GB2397683A - Intelligent grouping transportation - Autonomous dial-a-ride transit system - Google Patents

Abstract

A mode of public transportation which uses computer systems, data communication systems, electronic positioning systems, and electronic street navigation systems in order to orchestrate a fleet of driver-controlled multi-passenger transit vehicles on the roads. To ride via this transport system, individual travellers must first submit their itinerary requirements to the computer system. Typically, travellers will do this by entering their itinerary data on their cellular telephone. The computer system scans all the submitted itinerary requirements that it receives, and then intelligently groups travellers with compatible itineraries onto the same, typically minibus-sized, transit vehicle. The computer system creates a customised road route for this transit vehicle so that each traveller thus grouped is picked up and conveyed exactly according to his itinerary, even though journeying simultaneously with other travellers on board. The computer system supplies street navigation instructions to the transit vehicle driver to direct him along this customised road route.

Description

Intelligent Grouping Transportation

1 - TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a public transportation system that operates on the roads.

2- SYNOPSIS This invention is an entirely new mode ot'public t:ranspryrt which uses computer and communication technology to grotip travellels with compatible itineraries onto the same (typically miniL>us-sied) transit vehicle, customising the roaci route ol' this transit vehicle so tilat it transports each traveller according to his ol her itinerary, generally l'rom door-to-door. 'I'hough conceptually simple, this idea provides an eoormotis range of'economies and ef't-'iciencies. With individualized routing f'or each traveiler, this l'orm ol't:ravel can compete with the private car in terms of convenience and flexibility. The door-to-door SCl'ViCC offers excellent personal security, protection from the weather, and conveys travellers considerably t'aster than conventional public transport. As a consequence of grotipilig many travelleis into the same vehicle, this invention has the potential to substantially reduce the number ol' ears on the roacis by a.s much as tlllrf'l), and to end the prolil'eiation of' the private car. This invention thus has application in overcoming traf'l-'ic congestion, parking congestion, toxic air pollution, noise pollution, and if implemented around the globe, will radically ciecrease greenhouse gas emissions. - 2

3 - BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Throughout the world, road trade congestion is becoming a critical problem.

Congested roads dramatically increase journey times, making travel often stupidly inel'licieut. Being caught in slow moving and dense traffic not only wastes time, but frequently puts drivers in aggressive moods. At the end otta Cal' journey there is the added problem ol' perking: in many towns and cities finding a parking place can be very troublesome; too many vehicles compete for limited parking space. The huge amount of time lost through traffic and parking delays costs the United Kingdom an estimated ú20 billion each year. There are also enormous costs t'or maintaining and expanding the road networks to support the increasing levels of trallie. Tratfie congestion significantly ciegrades the quality of file for everyone - a feet not so easily quantified, bLIt one which is directly perceived by most people in their daily lives without the need for figures Ol statistics.

Pollution is a further and very pressing problem of high traffic levels. Engines that r un on fossil l'ueis (such as petrol or diesel) emit many toxic pollutants: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxicle, sulphilr dioxide, benzene, t'ormaldehycJe, polycyclie hydrocarbons, lead, and small particle matter. Some ol' these pollutants react together in warm sunshine to form the poisonous gas ozone, the chief component of' summer smog. In London, these vehicle exhaust emissions are responsible for a staggering 90, of the air pollution.

Air pollution has grave health eonseqtlenees. The L)epartment ol'I-lealth estimates that in the UK around 24 thousand people die each year as a result of'vehiele exhaust gases and small particle pollutants, which cause healt and Iling diseases. In particular, the soaring rise in asthma is very disturbing. Five million Britons surlier from asthma, with a very high incidence amongst children: one child in seven is nova af'llieted. The annual cost of' asthma to the Ul; is estimated at ú2 billion.

New research in the USA, funded by the California Air Resources Board, not only proves that asthma is aggravated by tral'lie pollution (a t'aet already aeeeptecl), bLIt coneilisively proves that traffic pollution causes this disease in the first- place. Ozone is the culprit: breathing this gas damages lung tissue and can precipitate asthma.

Air pollution also causes cancer. New findings reported in the Journal ol' the American Medical Association in March 2()02 show that the death rate from lung cancer is directly related to exposure to small particle pollution in the air. alphas large-scale study followed halfa million people over 16years. PartieLIlate pollution arises from l'ossil l'uel combustion and factory chimneys. The smaller-sized particles, those less than 2.5 microns in cliameteI, are the most dangerous: they are easily inhaled deep into the lungs where they can lodge l'ol- long periods causing persistent damage to lung tissue.

Another pollution problem is hayf'ever - a disease virtually unheard of before the industrial revolution. I-layf'ever is not litc threatening, but is nevertheless an unpleasant allel-gie condition. In major cities there is a marked increase in people contracting this disease, and air pollution is thought to be the pl incipal catisal lactor - 3 - in the development of hayfever (although this has not been rigourously proven).

Vehicle exhaust emissions are a substantial source of greenhouse gases. Fossil-f'uel burning engines generate large quantities of Carleton dioxide, a gas which though not toxic to human health, is the principal greenhouse gas implieatecJ in global climate change. The Trcinspol t Studies Unit at OXtol cf University c stimate that at least 25 ol'l3ritainis carbon dioxicJe emissions originate From transportation, and in the US the figure is closer to On Road trat'tic may thus be detrimental to climate stability.

Traf'fic congestion, parking congestion, lost time and earnings, stressful journeys, road rage, degradation in the qualify ol'lif'e, noise pollution, air pollution, lit'e threatening medical conditions, global warming potential: these are all problems of high traf'fie Ievcis. I low can tral'lie volumes be meaningElilly redueecJ? One obvious solution is to entice more ol' the populace to travel by public transport.

Yet experience has shown that this approach often t'ails because the private ear is much faster, more flexible and more convenient than public transport. The car will romain the preferred mode of travel unless public transport is racJieally improved.

Another approach to ctirbing car usage rests on vehicle restriction schemes, which aim to limit the quantity of'vehicles on the roads. 'I'holigh many different traffic restriction schemes have been contrived and irnplementecJ, they have not in general been very effective, and often introduce problems of'their own.

A third method of cutting trat'fie levels involves ear pooling schemes, in which commuters with similar itineraries organise themselves so that they can travel in a single vehicle driven by one of the commuters. Car pooling is a great idea in principle, but there are many logistical problems to be solved before such an approach becomes practicable and widely adopted.

In summary, no simple and el'f'eetive system for dealing with the traf'tie congestion crisis hasyet been found, even though virtually every nation in the world is in desperate need of a workable solution.

The present invention is the breakthrough solution to transport problems ancJ trat'fie congestion. Its various modes of operation will radically redLIce traffic levels, yet amazingly this invention requires no changes to road layouts, highway laws, existing public transport operation, or any transport intrastrLIetul-es: it is a minimal-impact system, which easily coexists with other forms of'transport, ancJ othertraf'fie control schemes. This solution places al>soliltely no restrictions or additional costs on motorists. In tact in one mode of t'unetioning it actually helps drivers /'c'tYJllp the costs of' running their vehicles. Most impor tartly, this invention decreases the number ol' vehicles on the roads, yet it does not decrease the total number of passenger jour neys taking place, thus maintaining people-mobility. - j -

4 - PROBLEMS OF EXISTING TRANSPORT SCHEMES In order to appreciate the compelling logic of'this invention we must first. familiarize ourselves with the flaws and failLIres of' existing modes ol'transpol-t and existing means ol'tral'fic congestion control. We inspect three areas: public transport solutions, traffic restriction schemes, and car pooling.

