Preserving assigned carpools after a cancellation
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- identifying, using a processing device, a cancellation of a person'"'"'s participation in an assigned carpool;
identifying whether the assigned carpool still includes a driver and at least one passenger after removing the cancelled person from the carpool;
responsive to the assigned carpool still including the driver and at least one passenger;
removing the cancelled person from the carpool; and
sending a notification to the driver informing the driver of the cancellation;
responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the driver;
checking an availability of other drivers in a carpool system to pickup at least one of the passengers;
responsive to an availability of an other driver to pickup at least one of the passengers;
assigning the other available driver to the at least one respective passenger;
calculating an estimated time the assigned driver will pickup each of the assigned passengers based on a predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of each assigned passenger;
sending a notification to the assigned driver to pickup each assigned passenger at the respective estimated time;
sending a notification to each assigned passenger that the assigned driver will pick them up at the respective estimated time;
responsive to no availability of the other drivers to pickup at least one of the passengers, sending a notification to those passengers who can not be picked up that their carpool assignment has been cancelled;
responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the at least one passenger;
identifying at least one passenger seeking a carpool assignment in the carpool system;
calculating for each identified passenger seeking the carpool assignment, an estimated time the driver will pickup the respective passenger based on the predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of the respective passenger;
designating those passengers seeking the carpool assignments as eligible for carpooling with the driver, responsive to the calculated estimated time the driver will pickup those passengers occurring within a pickup time window provided by those passengers;
assigning the driver to a passenger designated as eligible for carpooling with the driver;
sending a notification to the driver to pickup the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time; and
sending a notification to the assigned eligible passenger that the assigned driver will pick up the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Distances between locations traveled by a carpool driver in a carpooling system may be initially estimated by calculating direct, straight line distances between each of the location points. Travel speeds may also be initially estimated using an expected maximum vehicle speed, which may a maximum speed limit. An estimated travel time may then be calculated from this data to initially designate passengers as eligible or ineligible for carpooling with a carpool driver. Cancellation requests received from participants in assigned carpools may be processed to determine whether the carpool may still be conducted. If so, the carpool may continue. If not, the system may search for alternative assignments before sending any cancellation notifications to the participants. Cancellations may be sent only if the system is not able provide a suitable alternate assignment.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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identifying, using a processing device, a cancellation of a person'"'"'s participation in an assigned carpool; identifying whether the assigned carpool still includes a driver and at least one passenger after removing the cancelled person from the carpool; responsive to the assigned carpool still including the driver and at least one passenger; removing the cancelled person from the carpool; and sending a notification to the driver informing the driver of the cancellation; responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the driver; checking an availability of other drivers in a carpool system to pickup at least one of the passengers; responsive to an availability of an other driver to pickup at least one of the passengers; assigning the other available driver to the at least one respective passenger; calculating an estimated time the assigned driver will pickup each of the assigned passengers based on a predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of each assigned passenger; sending a notification to the assigned driver to pickup each assigned passenger at the respective estimated time; sending a notification to each assigned passenger that the assigned driver will pick them up at the respective estimated time; responsive to no availability of the other drivers to pickup at least one of the passengers, sending a notification to those passengers who can not be picked up that their carpool assignment has been cancelled; responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the at least one passenger; identifying at least one passenger seeking a carpool assignment in the carpool system; calculating for each identified passenger seeking the carpool assignment, an estimated time the driver will pickup the respective passenger based on the predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of the respective passenger; designating those passengers seeking the carpool assignments as eligible for carpooling with the driver, responsive to the calculated estimated time the driver will pickup those passengers occurring within a pickup time window provided by those passengers; assigning the driver to a passenger designated as eligible for carpooling with the driver; sending a notification to the driver to pickup the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time; and sending a notification to the assigned eligible passenger that the assigned driver will pick up the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:
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identify a cancellation of a person'"'"'s participation in an assigned carpool; identify whether the assigned carpool still includes a driver and at least one passenger after removing the cancelled person from the carpool; responsive to the assigned carpool still including the driver and at least one passenger; remove the cancelled person from the carpool; and send a notification to the driver informing the driver of the cancellation; responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the driver; check an availability of other drivers in a carpool system to pickup at least one of the passengers; responsive to an availability of an other driver to pickup at least one of the passengers; assign the other available driver to the at least one respective passenger; calculate an estimated time the assigned driver will pickup each of the assigned passengers based on a predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of each assigned passenger; send a notification to the assigned driver to pickup each assigned passenger at the respective estimated time; send a notification to each assigned passenger that the assigned driver will pick them up at the respective estimated time; responsive to no availability of the other drivers to pickup at least one of the passengers, send a notification to those passengers who can not be picked up that their carpool assignment has been cancelled; responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the at least one passenger; identify at least one passenger seeking a carpool assignment in the carpool system; calculate for each identified passenger seeking the carpool assignment, an estimated time the driver will pickup the respective passenger based on the predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of the respective passenger; designate those passengers seeking the carpool assignments as eligible for carpooling with the driver, responsive to the calculated estimated time the driver will pickup those passengers occurring within a pickup time window provided by those passengers; assign the driver to a passenger designated as eligible for carpooling with the driver; send a notification to the driver to pickup the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time; and send a notification to the assigned eligible passenger that the assigned driver will pick up the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A system comprising a processing device and a calculating arrangement, wherein:
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the processing device; identifies a cancellation of a person'"'"'s participation in an assigned carpool and identifies whether the assigned carpool still includes a driver and at least one passenger after removing the cancelled person from the carpool; responsive to the assigned carpool still including the driver and at least one passenger, removes the cancelled person from the carpool and sends a notification to the driver informing the driver of the cancellation responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the driver, checks an availability of other drivers in a carpool system to pickup at least one of the passengers; responsive to an availability of an other driver to pickup at least one of the passengers, assigns the available driver to at least one respective passenger, sends a notification to the assigned driver to pickup each assigned passenger at the respective estimated time, and sends a notification to each assigned passenger that the assigned driver will pick them up at the respective estimated time; responsive to no availability of the other drivers to pickup at least one of the passengers, send a notification to those passengers who can not be picked up that their carpool assignment has been cancelled; responsive to the assigned carpool no longer including the at least one passenger, identifies at least one passenger seeking a carpool assignment in the carpool system and designates those passengers seeking the carpool assignments as eligible for carpooling with the driver, responsive to the calculated estimated time the driver will pickup those passengers occurring within a pickup time window provided by those passengers, assigns the driver to a passenger designated as eligible for carpooling with the driver, sends a notification to the driver to pickup the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time, and sends a notification to the assigned eligible passenger that the assigned driver will pick up the assigned eligible passenger at the respective estimated time; and the calculating arrangement calculates (i) an estimated time the assigned drivers will pickup each of the assigned passengers based on a predetermined departure time of the assigned drivers and a location of the assigned passengers and (ii) for each identified passenger seeking the carpool assignment, an estimated time the driver will pickup the respective passenger based on the predetermined departure time of the assigned driver and a location of the respective passenger.
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Specification