ASSESSING INTER-MODAL PASSENGER TRAVEL OPTIONS

• US 20130046456A1
• Filed: 08/16/2012
• Published: 02/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Inventors: Scofield, Christopher L., Parikh, Kush G., Schwebel, William J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,958,280 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• 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 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality

Abstract

Techniques are described for using information regarding road traffic and other types of transportation-related information to determine and/or assess alternative inter-modal passenger travel options in a geographic area that supports multiple modes of transportation. For example, a particular user may have multiple alternatives for travel from a starting location to a destination location in the geographic area, including to use alternative modes of transportation (e.g., private vehicle, bus, train, walking, etc.) for some or all of the travel, and these alternatives may have different travel-related characteristics in different situations (e.g., depending on current road traffic; mass transit schedules and current actual deviations; travel-related fees for gas, parking, mass transit, etc; parking availability; etc.). Multiple alternative travel options are thus assessed for a given situation based on multiple types of information, enabling one or more preferred travel options for the given situation to be identified and used.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by one or more configured computing systems of an inter-modal travel option assessment system, information from a user about a starting location and a destination location in a geographic area and an indicated time corresponding to the user traveling from the starting location to the destination location;

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, multiple alternative travel options for the user to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, the multiple alternative travel options each using a distinct combination of two or more modes of transportation from multiple available modes of transportation in the geographic area, wherein the multiple modes of transportation include one or more mass transit systems in the geographic area and include use of a private vehicle of the user traveling on one or more roads in the geographic area, and wherein at least one of the multiple alternative travel options uses a combination that includes at least one of the mass transit systems for a subset of the travel and that includes the use of the private vehicle of the user for another subset of the travel;

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, road traffic information about traffic conditions on the one or more roads at an indicated time, the obtained road traffic information corresponding to actual traffic conditions if the indicated time is a current time and corresponding to expected traffic conditions if the indicated time is a future time;

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, schedule information for the one or more mass transit systems;

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, monetary cost information associated with using each of the multiple modes of transportation;

assessing, by the one or more configured computing systems, monetary costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, the assessed costs for the multiple alternative travel options being based at least in part on the obtained monetary cost information;

assessing, by the one or more configured computing systems, travel times associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, the assessed travel times for the multiple alternative travel options being based at least in part on the obtained schedule information and on the obtained road traffic information; and

providing information to the user about one or more of the multiple alternative travel options that indicates the assessed monetary costs and the assessed travel times for the one or more alternative travel options, to enable the user to use one of the one or more alternative travel options to travel at the indicated time from the starting location to the destination location.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, one or more additional alternative travel options for the user to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, the one or more additional alternative travel options each using a single one of the multiple available modes of transportation;

assessing, by the one or more configured computing systems, monetary costs associated with using each of the one or more additional alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time; and

assessing, by the one or more configured computing systems, travel times associated with using each of the one or more additional alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time,

and wherein the providing of the information to the user about the one or more alternative travel options includes providing additional information to the user about at least one of the one or more additional alternative travel options that indicates the assessed monetary costs and the assessed travel times for the at least one additional alternative travel option.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one mass transit system uses vehicles that do not travel on any roads in the geographic area, and wherein the one or more alternative travel options for which information is provided to the user include the at least one alternative travel option that uses the combination including the at least one mode of transportation involving vehicles traveling on the one or more roads and that includes the at least one mass transit systems using vehicles that do not travel on any roads in the geographic area.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the obtained schedule information for the one or more mass transit systems includes scheduled arrival times for mass transit vehicles at one or more transit embarkation locations, and wherein the further comprises:

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, transit vehicle deviation information that indicates differences between the scheduled arrival times for the mass transit vehicles and actual arrival times for the mass transit vehicles at the one or more transit embarkation locations, the obtained transit vehicle deviation information corresponding to actual transit vehicle deviations if the indicated time is a current time and corresponding to expected transit vehicle deviations if the indicated time is a future time; and

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, parking availability information about availability of parking at one or more locations for the user to park the private vehicle of the user, the obtained parking availability information corresponding to actual parking availability if the indicated time is a current time and corresponding to expected parking availability if the indicated time is a future time,

and wherein the assessing of the monetary costs and of the travel times associated with using the multiple alternative travel options is further based in part on the obtained transit vehicle deviation information and the obtained parking availability information.

5. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving information about a starting location and a destination location in a geographic area;

determining, by one or more configured computing systems, multiple alternative travel options for a user to travel from the starting location to the destination location, the multiple alternative travel options each using a distinct combination of one or more modes of transportation from multiple available modes of transportation, at least one of the multiple modes of transportation involving vehicles traveling on one or more roads in the geographic area;

