0 New Jersey. Preferred portable computers to which each GPS receiver units
can be
connected provide a microprocessor, random access memory, read/write mass
storage,
and input/output facilities including a visual display, keyboard, speakei, and
microphone digitizer and can run voice recognition and speech synthesis
software.
A particularly preferred GPS receiver unit for the invention is a standalone
5 "personal navigation assistant" commercially available under the trade name
"RouteFinder PNA" from DATUS Inc. of San Jose, California. The "RoutePinder
PNA" includes a microprocessor, random-access read/write memory, read-only
memory, a backlit LCD display, a telephone-style keypad, a speaker, and two
"PC
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Card" peripheral-device-card slots. A first one of the peripheral-device-card
slots may
be used for a memory peripheral device card for storing map data used by the
unit. A
second of the peripheral-device-card slots could be used in a preferred
embodiment of
the invention for a modem for transferring vehicle-use data to a data
processing system
at a central station. The "RouteFinder PNA" standalone GPS receiver unit may
be
removably mounted on a dashboard of a motor vehicle by means of a hook-and-
loop
type fastener and powered by connection to a cigarette lighter in the vehicle.
The
preferred standalone GPS receiver unit can thus be readily removed from the
vehicle to
,r.
prevent theft when the vehicle is parked and for connection of the modem
peripheral
device card to a telephone line for transfer of vehicle-location'data stored
in the unit to
the data processing system of the central station.
3. Pos~Data-Collection Proce~eing
Standing alone, disagregate time-annotated vehicle-location data such as time-
annotated GPS geodetic coordinate data collected from the subject vehicles are
essentially memingless. Data reduction and statistical analysis techniques may
be used
to merge disagregate, vehicle-location data with individual demographic data
or vehicle
classification data or both to convert the disagregate vehicle-location data
into
meaningful market research information. The method of the invention preferably
includes analyzing statistically vehicle-use data over the various trip
portions of a
>0 sample group of trip portions taken by each subject motor vehicle and
associating the
resulting analyzed vehicle-use data with panelist attribute data including
vehicle-
classification data and demographic data concerning the driver of the vehicle
and the
household with which the vehicle is associated. In particular, such panelist
attribute
data preferably would include the age and sex of the driver; the make, model
and age
?5 of the vehicle, and the number of members and income level of the
household.
Examples of preferred data reduction and statistical analysis techniques for
the
method of obtaining consumer driving-activity market research information of
the
invention include:
conversion of the sequence of latitude and longitude
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coordinate measurements for each trip segment to
calculate distance. traveled in the trip segment and then
correlation of the resulting trip-segment distance-traveled
data with the age and sex of the driver or with the make,
model, and age of the vehicle;
conversion of the sequence of latitude and longitude
coordinate measurements together with associated time
stamps for each trip segment to calculate a trip segment
.s
speed and then correlation of the resulting trip-segment
0 speed data with the age and sex of driver or with the
make, model, and age of the vehicle or with data
encoding weather conditions at the day, time, and
geographic region of the trip segment; and
~ merging latitude and longitude coordinate data with
5 location designation information to determine the nature
of destinations visited (for example, shopping, work, or
recreation) and the frequency of their visitation.
If desired, statistical weighting procedures may be employed in connection
with
the data reduction and statistical analysis. Despite efforts to insure
appropriate
!0 individual demographic and vehicular characteristics, incoming data are
often subject to
certain biases due to the nature of consumer response rates. It is generally
observed by
market research practitioners that response rates vary by socio-economic
strata. To
correct for potential response bias, driving activity data may be
statistically weighted to
conform to individual consumer's age and sex and vehicle make and type norms.
In
~5 the absence of such statistical weighting, inferences might be subject to
under
representation or over representation of various population segments.
4. Non-biasing Relationship Management
Through their on-going participation, panelists of a consumer driving-activity
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panel provide continuous information, which permits longitudinal, time-series
measurements which are of particular value, especially in view of the
difficulty of
obtaining such longitudinal measurements by conventional techniques. To engage
and
retain the participation of panel members over time, certain relationship
management
techniques may be desirable, as discussed below.
As a part of the recruitment process; prospective panelists are preferably
pxQVided with certain assurances regarding the permissible uses of the data
collected
from participants with respect to the panel. Of particular importance is the
assurance
of an individual's anonymity. All participants should be assured that data for
an
individual driver and vehicle will not be divulged to any third party without
permission
from the participant concerned except pursuant to court order. Data from each
participating individual and vehicle will be combined with other data from
other
individuals and vehicles, and reported to third parties only at an aggregated
summary
level, which assures anonymity of the participants.
