Dynamically Providing Position Information of a Transit Object to a Computing Device

A computer system to arrange services for requesters, the computer system comprising:

• memory resources storing instructions;
• a network interface;
• and
• one or more processors, coupled to the memory resources and the network interface, to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
• receive a request for a service to be initiated at a service location, the request received from a requester operating a requester computing device;
• select a service provider for the requester using the service location and a position of a computing device of the service provider, the service provider having an associated vehicle and being independent from the requester computing device;
• receive, from the service provider computing device, a first GPS location point of the vehicle, including a respective first GPS error amount and a first time stamp, and a second GPS location point of the vehicle, including a respective second GPS error amount and a second time stamp, each GPS location point corresponding to a latitude and a longitude of the vehicle;
• identify, for the first GPS location point, a first set of candidate location points of a transit system, each candidate point within a first distance corresponding to the first GPS error amount for the first GPS location point, and for the second GPS location point, a second set of candidate location points of the transit system, each candidate point within a second distance corresponding to the second GPS error amount for the second GPS location point;
• determine a path of travel of the vehicle between a first candidate location point of the first set and a second candidate point of the second set, wherein determining the path of travel of the vehicle between the first and second candidate location points is based at least in part on the first GPS location point, the second GPS location point, the first time stamp, and the second time stamp;
• determine, along the path of travel, one or more extrapolated location points positioned between the first candidate location point from the first set and the second candidate location point from the second set;
• transmit, to the requester computing device as the service provider operates the vehicle to arrive at the service location, a set of extrapolated location points and at least the first candidate location point or the second candidate location point;
• and
• instruct the requester computing device to animate a graphic representation of the vehicle in a map user interface, including animating movement of the vehicle along a trajectory toward the service location using the extrapolated location points and at least the first candidate location point or the second candidate location point.

A computer program product for arranging services for requesters, the computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, and including instructions configured to cause a processor to execute steps comprising:

• sending, to a server by a requester computing device, a request for a service via a transit object to be initiated at a service location;
• receiving, by the requester computing device from the server, a first candidate location for the transit object, a second candidate location for the transit object, and a set of extrapolated location points for the transit object, each of the candidate locations determined by the server according to a GPS location point and GPS error amount received from a computing device associated with the transit object, and the extrapolated location points located along a path of travel from the first candidate location to the second candidate location;
• and
• animating a graphical representation of the transit object in a map user interface of the requester computing device, the animation illustrating movement of the transit object along a trajectory toward the service location, and constructed using the received extrapolated location points and the first and second received candidate locations.

A method for operating a computer system to arrange services for requesters, the method being performed by one or more processors of a computing system and comprising:

• sending, to a server by a requester computing device, a request for a service via a transit object to be initiated at a service location;
• receiving, by the requester computing device from the server, a first candidate location for the transit object, a second candidate location for the transit object, and a set of extrapolated location points for the transit object, each of the candidate locations determined by the server according to a GPS location point and GPS error amount received from a computing device associated with the transit object, and the extrapolated location points located along a path of travel from the first candidate location to the second candidate location;
• and
• animating a graphical representation of the transit object in a map user interface of the requester computing device, the animation illustrating movement of the transit object along a trajectory toward the service location, and constructed using the received extrapolated location points and the first and second received candidate locations.