4.1 - Public Transport Solutions Improvement of conventional public transport facilities is l'requently claimed to be the best approach iOI' reducing tragic levels. Public transport is unarguably a vital mode of travel, ancl road traffic levels would certainly soar without it. I lowever public transport, in its e.i.lill t'ol ms, can never compete with the private car. The car is at present unbeatable in terms of'door-todoor convenience, all-weather comport, flexibility ol' itinerary, the ease ot'ctir rying goods or luggage, personal security, and so forth.

Compared to the private car, travelling by public transport f'requently requires complex pre-planning (consulting timetables, examining fare options, checking journey times, working out how to get to and Prom the train stations or bus stops).

This planning becomes especially time consuming when travailing to new ancl unfamiliar destinations. For many people it will always seem easier to jump into the car. This fact is borne OLlt by the L)epal tment for Tlansport's statistics: in the UK a massive 62' of Ntil jour neys take place by car, compared to only 634> by bLIS and a paltry To by train and undel-grountl railway. (Walking accounts f'or 26, ol't-rips.) These statistics f'urther reveal that, t'or journeys of' less than 25 miles, travelling, I:v car is around to c as fast, on average, as the same journey bv bus or train. when tnc- overall door-to-dotir travel time is taken into account. Public travel takes so much longer than the car because ol' the necessary wait t'or the transport vehicle to arrive, and also because of' the time consumed by trips to and From the station or bus stop, at either end of' the journey.

Given these facts, it is not surprising that the car is the first choice t'or transport.

Clearly il'public travel is Lobe made more attractive so as to compete with the private car, the SOUI'CCS Of'tiliS wasted time milst be eliminated, as must the complex pre-planning process, the inflexibility of itinerary, and the many other problems of public transport. Further mole, as we saw, the private car provides the bulk (62) of' the daily passenger journeys in the Ul(: the car cannot be replacecl until another mode of transport is introduced to provide for this amount of passenger four neys.

4.2-'I'raf'fic Restriction Schemes Since it appears that the car is clearly hivoLlred over public transport, in an el'lort to combat road traffic congestion, many cities are concentrating on traffic restriction 5 schemes. All these traffic restriction schemes have the same Bottle to limit the volume ol' vehicles travelling within a controlled region. Many dil'Perent traffic restriction systems have been tried; some were successful, others tailed completely. All were complex and inconvenient, especially in terms ol' the constraints t'orced upon the motorist.

C)ne type of-' restriction scheme is road pricing, which charges motorists t'or driving in design.lt.etd areas in order to price out a certain percentage of' road users. Toad pricing schemes are contioversi. tl lor many reasons, nevertheless, such a scheme will shortly begin operation in London.

A second class of scheme restricts tra.l'fic according to vehicle licence number.

Although now cliscontinued, a system enforced in Mexico City during periods of extreme air pollution controlled car use on the basis of' vehicle number plate.

Vehicles with odd-numbered licence plates were prohibited t'rom use on certain clays in the week, and vehicles with even-numbered license plates were prcyLil:'ited on the alternate days. Although one would expect such a scheme to ef'f'ectively halve the number of' vehicles on the roacis, only an I l(J/) tral'fic reduction was actually observocl. tithe scheme's disappointing perl'ormance was due to several "'actors. For example: necessary car journeys woLIlcl just be deterred to a permitted ciriving day, meaning that overall vehicle usage was not decreasecl; and wealthier families would often buy a second car with a complementary licence number, allowing road use everyday. Ultimately this highly inconvenient scheme did little to reduce trat'fic congestion.

A third class of scheme, already ac-lopted by (,othenburg in Sweden and Firemen in Germany, divides the city into several traffic ceils. Vehicles can travel freely within one cell's locality, but in order to travel between cells, a ring road must be used. The exceptions are for bicycle and commercial vehicles, which are permitted to tr.tvel <Erectly across ceils. As a result of this scheme, traffic volumes were substantially lowered. Nevertheless, this method] does have one big disadvantage, which is that it ttrequent.ly forces vehicles to take L. longer and more complicated trip than is necessary when travailing to an ad jacent traffic ceil. There may also be problems in scaling up the concept for use in larger cities, or when the particular layout of a city prevents expediently routed ring roacis.