Leyond limiting permissible uses of data collected front participants with
respect
to a consumer driving activity, relationship management may also involve the
use of
incentive techniques to motivate and engage the participation of individuals
in the
program over time. Importantly, the use of incentive techniques should not
influence
the behavior sought to be measured - an effect which is sometimes referred to
as the
0 "Hawthorns Effect. " Examples of preferred incentive techniques include:
~ Participation in a point accumulation program analogous
to the frequent-flyer programs of the airline industry,
which result in certain redemption privileges;
~ Eligibility for sweepstakes drawings;
~ Eligibility for roadside assistance programs; and
~ Receipt of nominal gifts and panelist communication
materials.
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The resulting consumer driving-activity market research information could be
used by insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, vehicle accessory
manufacturers,
and other marketers in connection with designing new products and devising and
evaluating marketing campaigns. The method and system of the invention may be
used
to obtain consumer driving-activity information efficiently and accurately for
cross-
sectional surveys of the type exemplified by the information set forth in
prior-art Tables
I through III above. Moreover, with preferred embodiments of the invention,
longitudinal consumer driving-activity market research information can be
obtained.
Such longitudinal consumer driving-activity market research information could
be used',
for example, by marketers to provide a measure of the effect of an advertising
campaign on driving activity. For example, changes in the frequency of visits
by
drivers to a particular retail store or to a chain of retail outlets - and
their competitors -
following introduction of an advertising campaign for the store or retail
outlet chain
could be measured. Governmental authorities could use consumer driving-
activity
market research information to advantage, for example, in planning public
transportation routes and highway, bridge, and other infrastructure
improvements.
Longitudinal consumer driving-activity information could be used by
governmental
highway authorities to monitor changes in traffic patterns due to changes in
roadway
lane designations such as institution of high vehicle occupancy ("HVO") lanes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THR D AW1NCS
Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference
to the following figures:
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram representing the relationship between a round
trip and trip segments making up the round trip.
Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of a first preferred automatic driving-
activity data collection unit for use in the invention which permits
generating and
storing vehicle-location data in the vehicle and then from time to time
transferring the
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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vehicle-location data via a modem and a wireline or wireless telephone-system
connection to a data processing system at a central station.
Figure 3 is a simplified Ulock diagram of a second preferred automatic driving-
activity data collection unit for use in of the invention which permits
generating and
storing vehicle-location data on board the vehicle and then from time to time
transferring the vehicle location data to a data processing system at a
central station by
storing the data on a floppy disc and transporting the floppy disc to the data
processing
system at the central station.
I~TAILED DESC'RIPTION~ TH . PR ~rr.Rnrn rMr~~mTvrr,NT~
A preferred embodimenC of the invention entails the selection of a consumer
driving-activity panel using standard statistical market research methods. The
panel is
selected based on a sampling universe of all households in a geographical
region of
interest having an automobile or other motor vehicle in which there is at
least one
licensed driver who has use of the .vehicle. A preferred process for selecting
a
IS consumer driving-activity panel of consumer drivers includes: (1)
statistically
characterizing the sampling universe of households with motor vehicles and
licensed
drivers with respect to vehicle classifications and driver demographics; (2)
obtaining a
list of potential panelists for a consumer driving-activity panel who are
drivers
belonging to households in the sampling universe; (3) obtaining demographic
data for
?0 selected ones of the list of potential panelists for the consumer panel as
well as vehicle-
classification data for motor vehicles driven by potential panelists selected,
and (4)
contacting and recruiting into the consumer driving-activity panel a group of
consumer
drivers from among the potential panelists for the panel for whom demographic
and
vehicle-classification data was obtained to form a consumer panel in which
?5 demographic and vehicle-classification characteristics of the sampling
universe are
represented to a statistically significant degree.
Demographic data should be obtained from each household of a panelist of the
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driving-activity panel. The demographic data preferably includes: name and age
of the
principle driver of the, subject motor vehicle; the names and ages of all
other drivers of
the subject vehicle; the names and ages gf other, non-driver members of the
household,
the sex of all named persons, the education level and employment status of all
named
persons, as well as household address, phone number and household income
level.
Vehicle-classification data concerning the subject vehicle, including vehicle
make and
model, year of manufacture, year of purchase or lease, color, and mileage, is
also
preferably collected. The demographic and vehicle-classification data may be
collected
from a knowledgeable member of the household by personal interview, telephone
interview, written questionnaire, or a computer-screen form. The demographic
and
vehicle-classification data thus collected may be encoded for storage in a
data
processing system at a central station. Each named person in a panel household
and
each subject vehicle may be given an identification number to preserve
anonymity.
