Shared vehicle transportation systems and methods for individuals and entities
First Claim
1. A hire vehicle transportation system comprising:
- a pool of vehicles available for hire;
at least one collection point at which the vehicles are issued;
a central reservation system;
a system to verify user identify and reservation status, wherein said system receives identifying information from a potential user and communicates said identifying information to said central reservation system, which prompts said system to allow access to a reserved vehicle from said pool of vehicles available for hire in response to positive verification of said user and reservation status, wherein a subset of said vehicles in said pool are designated to be hired by entities rather than individuals during specified time periods.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are vehicle-sharing systems and methods that reduce the need for private vehicle ownership by individuals and/or entities. The systems and methods utilize a pool of vehicles available for hire; at least one collection point at which the vehicles are issued; a central reservation system; and a system to verify user identify and reservation status wherein the system receives identifying information from a potential user, communicates the identifying information to the central reservation system which prompts the system to allow access to a reserved vehicle from the pool of vehicles available for hire in response to positive verification of the user and reservation status. In the vehicle-sharing systems and methods of the present invention, a subset of vehicles in the pool are designated to be hired by entities rather than individuals during specified time periods.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A hire vehicle transportation system comprising:
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a pool of vehicles available for hire;
at least one collection point at which the vehicles are issued;
a central reservation system;
a system to verify user identify and reservation status, wherein said system receives identifying information from a potential user and communicates said identifying information to said central reservation system, which prompts said system to allow access to a reserved vehicle from said pool of vehicles available for hire in response to positive verification of said user and reservation status, wherein a subset of said vehicles in said pool are designated to be hired by entities rather than individuals during specified time periods. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 39)
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25. A method of providing a hire vehicle transportation system comprising:
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providing a pool of vehicles available for hire;
providing at least one collection point at which the vehicles are issued;
providing a central reservation system;
providing a system to verify user identify and reservation status, wherein said system receives identifying information from a potential user, communicates said identifying information to said central reservation system which prompts said system to allow access to a reserved vehicle from said pool of vehicles available for hire in response to positive verification of said user and reservation status wherein a subset of said vehicles in said pool are designated to be hired by entities rather than individuals during specified time periods. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification