Optimized route planning and personalized real-time location-based travel management

• US 9,261,374 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2010
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RouteRank Ltd.
• Original Assignee: RouteRank Ltd.
• Inventors: Mundinger, Jochen, Waibel, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): PECHE, JORGE O
• Application Number:
  US12/784,154
• Publication Number:
  US 20100280748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,098 Days
• Field of Search: 701/400, 701/409, 701/414, 701/415, 701/422, 701/423, 701/424, 701/425
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 21/3438 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 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A method for optimized route planning for a user, including:

• (a) determining a departure point and a destination point for multimodal travel;
• (b) based on said departure point and destination point, computing and proposing criteria for restricting the number of candidate routes to consider,
• (c) proposing an updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being either:
  • i) automatically displayed after a delay, and/or:
  • ii) based on user selection of said criteria.

Claims

1. A method for providing a user with optimized transportation route planning using a transportation planning comprising a server configured to execute computer-executable components, said method comprising:

using a routing engine for determining a departure point and a destination point for multimodal transportation involving multiple, different modes of transportation;

based on said departure point and destination point, using the routing engine for computing and proposing a first list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point,

using the routing engine for proposing an updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being either;

i) automatically displayed after a delay or after the updated list is computed or after a user action, and/or;

ii) displayed based on user selection or exclusion of one or more members in said first list, wherein candidate routes, of the updated list of candidate routes, respectively comprise multimodal transportation routes that respectively include segments with multiple, different modes of transportation, wherein said updated list is at least based on;

the probability of delays along each or some routes,

subjective information in the form of comments or suggestions made by other travelers who travelled along each or some routes,

weather forecasts, and

popularity of the route or of some route segments among users or travelers; and

automatically learning user preferences based on selections and/or traveller observations during travel, and improving/updating user profiles by taking into account these facts.

2. An Information Technology system for transportation planning comprising a server configured to execute computer-executable components, the server comprising:

at least one computer processor coupled to a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the at least one computer processor configured as;

a routing engine arranged for computing a first list of candidate routes between a departure point and a destination point;

said routing engine being arranged for proposing an updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being either;

i) automatically displayed after a delay or after the updated list is computed or after a user action, and/or;

ii) based on a user selection or exclusion of one or more members in said first list,

wherein routes on the updated list of possible routes respectively comprise multimodal transportation routes that respectively include segments with multiple, different modes of transportation

wherein said updated list being based at least on;

the probability of delays along each or some routes;

subjective information in the form of comments or suggestions made by other travelers who travelled along each or some routes;

weather forecasts;

popularity of the route or of some route segments among users or travelers.

3. A method for providing a user with optimized transportation route planning, said method comprising the steps of:

providing an input interface to a computer system for inputting a destination point;

based on a departure point and the input destination point, using the computer system to execute software to determine a plurality of candidate routes between the departure point and the destination point, wherein

at least one of said candidate routes includes a multimodal route having a plurality of route segments such that at least one of said route segments has a different mode of transportation than another of said route segments for completing the at least one candidate route, and wherein

another of said candidate routes includes at least one route segment that is different than any of the route segments in said one of said candidate routes;

using the computer system for executing software for determining, for each one of the candidates routes, a travel duration and/or a departure and arrival time and, for the at least one of the candidates routes, a price;

displaying on a display the list of the candidate routes, said list of candidate routes including, for each one of said candidate routes, mode(s) of transportation used for that candidate route, for each one of said candidate routes, the calculated travel duration and/or departure and arrival time and, for the at least one of the candidate routes, the calculated price, and;

displaying on a display for a selected candidate route of the list of candidate routes a list of route segments of the selected candidate route with modes of transportation of the route segments and at least one of travel durations of the route segments and departure and arrival times of the route segments.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the steps of determining the plurality of candidate routes and displaying the list of candidate routes comprises the following steps:

based on said departure point and destination point, computing and displaying, by the computer system, a first list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, wherein the first list of candidate routes comprises a restricted number of candidate routes,

computing and displaying, by the computer system, an updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being either;

i) automatically displayed after a delay or after the updated list is computed or after a user action, and/or;

ii) displayed based on user selection or exclusion of one or more members in said first list.

5. The method of claim 4, said first list of candidate routes including a provisional list of candidate routes or route segments or geographical nodes or transportation modes that may be pre-selected or excluded,

said updated list including additional candidate routes and/or additional information on the candidate routes in the provisional list.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the computation of said first list of candidate routes comprises a restricted number of candidate routes being restricted based on a rough estimate of a price and/or a travel duration.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the computation of said updated list comprises a restricted number of candidate routes being restricted based on a more precise estimate of the price and/or the travel duration.

8. The method of claim 4, comprising:

computing said updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point based on a more precise estimate of transport durations and/or costs; and

automatically and without user intervention displaying said updated list after is has been computed.

9. The method of claim 4, comprising:

computing said updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being based at least on;

the probability of delays along each or some routes;

subjective information in the form of comments or suggestions made by travellers who travelled along each or some routes;

weather forecasts;

popularity of the route or of some route segments among users.

10. The method of claim 4, comprising optimization of a joint travel of different travellers along one or several route segments, taking into account different user preferences.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising proposing one route comprising a segment of joint travel with at least one other traveler.

12. The method of claim 10, comprising:

determining a departure point and a destination point for a first transport;

determining a departure point and a destination point for at least a second transport;

based on said departure points and destination points of said first and said second transports, computing a list of candidate routes for each of said transports, each of said candidate routes comprising at least one joint segment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said list of candidate routes takes into account preferences of a plurality of users or travelers.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said first transport is transporting a first traveler, and wherein said second transport is transporting a second traveler, said method further comprising proposing a route with one vehicle and proposing one vehicle among several vehicles, wherein the selection of the vehicle takes into account the number of available seats, the consumption, the comfort, and/or other preferences of the travelers.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the route planning is executed for a single package or other object, or group of packages or other objects and user preferences are determined via an IT system, a logistics service provider, a transport manager, one or more of the couriers along the route, or the sender.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein the user is using the method to determine optimized transportation route planning as a traveller for traveling an optimized route.

17. The method of claim 4, wherein said optimized transportation route is optimized for shipping objects.

18. The method claim 3, wherein the plurality of candidate routes is determined on the basis of a metric, wherein said metric includes one or more among the followings:

Emissions;

comfort;

robustness, for example probability of delays;

popularity of the route or of some route segments;

preferred mode of transportation;

subjective information in the form of comments or suggestions about past transports;

data collected from past transports of other users or travelers;

weather, disaster or political condition forecasts;

data from travel literature;

statistically collected data on transport duration and/or delays for some segment.

19. The method of claim 3, wherein objective and subjective metrics are used for determining the plurality of candidate routes, the method comprising a step of combining said objective and subjective metrics using artificial intelligence for creating a combined metric.

20. The method of claim 3, comprising a step of proposing a new route to a traveler based on unexpected events during a travel made by a second user.

21. The method of claim 3, wherein for the route segments of the selected candidate route, prices are displayed.

22. The method of claim 3, wherein the computer system is used for executing software for determining, for each one of the candidates routes, a price, and wherein for each one of said candidate routes, the calculated price is displayed.

23. An Information Technology system for transportation planning comprising a server configured to execute computer-executable components, the server comprising:

an input interface to a computer system configured for inputting a destination point, wherein

said computer system is configured to execute software to determine a plurality of candidate routes between the departure point and the destination point based on a departure point and the input destination point, such that at least one of said candidate routes includes a multimodal route having a plurality of route segments such that at least one of said route segments has a different mode of transportation than another of said route segments for completing the at least one candidate route, and wherein

said computer system is configured to execute software to provide another of said candidate routes including at least one route segment that is different than any of the route segments in said one of said candidate routes;

said computer system being further configured for executing software to determine, for each one of the candidates routes, a travel duration and/or a departure and arrival time and, for the at least one of the candidates routes, a price;

a display for displaying, based on input from the computer system, the list of the candidate routes, said list of candidate routes displayed including, for each one of said candidate routes, mode(s) of transportation used for that candidate route, for each one of said candidate routes, the calculated travel duration and/or departure and arrival time and, for the at least one of the candidate routes, the calculated price, and;

said display also displays, based on input from the computer system, for a selected candidate route of the list of candidate routes, a list of route segments of the selected candidate route with modes of transportation of the route segments and at least one of travel durations of the route segments and departure and arrival times of the route segments.

24. The Information Technology system of claim 23, wherein

the routing engine is arranged for computing a first list of candidate routes between a departure point and a destination point;

said routing engine being arranged for proposing an updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point, said updated list being either;

i) automatically displayed after a delay or after the updated list is computed or after a user action, and/or;

ii) based on a user selection or exclusion of one or more members in said first list.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the routing engine is arranged for allowing the user to selecting the priority of a plurality of metrics respectively and for computing the plurality of metrics, wherein the first list of candidate routes comprises a restricted number of candidate routes restricted based on the plurality of metrics computed and based on the selected user-dependent priorities respectively associated with the plurality of metrics, wherein proposing said first list of candidate routes is based on a rough estimates of the plurality of metrics, while proposing said updated list is based on a more precise estimate of the plurality of metrics.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of metrics include one or more of:

Emissions;

comfort;

robustness, for example probability of delays;

popularity of the route or of some route segments;

preferred mode of transportation;

subjective information in the form of comments or suggestions about past transports;

data collected from past transports;

weather forecasts;

data from travel literature;

statistically collected data on transport duration and/or delays for some segments.

27. The system of claim 24, adapted to automatically learn user preferences based on user selections and observations during travel.

28. The system of claim 24, comprising:

means for computing the first list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point based on a rough estimate of transport durations and/or costs;

means for computing said updated list of candidate routes between said departure point and said destination point based on a more precise estimate of transport durations and/or costs.

29. The system of claim 24, comprising:

means for determining a departure point and a destination point for a first transport;

means for determining a departure point and a destination point for at least a second transport;

means for computing a list of candidate routes for each of said transports based on said departure points and destination points of said first and said second transports, each of said candidate routes comprising at least one joint segment.

30. The system of claim 24, wherein the route planning is executed for a single package or other object, or group of packages or other objects and user preferences are determined via an IT system, a logistics service provider, a transport manager, one or more of the couriers along the route, or the sender.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein for the route segments of the selected candidate route, prices are displayed.

32. The method of claim 23, wherein the computer system is configured for executing software for determining, for each one of the candidates routes, a price, and wherein for each one of said candidate routes, the calculated price is displayed.