Systems and methods for selecting improved routes for fulfilling transportation requests

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a dynamic transportation matching system, a request for transportation between initial waypoints;

calculating, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a first value metric for an initial driving route between the initial waypoints;

calculating, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a second value metric for an alternative walk-enabled driving route that comprises at least one alternate waypoint that is within a predetermined walking range of one of the initial waypoints;

comparing, by the dynamic transportation system, the first value metric and the second value metric to determine a fulfilment value difference representative of a difference in value of fulfilling the request for transportation via the alternative walk-enabled driving route instead of the initial driving route;

determining that the fulfilment value difference satisfies a walking-value threshold; and

selecting, based on the determination that the difference satisfies the walking-value threshold, the alternative walk-enabled driving route for fulfilling the request for transportation.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second value metric for the alternative walk-enabled driving route comprises:

creating a graph where each node represents a waypoint and a weight of each edge represents a traversal cost between two waypoints connected by the edge; and

calculating the value metric for the walk-enabled driving route based in part on a total traversal cost of traversing a set of waypoints and edges that comprise the walk-enabled driving route.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein creating the graph comprises:

identifying a set of waypoints that comprises the initial waypoints and the at least one alternate waypoint;

creating an initial graph that comprises a set of vertices that represent the set of waypoints and a set of edges that comprises an edge between each pair of vertices that represent geographically adjacent waypoints in the set of waypoints; and

creating a directed acyclic graph by pruning from the initial graph at least one edge with a traversal cost that exceeds a threshold for traversal cost.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein determining that the fulfilment value difference between the value metric of the walk-enabled driving route and the value metric of the initial driving route satisfies a walking-value threshold comprises:

identifying at least two routes through the graph from a set of vertices representing potential starting waypoints to a set of vertices representing potential destination waypoints, where the at least two routes comprise at least the initial driving route between the initial waypoints and the alternative walk-enabled driving route; and

providing the at least two routes as input to an objective function that produces, as output, a value metric for each route.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the fulfilment value difference satisfies the walking-value threshold comprises determining that, compared to the initial driving route, the alternative walk-enabled driving route reduces an estimated time a transportation provider spends traveling to meet a transportation requestor associated with the request for transportation.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the request for transportation between the initial waypoints comprises:

identifying a requestor device on which the request for transportation initiated; and

directing the requestor device to display, via a graphical user interface, a toggle that enables a transportation requestor to opt in to having the request for transportation fulfilled via the walk-enabled driving route.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the request for transportation between the initial waypoints comprises determining that a transportation requestor device that originated the request for transportation previously opted in to having requests for transportation fulfilled via walk-enabled driving routes.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second value metric for the alternative walk-enabled driving route comprises determining a level of complexity of the walk-enabled driving route for a transportation provider traversing the walk-enabled driving route.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second value metric for the alternative walk-enabled driving route comprises:

identifying a current location of a transportation provider matched with the request for transportation; and

selecting the at least one alternate waypoint for the walk-enabled driving route based at least in part on the current location of the transportation provider.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second value metric for the alternative walk-enabled driving route comprises:

identifying a potential waypoint for a future request for transportation associated with a transportation provider matched with the request for transportation; and

selecting the at least one alternate waypoint for the walk-enabled driving route based at least in part on a location of the potential waypoint for the future request for transportation.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined walking range comprises at least one of:

a length of a walking route between the alternate waypoint and the initial waypoint;

an expected traversal time of a walking route between the alternate waypoint and the initial waypoint; or

a level of complexity of a walking route between the alternate waypoint and the initial waypoint.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined walking range comprises a ratio of an expected traversal time of a walking route between the alternate waypoint and the initial waypoint to an expected trip time of fulfilling the request for transportation.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined walking range comprises a walking range preference set by a transportation requestor who initiated the request for transportation.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a requestor device from which the request for transportation was received; and

directing the requestor device to display, via a graphical user interface that comprises a map, directions for traversing the walk-enabled driving route.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a provider device associated with a transportation provider matched with the request for transportation; and

directing the provider device to display, via a graphical user interface that comprises a map, directions for:

meeting a transportation requestor at a waypoint within the walk-enabled driving route;

traversing a portion of the walk-enabled driving route that does not comprise walking; and

dropping off the transportation requestor at a waypoint within the walk-enabled driving route.

16. A system comprising:

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors configured to execute instructions from the non-transitory memory to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a dynamic transportation matching system, a request for transportation between initial waypoints;

calculating, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a first value metric for an initial driving route between the initial waypoints;

calculating, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a second value metric for an alternative walk-enabled driving route that comprises at least one alternate waypoint that is within a predetermined walking range of one of the initial waypoints;

comparing, by the dynamic transportation system, the first value metric and the second value metric to determine a fulfilment value difference representative of a difference in value of fulfilling the request for transportation via the alternative walk-enabled driving route instead of the initial driving route;

determining that the fulfilment value difference satisfies a walking-value threshold; and

selecting, based on the determination that the difference satisfies the walking-value threshold, the alternative walk-enabled driving route for fulfilling the request for transportation.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein calculating the second value metric for the alternative walk-enabled driving route comprises:

creating a graph where each node represents a waypoint and a weight of each edge represents a traversal cost between two waypoints connected by the edge; and

calculating the value metric for the walk-enabled driving route based in part on a total traversal cost of traversing a set of waypoints and edges that comprise the walk-enabled driving route.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein creating the graph comprises:

identifying a set of waypoints that comprises the initial waypoints and the at least one alternate waypoint;

creating an initial graph that comprises a set of vertices that represent the set of waypoints and a set of edges that comprises an edge between each pair of vertices that represent geographically adjacent waypoints in the set of waypoints; and

creating a directed acyclic graph by pruning from the initial graph at least one edge with a traversal cost that exceeds a threshold for traversal cost.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein determining that the fulfilment value difference satisfies a walking-value threshold comprises:

identifying at least two routes through the graph from a set of vertices representing potential starting waypoints to a set of vertices representing potential destination waypoints, where the at least two routes comprise at least the initial driving route between the initial waypoints and the walk-enabled driving route; and

providing the at least two routes as input to an objective function that produces, as output, a value metric for each route.

20. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive, by a dynamic transportation matching system, a request for transportation between initial waypoints;

calculate, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a first value metric for an initial driving route between the initial waypoints;

calculate, by the dynamic transportation matching system, a second value metric for an alternative walk-enabled driving route that comprises at least one alternate waypoint that is within a predetermined walking range of one of the initial waypoints;

compare, by the dynamic transportation matching system, the first value metric and the second value metric to determine a fulfilment value difference representative of a difference in value of fulfilling the request for transportation via the alternative walk-enabled driving route instead of the initial driving route;

determine, by the dynamic transportation matching system, that the fulfilment value difference satisfies a walking-value threshold; and

select, by the dynamic transportation matching system, based on the determination that the difference satisfies the walking-value threshold, the alternative walk-enabled driving route for fulfilling the request for transportation.