For each trip segment which the subject vehicle makes, additional data can be
l5 collected. As shown schematically in Figure 1, for purposes of data
analysis, travel by
a subject vehicle may be regarded as a series of round trips 2 from a home
base 4 back
to the home base 4. Iri general, each round trip 2 is made up of one or more
trip
segments 6, 8, I0, I2, I4, I6. F,aclt trip segment represents travel from a
starting
point location 18 at which the vehicle is in a parked, power-off condition to
a
!0 destination location 20 at which the vehicle is again placed in a parked,
power-off
condition. The destination location 20 of one trip segment 10 serves as the
starting
point location 20' of the next succeeding trip segment 12.
Turning now to Figure 2, an automatic driving-activity data collection unit 28
is
adapted to be carried on board an automobile or other subject motor-vehicle
(not
'.5 shown). The data collection unit 28 includes a GPS receiver unit 30
connected to a
portable computer 32 by means of a receiver connector cable 34 and a GPS unit
controller card 35. The GPS receiver unit 30 is mounted in a subject vehicle
at a
position which provides a line-o~ sight radiation-propagation view of the sky
essentially
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unobstructed by metallic or other radiation shielding materials to permit
reception of
GPS satellite signals. The GPS receiver unit 30 may, for example, be mounted
on a
dashboard of the vehicle (not shown), .on a rear deck of the vehicle beneath a
rear
window of the vehicle, in a trunk of the vehicle below the rear deck, provided
the rear
deck is made of cardboard or other substantially radiation-transparent
material, or
below the trunk lid, provided the trunk lid is made of a plastic composite or
other
substantially radiation-transparent material.
~ ~,.
The portable computer 32 of the data collection until 28 of Figure 2 includes
a
microprocessor 36, random-access read/write memory ("RAM") 38, and a hard
drive
40 for mass storage. The portable computer 32 includes a keyboard 42 connected
to an
inputloutput channel controller 44. The microprocessor 36, RAM 38, hard drive
40
and inputloutput channel controller 44 are interconnected over a system bus
46. Also
connected to the system bus 46 is a video controller 48, which is also
connected to and
drives a display screen output 50. Associated with the display screen output
50 is a
touchscreen input 52, which is connected to the input/output channel
controller 44.
The touchscreen input 52 is adapted to generate signals in response to the
touching of
the display screen of the display screen output by a user which encode the
position on
the display screen which was touched. The portable computer 32 can therefore
be
programmed to display a prompt message on the display screen output along with
a
?0 menu of possible replies to the prompt message. A user can choose an
appropriate
reply by touching the position on the display screen at which the desired
reply appears,
and the touchscreen input will generate signals which will permit the selected
reply to
be identified in the computer. For purposes of driving safety, the display
screen may
be blanked when the data-collection unit 28 detects that the vehicle is in
motion. Also
!5 connected to the system bus 46 is a peripheral card interface 54.
Peripheral device
cards may be plugged into the peripheral card interface 54 through slots in a
housing
(not shown) of the portable computer 32. The GPS unit controller card 35 is
plugged
into the peripheral card interface 54 of the portable computer 32. A modem
card 58 is
also plugged into the peripheral card interface 54 of the portable computer
32. The
28
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
modem card 58 may be connected to a wireline or wireless telephone system
connection
60 for transferring data to a data processing system at a central station or
for receiving
data from the data processing system at the central station - for changing
prompt
messages from time to time during a longitudinal consumer driving-activity
survey, fox
example.
In operation, the GPS receiver unit 30 receives location definition signals
from
GRS, satellites and, in conjunction with the GPS unit controller card 35,
converts the
signals into digital location geodetic coordinate data, which defines in terms
of latitude
and longitude the location of the receiver unit 30 and hence the subject motor
vehicle at
the time the location definition signals were received. The microprocessor 36
runs a
location-data-collection program which causes the microprocessor to transfer
location
coordinate data at intervals from the GPS unit controller card to the hard
drive 40 by
way of the peripheral card interface 54 and system bus 46. The location
coordinate
data are stored as a data sequence encoding successive location coordinates of
the
subject vehicle in association with data encoding times at which the vehicle
was located
at the locations specified by the coordinates. To conserve data storage in
view of the
typically widely varying speeds of a subject motor vehicle, successive
location
coordinates could differ by an approximately fixed interval of distance; say,
250
meters.
