Computerized Taxi systems, Auto dispatch and bidding
Posted: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
by stewart Harding
Diplomat
Bidding (Historical) Historically a dispatcher would use a general broadcast system such as 2 way radio to call out the address of a job that needed covering, a number of drivers would then respond announcing their interest in the job.
This was known as driver bidding. The dispatcher would make a list of all the driver call signs that replied. The dispatcher may then enquire the location of the interested drivers or simply dispatch the job to the first driver or the one they thought most appropriate for that job.
The introduction of GPS now means that all the vehicle locations are constantly updated and the dispatcher or computer system can know where all the vehicles are located and match the most appropriate vehicle to cover that job, most modern software systems provide GPS tracking and some even have full fleet management capabilities.
It is therefore no longer necessary for drivers to announce that they may be interested in a job as the dispatcher can immediately see and choose the most appropriate candidates. In most cases the computer has logical rules and will automatically select the most appropriate vehicle based on the parameters programmed by the management.
Bidding (Modern)
When circuits become busy or when too few cars are on duty to cover the workload the geographical area becomes too big for the few remaining clear cars to travel between jobs efficiently.
In these circumstances if the next clear driver is offered the next job it is highly that they will be unsatisfied with the job offer as they are being asked to travel an inappropriate distance. This is when we need to use a bidding system and advertise the job to all the appropriate drivers. The drivers can then see the Zone that the job is in and they can bid for the job only if they are prepared to travel to that Zone.
In this respect Bidding by a driver is his acknowledgement that he is prepared to cover an otherwise unsuitable job. In this instance of bidding it could be said that the driver is therefore doing the circuit a favor.
Bidding limits
Human nature sometimes dictates that many clear drivers will bid for every job that that is advertised. In this respect it is sometimes unfair as the quickest finger will be given the job. This often results in inappropriate fast response drivers getting jobs that are too far away for them to practically cover and the driver arrives late much to the annoyance of the passenger.
To prevent inappropriate bids from being accepted it is possible to set a bid radius for every geo plot in the system. This means that if a job is being advertised in a certain plot then only drivers that bid from within the bid radius parameter will be offered the job. Drivers who bid from further away will be ignored.
Author
Stewart Harding CEO http://www.diplomat.co.uk
Diplomat Ltd. sales@dipomat.co.uk
United Kingdom +44 1256 381656
Free reprint rights providing article remains unedited.
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