Detecting transportation company trips in a vehicle based upon on-board audio signals

A computer system for detecting use of a vehicle for a transportation network company (TNC) comprising:

• a non-transitory memory configured to store computer executable instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to interface with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer executable instructions to cause the processor to:
• transmit a plurality of requests to a vehicle having an audio system to emit a locationing pulse from the audio system;
• receive a plurality of sets of locationing data from one or more mobile devices inside the vehicle, the plurality of sets of locationing data indicating presence of passengers in the vehicle;
• recognize route patterns of the vehicle that are indicative of TNC trips based upon the plurality of sets of locationing data;
• and
• determine whether use of the vehicle includes one or more TNC trips.

A computer-implemented method of detecting transportation network company (TNC) trips in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• transmitting a first locationing request to a first mobile device inside a vehicle having audio speakers, the first locationing request including a request to emit a locationing pulse from one or more of the audio speakers;
• receiving first locationing data from the first mobile device, the first locationing data including first occupancy data of seats in the vehicle;
• transmitting a second locationing request to the first mobile device, the second locationing request including a request to emit a locationing pulse from one or more of the audio speakers;
• receiving second locationing data from a second mobile device inside the vehicle, the second locationing data including second occupancy data of seats in the vehicle;
• and
• determining that the vehicle is operating according to a TNC trip based upon the first occupancy data and the second occupancy data.