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, information about traffic conditions on the one or more roads at an indicated time;

assessing, by the one or more configured computing systems, costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, the assessed costs being based at least in part on the obtained information about the traffic conditions; and

providing information about one or more of the multiple alternative travel options in a manner that reflects the assessed costs, to enable the user to use one of the multiple alternative travel options to travel at the indicated time from the starting location to the destination location.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the one or more alternative travel options include a first alternative travel option that uses a combination of at least one mass transit system in the geographic area for a subset of the travel for the first alternative travel option and that includes the use of a private vehicle of the user on the one or more roads for another subset of the travel for the first alternative travel option.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more alternative travel options further include a second alternative travel option that uses only the private vehicle of the user on the one or more roads for the travel for the second alternative travel option.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more alternative travel options further include a second alternative travel option that uses at least two distinct mass transit systems in the geographic area for the travel for the second alternative travel option.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more alternative travel options further include a second alternative travel option that uses a distinct second combination of a second mass transit system in the geographic area for a subset of the travel for the second alternative travel option and that includes the use of a private vehicle of the user on the one or more roads for another subset of the travel for the second alternative travel option, wherein the second mass transit system is not part of the at least one mass transit system used for the first alternative travel option.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more alternative travel options further include a second alternative travel option that uses a distinct second combination of one or more mass transit systems in the geographic area without any use of the private vehicle of the user for the travel for the second alternative travel option.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one mass transit system in the geographic area uses the one or more roads for at least some of the travel for the first alternative travel option.

12. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one mass transit system in the geographic area does not use the one or more roads for the travel for the first alternative travel option.

13. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, monetary cost information associated with using the multiple available modes of transportation,

and wherein the assessing of the costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options includes assessing one or more monetary costs for each of the one or more alternative travel options based at least in part on the obtained monetary cost information.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, parking cost information about cost of parking at one or more locations for the user to park a private vehicle of the user,

and wherein the assessing of the one or more monetary costs for each of the one or more alternative travel options includes using the obtained parking cost information as part of the assessing of the one or more monetary costs for at least one of the one or more alternative travel options.

15. The method of claim 5 wherein the obtaining of the information about the traffic conditions further includes obtaining additional travel time information associated with using the multiple available modes of transportation, and wherein the assessing of the costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options includes assessing one or more travel time costs for each of the one or more alternative travel options based at least in part on the obtained information about the traffic conditions and on the obtained additional travel time information.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the multiple available modes of transportation include one or more mass transit systems operating in the geographic area, and wherein the obtained additional travel time information includes schedule information for at least one of the mass transit systems that indicates scheduled arrival time of transit vehicles at one or more transit embarkation locations.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, transit vehicle deviation information that indicates differences between the scheduled arrival times for the transit vehicles and actual arrival times for the transit vehicles at the one or more transit embarkation locations, the obtained transit vehicle deviation information corresponding to actual transit vehicle deviations if the indicated time is a current time and corresponding to expected transit vehicle deviations if the indicated time is a future time,

and wherein the assessing of the one or more travel time costs for each of the one or more alternative travel options includes using the obtained transit vehicle deviation information as part of the assessing of the one or more travel time costs for at least one of the one or more alternative travel options.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, parking availability information about availability of parking at one or more locations for the user to park a private vehicle of the user, the obtained parking availability information corresponding to actual parking availability if the indicated time is a current time and corresponding to expected parking availability if the indicated time is a future time,

and wherein the assessing of the one or more travel time costs for each of the one or more alternative travel options includes using the obtained parking availability information as part of the assessing of the one or more travel time costs for at least one of the one or more alternative travel options.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the obtaining of the information about the traffic conditions includes obtaining road traffic information corresponding to actual traffic conditions if the indicated time is a current time and obtaining road traffic information corresponding to expected traffic conditions if the indicated time is a future time.

20. The method of claim 5 wherein the assessing of the costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time is performed for each of multiple indicated times, wherein the multiple indicated times include a current time and include one or more future times, wherein the obtaining of the information about the traffic conditions includes obtaining actual traffic condition information for the current time and obtaining expected traffic condition information for each of the one or more future times, wherein the assessing of the costs for the current time includes using the obtained actual traffic condition information for the current time, and wherein the assessing of the costs for the one or more future times includes using the obtained expected traffic condition information for the one or more future times.

21. The method of claim 5 further comprising obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, information specific to the user related to constraints on travel options that may be used, and wherein the determining of the multiple alternative travel options for the user includes removing at least one other travel option as a candidate based at least in part on the obtained information specific to the user.

22. The method of claim 5 further comprising obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, information specific to the user related to one or more assessment criteria for travel options, and wherein the assessing of the costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options involves using the one or more assessment criteria.

23. The method of claim 5 further comprising obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, information specific to the user related to how to perform the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options, and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options is performed in accordance with the obtained information specific to the user.

24. The method of claim 5 further comprising selecting, by the one or more configured computing systems, at least one of the multiple alternative travel options based at least in part on one or more specified evaluation criteria corresponding to the assessed costs and not selecting at least one other of the multiple alternative travel options, and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options includes providing information only for the selected at least one alternative travel option.

25. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining of the multiple alternative travel options for the user to travel from the starting location to the destination location is performed for each of multiple indicated times, wherein the determined multiple alternative travel options differ between a first of the multiple indicated times and a second of the multiple indicated times, wherein the assessing of the costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options is performed for at least a first alternative travel option at the first time and for a second alternative travel option at the same time that is not part of the determined multiple alternative travel options for the first time, and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options includes providing information for each of the first and second alternative travel options.