As well as their own specific problems, these congestion control schemes sul'l'er from two problems common to all restriction methods: firstly the need to police the system, and secondly the abuse of exceptions. Continual monitoring of' the system is necessary il'it is to be enttorced, thus taxing human resources and transport bucigets.

F,ven with good policing, however, the abuse of exceptions remains an unresolved problem. Many categories of vehicle (delivery vehicles, doctors, salespeople, and so f'orth) may be granted exemption for their legitimate bLIsiness; but what is to prevent such drivers from enjoying this concession on non-legitimate journeys'! A l'urthel- problem with vehicle restriction is the possible economic repercussions. If vehicle restriction results in less passenger journeys taking place, a proportional decrease in economic activity could result, as a certain percentage ot'trips to shopping centers, to the high street, to bLIsiness clients, to city centre restallr<tnts, to - 6 night entertainment, and to tourist attractions are caneelled. Many sectors of the economy are critically dependent on transportation, and modern lifestyles are based around mobility. 'I'raffic levels certainly need to be controlled, but ideally without decreasing the OVCI all amount of' passenger jotirneys daily taking place.

One final problem with vehicle restriction schemes is simply the feet that they are a restriction. Nobody wants extra constraints placed on their tree movement. In a sense, introdLIeing traffic restrictions is an admission of'det'eat. It wotilcl be so much letter to develop a transportation scheme that liberated the roads in a positive way rather than impose harsh restriction methodologies on road users.

4.3 - Car Pooling Congestion Control Schemes Car pooling is one sLIeh aE> pl-oach to a positive transportation scheme. Typically in car pooling schemes, suburban commuter traveilers elect to leave their cars at home and jOUI ney to their destination in the vehicle Olga Allow commuter. Clearly, were car pooling widely adopted, tr.lf'f'ic levels would noticeably tall.

Many states in the USA have tried to encourage car pooling by marking out special Diamond lanes on the f'reeways, these lanes being reserved ttor vehicles carrying several passengers; drivel-s of such 'high occupancy vehielesl can Ctit their jOUt ney times and avoid tral'f'ic congestion by using the relatively tral'lic-l'lee diamond lane.

A nincty-minutc t'recway commLlte' a.s an example, can typically be cut down to just one hour using this diamond lane. In this way the diamond lane encourages drivers to fill the empty seats in their ears with passengers.

The intention behind ear pooling is good. Even a casual examination of ears on the roads during the commuter rush hours reveals that most carry the driver only. This is clearly a wasteful and inet't'ieient way oi'transporting people <IS most of'these solo dl ivers will have three or more untised seats available in their vehieies, seats which in principle could carry passengers travelling to compatible destinations. Solo drivers are also travelling at a maximum "pollution pel personl level by having an entire exhaust emitting engine to themselves.

The l'unclamental dil'liculty in car pooling, however, is the logistics of matching passengers to vehicle drivers. In the American diamond lane scheme, no formal system ot'matehing has been established: f'reeway commuters must arrange this themselves. Typically prospective passengers will congregate at freeway entrances, sometimes wicicling cardboard signs bearing the name ol'theil clestination, waiting l'or a suitable vehicle to pick them up There are also Internet web sites via which passengers can link up with sLlitable car pool drivers. AlthoLIgh the American experiment has had some success in stimLliating Cal' pooling amongst commuters, the diamond lanes often remain empty even when the other lanes on the f'reeway are heavily congested. Some US states are diseontinLling the diamond lane scheme on the grounds that, having tailed to stimulate car pooling to a sut'l'icient degree, these relatively empty lanes waste valuable carriageway space. - 7