?0 Turning next to Figure 3, an automatic driving-activity data collection
unit G8 is
adapted to be carried on board a subject motor vehicle (not shown). Elements
essentially common to the automatic driving-activity data, collection unit 68
of Figure 3
and the automatic driving-activity data collection unit 28 of Figure 2 have
identical
reference numerals in the Figures. The data collection until 68 includes a GPS
receiver
?5 unit 30 connected to a portable computer 70 by means of a receiver
connector cable 34
and a GPS unit controller card 35. The GPS receiver unit 30 is mounted in the
subject
motor vehicle at a position which provides a line-of sight radiation
propagation view of
the sky to permit reception of GPS satellite signals as described above in
connection
29
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WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
with the automatic. driving-activity data collection unit 28 of higure 2.
The portable computer 70 of the automatic driving-activity data-collection
unit
68 of Figure 3 includes a microprocessor 72, random access readlwrite memory
38, a
hard drive 40, an input/output channel controller 44, a video controller 48,
and a
peripheral card interface unit 54 interconnected by a system bus 46. 'The
microprocessor 72 is also connected to cache memory 74 via a dedicated cache
memory
bus 76. A keyboard 42 is connected to the input/output channel controller 44.
Also connected to the input/output channel controller 44 is a vehicle power
system sensor 78 which in turn is connected to the electric power system 80 of
tire
vehicle by plugging into a cigarette lighter of the vehicle. The vehicle power
system
sensor 78 is a digital voltage sensor which generates a digital vehicle-
electrical-power-
on/off signal responsive to whether the vehicle electrical power is on or off.
By
monitoring the digital vehicle electrical power on/off signal applied by the
vehicle
power system sensor 78 applied to the~input/output channel controller 44, the
portable
computer 70 can detect transitions from a vehicle-electrical-power-off
condition to a
vehicle-electrical-power-on condition, which ordinarily marks the start of a
trip
segment, and transitions from a vehicle-electrical-power-on condition to a
vehicle-
electrical-power-off condition, which ordinarily marks the arrival of the
subject vehicle
at a destination location.
A sound card 82 is connected to the peripheral card interface 54 of the
portable
computer 70. The sound card 82 in turn is connected to a speaker 84 and a
microphone
86 mounted in a housing (not shown) of the portable computer. Although for
clarity in
Figure 3 the sound card 82 is shown directly, connected to tire speaker 84 and
the
microphone 86, such connections would generally be made through the peripheral
card
interface 54. The sound card 82 supports speech synthesis software and voice-
recognition software running on the portable computer 70. Processing speed
enhancements of the microprocessor 72 afforded by the cache memory 74 further
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
support the running of the voice synthesis software and the voice recognition
software.
The speech recognition and voice synthesis capabilities of the portable
computer 70
provide speech input and voice output facilities for voice prompt messages and
spoken
replies in connection with collecting trip segment information such as the
identification
of the driver, identification of passengers, purpose of the trip segment, and
destination
activities.
~,~a~~ A floppy disc drive 88 is connected to the system bus 46. Time
annotated
vehicle-location data can be written to a floppy disc in the floppy disc drive
88 and the
floppy disc removed for forwarding to a data processing system at a central
station for
processing. In addition, prompt messages output to the driver by the portable
computer
70 may be reprogrammed form time to time during the course of a longitudinal
consumer driving activity survey by loading prompt-message data into the
computer 70
from a floppy disc using the floppy disc drive 88.
An automatic driving-activity data collection unit 28, 68 may be installed in
a
subject vehicle and be used for the recording of trip.-specific data including
driver
identification, vehicle occupant identification, date, time, starting mileage,
and
destination data. The components of such data collection unit include a
digital data
storage system and input/output facilities whereby the driver can input data
into the
data storage system. The input/output facilities comprise a display screen and
keypad
or keyboard so that the driver may respond to prompt messages displayed on the
display. Prompt messages in the form of questions can be displayed on the
display
screen of the unit along with a List of responses for the driver to scroll
through and
select. Alternatively, the display screen of the data collection unit can have
touch
capability, so that the driver can indicate a response to a displayed question
by touching
~ the display screen directly. As noted above, the automatic driving-activity
data
collection unit can be equipped with voice recognition, recording and
synthesis systems
such that the input/output facilities of the unit can be voice activated and
the driver can
be questioned and respond vocally. The automatic data collection unit can be
equipped
31
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
with any combination of types of input/output facilities such that the unit
may prompt
the driver on a display screen or vocally and receive responses fr0r11 the
driver
manually by keyboard, manually by touchscreen, vocally or by a combination of
these
methods. The input/output facilities of the data collection unit rnay is also
be used to
initialize the system by recording the information such as: vehicle make and
model,
vehicle year, vehicle identification number, and household identification
number. Such
information can be transmitted with each noimal data upload to the data
processing
system at the central station. A, voice recognition session can be carried out
during the
initialization of those data collection units equipped with voice recognition
systems to
enable the units to recognize the voice of the driver. ror safety purposes,
the user
interface may be disabled wizen the motor of the vehicle is in motion .
