Ridesharing Dispatch Capacity Thresholds for Shared Ride Assignment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing ridesharing systems face challenges in efficiently managing large fleets of vehicles, optimizing routes, and dynamically reassigning passengers to minimize wait times and traffic congestion, while ensuring vehicle capacity utilization and passenger comfort.

Innovation Solution

Implementing an automated ridesharing dispatch system that includes a communications interface, processor, and memory to manage fleets of vehicles, track capacity, predict demand, and dynamically reassign passengers based on real-time data and historical trends, optimizing routes to avoid congestion and maximize vehicle utilization.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If additional users are assigned to ridesharing vehicles already transporting users, then vehicle utilization increases, but passenger comfort deteriorates when capacity is exceeded

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle utilizationVSAvoidpassenger comfort
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system continuously monitors the current utilized capacity of each ridesharing vehicle and uses this feedback to dynamically control the assignment of additional users. When capacity thresholds are approached, the system automatically prevents further assignments, ensuring passenger comfort is maintained while maximizing vehicle utilization up to acceptable limits.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The threshold block mechanism dynamically adjusts vehicle assignment based on real-time capacity conditions. The system transitions between accepting new assignments and blocking them based on the current utilized capacity relative to the threshold, allowing flexible optimization of both utilization and comfort.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If pick-up locations are changed from user-specified starting points, then vehicle routing efficiency improves, but user convenience deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle routing efficiencyVSAvoiduser convenience
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies pick-up location optimization selectively rather than universally. By using heuristic algorithms to identify cases where location changes will significantly improve routing efficiency, the system achieves productivity gains while minimizing the impact on user convenience for the majority of riders.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Loss of time

If real-time tracking and dynamic reassignment are implemented, then wait times are reduced, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewait timesVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The ridesharing system performs dynamic reassignment automatically without requiring user intervention. The processor continuously monitors vehicle locations, capacity, and user requests, and autonomously makes optimization decisions, reducing wait times while keeping the user interface simple.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-calculates optimal routes and identifies potential reassignment opportunities before they become critical. By proactively managing vehicle assignments based on predicted demand and current conditions, the system reduces wait times while avoiding the need for complex real-time emergency reassignments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3574459B1Systems and methods for vehicle ridesharing
Publication Date: 2026.02.11 VIA TRANSPORTATION INC
  • EP3574459B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3574459B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3574459B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing a fleet of ridesharing vehicles. In one implementation, the system may include a communications interface configured to receive requests for shared rides from a plurality of users; a memory configured to store indications of passenger-capacity for specific ridesharing vehicles in the fleet; and at least one processor configured to receive information from the communications interface and access the memory The at least one processor may be further configured to assign, to ridesharing vehicles already transporting users, additional users for simultaneous transportation in the ridesharing vehicles; track a current utilized capacity of each specific ridesharing vehicle; and implement a threshold block that prevents assignment of additional users to a ridesharing vehicle when the ridesharing vehicle's current utilized capacity is above a threshold being less than the ridesharing vehicle's passenger-capacity.