Coordinating travel on a public transit system and a travel coordination system

• US 10,036,641 B1
• Filed: 04/04/2017
• Issued: 07/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Iland, Daniel, Irish, Andrew, Rajagopal, Srinivasan
• Primary Examiner(s): Shafi, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US15/478,245
• Time in Patent Office: 483 Days
• Field of Search: 701 41
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3438 Rendez-vous, i.e. searching a destination where several users can meet, and the routes to this destination for these users; Ride sharing, i.e. searching a route such that at least two users can share a vehicle for at least part of the route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3667 Display of a road map G01C21/3614 takes precedence; guidance using 3D or perspective road maps G01C21/3635
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3676 Overview of the route on the road map
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

A travel coordination system determines a route for a rider using a public transit system and a provider. The travel coordination system may determine a route that describes a public transit stop at which the rider exits the public transit system, and the travel coordination system can route a provider so that the provider transports the rider when the rider arrives at the public transit stop. The travel coordination system may update the rider'"'"'s route after transmitting the route to the rider. The travel coordination system may determine a public transit vehicle on which the rider is traveling or predict the rider'"'"'s destination. If multiple riders are traveling on the public transit vehicle and if those riders exit the public transit station using the same public transit stop, the travel coordination system may match those riders together for transport by a provider.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a public transit system at a computing system, public transit data corresponding to one or more public transit vehicles that transport passengers between a plurality of public transit stops and a plurality of estimated arrival times of the one or more public transit vehicles at the plurality of public transit stops;

receiving, at the computing system, a first trip request from a first rider client device of a first rider, the first rider traveling on a public transit vehicle of the one or more public transit vehicles, and the first trip request comprising a current location and a destination of the first rider;

receiving, at the computing system, a second trip request from a second rider client device of a second rider, the second rider traveling on the public transit vehicle of the one or more public transit vehicles, and the second trip request comprising a current location and a destination of the second rider;

identifying, by the computing system, the public transit vehicle on which the first rider and the second rider are traveling based on the current location of the first rider, the current location of the second rider, and the public transit data;

identifying, by the computing system, a public transit stop at which the first rider and the second rider will exit the public transit vehicle;

identifying, by the computing system, an estimated arrival time of the plurality of estimated arrival times that corresponds with when the identified public transit vehicle is expected to arrive at the identified public transit stop;

matching, by the computing system, the first rider and the second rider with a provider based on the destination of the first rider, the destination of the second rider, and the identified estimated arrival time;

transmitting, to a provider client device of the provider by the computing system, instructions to pick up the first rider and the second rider at a pickup location near the identified public transit stop at a time near the identified estimated arrival time; and

transmitting, by the computing system, the pickup location to the first rider client device and the second rider client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the public transit data in a directed graph.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the public transit vehicle comprises determining whether the first rider and the second rider are traveling on the public transit vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the public transit vehicle is identified based on user travel data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user travel data comprises at least one of location data, acceleration data, or identifiers of wireless networks.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying the public transit vehicle comprises comparing the user travel data to one or more travel data fingerprints.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the public transit stop comprises determining whether the first user and the second user will exit the public transit system at the public transit stop.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying the public transit stop comprises determining a first route for the first user and a second route for the second user, the first route and the second route each including the public transit stop as a public transit stop at which the first rider and the second rider, respectively, will exit the public transit system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the first route and the second route comprises:

generating a set of candidate routes from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider and from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider;

generating a set of scores for the set of candidate routes based on routing data; and

selecting the first route and the second route from the set of candidate routes based on the set of scores.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the first trip request includes a first public transit stop at which the first rider will exit the public transit system;

the second trip request includes a second public transit stop at which the second rider will exit the public transit system; and

determining whether the first user and the second user will exit the public transit system at the identified public transit stop comprises determining whether the first public transit stop is the same as the second public transit stop.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to the first rider and the second rider arriving at the public transit stop, transmitting routing instructions to the first rider client device and the second client device that route the first rider and the second rider to the pickup location.

12. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from a public transit system at a computing system, public transit data corresponding to one or more public transit vehicles that transport passengers between a plurality of public transit stops and a plurality of estimated arrival times of the one or more public transit vehicles at the plurality of public transit stops;

receive, at the computing system, a first trip request from a first rider client device of a first rider, the first rider traveling on a public transit vehicle of the one or more public transit vehicles, and the first trip request comprising a current location and a destination of the first rider;

receive, at the computing system, a second trip request from a second rider client device of a second rider, the second rider traveling on the public transit vehicle of the one or more public transit vehicles, and the second trip request comprising a current location and a destination of the second rider;

identify, by the computing system, the public transit vehicle on which the first rider and the second rider are traveling based on the current location of the first rider, the current location of the second rider, and the public transit data;

identify, by the computing system, a public transit stop at which the first rider and the second rider will exit the public transit vehicle;

identify, by the computing system, an estimated arrival time of the plurality of estimated arrival times that corresponds with when the identified public transit vehicle is expected to arrive at the identified public transit stop;

match, by the computing system, the first rider and the second rider with a provider based on the destination of the first rider, the destination of the second rider, and the identified estimated arrival time;

transmit, to a provider client device of the provider by the computing system, instructions to pick up the first rider and the second rider at a pickup location near the identified public transit stop at a time near the identified estimated arrival time; and

transmit, by the computing system, the pickup location to the first rider client device and the second rider client device.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to store the public transit data in a directed graph.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions for identifying the public transit vehicle comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine whether the first rider and the second rider are traveling on the public transit vehicle.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the public transit vehicle is identified based on user travel data.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for identifying the public transit vehicle comprise instructions that cause the processor to compare the user travel data to one or more travel data fingerprints.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions for identifying the public transit stop comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine whether the first user and the second user will exit the public transit system at the public transit stop.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions for identifying the public transit stop comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine a first route for the first user and a second route for the second user, the first route and the second route each including the public transit stop as a public transit stop at which the first rider and the second rider, respectively, will exit the public transit system.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions for determining the first route and the second route comprise instructions that cause the processor to:

generate a set of candidate routes from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider and from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider;

generate a set of scores for the set of candidate routes based on routing data; and

select the first route and the second route from the set of candidate routes based on the set of scores.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein:

the first trip request includes a first public transit stop at which the first rider will exit the public transit system;

the second trip request includes a second public transit stop at which the second rider will exit the public transit system; and

the instructions for determining whether the first user and the second user will exit the public transit system at the identified public transit stop comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine whether the first public transit stop is the same as the second public transit stop.