Providing route information to devices during a shared transport service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10873839-B2
Application number	US-201916277165-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2019
Priority date	Sep 5, 2014
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

A system and method of providing information about a transport service to user devices are described. The system arranges a transport service for a first user and a second user. The system determines first data corresponding to a first route from a location of a driver device of the driver to a first pickup location of the first user and second data corresponding to a second route from the first pickup location to a second pickup location of the second user. A combined route is determined based on the first data and the second data. The system transmits data associated with the first data without transmitting the data corresponding to the combined route to a first user device of the first user, and transmits data corresponding to the combined route to a second user device of the second user.

First claim

What is being claimed is:

1. A method of providing information about a transport service to user devices, the method being performed by a computing device and comprising:
receiving a first transport request from a first user device of a first user, the first transport request including a first destination location;
receiving a second transport request from a second user device of a second user, the second transport request including a second destination location;
arranging a transport service for the first user and the second user by selecting a driver to concurrently provide transport for the first user and the second user for at least a portion of the transport service;
determining a location of a driver device of the driver using a location detection mechanism of the driver device;
determining first data corresponding to a first route from the location of the driver device to the first destination location;
determining second data corresponding to a second route from the first destination location to the second destination location;
transmitting the first data to the first user device without transmitting data corresponding to the second destination location to the first user device, the first data enabling the first user device to display a first graphic indicator of the first destination location on a first map user interface; and
transmitting the second data to the second user device without transmitting data corresponding to the first destination location to the second user device, the second data enabling the second user device to display a second graphic indicator of the second destination location on a second map user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a combined route corresponding to the first route and the second route based on the first data and the second data; and
transmitting data corresponding to the combined route to the second user device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein arranging the transport service for the first user and the second user includes (i) transmitting a first invitation to the driver device along with information about a first pickup location, (ii) receiving an acceptance from the driver device, the acceptance being received in response to the driver providing input on the driver device, and (iii) transmitting a second invitation to the driver device along with information about a second pickup location to the driver device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first data includes receiving the first data from the driver device, and wherein the driver device receives the first data from a first mapping service.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the second data includes using a second mapping service that operates independently from the first mapping service, and wherein the computing device operates the second mapping service or has access to the second mapping service.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the second data includes receiving the second data from the driver device, and wherein the driver device receives the second data from the first mapping service.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first data, determining the second data, transmitting the first data, and transmitting the second data is performed periodically for a duration of time until the computing device determines that the first user has been dropped off.

8. A system for providing information about a transport service, the system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations including:
receiving a first transport request from a first user device of a first user, the first transport request including a first destination location;
receiving a second transport request from a second user device of a second user, the second transport request including a second destination location;
arranging a transport service for the first user and the second user by selecting a driver to concurrently provide transport for the first user and the second user for at least a portion of the transport service;
determining a location of a driver device of the driver using a location detection mechanism of the driver device;
determining first data corresponding to a first route from the location of the driver device to the first destination location;
determining second data corresponding to a second route from the first destination location to the second destination location;
transmitting the first data to the first user device without transmitting data corresponding to the second destination location to the first user device, the first data enabling the first user device to display a first graphic indicator of the first destination location on a first map user interface; and
transmitting the second data to the second user device without transmitting data corresponding to the first destination location to the second user device, the second data enabling the second user device to display a second graphic indicator of the second destination location on a second map user interface.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more memory resources store further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations including:
determining a combined route corresponding to the first route and the second route based on the first data and the second data; and
transmitting data corresponding to the combined route to the second user device.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein arranging the transport service for the first user and the second user includes (i) transmitting a first invitation to the driver device along with information about a first pickup location, (ii) receiving an acceptance from the driver device, the acceptance being received in response to the driver providing input on the driver device, and (iii) transmitting a second invitation to the driver device along with information about a second pickup location to the driver device.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining the first data includes receiving the first data from the driver device, and wherein the driver device receives the first data from a first mapping service.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the second data includes using a second mapping service that operates independently from the first mapping service, and wherein the system operates the second mapping service or has access to the second mapping service.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining the second data includes receiving the second data from the driver device, and wherein the driver device receives the second data from the first mapping service.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining the first data, determining the second data, transmitting the first data, and transmitting the second data is performed periodically for a duration of time until the system determines that the first user has been dropped off.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations including:
receiving a first transport request from a first user device of a first user, the first transport request including a first destination location;
receiving a second transport request from a second user device of a second user, the second transport request including a second destination location;
arranging a transport service for the first user and the second user by selecting a driver to concur

Assignees

• Uber Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Tao Christine
• Jacobs Michael

Classifications

• G01C21/3438 Primary

  Rendezvous; Ride sharing · CPC title

• G01C21/343

  Calculating itineraries (travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047) · CPC title

• H04W4/44 Primary

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04W4/024

  Guidance services · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title