DETERMINING AND DISPATCHING A RIDE-SHARE VEHICLE

• US 20160187150A1
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Published: 06/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: SHERMAN, CORINNE E., GLASGOW, DANE, RAMADGE, DAVID
• Granted Patent: US 11,187,544 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

A method may include determining a transportation situation of a person. The method may also include selecting, based on the transportation situation, a particular ride-share vehicle from a plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the transportation situation. The particular ride-share vehicle may be of a particular vehicle type based on the transportation situation.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of ride-share vehicles that includes one or more ride-share vehicles of different vehicle types; and

a computing system configured to;

determine a transportation situation of a person; and

select, based on the transportation situation, a particular ride-share vehicle from the plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the transportation situation, the particular ride-share vehicle being of a particular vehicle type based on the transportation situation.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is further configured to dispatch the particular ride-share vehicle to a location of the person at a particular time.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to determine a location of the person at a particular time based on one or more location determination factors selected from a group of location determination factors that includes:

location data of a user device associated with the person, an itinerary of the person, a calendar of the person, a reservation of the person, and a ticket purchase of the person.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to determine the transportation situation based on one or more factors selected from a group of factors that includes:

weather, an itinerary, a planned destination, a planned event, a number of occupants, a cargo type, a cargo amount, a preference of the person, a planned area of travel, gas prices, traffic patterns, road types, and road conditions.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is further configured to determine an inventory of the plurality of ride-share vehicles for an area based on one or more factors selected from a group of factors that includes:

climate of the area, commonly used vehicles in the area, terrain of the area, vehicle usage patterns of persons who use the plurality of ride-share vehicles, typical road conditions in the area, common road size in the area, common road type in the area, parking situations of the area, and demand potential of the area.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the particular ride-share vehicle includes a self-driving vehicle configured to drive itself to a location of the person.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to modify an inventory of the plurality of ride-share vehicles based on usage patterns of the plurality of ride-share vehicles.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to:

determine another transportation situation of the person; and

select another particular ride-share vehicle from the plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the another transportation situation based on the another transportation situation, the particular ride-share vehicle being of another particular vehicle type based on the another transportation situation.

9. A method, comprising:

determining a transportation situation of a person; and

selecting, based on the transportation situation, a particular ride-share vehicle from a plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the transportation situation, the particular ride-share vehicle being of a particular vehicle type based on the transportation situation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising dispatching the particular ride-share vehicle to a location of the person at a particular time.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining a location of the person at a particular time based on one or more location determination factors selected from a group of location determination factors that includes:

location data of a user device associated with the person, an itinerary of the person, a calendar of the person, a reservation of the person, and a ticket purchase of the person.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining the transportation situation based on one or more factors selected from a group of factors that includes:

weather, an itinerary, a planned destination, a planned event, a number of occupants, a cargo type, a cargo amount, a preference of the person, a planned area of travel, gas prices, traffic patterns, road types, and road conditions.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining an inventory of the plurality of ride-share vehicles for an area based on one or more factors selected from a group of factors that includes:

climate of the area, commonly used vehicles in the area, terrain of the area, vehicle usage patterns of persons who use the plurality of ride-share vehicles, typical road conditions in the area, common road size in the area, common road type in the area, parking situations of the area, and demand potential of the area.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the particular ride-share vehicle includes a self-driving vehicle configured to drive itself to a location of the person.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising modifying an inventory of the plurality of ride-share vehicles based on usage patterns of the plurality of ride-share vehicles.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining another transportation situation of the person; and

selecting another particular ride-share vehicle from the plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the another transportation situation based on the another transportation situation, the particular ride-share vehicle being of another particular vehicle type based on the another transportation situation.

17. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

computer-readable storage media configured to store instructions that, in response to being executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations, the operations comprising;

analyzing vehicular use patterns of an area; and

determining an inventory of a plurality of ride-share vehicles for the area based on the vehicular use patterns.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the vehicular use patterns include one or more factors selected from a group of factors that includes:

climate of the area, commonly used vehicles in the area, terrain of the area, vehicle usage patterns of persons who use the plurality of ride-share vehicles, typical road conditions in the area, common road size in the area, common road type in the area, parking situations of the area, and demand potential of the area.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a transportation situation of a person; and

selecting, based on the transportation situation, a particular ride-share vehicle from the inventory of the plurality of ride-share vehicles for use by the person with respect to the transportation situation, the particular ride-share vehicle being of a particular vehicle type based on the transportation situation.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the particular ride-share vehicle includes a self-driving vehicle configured to drive itself to a location of the person.