WO1998018096A1

WO1998018096A1 - Transportation reservation system

Info

Publication number: WO1998018096A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/019202
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert J. Abate; Jeffrey T. Starr; Marilyn G. Starr; Michael L. Starr; Richard T. Wagner
Original assignee: Gtn Technologies, L.L.C.
Priority date: 1996-10-23
Filing date: 1997-10-23
Publication date: 1998-04-30
Also published as: AU4916497A

Abstract

The invention provides for an automated computerized ground transportation service reservation system (10) linking vendors of ground transportation services (12) and agents selling round transportation services (16). Ground transportation service reservation requests (30) are received from the agents (16) and distributed to the vendors (12) for fulfillment through the ground transportation reservation system (10) of the invention. The availability of vendors (12) to fulfill requests for ground transportation services (30) is maintained by the respective vendors (12) on a computer system at their locations. In the preferred environment, 'switches' (82) on the screen display of each vendor's computer system indicate its availability, and each vendor's availability is 'mirrored' onto storage on a ground transportation reservation system server (10) so that the server (10) can make reservations as requests (30) are received from the agents. Automated dispatching and billing are also provided for through the ground transportation reservation system (10) of the invention.

Description

TRANSPORTATION RESERVATION SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing for delivery of transportation services and, in particular, ground transportation services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Currently, a person needing ground transportation services, for example a person flying to an airport away from his home needing ground transportation upon his arrival, has three options. He can identify a local ground transportation service vendor and contact that vendor in advance of his need for the ground transportation services to reserve and arrange for the required services. Alternatively, upon arrival, he may secure ground transportation services, for example, at a taxi stand. Finally, he may use public ground transportation, for example, buses or trains.

Those existing ground transportation service options have considerable disadvantages. Because there is no centralized system to handle ground transportation reservations and there are very few ground transportation service vendors that service more than one local area, if a person wants to reserve ground transportation services in advance, he must research and contact local ground transportation service vendors. He may have to call numerous ground transportation service vendors to find one that can fulfill his needs. Moreover, to ensure that he is not over paying for the requested ground transportation services, he may want to call all vendors in the local area for competitive price quotations. This involves a significant amount of time and expense in long distance calling.

Securing ground transportation services upon arrival at a location presents a more significant problem. Upon arrival, there may be no available ground o transportation service vendors, for example, during high demand periods or poor weather conditions.

Public ground transportation service is not available everywhere and is not a viable option in many circumstances, for example, group travel, travelers with ^ luggage and business travelers that require reliable, on time transportation.

Thus, ground transportation options currently available to a traveler involve either significant time and expense to make reservations or the risk of being 0 stranded. From a consumer point of view, there exists a need in the art for an efficient method and apparatus for providing for the reservation and delivery of ground transportation services.

Currently, most ground transportation service vendors rely on reservations made directly by the travelers. Vendors that rely exclusively on reservations made by the travelers do not receive reservations from travel agents and are missing out on a potentially lucrative market. Ground transportation service vendors wanting to fulfill request for ground transportation services mainly rely on manual dispatching using paper records, radios, telephones and pagers to keep track of available ground transportation service resources (i.e. vehicles and drivers) . That system has the obvious disadvantages of being labor intensive, making it difficult to keep accurate business records and being susceptible to human error.

Some ground transportation service vendors use automated reservation systems. However, those reservation systems merely schedule reservations and do not coordinate the ability to provide the requested ground transportation services. Thus, often times reservation accepted on automated reservation systems are in excess of that which the ground transportation service vendor can fulfill .

Excess reservations must be subcontracted to other ground transportation service vendors for fulfillment. This is done on an adhoc basis. Fulfillment of the excess ground transportation service requests either must be individually arranged through direct contact with the subcontractor or, because there is no way of guaranteeing the availability of subcontractors, cancelled.

Ground transportation service vendors also generally handle billing manually. Billing for ground transportation services is generally either on a per mile basis or on a point to point basis ("lane" pricing) for frequent trips, for example, airport service. The fare for a trip on a per mile basis will vary depending on the route taken and possibly, traffic encountered (if there is a time surcharge) . Billing rates on a point to point basis are kept in tabular form either in books or on computers for price quotation by local ground transportation service vendors.

Thus, from a ground transportation vendor point of view, there too exists a need in the art for an efficient method and apparatus for providing for the reservation and delivery of ground transportation services. There is no overall solution to the problems attendant to ground transportation services that coordinates reservation and delivery of ground transportation services. Because of the number of variables involved as set forth in detail below, automated coordination of reservation and delivery of ground transportation services has not been attempted, let alone achieved, in the limousine industry. Thus, there is a need in the art for an efficient automated method and apparatus for providing for the reservation and delivery of ground transportation services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above problems are solved in accordance with the present invention by providing a method and apparatus o for reservation and delivery of transportation services and, in particular, ground transportation services. The invention provides for an automated computerized ground transportation service reservation system linking vendors of ground transportation services and agents selling ground transportation services. Ground transportation service reservation requests are received from the agents and distributed to the vendors for fulfillment through the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. The availability of vendors to fulfill requests for ground 0 transportation services are maintained by the vendor on a computer system at its location. In the preferred embodiment, "switches" on the screen display of the vendors' computer system indicate its availability and each vendor's availability is "mirrored" onto storage on a 5 ground transportation reservation system server so that the server can make reservations as requests are received from the agents. Automated dispatching and billing are also provided for through the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. 0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a block diagram of hardware for an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention.

