Arranging a transport service for multiple users

A computing system providing an on-demand transport service, the computing system comprising:

• a network communication interface to communicate, over one or more networks, with (i) mobile computing devices of drivers of an on-demand transport service, and (ii) computing devices of users of the on-demand transport service;
• one or more processors;
• and
• memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to:
• communicating, over one or more networks, with (i) computing devices of a plurality of drivers determine a current location of each driver;
• and (ii) computing devices of a plurality of requesting riders of the on-demand transport service to receive a plurality of transport requests, each transport request of the plurality of transport requests identifying a pickup location and a destination location;
• updating, by communicating with the computing devices of the plurality of driver, a driver database that identifies a current location and a status of each driver of the plurality of drivers;
• for each requesting rider of the plurality of requesting riders, selecting a driver from the plurality of drivers to provide transport by:
• accessing the driver database to determine a pool of candidate drivers, based on (i) the pickup location and the destination location of the transport request of the requesting rider, and (ii) the current location of individual drivers of the plurality of drivers, the pool of candidate drivers includes one or more drivers that are currently assigned to provide a transport service to another respective rider of the requesting riders;
• accessing the driver database to determine, for each candidate driver of the pool of candidate drivers, a set of travel sequences in which the candidate driver can provide the on-demand transport service for both the respective rider and the requesting rider by traveling from the current location of the candidate driver to each of (i) the pickup location and the destination location of the requesting rider, and (ii) the destination location of the respective rider;
• for each travel sequence in the set of travel sequences for of each candidate driver of the pool of candidate drivers, execute scoring logic to generate a first score for the requesting rider and a second score for the respective rider currently assigned to the candidate driver, the first score being based on a shared distance in which the requesting rider and the respective rider would travel together and an individual distance in which the requesting rider would travel without the respective rider, the second score being generated based on the shared distance and an individual distance in which the respective rider would travel without the requesting rider;
• based on the first score and the second score for each travel sequence in the set of travel sequences for each of the pool of candidate drivers, select a travel sequence;
• select a driver from the pool of candidate drives based on the selected travel to transport the requesting rider to the destination location of the requesting rider;
• and
• transmit, over the one or more networks, a transport invitation to a mobile computing device of the selected driver to enable the selected driver to transport the requesting rider to the destination location of the requesting rider;
• and
• wherein selecting the travel sequence for each requesting rider is based at least in part on maximizing an amount of shared transport for the requesting rider and for the respective rider of the selected driver.

A computer-implemented method of providing an on-demand transportation service, the method being performed by one or more processors of a computing system and comprising:

• communicating, over one or more networks, with (i) computing devices of a plurality of drivers to determine a current location of each driver;
• and (ii) computing devices of a plurality of requesting riders to receive a plurality of transport requests, each transport request of the plurality of transport requests identifying a pickup location and a destination location;
• updating, by communicating with the computing devices of the plurality of drivers, a driver database that identifies a current location and a status of each driver of the plurality of drivers;
• for each requesting rider of the plurality of requesting riders, selecting a driver from the plurality of drivers to provide transport by:
• accessing the driver database to determine a pool of candidate drivers, based on (i) the pickup location and the destination location of the transport request of the requesting rider, and (ii) the current location of individual drivers of the plurality of drivers, the pool of candidate drivers includes one or more drivers that are currently assigned to provide a transport service to another respective rider of the requesting riders;
• accessing the driver database to determine, for each candidate driver of the pool of candidate drivers, a set of travel sequences in which the candidate driver can provide the on-demand transport service for both the respective rider and the requesting rider by traveling from the current location of the candidate driver to each of (i) the pickup location and the destination location of the requesting rider, and (ii) the destination location of the respective rider;
• for each travel sequence in the set of travel sequences for of each candidate driver of the pool of candidate drivers, executing scoring logic to generate a first score for the requesting rider and a second score for the respective rider currently assigned to the candidate driver, the first score being generated based on a shared distance in which the requesting rider and the respective rider would travel together and an individual distance in which the requesting rider would travel without the respective rider, the second score being generated based on the shared distance and an individual distance in which the respective rider would travel without the requesting rider;
• based on the first score and the second score for each travel sequence in the set of travel sequences for each of the pool of candidate drivers, selecting a travel sequence;
• selecting a drive from the pool of candidate drivers based on selected travel sequence to transport the requesting rider to the destination location of the requesting rider;
• and
• transmitting, over the one or more networks, a transport invitation to a computing device of the selected candidate driver to enable the selected candidate driver to transport the first requesting rider to the destination location of the first requesting rider and
• wherein selecting the travel sequence for each requesting rider is based at least in part on maximizing an amount of shared transport for the requesting rider and for the respective rider of the selected driver.