Clearly the diamond lane idea has some serious weaknesses. Firstly, the int'ormal manner of' matching prospective passengers to drivers with compatible itineraries is not et'teclive enough; the process of placing passengers into an appropli.tte vehicle needs to be much trotter organised. tSeeoncily, if'prospective passengers are in short supply, the diamond lane cannot be used and wastes valuable lane space on the freeway. rl'hirdly, the scheme requires cliamoncl lanes to be set up and marked out: whilst this can be done on freeways, it becomes more difficult to do this in urban areas where roads are narrower, frequently cluttered with parked cars, anrJ may only have one lane running in each direction. Fourthly, the di.tmond lane must be constantly,oolicecJ to enstire only high occupancy vehicles use it. I;inally, if the diamond lane were successful, then it would begin to fail, because these lanes would also become congested anti therel'ore the incentive to carry passengers disappears.

In spite ol' the diamond lane method "'ailing to stimulate car pooling to a sut'f'ieient rlegree, the intention and principle of ear pooling remains an intelligent solution to road tral'l'ie congestion. All that is needed is a better way ot'eneotiraging drivers to carry passengers (preferably one that does not require road layotit changes), and an et't'ective way ot'matehing passengers and drivers with eompatibie itineraries.

4.4 - Summary of Transport Problems

It is evident that certain l'ormidable transport problems uncJerlie road congestion. In su m maly: ]/i']./illZ/-' ('IZ/' is generally the fastest anti most flexible means ol'tr.tvel, yet for this Vely reason the car, in its burgeoning numbers, causes traffic congestion, parking congestion, air pollution, noise pollution, stress and road rage, greenhouse gas emissions, and many other problems besides.

ittl;l] zlI'r)' af'Pullic Transport cannot compete with the ear since, on average, they take twice as long t'or journeys under 25 miles; they leek the 'jump in and go' immediacy ol' the car; they often dem.tnd ecmpiox pre-pl.lnning bet'ore travel; Anal they have no tioxibility of itinerary. In adclition, existing modes of public transport do not provide a door-todoor service, so personal security and protection from the weather is not complete, and ear rying luggage or goods is made more dit'fieult.

Jia//i Re.rlnitianziltll''lr place undesirable constraints on tree movement, need constant policing, anti are open to abuse of exceptions. They may decrease the number of journeys taking pl.tcc, SO there may be adverse economic r epereussions.

Restriction methods are a negative approach to solving trat'fic congestion probierns; they shoultl be used AS temporally meastiles rather than US long term solutions.

('a/ 1lll;ly.SCIn7,I' are a greclt idea in principle, but existing methods of' matching passengers to vehicle drivers ale not sul'lieiently et'teetive, and it is not easy to devise a car pooling system which provides an incentive t'or drivel-s to give ritJes. - 8

- DEFINING FEATURES OF THE INVENTION

5.1 - Object and Applications of this Invention The ttormidabie transport problems described above are addressed and solved by the present road trttasportat.ion invention. In particular: This invention has an objective to provide a mode of public transport that operates on the roads and can supply a city with millions of' passenger journeys daily, yet: gener<tting only a t'raction ol' the road traf't'ic that normally arises when this amount ot'passenger journeys are furnished by the private car mode ol' transport.

Allis invention has an objective to provide a mode of public transport that is quicker than existing pLIblic transport: for door-to-door journeys untiel 25 miles, existing public transport is on average a factor of 2 slower than the car; this invention aims to r educe this factor (preferably to a value ol 1.6 or lower).

This invention has an objective ol'being able to provide a mode ol' public transport that, like the private car (anti unlike existing mass public transport), has complete flexibility ottitinera.ry, provides a door-to-door transport service, has a 'jump in and go' immediacy, and does not demand pre-planning before travel: these l'eatures allow this invention to compete with the car in terms of t.ranspolt convenience.

finis invention has an objective to provide a motto of public transport that is able to respond very rapidly to a prospective traveller's travel neecis, aiming where possible to get a transit vehicle to collect traveller within a three minute timescale (or when the traveller is less pressed, within a fit'teen minute timescale) t'rom the moment the tiavellel submits his or her itinerary specification (see section 7.12).

