Method and apparatus for providing drop-off locations for passengers of a vehicle to reach different destinations via a multimodal route

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,
• the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, configured to execute the computer program code to:
• receive a request to generate a navigation route including a starting point, wherein the navigation route is a multi-point intermodal route that directs a plurality of passengers of a vehicle to reach a plurality of destinations using the vehicle in combination with at least one other mode of transport, and wherein the destinations are different for one or more subsets of the plurality of passengers, wherein the plurality of passengers are located at the starting point when the request to generate the navigation route is received;
• compute the navigation route based on an optimization parameter to include a route taken by the vehicle and at least one intermodal route leg, wherein the navigation route includes one or more drop-off locations where the one or more subsets of the plurality of passengers can access the at least one other mode of transport to complete the at least one intermodal route leg to at least one destination of the destinations, and wherein the optimization parameter is minimized with respect to the route taken by the vehicle, the at least one intermodal route leg, or a combination thereof;
• determine real-time information on an availability, a condition, a departure time, a delay time, or a combination thereof of the at least one other mode of transport;
• and
• provide the one or more drop-off locations, the navigation route, or a combination thereof as an output, wherein the navigation route, the one or more drop-off locations, the at least one intermodal route leg, or a combination thereof are determined based on the real-time information.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

• receiving a request to generate a navigation route including a starting point, wherein the navigation route is a multi-point intermodal route that directs a plurality of passengers of a vehicle to reach a plurality of destinations using the vehicle in combination with at least one other mode of transport, and wherein the destinations are different for one or more subsets of the plurality of passengers, wherein the plurality of passengers are located at the starting point when the request to generate the navigation route is received;
• computing the navigation route based on an optimization parameter to include a route taken by the vehicle and at least one intermodal route leg, wherein the navigation route includes one or more drop-off locations where the one or more subsets of the plurality of passengers can access the at least one other mode of transport to complete the at least one intermodal route leg to at least one destination of the destinations, and wherein the optimization parameter is minimized with respect to the route taken by the vehicle, the at least one intermodal route leg, or a combination thereof;
• determining real-time information on an availability, a condition, a departure time, a delay time, or a combination thereof of the at least one other mode of transport;
• and
• providing the one or more drop-off locations, the navigation route, or a combination thereof as an output, wherein the navigation route, the one or more drop-off locations, the at least one intermodal route leg, or a combination thereof are determined based on the real-time information.