Figures 2, 7a, 7b and 8 are flow diagrams for an 5 embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention.

Figures 3 - 5, 9 and 10 are computer screen displays for an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. _Q Figure 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a block 5 diagram for hardware of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. Representative hardware to support the invention includes a ground transportation reservation system server 10. Computer systems for vendors providing ground transportation services 12 are connected to the ground transportation reservation system server 10 via link 14. Computer systems for agents selling ground transportation services 16 are also connected to the ground transportation reservation system server 10. The agents 16 are connected to the server 10 through link 18, an agent connection 20 and link 22. The agent connection 20 to the server 10 includes connections through wide area network (WAN) systems maintained by travel agencies for use by their agents, Global Distribution Systems (GDS) , for example, Apollo, Sabre, Worldspan and Galileo, and the internet. Links 14, 18 and 22 are preferably dial up or dedicated communications circuits and connected to modems. The server 10 also has external connection to electronic banking service networks (e.g. credit and debit card services) (not shown) . Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the ground transportation reservation system server 10 may be used to connect vendors of ground transportation services 12 and agents selling ground transportation services 16. Although the ground transportation reservation system of the invention is preferably designed for use by travel agents selling ground transportation services, agents as used herein encompasses businesses or individual customers making arrangements to access the ground transportation reservation system server 10 as discussed in detail below. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the ground transportation reservation system server 10 includes two Sun Microsystems 2000E scalable multiprocessor computers. Each computer includes a CDROM drive and a helical tape drive. Both computers are connected to a 60 GB high availability RAID disk array, draw power from separate uninterruptable power supplies and have external connection points to enable connection to vendors providing ground transportation services 12, agents selling ground transportation services 16 and electronic banking service networks. The vendor 12 and agent 16 computer systems are preferably IBM-compatible personal computers .

Figure 2 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. As shown in Fig. 2, a request for a ground transportation service 30 is received by the ground transportation reservation system server 10 from an agent selling ground transportation services 16 via links 18 and 22 and agent connection 20. The service request 30 includes, for example, the following information: (1) agent and terminal identification information to enable log in, (2) time, date, start location (including airline and flight number if applicable) , phone number at start location, number of legs to trip and end location, (3) vehicle preference (e.g. sedan, limousine, van, bus, helicopter, boat) and alternative vehicle preference, (4) method of payment, credit or debit card account number and expiration date, and (5) customer information and demographics (e.g. name of passengers, address, telephone number, itinerary and special requirements for handicapped passengers) . Service request 30 is checked 32 to determine if all required information has been provided. If required information is missing, a message 34 is returned to the agent selling ground transportation services 16 stating that required information is missing and noting the proper format for service requests.

If the required information has been entered, the service request 30 is checked 36 to determine if the agent selling ground transportation services 16 has requested placement of a reservation, a price quotation or cancellation of an existing reservation. If the agent 16 requested cancellation of an existing reservation, the reservation is cancelled and the computer system operated by the vendor of ground transportation services 12 is updated to reflect the cancellation 38 as discussed in detail below. If the agent 16 requested either a reservation or price quotation, the ground transportation reservation system server creates a list 40 of vendors of ground transportation services 12 that service the area of the service request 30. Vendor coverage tables 41 are accessed to create the list 40. If ground transportation services are not provided in the area of the service request 30 through the ground transportation reservation system, or if there are no vendors 12 servicing that area, a message 42 is returned to the agent 16 stating, for example, that no coverage is currently available but is planned for a future date .

If there are vendors of ground transportation services 12 that service the area of the service request 30, the vendor coverage list 40 is created and the service request 30 is checked 44 to determine if it is for the same date that the request is made or for a future date. If the service request 30 is for a future date, each vendor of ground transportation services 12 on the vendor coverage list 40 is queried 46 via link 14 to determine if it can fulfill the service request 30. For each vendor 12 on the vendor coverage list 40, the ground transportation reservation system checks 48 the vendor's calendar as discussed in detail below to determine the vendor's future availability to fulfill the service request 30. In that manner, the ground transportation reservation system creates a list 46 of vendors that are available to fulfill the ground transportation service request 30. The vendor availability list 46 is checked 50 to determine if there is at least one vendor 12 available to fulfill the service request 30. If there is no vendor 12 available, a message

52 is returned to the agent 16 via links 18 and 22 and connection 20 that, for example, there is no vendor available to provide the requested ground transportation services on the date and time specified. If there is at least one vendor 12 available, pricing for the service request 30 is determined as discussed in detail below.

