Roaming transport distribution management system
First Claim
1. A method of operating a roaming transport distribution system to service customer requests for transportation, the method comprising:
- operating a fleet of transports in a first service zone having a first hub for transporting at least one of customers or goods within the first service zone to and from the first hub, the fleet of transports having global positioning system coordinate capability and wireless communication capability;
receiving a service request for delivery of goods located at a first location in the first service zone to a destination;
locating a first transport of a plurality of transports in the first service zone to answer the service request based on one or more of the first location of a first customer, a second location of the first transport, a distance between the first and second locations, and a travel time of the first transport from the second location to the first location;
sending, using the wireless communication capability, a communication to the first transport to travel to the first location to pick up the goods for transport to the destination;
creating an exclusive coverage area about each transport in the first service zone, the coverage areas disposed in a dynamic, non-overlapping arrangement with adjacent transport coverage areas such that movement of the first transport to travel to the first location results in a change to at least one of the coverage areas; and
directing, using the global positioning system coordinate capability, the plurality of transports in the first service zone to unevenly distributed coordinates within the coverage areas.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A roaming transport distribution management apparatus and method are provided. A controller selects transports within a defined service zone in response to customer transit requests from customer locations for customer pick-up and delivery inbound or outbound directions from the hub. A hub manager varies the position and/or the size of an exclusive coverage area of each transport within the overall service zone to insure a dense accumulation of transports over the entire service zone and alters the position of other transports in response to the movement of a transport inbound or outbound from the hub with a passenger. The hub manager can vary the size of the exclusive coverage area of each transport to account for population and request call densities and the number of available transports. In addition, the transport system may be used to transport goods from a delivery source to a customer designated location within the service zone as well as coupling the goods with the customer at a central hub when the customer arrives at the central hub.
86 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of operating a roaming transport distribution system to service customer requests for transportation, the method comprising:
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operating a fleet of transports in a first service zone having a first hub for transporting at least one of customers or goods within the first service zone to and from the first hub, the fleet of transports having global positioning system coordinate capability and wireless communication capability; receiving a service request for delivery of goods located at a first location in the first service zone to a destination; locating a first transport of a plurality of transports in the first service zone to answer the service request based on one or more of the first location of a first customer, a second location of the first transport, a distance between the first and second locations, and a travel time of the first transport from the second location to the first location; sending, using the wireless communication capability, a communication to the first transport to travel to the first location to pick up the goods for transport to the destination; creating an exclusive coverage area about each transport in the first service zone, the coverage areas disposed in a dynamic, non-overlapping arrangement with adjacent transport coverage areas such that movement of the first transport to travel to the first location results in a change to at least one of the coverage areas; and directing, using the global positioning system coordinate capability, the plurality of transports in the first service zone to unevenly distributed coordinates within the coverage areas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A roaming transport distribution apparatus to service customer requests for transportation, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of transports in a first service zone having a first hub for transporting at least one of customers or goods within the first service zone to and from the first hub; each transport having global positioning system coordinate capability and wireless communication capability; a controller, executing program instructions, for coordinating coordinate positions of each of the plurality of transports in the first service zone and selecting transports for transporting at least one of a customer or a good in response to service requests using the global positioning system coordinate capability and the wireless communication capability; and the controller, executing program instructions, in response to a location of a coverage area associated with each transport within the first service zone for distributing the coverage areas of each transport in the first service zone in an uneven distribution within the first service zone to insure less than a maximum predetermined transit time for transporting a the customer from a pick-up location to a drop-off destination. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification