Vehicle rideshare localization and passenger identification for autonomous vehicles

A vehicle-based system for locating an intended passenger of an automotive vehicle, the system comprising:

• a wireless transceiver configured to receive a location signal via a wireless network;
• an image sensor for acquiring imagery proximate the vehicle;
• a navigation system for providing guidance for moving the vehicle to an approximate location of the intended passenger based on the location signal;
• and
• a computer processing system configured to prompt the intended passenger to obtain an image using an electronic device after the vehicle reaches the approximate location of the intended passenger, the image being an image of local physical surroundings of the intended passenger, receive the image from the electronic device of the intended passenger, processing the image to determine additional location information of the intended passenger based on matching the image against one or more reference images selected based on a proximity of the one or more reference images to the location signal, and moving the vehicle to a more accurate location of the intended passenger based on the additional location information.