If the service request 30 is for the same date that the request is made, each vendor of ground transportation services 12 on the vendor coverage list 40 is queried 54 to determine if it can fulfill the service request 30. For each vendor 12 on the vendor coverage list 40, "switches" on the vendor's computer system as discussed in detail below are checked 56 to determine the vendor's availability. In that manner, a list of vendors 54 that are available to fulfill the service request 30 is created. As explained above with respect to the vendor availability list 46, the vendor availability list 54 is checked 50 and either a message 52 is returned to the agent 16 or pricing for the service request 30 is determined. To determine pricing for the service request 30, a global positioning satellite (GPS) may be accessed 60 to determine the coordinates of the start and end locations of the service request 30 and the distance between the start and end locations. A maximum, mileage-based price for the service request 30 is determined 58 as the mileage between the start and end locations multiplied by each vendor's price per mile. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance between the start and end locations of the service request is determined upon access to Prophecy, a commercial system available from

Information Software, Inc. of Bloomfield, CT. The mileage based price is compared 62 to point-to-point pricing offered by each vendor and any corporate or specific discount fare programs offered by each vendor. Finally, the service request 30 is checked 64 to see if a reservation or a price quotation was requested by the agent 16. If a price quote was requested, a message 66 is returned to the agent 16 over links 18 and 22 and connection 20 stating that, for example, a vendor is available to provide the requested service and the price for the requested service. If more than one vendor is available, price quotes from each of the available vendors 12 may be provided to the agent 16. If a reservation was requested, the reservation is added to the ground transportation reservation system server 10 and the vendor's 12 computer system is updated to record the reservation 68 as discussed in detail below and a message 70 is returned to the agent 16 containing, for example, a confirmation number, the vendor 12 name, an emergency phone number, the price for the ground transportation services and credit or debit card account approval number, if applicable (i.e. customer may request billing invoices) . In a preferred embodiment for each vendor, its lowest price (mileage based, point-to-point or discounted) is the quoted or reserved price. As set forth above, the ground transportation reservation system server 10 has at least the following information available to it in order to process ground transportation service requests: (1) agent and terminal identification information, time, date, start and end location of the requested ground transportation service, vehicle preference, method of payment and customer information and demographics, all of which are provided by the agent; (2) vendor information, availability of vendor resources (i.e. vehicles and drivers) on a daily (switches) and long term (calendar) basis, vendor pricing schemes, all of which are provided by the vendor; (3) customer account approval number which is provided by the customer's credit or debit card provider; (4) confirmation number which is assigned by the server; and (5) mileage information provided by an outside service.

Figure 3 is a computer screen display of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. The screen display of Figure 3 is a "calendar" indicating the availability of a vendor of ground transportation services 12 to fulfill requests for ground transportation services 30 on dates in advance of the date the request is made as discussed above with respect to steps 46 and 48 in Figure 2. The screen display of Figure 3 shows the number and types of vehicles the vendor 12 has available on specific dates. For example, for the particular vendor whose fleet is shown in Figure 3, on September 30, 1996, there are ten sedans, eight deluxe sedans, four limousines and five deluxe limousines available to provide ground transportation services 84. Note that the "Calendar" button 80 is activated to view this screen. Upon activation of the

"Calendar switches" button 82, a screen display as shown in Figure 4 would appear for a particular date denoted or a screen display as shown in Figure 5 would appear for a particular date and vehicle type denoted. Figure 4 is a computer screen display of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system. The screen display of Figure 4 contains "switches" indicating the availability of the entire fleet of a vendor of ground transportation services 12 to fulfill requests for ground transportation services 30 at fifteen minute intervals on the date the request is made as discussed above with respect to steps 54 and 56 in Figure 2. The switches are buttons on the computer screen display activated by, for example, pointing and clicking a mouse .

Fleet Master Switches 86 and 88 indicate the availability of the vendor's entire fleet. Switch 86 if selected (darkened) would indicate that the vendor's entire fleet is occupied and unavailable. Selected switch 88 indicates that the vendor's fleet has at least some vehicles unoccupied and available. Vehicle type master switches 96 can be used to indicate that the vendor has no availability of a particular type of vehicle for an entire day. For example, vehicle type master switch 98 indicates that the vendor has no stretch limousines available for the date shown in Figure 4.

Additional switches indicate availability by vehicle type and time interval. For example, for the time internal commencing at 7:15 a.m. 90, the particular vendor whose fleet is shown in Figure 4 has ten sedans, eight limousines, three buses, ten jet skis and two boats in service and available to fulfill transportation reservation requests. Note that as indicated by the references to jet skis and boats in Figure 4, the invention may be used to provide for reservation and delivery of a variety of vehicles and services. The vendor also has one stretch limousine and two vans occupied and, thus, unavailable to fulfill ground transportation reservation requests during that time interval. For the time intervals commencing at 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. 92 and 94, the vendor has eleven sedans and four limousines occupied and unavailable.

