System for preemptively navigating drivers to an event location to transport passengers upon completion of the event

• US 10,366,614 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2015
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LYFT Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GT GetTaxi Limited
• Inventors: Marco, Talmon, Haparnas, Ziv, Agasi, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Chong Cruz, Nadja N
• Application Number:
  US14/876,094
• Publication Number:
  US 20170098184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,393 Days
• Field of Search: 705 717
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• 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 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063118 Staff planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/60 Business processes related to postal services shipping G06Q10/083; franking apparatus G07B17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

In one embodiment an event likely to be attended by a plurality of users of a taxi service is identified. A location of the event is determined and an end time of the event is estimated. Prior to the end time of the event, a plurality of drivers associated with the taxi service are directed to drive to the location of the event to transport passengers from the location of the event.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by a processing device of a first server device, an event to be attended by a plurality of users of a taxi service;

determining, by the processing device, a location of the event;

estimating, by the processing device, an end time of the event;

responsive to determining an expected demand for transportation from the location of the event, generating, based on the expected demand, a schedule for directing a plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event prior to receipt of passenger requests to be paired with the plurality of driver computing devices;

prior to the end time of the event, transmitting, by the processing device to the plurality of driver computing devices based on the schedule, navigational data to direct the plurality of driver computing devices to navigate to the location of the event to transport passengers;

subsequent to transmitting the navigational data, communicating with an event information source of a second server device during the event to obtain updated information regarding how much time is remaining prior to the end time of the event;

responsive to receiving the updated information during the event from the event information source of the second server device, generating, based on the updated information, an updated schedule; and

directing the plurality of driver computing devices to the location of the event based on the updated schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining the expected demand, selecting the plurality of driver computing devices based on the expected demand.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising accessing a database comprising historical data indicating passenger requests received by the processing device in association with one or more previous events, wherein the expected demand is based on the historical data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising parsing data from one or more websites to identify the event and the location of the event.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising directing a first set of the plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event at a first time and a second set of the plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event at a second time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first time and the second time are based on historical data indicating passenger requests received by the processing device as a function of time in association with one or more previous events.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing a database comprising historical data indicating durations of events similar to the event and estimating the end time based on the historical data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the end time is estimated based on an amount of requests received from passengers attending the event.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of driver computing devices is associated with a respective self-driven vehicle, wherein the processing device is to control movement of the respective self-driven vehicle by the transmitting of the navigational data.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device communicably coupled to the memory, the processing device to execute instructions to;

identify an event to be attended by a plurality of users of a taxi service;

determine a location of the event;

estimate an end time of the event;

responsive to determining an expected demand for transportation from the location of the event, generate, based on the expected demand, a schedule for directing a plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event prior to receipt of passenger requests to be paired with the plurality of driver computing devices;

prior to the end time of the event, transmit, to the plurality of driver computing devices based on the schedule, navigational data to direct the plurality of driver computing devices to navigate to the location of the event to transport passengers;

subsequent to transmitting the navigational data, communicate with an event information source during the event to obtain updated information regarding how much time is remaining prior to the end time of the event;

responsive to receiving the updated information during the event from the event information source, generate, based on the updated information, an updated schedule; and

direct the plurality of driver computing devices to the location of the event based on the updated schedule.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing device is further to, responsive to determining the expected demand, select the plurality of driver computing devices based on the expected demand.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processing device is further to access a database comprising historical data indicating passenger requests received by the processing device in association with one or more previous events, wherein the expected demand is based on the historical data.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing device is further to parse data from one or more websites to identify the event and the location of the event.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing device is further to direct a first set of the plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event at a first time and a second set of the plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event at a second time, wherein the first time and the second time are based on historical data indicating passenger requests received by the processing device as a function of time in association with one or more previous events.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing device is further to access a database comprising historical data indicating durations of events similar to the event and determine the end time based on the historical data.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the end time is estimated based on an amount of requests received from passengers attending the event.

16. At least one computer-readable non-transitory media storing one or more instructions which, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

identify an event to be attended by a plurality of users of a taxi service;

determine a location of the event;

estimate an end time of the event;

responsive to determining an expected demand for transportation from the location of the event, generate, based on the expected demand, a schedule for directing a plurality of driver computing devices to arrive at the location of the event prior to receipt of passenger requests to be paired with the plurality of driver computing devices;

prior to the end time of the event, transmit, to the plurality of driver computing devices based on the schedule, navigational data to direct the plurality of driver computing devices to navigate to the location of the event to transport passengers;

subsequent to transmitting the navigational data, communicate with an event information source during the event to obtain updated information regarding how much time is remaining prior to the end time of the event;

responsive to receiving the updated information during the event from the event information source, generate, based on the updated information, an updated schedule; and

direct the plurality of driver computing devices to the location of the event based on the updated schedule.

17. The at least one computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further to, responsive to determining the expected demand, select the plurality of driver computing devices based on the expected demand.

18. The at least one computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 17, wherein the processing device is further to access a database comprising historical data indicating passenger requests received by the processing device in association with one or more previous events, wherein the expected demand is based on the historical data.

19. The at least one computer-readable non-transitory media of claim 17, wherein the processing device is further to access a database comprising historical data indicating durations of events similar to the event and estimating the end time based on the historical data.