Providing alternative routing options to a rider of a transportation management system
A transportation management system coordinates the transportation of riders by drivers integrated with the system. To provide control to the rider of the route used during a trip provided by a given driver, the transportation management system computes several alternative routing options between the trip's origin location and destination location. These alternative routing options may be computed according to the rider's preferences and/or based on different optimization functions that optimize various trip parameters, for example, cost, time, traffic, and distance. The rider selects one of the alternative routing options as the preferred route between the origin location and the destination location. The transportation management system automatically communicates the routing option selected by the rider to the driver without requiring the rider to personally tell the driver of her preference.
1. A method for providing user-selected routes to a driver using a transportation management system, the method comprising:
determining a plurality of different routes associated with a trip request of a user for travel from an origin location to a destination location, each route optimized according to a different combination of trip parameters;
transmitting the plurality of routes to a client device of the user for display to the user;
receiving from the user client device a selection of a route in the plurality of routes; and
transmitting the selected route to a driver client device associated with a driver selected to transport the user from the origin location to the destination location.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the plurality of routes comprises computing each of the routes based on a different optimization function that assigns weights to a combination of trip parameters associated with the optimization function.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a weight assigned to a first trip parameter is set according to preferences of the user identified based on previous trips taken by the user using the transportation management system.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a weight assigned to a first trip parameter is set according to preferences provided by the user to the transportation management system.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a trip parameter according to which a first route is optimized is selected from a group consisting of: an estimated cost to the user, an estimated time to reach the destination location, an amount of traffic congestion along the first route, safety along the first route, type(s) of road(s) along the first route, and a time of day associated with the trip request.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to determining that the driver has deviated from the selected route, determining based on the selected route an alternative route for transporting the user to the destination location.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to determining that the driver has deviated from the selected route, updating a performance rating associated with the driver to indicate that the driver did not adhere to the selected route.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the plurality of routes to the user client device comprises transmitting, for each route, a specified path for traveling from the origin location to the destination location and an estimated time of arrival at the destination location.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the selected route to the driver client device comprises transmitting a notification to the driver client device indicating that the selected route was selected by the user.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions executable by a processor, the instructions comprising:
instructions for determining a plurality of routes associated with a trip request of a user for travel from an origin location to a destination location, each route optimized according to a different combination of trip parameters;
instructions for transmitting the plurality of routes to a client device of the user for display to the user;
instructions for receiving from the user client device a selection of a route in the plurality of routes; and
instructions for transmitting the selected route to a driver client device associated with a driver selected to transport the user from the origin location to the destination location.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein determining the plurality of routes comprises computing each of the routes based on a different optimization function that assigns weights to a combination of trip parameters associated with the optimization function.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein a weight assigned to a first trip parameter is set according to preferences of the user identified based on previous trips taken by the user using the transportation management system.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein a weight assigned to a first trip parameter is set according to preferences provided by the user to the transportation management system.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein a trip parameter according to which a first route is optimized is selected from a group consisting of: an estimated cost to the user, an estimated time to reach the destination location, an amount of traffic congestion along the first route, safety along the first route, type(s) of road(s) along the first route, and a time of day associated with the trip request.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , the instructions further comprising instructions for, responsive to determining that the driver has deviated from the selected route, determining based on the selected route an alternative route for transporting the user to the destination location.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , the instructions further comprising instructions for, responsive to determining that the driver has deviated from the selected route, updating a performance rating associated with the driver to indicate that the driver did not adhere to the selected route.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the plurality of routes to the user client device comprises transmitting, for each route, a specified path for traveling from the origin location to the destination location and an estimated time of arrival at the destination location.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the selected route to the driver client device comprises transmitting a notification to the driver client device indicating that the selected route was selected by the user.
19. A computer system comprising:
a computer processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by the computer processor, the instructions comprising:
instructions for determining a plurality of different routes associated with a trip request of a user for travel from an origin location to a destination location, each route optimized according to a different combination of trip parameters;
instructions for transmitting the plurality of routes to a client device of the user for display to the user;
instructions for receiving from the user client device a selection of a route in the plurality of routes; and
instructions for transmitting the selected route to a driver client device associated with a driver selected to transport the user from the origin location to the destination location.
20. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein determining the plurality of routes comprises computing each of the routes based on a different optimization function that assigns weights to a combination of trip parameters associated with the optimization function.