The number along side the vehicle type master switches 96 indicates the total number of particular types of vehicles for which the vendors will accept reservations, for example, the number three along side master switch 98 indicates that the vendor has three stretch limousines for which it will accept reservations on the particular day shown. The number along side of the switches for each time intervals indicates the number of the particular type of vehicles for which the vendor will accept reservations at a given time interval, for example at 7:15 a.m. 90, the vendor has ten sedans, eight limousines, one stretch limousine, two vans, three buses, ten jet skis and two boats for which it will accept reservations. In an alternative embodiment of this screen display, two numbers may appear along side the switches (e.g. 8/5) (not shown) . The first number denoting the number of vehicles for which the vendor will accept reservations and the second number denoting the number of vehicles for which reservations have already been received.

In the ground transportation reservation system of the invention, vendors of ground transportation services 12 enter, update and monitor a record of their availability to fulfill ground transportation service requests 30 on computer systems at their locations. In the preferred embodiment, each vendor's availability is "mirrored" by the ground transportation reservation system server 10 so that the server independently stores each vendor's availability. When a vendor 12 changes its availability on the computer system at its location, the change is communicated to the ground transportation reservation system server 10 via link 14. The server 10 then mirrors the vendor's revised availability reflected in the switches on the screen display in Figure 4. Similarly, when a reservation is placed for one of the vendor's vehicles, the reservation and hence unavailability of one of the vendor's vehicles is communicated to the vendor's computer system by the server 10 over link 14. The server 10 updates the switches on the screen display in Figure 4. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the ground transportation reservation system server accesses each vendor's availability information on the vendor's computer system and makes changes thereto as needed over links 14. Figure 5 is a computer screen display of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. The screen display shown in Figure 5 represents a vendor's availability to fulfill ground transportation service requests for a particular vehicle type during particular time intervals on a particular date. The vehicle type of the screen display of Figure 5 is a sedan 99. Both a.m. and p.m. availability 101 for the vendor's sedans is shown for the date shown in the screen display of Figure 5 (a.m. availability is shown per hour in row 106 and p.m. availability is shown per hour in row 108) . For example, at 1 and 2 p.m. 104 the vendor has 20% of its vehicles occupied and unavailable and at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. 100 and 102 80% of its vehicles are occupied and unavailable. If either a.m. or p.m. was selected, availability for the vendor's sedans at half hour intervals during the a.m. or p.m. would appear on the screen display. The screen display shown in Figure 5 could be created using various time intervals.

To insure that a vendor has the ability to handle ground transportation service requests not received through the ground transportation reservation system of the invention, a "safety net" feature is provided to allow the vendor to set an artificial limit on its availability. For example, a vendor that wants to reserve 20% of its vehicles for requests not made through the ground transportation reservation system of the invention, will set its limit of service requests received through the ground transportation reservation system of the invention at 80%. This is represented in the screen display of Figure 5, where at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. 100 and 102 the 80% occupancy rate of the vendor's vehicles appears darkened to indicate that the vendor will not receive any further requests during those intervals. The check mark 103 above the 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. time intervals are switches indicating that the vendor has no vehicles available during those times.

Figure 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention and, in particular, the mirroring of vendor's availability onto the ground transportation reservation system server 10. As shown in Figure 6, vendor one has o one limousine, one sedan, and two vans at site one 110, vendor two has one limousine and one van at site two 112, and vendor three has one sedan and one bus at site one and one limousine at site three 114. That information is entered on the computer systems 110, 112, 114 of vendors one, two and three and is mirrored onto the ground transportation reservation system server 10 so that the vendors' availability information is stored 116 on the server 10.

Figure 7a is a flow diagram for an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention and, in particular, the mirroring of the vendor availability onto the ground transportation reservation system server 10. The vendor 12 enters or updates its availability to provide ground transportation services 120 using switches shown in Figure 4. The vendor's availability to provide ground transportation services is transmitted 122 to the ground transportation reservation system server 10 via link 14. The server 10 stores 124 the transmitted vendor's availability information. The server 10 can then access the stored vendor availability information to make reservations for ground transportation services .

Likewise, Figure 7b is a flow diagram for an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention and, in particular, the mirroring of reservations onto the vendor's computer system. The ground transportation reservation system server 10 makes a reservation for ground transportation services for a vendor's vehicle 126. The reservation is transmitted 128 from the server 10 to the vendor computer system via link 14. The vendor's availability on the vendor's computer system is updated 130 to reflect the reservation using the switches shown in Figure 4. The vendor can view the switches on its computer system to see the availability and usage of its vehicles.

