Coordinating travel on a public transit system and a travel coordination system

Abstract

A travel coordination system determines a route for a rider using a public transit system and a provider. The travel coordination system may determine a route that describes a public transit stop at which the rider exits the public transit system, and the travel coordination system can route a provider so that the provider transports the rider when the rider arrives at the public transit stop. The travel coordination system may update the rider's route after transmitting the route to the rider. The travel coordination system may determine a public transit vehicle on which the rider is traveling or predict the rider's destination. If multiple riders are traveling on the public transit vehicle and if those riders exit the public transit station using the same public transit stop, the travel coordination system may match those riders together for transport by a provider.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, from a public transit system at a computing system, public transit data corresponding to one or more public transit vehicles that transport passengers between a plurality of public transit stops and a plurality of estimated arrival times of the one or more public transit vehicles at the plurality of public transit stops;   receiving, at the computing system, a first trip request from a first rider client device of a first rider, the first trip request comprising a current location of the first rider and a destination of the first rider;   receiving, at the computing system, a second trip request from a second rider client device of a second rider, the second trip request comprising a current location of the second rider and a destination of the second rider;   determining a first optimal route from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider, the first optimal route including a first public transit stop at which the first rider enters the public transit system when following the first optimal route;   determining a second optimal route from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider, the second optimal route including a second public transit stop at which the second rider enters the public transit system when following the second optimal route;   determining whether the first public transit stop and the second public transit stop are the same public transit stop; and   responsive to determining that the first public transit stop and the second public transit stop are the same public transit stop, providing routing instructions to a device associated with a vehicle associated with a travel coordination system for picking up the first rider and the second rider and to transport them to the public transit stop.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: identifying a public transit vehicle that the first rider and the second rider use when following the first optimal route and the second optimal route respectively, wherein the public transit vehicle is associated with a public transit line that includes the public transit stop. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 estimating an arrival time of the public transit vehicle at the public transit stop; and   providing instructions to the device for picking up the first rider and the second rider based on the estimated arrival time of the public transit vehicle.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the instructions to the device instruct a provider to drop off the first rider and the second rider at the public transit stop at a time prior to the estimated arrival time of the public transit vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the public transit stop is one of a bus stop, a subway station, an airport, a harbor, or a train station. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: providing instructions to a second device associated with a second vehicle associated with the travel coordination system to pick up the first rider at a third public transit stop and to drop off the first rider at the destination of the first rider. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: providing instructions to the first rider to travel to a pickup location at which the second vehicle will pick up the first rider. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: storing the public transit data in a directed graph. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the first optimal route and the second optimal route comprises:
 generating a set of candidate routes from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider and from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider;   generating a set of scores for the set of candidate routes based on routing data; and   selecting the first optimal route and the second optimal route from the set of candidate routes based on the set of scores.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first trip request includes the first public transit stop and the second trip request includes the second public transit stop. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory, computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 receive, from a public transit system at a computing system, public transit data corresponding to one or more public transit vehicles that transport passengers between a plurality of public transit stops and a plurality of estimated arrival times of the one or more public transit vehicles at the plurality of public transit stops;   receive, at the computing system, a first trip request from a first rider client device of a first rider, the first trip request comprising a current location of the first rider and a destination of the first rider;   receive, at the computing system, a second trip request from a second rider client device of a second rider, the second trip request comprising a current location of the second rider and a destination of the second rider;   determine a first optimal route from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider, the first optimal route including a first public transit stop at which the first rider enters the public transit system when following the first optimal route;   determine a second optimal route from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider, the second optimal route including a second public transit stop at which the second rider enters the public transit system when following the second optimal route;   determine whether the first public transit stop and the second public transit stop are the same public transit stop; and   responsive to determining that the first public transit stop and the second public transit stop are the same public transit stop, provide routing instructions to a device associated with a vehicle associated with a travel coordination system for picking up the first rider and the second rider and to transport them to the public transit stop.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: identify a public transit vehicle that the first rider and the second rider use when following the first optimal route and the second optimal route respectively, wherein the public transit vehicle is associated with a public transit line that includes the public transit stop. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 estimate an arrival time of the public transit vehicle at the public transit stop; and   provide instructions to the device for picking up the first rider and the second rider based on the estimated arrival time of the public transit vehicle.   
     
     
         15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions to the device instruct a provider to drop off the first rider and the second rider at the public transit stop at a time prior to the estimated arrival time of the public transit vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the public transit stop is one of a bus stop, a subway station, an airport, a harbor, or a train station. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: provide instructions to a second device associated with a second vehicle associated with the travel coordination system to pick up the first rider at a third public transit stop and to drop off the first rider at the destination of the first rider. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: provide instructions to the first rider to travel to a pickup location at which the second vehicle will pick up the first rider. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions for determining the first optimal route and the second optimal route further comprise instructions that cause the processor to:
 generating a set of candidate routes from the current location of the first rider to the destination of the first rider and from the current location of the second rider to the destination of the second rider;   generating a set of scores for the set of candidate routes based on routing data; and   selecting the first optimal route and the second optimal route from the set of candidate routes based on the set of scores.