26. The method of claim 5 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are part of an automated inter-modal travel option assessment system that assess travel options for each of multiple users, and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options includes sending information from the one or more configured computing systems to a computing device associated with the user to enable corresponding information to be presented to the user via the associated computing device.

27. The method of claim 5 wherein the one or more configured computing systems include a mobile device associated with the user, and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options includes initiating presentation of corresponding information to the user.

28. The method of claim 5 wherein the obtaining of the information about the traffic conditions on the one or more roads at an indicated time includes obtaining a plurality of data samples associated with a plurality of vehicles traveling on the one or more roads in the geographic area, wherein each data sample indicates an associated road location at a specified time.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored contents that configure a computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

obtaining, by the configured computing device, information about traffic conditions on one or more roads at an indicated time;

assessing, by the configured computing device, multiple alternative travel options for a user to travel from a starting location to a destination location using one or more modes of transportation from multiple available modes of transportation, the assessing being performed with respect to one or more defined evaluation criteria and being based at least in part on the obtained information about the traffic conditions at the indicated time; and

providing information about one or more of the multiple alternative travel options in a manner that reflects the assessing.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the method further comprises, before the assessing of the multiple alternative travel options for the user:

receiving a request associated with the user that indicates the starting location and the destination location; and

determining, by the configured computing device, the multiple alternative travel options in response to the received request,

and wherein the providing of the information about the one or more alternative travel options is further performed in response to the received request.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the method further comprises, before the assessing of the multiple alternative travel options for the user:

receiving an indication of the starting location and the destination location; and

retrieving, by the configured computing device, at least some of the multiple alternative travel options in response to the received request, the retrieved at least some alternative travel options having been previously determined for the user.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 wherein the assessing of the multiple alternative travel options for the user further includes assessing costs associated with using each of the multiple alternative travel options to travel from the starting location to the destination location at the indicated time, wherein the configured computing device is part of an inter-modal travel option assessment system, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a memory of the configured computing device, and wherein the stored contents include software instructions that, when executed, program the configured computing device to perform the method.

33. A configured system, comprising:

one or more processors of one or more computing devices; and

one or more modules that are configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, assess travel options for one or more users by, for each of the one or more users;

determining one or more alternative travel options for the user to travel from a starting location to a destination location at an indicated time, at least one of the alternative travel options using a combination of multiple available modes of transportation, at least one of the multiple modes of transportation involving vehicles traveling on one or more roads;

obtaining information about traffic conditions on the one or more roads for the indicated time;

assessing the one or more alternative travel options for the user based on one or more defined evaluation criteria and based at least in part on the obtained information about the traffic conditions at the indicated time; and

providing information for the user about the one or more alternative travel options in a manner that reflects the assessing.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein, for one of the one or more users, the determining of the one or more alternative travel options for the one user includes determining multiple alternative travel options.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the determined multiple alternative travel options for the one user include the at least one travel option for the one user and include at least one additional travel option for the one user that uses a single mode of transportation.

36. The system of claim 33 wherein, for one of the one or more users, the assessing of the one or more alternative travel options for the one user further includes assessing costs associated with using each of the one or more alternative travel options at each of multiple indicated times, wherein the multiple indicated times include a current time and include one or more future times, wherein the obtaining of the information about the traffic conditions includes obtaining actual traffic condition information for the current time and obtaining expected traffic condition information for each of the one or more future times, wherein the assessing of the costs for the current time includes using the obtained actual traffic condition information for the current time, and wherein the assessing of the costs for the one or more future times includes using the obtained expected traffic condition information for the one or more future times.

37. The system of claim 33 wherein the one or more modules are part of an inter-modal travel option assessment system and include at least a travel option determiner module and a travel option assessor module, and wherein the one or more modules include software instructions for execution by the one or more processors.

38. The system of claim 33 wherein the one or more modules consist of one or more means for performing the assessing of the travel options for the one or more users.

39. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing, by a configured computing device associated with a user, a request to an inter-modal travel option assessment system for assessment of one or more options for the user to travel from a starting location to a destination location in a geographic area using one or more of multiple available modes of transportation in the geographic area;

receiving, by the configured computing device and in response to the provided request, assessment information for one or more of multiple determined alternative travel options for the user to travel from the starting location to the destination location at one or more indicated times, the multiple alternative travel options each using a distinct combination of one or more of the multiple available modes of transportation, at least one of the multiple modes of transportation involving vehicles traveling on one or more roads in the geographic area, the received assessment information indicating assessed costs for the one or more alternative travel options that are based at least in part on information about traffic conditions on the one or more roads at the one or more indicated times; and

using, by the configured computing device, the received assessment information to enable the user to use one of the multiple determined alternative travel options to travel at one of the indicated times from the starting location to the destination location.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the using of the received assessment information by the configured computing devices includes at least one of presenting routing information to the user for the one determined alternative travel option and of presenting at least some of the received assessment information to the user to enable selection by the user of the one determined alternative travel option.