As noted above, for each trip segment driven by a subject trackable motor
vehicle, trip-segment polling prompt messages prompting for identification of
the
driver, any passengers and the purpose of the trip segment are preferably
l5 communicated to the driver of the vehicle by input/output facilities of a
portable
computer on board the vehicle. If desired, polling prompt messages could
additionally
prompt for information from the driver concerning seatbelt use of by the
driver and any
passengers, use of any child restraint devices, the location of passengers in
the vehicle -
e.g. front or rear seat - and the setting of arty airbag on/off switch.
Destination activity
?0 prompt messages could, if desired,~prompt for information concerning
purchases made
and prices paid at retail establishments at the destination, credit card use,
quality of
service received, cleanliness of establishments visited, and whether or not a
particular
advertising campaign had been experienced previously. Preferably automatic
driving
activity data collection units for use in the invention include portable
computers which
?5 can be reprogrammed in the field during the course of a longitudinal
driving-activity
survey to change prompt messages, for example. Prompt messages can therefore
be
changed from time to time, for example, to take account of the introduction
and
withdrawal of advertising campaigns which potentially could influence driving
activity.
32
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
Appendix A is a listing of the various data elements which could be captured
by
a preferred system of the invention. The data elements are organized into
sections to
reflect the entry of information which might be obtained over the course of a
single trip
segment. Data which is automatically generated by the driving-activity data
collection
unit is identified by an "x" in~Appendix A. Data which is entered by a driver
is
identified in Appendix A by an "M." In some instances, data can be obtained
either by
entering by the driver into the data-collection unit or automatically
generated by the
data"collection unit which is identified by an "M/x" in Appendix A.
The time annotated vehicle-location data collected at the data processing
system
at the central station from the various automated driving-activity data
collection units
can be processed and statistically analyzed using methods known to those
skilled in the
art to obtain commercially useful information about each. trip segment taken
by each
subject vehicle. The vehicle-location data and panelist attribute data from
survey
groups of panelists can be analyzed statistically to produce a set of consumer
driving-
activity market research information of interest to a variety of consumer
produce and
marketing companies and governmental agencies. Tables IV through VI below
provide
hypothetical examples of the types of consumer driving-activity market
research
information which may be obtained with preferred embodiments of the invention.
Table IV presents hypothetical consumer driving-activity market research
information concerning miles travelled, hours travelled, average speed and
idle time by
route taken. Such market research information could be useful to governmental
agencies in that it would provide information concerning relative usage of
different
road types determined from route-designation data. As shown in Table IV, the
invention would enable average speed and idle time on each route type to be
measured.
Table V presents hypothetical market research information concerning speeding
drivers by number of miles driven annually by vehicle insurance carrier which
could be
obtained with a preferred method of the invention. A speeding driver might be
defined
33
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
as a driver who averages 5 mph or more higher than the speed limit on primary
roads.
Information of the type presented in Table V would be useful to an insurance
carrier in
assessing its risk level relative to its competitors.
Table VI presents hypothetical market research information which could be
obtained with a preferred embodiment of the invention concerning total
gasoline
purchasers, gallons of gasoline purchased, and gallons per buyer by oil
company. 'to
Qblain such information, the automatic driving-activity data collection units
could be
'programmed to prompt for information concerning gas purchasing when a stop of
less
than fifteen minutes was made at a filling station location or if no gasoline
purchases
had been reported for the subject vehicle over the previous 300 miles of
travel by the
vehicle. Drivers would be prompted for information concerning whether gasoline
was
purchased, how many gallons, what brand, and at what price. Market research
information of the type presented in Table VI would be of use to oil companies
in
providing measures of brand loyalty vis-a-vis competitors and for monitoring
the
impact of advertising campaigns longitudinally over time.
34
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
It is not intended to limit the present invention to the speci fit embodiments
described above. It is recognized that changes may be made in the invention
specifically described herein without departing from the. scope and teachings
of the
instant invention, and it is intended to encompass all other embodiments,
alternatives
and modifcations consistent with the invention.
38
CA 02407474 2002-10-23
WO 01/82168 PCT/US00/11023
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CA 02407474 2002-10-23
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