Pre-Selection of Drivers in a Passenger Transport System

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program code for arranging transport services in a first geographic region, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

• predicting a number of transport requests in a first geographic region during a future time period, the predicting including:
• receiving one or more signals regarding a current time;
• and
• applying a machine learning algorithm to the one or more signals to generate a prediction of the number of transport requests;
• estimating unmet demand based on the predicted number of transport requests;
• receiving, from a plurality of driver devices, location data and availability data, the location data corresponding to positions of the driver devices at a current time;
• identifying a plurality of driver devices based on the received location data, each driver device of the plurality of driver devices positioned in a second geographic region and having a state, determined from the availability data, indicating availability of a corresponding driver to provide transport services;
• determining a number of instances of a message of transmit to a first subset of the plurality of driver devices, the message instructing a receiving driver to travel towards a specified location in the first geographic region, the number of instances determined based on the estimated unmet demand and a probability that, on receiving the message, the receiving driver will travel towards the specified location as instructed;
• selecting the first set of driver devices from the plurality of driver devices to message, the number of driver devices in the first set being equal to the determined number of instances of the message;
• transmitting, to each driver device of the first set of driver devices, an instance of the message instructing the receiving driver to travel toward a specified location in the first geographic region without assigning a specific transport service or rider to the receiving driver;
• and
• during the future time period:
• receiving, from a client device of a first rider, a transport request including a pickup location in the first geographic region;
• selecting a second set of driver devices from the plurality of driver devices based on locations of the plurality of driver devices, the second set of driver devices including at least some of the first set of driver devices;
• selecting, from the second set of driver devices, a first driver device based on a location of the first driver device relative to the pickup location;
• transmitting, to the first driver device, an invitation to provide the transport service for the first rider;
• receiving, from the first driver device, an indication of acceptance of the invitation;
• and
• assigning a driver corresponding to the first driver device to provide the transport service for the first rider.

A passenger transport system comprising:

• a plurality of driver devices, each driver device located within a corresponding vehicle that is available to provide transport services, each driver device including a display for presenting instructions to a driver;
• and
• a matching server in communication with the plurality of driver devices and the plurality of passenger devices, the matching server configured to:
• predict, for a given period of time in the future, a number of transport requests in a first geographic region, the predicting including:
• receiving one or more signals regarding a current time;
• and
• applying a machine learning algorithm to the one or more signals to generate a prediction of the number of transport requests;
• estimate unmet demand based on the predicted number of transport requests;
• receive, from the plurality of driver devices, location data and availability data, the location data corresponding to positions of the driver devices at a current time;
• identify a plurality of driver devices based on the received location data, each driver device of the plurality of driver devices each positioned in a second geographic region and having a state, determined from the availability data, indicating availability of a corresponding driver to provide transport services;
• determine a number of instances of a message of transmit to a first subset of the plurality of driver devices, the message instructing a receiving driver to travel towards a specified location in the first geographic region, the number of instances determined based on the estimated unmet demand and a probability that, on receiving the message, the receiving driver will travel towards the specified location as instructed;
• identify the first set of driver devices from the plurality of driver devices to message, the number of driver devices in the first set being equal to the determined number of instances of the message;
• transmitting, to each driver device of the first set of driver devices, an instance of the message instructing the receiving driver to travel towards a specified location in the first geographic region without assigning a specific transport service or rider to the receiving driver.