The ground transportation reservation system of the invention also includes an initialization or configuration step. When a vendor of ground transportation services 12 is first connected to the ground transportation reservation system of the invention, the vendor is required to enter certain information on the computer system at its location for transmission to the server 10 over link 14. That information includes, for example, the following: company name, owner, address where the vendor's vehicles are kept and maintained, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, a modem number from which the vendor's computer system will call into the ground transportation reservation system server 10 over link 14, modem numbers over which the ground transportation reservation system server 10 can call the vendor's computer system over link 14, a registration number, a contact person, type of business operated, name of the vendor's bank, address of the vendor's bank, phone number of the vendor's bank, a bank account number, tax ID number, the number and types of vehicles the vendor owns (e.g. sedan, stretch limousines, buses, vans, boats) and a percent safety net .

The ground transportation reservation system of the invention contains eight primary databases to facilitate the reservation and delivery of ground transportation services. A customer database contains all pertinent information about a customer and includes, for example, the following: name, address, phone number, company, company address, company phone number, account number, bank and credit card account numbers, emergency contact persons, vehicle preference and alternative vehicle preference, directions to his home and company, and reservation numbers for recent trips. A transaction database contains a chronological listing of transactions made, changed, completed and status of billing and includes, for example, the following information: o customer name, company name, date of trip, time of trip, reservation number, account number, cost of trip, amount paid, balance and method of payment. A calendar database contains information for each different type of vehicle that a vendor of ground transportation services operates ^ and includes, for example, the following information for any given day: the number of vehicles available, reservations made and drivers available. A reservation database includes reservation activity information. In the preferred embodiment, the reservation database would 0 contain reservation activity for the preceding month and the next twelve months in the calendar year. The reservation database includes, for example, the following information: a reservation number, date, time, start location, number of legs to the trip, end location, 5 estimated duration of the trip, number of travelers, vehicle type, a change number (if the reservation was changed for any reason), and an account number. A ground transportation service providers database contains a listing of ground transportation service providers that may be used to fulfill excess reservations and includes, for example, the following information: providers name, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, vehicle types and a contact person. A contact database would be an listing of all contact agencies (e.g. travel agencies servicing a particular area) and includes, for example, the following information: agency name, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address and contact person. A drivers database will contain an listing of all drivers employed by the ground transportation service vendor and includes, for example, the following information: driver name, date of hire, date of last physical, date of last review, date of employment termination (if applicable) , date rehired (if applicable) , shifts worked, wages, benefits, date of birth, gender, race, address, phone number, emergency phone number, social security number, driver's license number, employee number and restrictions. A contract database will maintain information pertaining to contract rates available to certain preferred customers and includes, for example, the following information: the company, address, phone number, fax number, account number, contact person and directions to the company location.

Using the above databases, the ground transportation service reservation system of the invention enables a variety of screen displays to be supported and reports be printed out for the use of the ground transportation reservation system provider and the vendors 12 of ground transportation services. Such screen displays and reports include, for example, the following information: hourly, daily and monthly reservations and vehicle usage for each vendor, configuration information for each vendor, customer usage and invoices for each vendor and a variety of management reports (e.g. driver absenteeism, vehicle service records) .

The ground transportation reservation system of the invention also allows for the automated dispatching of vehicles to provide the requested ground transportation services. The automated dispatching may be used to dispatch vehicles to fulfill ground transportation requests that were the subject of advance reservations and ground transportation service requests made on the spot. A vendor of ground transportation services 12 may opt to have its vehicles dispatched by the ground transportation reservation system server 10.

To automatically dispatch a vendor's 12 vehicles, the server 10 assigns vehicles to fulfill ground transportation service requests 30 based on a number of variables including, for example, the following: start location, number of legs of trip, end location, expected duration of trip, weather, road and traffic conditions that may effect the duration of the trip, vehicle preference and alternative vehicle preference, current availability of vendor's vehicles, availability of vendor's vehicles in the near future, availability of vendor's vehicles for the duration of the trip and start location of upcoming scheduled reservations for the vehicle.

During automated dispatching, system wide or localized problems can be accounted for. For example, a system wide problem like snowfall that would effect all ground transportation services in a particular region on a particular day would be taken into account by the server

10 automatically delaying all pick up and drop offs and by extending the trip duration by a certain percentage determined by the severity of the problem. A localized problem like a flat tire that would affect only one vehicle would be taken into account by the server 10 automatically delaying all pick ups and drop offs of that vehicle following the localized problem by a certain amount of time determined based on the severity of the localized problem. The communication of dispatching instructions to drivers of the vendor's 12 vehicles by the server 10 may occur through the use of any suitable telecommunication technology, for example, radio, beepers, telephones and message displays. Once instructions are dispatched, the ground transportation reservation system server 10 monitors the progress of the vehicle's fulfillment of the ground transportation services request.

Figure 8 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention and, in particular, automated dispatching in accordance with the invention. Ground transportation service requests, whether received as advance reservations or for immediate dispatch, are processed in accordance with Figure 2 as discussed in detail above. The ground transportation reservation system server 10 identifies vehicles available at the start time of the reservation or that will be available shortly before or after the start time of reservation ("nearly available vehicles") for dispatch to fulfill a ground transportation service request 140. Available vehicles are vehicles that are not currently occupied by a passenger. A nearly available vehicle is a vehicle that is currently occupied by a passenger but that will arrive at the passenger's end location shortly such that the vehicle will no longer be occupied. The available and nearly available vehicles can be limited to vehicles of one vendor where, for example, only one vendor in a particular location uses automated dispatching of the invention. Where more than one vendor uses automated dispatching, all available and nearly available vehicles of the vendors subscribing to automated dispatching of the invention can be identified.

The server 10 then assigns 142 a vehicle to fulfill the request for ground transportation services. Factors that the server 10 takes into account to assign a vehicle include, for example, the following: the proximity of an available or nearly available vehicle to the start location, the vehicle availability for the duration of the trip and the proximity of the end location to the start location of the next reservation that the vehicle is scheduled to fulfill. The coordinates of the vehicle and start location may be determined for example, through the use of a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) . A vehicle is then dispatched by the server to fulfill the request for ground transportation 144. Vehicles may be equipped with message displays that allow the server 10 to communicate directly with the vehicle. Alternatively, a radio or telephone call may be placed to the driver of the vehicle to communicate dispatching information. The progress of the vehicle is monitored 146 throughout the trip so that it can be assigned to fulfill other ground transportation requests. The progress of the vehicle can o be tracked through, for example, use of a GPS. Upon completion of the trip, the completion of the trip is communicated 148 back to the server 10 so that the vehicle is available for dispatch to fulfill further ground transportation requests. 5 Figures 9 and 10 are computer screen displays for an embodiment of the ground transportation reservation system of the invention. Those screen displays facilitate automatic dispatching according to the invention. In addition to Figures 9 and 10, a screen display similar to 0 that shown in Figure 5 can be provided to enable the vendor 12 and provider to monitor usage of the vendor's vehicles to facilitate automated dispatching.

Figure 9 has three windows 160, 162, 164. The windows 160, 162, 164 can be viewed simultaneously as 5 shown in Figure 9 or in isolation on demand. In Figure 9, window 162 partially obscures window 160.

Window 160 displays "open reservations", i.e. reservations waiting to be assigned to vehicles for fulfillment. Window 160 shows, for example, a reservation 0 number 166, the passenger's vehicle preference 168 and a start time for the requested ground transportation service 170.

Window 162 displays assets (i.e. , vehicles) available to fulfill requests for ground transportation 5 services. Window 162 shows, for example, a driver identification 172, vehicle type 174, a clear location 176 (i.e. the location where the vehicle is or will be available upon drop-off of a passenger) , the time clear 178 (i.e. the time where the vehicle is or will be 0 available upon drop-off of a passenger) , and the length of driver's workday 180 (to prevent over burdening drivers) .

Window 164 displays assets (i.e. vehicles) assigned to fulfill particular requests for ground 5 transportation services. Window 164, for example, shows a reservation number 182, a driver identification 184, a vehicle type 186, status of the fulfillment of the ground transportation service request 190, a clear location 192, the time clear 194, the length of the driver's workday 196, "Time In" 198 (i.e. the time the vehicle returned to the garage after fulfilling the ground transportation service request), and "Time Left" 200 (i.e. the time the vehicle left the garage to fulfill the ground transportation service request) .

As would be apparent to persons skilled in the art, windows 160, 162 and 164 could contain various types of information, such as that set forth above to facilitate dispatching of vehicles. Windows 160, 162 and 164 can be designed such that upon opening the window, additional information is displayed. When an open reservation, shown in window 160, is assigned to an asset available, shown in window 162, the open reservation is automatically deleted from window 160, the asset available is automatically deleted from window 162 and the asset assigned to fulfill the ground transportation service request automatically appears in window 164. That can be done with human intervention, for example, by a dispatcher assigning an asset available to the open reservation by clicking on the asset available and open reservation. Alternatively, that can be done automatically by the ground transportation reservation system of the invention, such that the screen display of Figure 9 is available to the vendor and provider to monitor progress of automated dispatching. In the preferred embodiment, ground transportation service requests that have been assigned to assets can be manually cancelled by activation of a "Cancel Selected Assignment" button 202 on the screen display. Upon cancellation, the assignment is automatically deleted from window 164, the reservation automatically appears in open reservation window 160 and asset automatically appears in assets available window 162.

Figure 10 displays vehicle identification numbers 210 across its top and time 212 across its side. Darkened bars 214 denote vehicles that are occupied by passengers and thus unavailable to accept ground transportation service requests. Shaded bars 216 denote vehicles on route to fulfill ground transportation service requests. For example, at 8:15 a.m., vehicle S501 is on route to pickup a passenger, vehicles S503 and S504 are occupied by a passenger and unavailable, and vehicles S502 and L305 are unoccupied and available to fulfill ground transportation requests. Icon 220 indicates that vehicle L304 is out of service for necessary repairs. In the preferred embodiment, additional information pops-up on the screen display as the cursor is moved across the screen. For example, the location, driver and start time of the ground transportation service request being fulfilled by vehicle S504 from 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. as shown at 218.

