Proposing transit points by analyzing travel patterns

• US 9,103,689 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Rinckes, Douglas Antony, Garay, Csaba Zoltn
• Primary Examiner(s): Marc, McDieunel
• Application Number:
  US14/500,834
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• Field of Search: 701/468, 342/357.37, 342/357.56, 343/765, 343/882, 343/892, 180/168, 702/159, 333/67, 356/3, 382/154, 370/248
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for analyzing travel patterns in transit systems is provided. The method includes identifying an existing transit point of a transit system and receiving location information including geo-location paths of a plurality of mobile devices. Each of the geo-location paths includes the identified transit point. The method also includes determining a congestion level for transit points of the transit system based on the received location information. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for suggesting alternative transit points in a transit system, the method comprising:

identifying, with one or more computing devices, a plurality of transit points of the transit system;

receiving, with the one or more computing devices, location information including geo-location paths of a plurality of mobile devices, each of the geo-location paths including one or more of the identified transit points;

determining, with the one or more computing devices, based on the received location information including the geo-location paths of the plurality of mobile devices, a congestion level for a first identified transit point; and

providing to a user, with the one or more computing devices, a suggested alternative transit point to the first identified transit point based on the determined congestion level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises determining a congestion level for one or more of the other identified transit points besides the first identified transit point.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining further comprises determining if one or more of the identified transit points has a congestion level higher than a threshold value.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining further comprises determining the congestion levels of one or more of the identified transit points in real time.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing the first identified transit point and the determined congestion levels of the plurality of identified transit points to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing the first identified transit point and the suggested alternative transit point to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises determining historical congestion levels of one or more of the identified transit points.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more transit system operating schedules;

determining an average wait time for the first identified transit point based on the determined congestion level of the first identified transit point and the received one or more transit system operating schedules; and

determining the suggested alternative transit point based on the determined average wait time for the first identified transit point.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining a time to reach one or more of the identified transit points other than the first identified transit point,

wherein the determining the suggested alternative transit point is based on the determined average wait time for the first identified transit point and the determined time to reach one or more of the identified transit points other than the first identified transit point.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing the determined average wait time for the first identified transit point and the time to reach one or more of the other transit points to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving one or more transit system operating schedules;

determining an average wait time for one or more of the identified transit points based on the determined congestion levels and the received one or more transit system operating schedules; and

determining the suggested alternative transit point based on the determined average wait time for the one or more of the identified transit points.

12. A system for suggesting alternative transit points in a transit system, the system comprising:

a memory storing executable instructions; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory configured to execute the stored executable instructions to;

identify a plurality of transit points of the transit system;

receive location information including geo-location paths of a plurality of mobile devices, each of the geo-location paths including one or more of the identified transit points;

determine, based on the received location information including the geo-location paths of the plurality of mobile devices, congestion levels for the identified transit points; and

provide to a user a suggested alternative transit point to a selected one of the identified transit points based on the congestion level determination.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein to determine the congestion levels further comprises to determine if one or more of the identified transit points has a congestion level higher than a threshold value.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein to determine the congestion levels further comprises to determine the congestion levels of the identified transit points in real time.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the executing the executable instructions further causes the system to:

provide the suggested alternative transit point and the determined congestion levels of the plurality of transit points to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the executing the executable instructions further causes the system to:

receive one or more transit system operating schedules;

determine an average wait time for the selected one of the identified transit points based on the determined congestion levels and the received one or more transit system operating schedules;

determine a time to reach one or more of the identified transit points other than the first identified transit point; and

determine the suggested alternative transit point based on the determined average wait time for the selected one of the identified transit points and the determined time to reach one or more of the identified transit points other than the first identified transit point.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the executing the executable instructions further causes the system to:

provide the determined average wait time for the selected one of the identified transit points and the time to reach one or more of the other transit points to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising:

machine-readable instructions for causing a one or more processors to execute a method for suggesting alternative transit points in a transit system, the method comprising;

identifying a plurality of transit points of the transit system;

selecting one of the identified transit points;

receiving location information including geo-location paths of a plurality of mobile devices, each of the geo-location paths including one or more of the identified transit points;

determining, based on the received location information including the gees-location paths of the plurality of mobile devices, a congestion level for the identified transit points; and

providing to a user, based on the determined congestion levels for the identified transit points, a suggested alternative transit point to the selected identified transit point.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, the method further comprising:

receiving one or more transit system operating schedules;

determining an average wait time for the selected identified transit point based on the determined congestion level and the received one or more transit system operating schedules; and

determining the suggested alternative transit point based on the determined average wait time for the selected identified transit point.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, the method further comprising:

determining if a time to reach another identified transit point is less than the determined average wait time for the selected identified transit point; and

providing the determined average wait time for the selected identified transit point and the time to reach the other identified transit point to one or more of the plurality of mobile devices.