It is to be understood that the above description is only of one preferred embodiment of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be derived by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is thus limited only as defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

We claim: o

1. An automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system for linking vendors of transportation services and agents requesting transportation services comprising: vendor computer systems each having a vendor processor and vendor data storage media for storing vendor databases, each vendor database including data indicative of a vendor's transportation assets and further including switches for indicating an available portion of the transportation assets; a server computer system having a server processor and server data storage media for storing a global database, the global database including the vendor databases; a vendor link for connecting each vendor computer system to the server computer system and for enabling the server processor to mirror the vendor databases stored on the vendor data storage media to the global database and for enabling each vendor processor to mirror the vendor databases stored on the server data storage media to the vendor data storage media; agent computer systems each having an agent processor for processing transportation service requests; an agent connection for linking the agent computer systems to the server computer system and for enabling the server processor to receive transportation service requests from the agent processors and for enabling the server processor to transmit a status responsive to the transportation service request to the agent computer system.

2. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the agent connection further includes telecommunication links to a wide area, travel agency network . o

3. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the agent connection further includes telecommunication links to a public, wide area

5 internetwork.

4. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the vendor link further includes a modem connected to a wide area telecommunications network.

5. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the server computer system further includes a telecommunications link to an electronic banking services network for managing a payment for each transportation service request .

6. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the vendor's database further includes data indicative of a transportation asset type for each transportation asset .

7. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 6 wherein the vendor's database further includes data indicative of a reservation time period for each transportation asset.

8. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 7 wherein each reservation time period for each transportation asset comprises a switch.

9. The automated, transportation asset o management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 7 wherein each reservation time period for each transportation asset type comprises a switch.

10. The automated, transportation asset

5 management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the vendor databases further include a vendor coverage table for indicating a geographic area of coverage for the transportation assets, the server processor generating an available list of transportation 0 assets from the switches and the coverage tables responsive to each transportation service request.

11. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 10 5 wherein the vendor databases further include a vendor pricing table for indicating a route-based price for the transportation assets, the server processor generating a pricing list correlated with the available list responsive to each transportation service request.

12. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 11 wherein the transportation service request is a reservation request, the status being generated by the 5 server processor by modifying the switches to remove transportation assets from the available portion.

13. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 11 wherein the transportation service request is an availability request, the status being generated by the server processor from the available list and the pricing list of transportation assets.

14. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 11 wherein the transportation service request is an open reservation request, the server processor broadcasting the transportation service request to each vendor computer system.

15. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 14 wherein the status further includes a reservation confirmation.

16. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 12 wherein the status further includes a reservation confirmation.

17. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the vendor computer system also includes: an agent connection for linking the agent computer systems to the vendor computer system and for enabling the vendor processor to receive transportation service requests from the agent processors and for enabling the vendor processor to transmit a status responsive to the transportation service request to the agent computer system.

18. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the server computer system further includes a safety net limiter for inhibiting switch modification when the available portion of the transportation assets falls below a threshold.

19. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 o wherein the global database and the vendor databases include : a customer database for storing information related to a transportation customer; a transaction database for storing a list 5 of transactions related to the transportation service requests; a calendar database for storing information related to the transportation assets; a reservation database for storing a time- 0 based list of transportation service requests; a vendor database for storing a list of vendors capable of satisfying transportation service requests; a contact database for storing information 5 related to the agents; a driver database for storing information related to an operator of the transportation assets, and; a contract database for storing information related to a preferred transportation customer.

20. The automated, transportation asset management, reservation and delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the vendor and server computer systems further include a report generator for summarizing and displaying the data in the global database and the vendor databases .

21. An automated method of managing and reserving transportation assets among vendors supplying transportation assets and agents requesting transportation assets, each vendor having a vendor computer system containing data storage media for storing transportation asset data, including switches indicating an available portion of the transportation assets, a server computer system having data storage media for storing a global database, the global database containing the o transportation asset data, telecommunications links joining the vendor systems and the server system, an agent connection joining the server computer system to the agents, the method comprising the steps of: mirroring the transportation asset data 5 stored on the vendor data storage media to the global database and mirroring the transportation asset data stored on the server data storage media to the vendor data storage media, including the switches for indicating the available portions of the transportation assets, over the 0 telecommunications links;

( a ) receiving the transportation service requests from the agents through the agent connections;

( b ) identifying vendors to satisfy the transportation service request, and; 5 ( c ) returning a message to the agent over the agent connection indicative of the status of the transportation service reques .

22. The method of managing and reserving 0 transportation assets of Claim 21 wherein the transportation service request includes required data in a required format necessary for performing step ( b) and the step ( a ) of receiving transportation service requests further includes the step of determining the presence and 5 format of the required data.

23. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 21 wherein the step (c) of returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning an error message indicating any absence of required data or format .

24. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 21 wherein the transportation service request includes a transportation o service request type of reservation request, price quotation request, or cancellation request, and step ( a ) of receiving transportation service requests includes the step of determining the transportation service request type.

25. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 24 wherein the transportation service request is either a reservation request or a price quotation request, the vendor asset data includes geographic coverage tables, and step (b ) of identifying vendors further includes the steps of:

( b ) ( i ) accessing the coverage tables, and;

( b ) ( ii ) creating a list of vendors servicing the geographic area of the transportation service request .

26. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 25 wherein the step (c) of returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning an error message indicating an absence of available vendors if the list of step ( b ) ( ii ) contains no vendors .

27. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 25 wherein the step (b) of identifying vendors further includes the steps of:

( b ) ( iii ) querying the switches of each vendor in the list of step ( b ) ( ii ) , and; ( b ) ( iv ) creating a list of vendors with available assets responsive to the transportation service request .

28. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 27 wherein the step (c) of o returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning an error message indicating an absence of available vendors if the list of step ( b ) ( iv ) contains no vendors.

5 29. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 27 wherein the availability list of step ( b ) ( iv ) contains no vendors, the method further including the steps of : broadcasting the open transportation 0 service request to each vendor computer system over the telecommunications links; modifying the switches to remove the transportation asset from the available portion, and; returning a confirmation message to the 5 agent over the agent connection.

30. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 27 wherein each vendor database includes a safety net indicating a utilization 0 threshold for the assets, and the step ( b ) ( iii ) of querying the switches further includes the steps of : checking each available vendor's safety net, and; inhibiting the inclusion of the vendor on 5 the list of available vendors if the utilization threshold for that vendor's assets is exceeded.

31. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 27 wherein the 0 transportation service request type is a reservation request, and the step ( b ) of identifying vendors further including the steps of :

( b ) ( v ) modifying the switches to remove the transportation asset from the available portion 5 in response to the transportation service request, and; o the step ( c ) of returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning a confirmation.

32. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 27 wherein the

5 transportation service request is a price quotation request, the vendor asset data includes pricing tables, and step ( b ) of identifying vendors further includes the steps of :

( b ) ( vi ) accessing the pricing table; ( b ) ( vii ) generating a transportation service request price for each vendor on the availability list of step ( b ) ( iv ) , and; the step ( c ) of returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning the availability list of step ( b ) ( iv) with the generated pricing.

33. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 32 wherein the pricing tables include a price per mile, a specific point-to-point pricing data, and discount pricing data, the transportation service request includes a beginning point and ending point, and the step ( b) ( vii ) of generating a transportation service request price further includes the steps of : calculating a mileage-based price by multiplying the price per mile by a distance determined from the beginning point and the ending point of the transportation service request; querying the specific point-to-point pricing responsive to the transportation service request; querying the discount pricing data, and; evaluating the mileage-based price, the point-to-point price and the discounts to determine the transportation service request price.

34. The method of managing and reserving o transportation assets of Claim 24 wherein the transportation service request is a cancellation request, and the step ( b ) of identifying vendors further includes the steps of: querying the switches; 5 modifying the switches to return the transportation asset to the available portion in response to the transportation service request, and; the step ( c ) of returning a message to the agent includes the step of returning a cancellation confirmation.

35. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 21 wherein the agent connection includes a connection to a wide area travel reservation network, and step ( a ) of receiving transportation service requests further includes the step of passing the transportation service request through the wide area travel reservation network before receiving the transportation service request.

36. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 21 wherein the server computer system is also connected to a banking services network via telecommunications links, and step ( b ) of identifying vendors further includes the steps of: passing a banking service request from the server computer system to the banking services network, and; receiving an authorization from the banking services network.

37. An automated method of managing and reserving assets among vendors supplying assets and agents requesting assets, each vendor having a vendor computer system containing data storage media for storing vendor o asset data, including switches indicating an available portion of the assets, a server computer system having data storage media for storing global data, the global data including each vendor's asset data, telecommunications links joining the vendor systems and 5 the server system, an agent connection joining the server computer system to the agents, the method comprising the steps of : initializing each vendor computer system by copying the vendor asset data, including the switches, 0 over the telecommunications links to the global data; receiving asset requests over the agent connection to the server computer system; setting the switches to remove assets from the available portion in response to the asset requests; 5 returning a status from the server computer system over the agent connection to the agent responsive to the asset requests, and; mirroring the vendor asset data stored on the vendor data storage media to the global data and mirroring the vendor asset data stored on the server data storage media to the vendor data storage media, including the switches for indicating the available portions of the assets, over the telecommunications links when changes to the switches are made.

38. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 37 wherein the agent connection includes telecommunications links to a global distribution system, the steps of receiving asset requests and returning a status further including the step of passing the asset requests and statuses through the global distribution system.

39. The method of managing and reserving transportation assets of Claim 37 wherein the server computer system and vendor computer systems include screen displays with icons and a graphical user interface, the steps of setting the switches further comprising the steps of selecting the icons through the graphical user interface .