This invention has an objective ol'rlecreasing road traffic levels without decreasing the total number of passenger journeys taking place on the roads (trat'fic restriction schemes lower traffic levels, but may decrease the amount- ol'journeys kIlcing place, which reduces people- mobility and may have adverse economic repercussions).

This invention has a kng-term objective ol'redLIcing the number of' private cars on the roads by a twofold t'actor (a 5()> reduction) or more.

This invention has a long-term objective ol\bating parking congestion, which is a significant problem created by the prolit'eration of' private car (see section 7. 10).

This invention has the vitally important long-term objective ot'substantia.lly repricing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions wherever implemented, both in developed and developing nations.

lo achieve these objectives, this invention has two main configurations: electronic navigation taxibus transport, and car pooling transport. This invention can run either ol' these configurations separately, or can run them both at the same time.

Other tianspolt configul-ations of this invention ale also possible. such as the sel - cirive transit vehicle described in section 9.21. - 9

The electronic navigation taxibus is a revolutionary and entirely new mode of public transport, perhaps destined to become the primary mode of travel in the 21 st century. 'I'he taxibus is a road transport vehicle that generally conveys passengers from door-to-door, thus providing a transport service comparable to that. of a taxi cab, yet one which may profitably operate with fare costs similar to those of a btis.

I'he taxihLIs is the first mode ol' mess public transport that can not only equal the convenience of'the private car, but as will become apparent, may even exceed it.

Analysis suggests that introducing a fleet: ot't.axibus vehicles can massively reduce the quantity of' tra.l'lic on the r gads: a remarkable l'll/'l) re)llCti'l' in the number ol' Cal'S on the roads is obtainable (see section 7.1X). The ta.xibus can swiftly curtail tra.t'fic congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions with unparalleled ef'f'icacy; for these reasons it is anticipated that the taxibus will be rapidly adopted as the primary mode of'public transports in towns anti cities around the globe.

lathe car pooling configuration of' this invention, though not quite as revolutionary as the taxibtis, nevertheless manages to solve all the problems of' car pooling described in section 4.3. In pa.rticulal- this car pooling configuration provides a very et'f'ective means of matching prospective passengers with car pool strivers having compatible itineraries, and can provide a monetary incentive to encourage drivers to give rides.

Although car pooling, even in this present incarnation, is an informal mode of'public transport, it can certainly help further decrease the quantity of cars on the roads.

In both taxibtis and car pooling, the transpol tation capabilities of this invent-ion are completely scalable: this invention can operate in a village where it might provide just a few hundred passenger journeys each day, or in a major city where it could coml'ortably handle 10 million or more daily passenger jOUI neys (the ability of this invention to provide passenger journeys in t}lC millions is proven in section 7.1 1).

Note that this invention is highly practicable, both technologically and financially.

For the most part it uses existing and established technologies, most of which a.re a.lteacly in place or already in operation; as a consequence this invention can be implemented remarkably cheaply, and without changing any of the physical or technological infrastructures of a town or city. The system of'transportation of this invention is also cheap to run, and may quite easily be operated at a profit (a. simple financial analysis of the transport operations ol this invention is given in section 7.11). Financial viability is crucial to making this invention useful, and allows it to be implemented in both rich and developing nations through'tit the globe. - 10

S.2 - Basic Concepts - Adaptable Routing and Intelligent Grouping The concepttIal foundation of'this invention l'CStS on two transport methodologies which we shall refer to as adaptable routing and intelligent grouping.

Adapt-alyle routing applies to vehicles whose route is completely flexible and can be modified at any time to accommodate a tr.tvelleris particular journey requirements.

Adaptively-routed vehicles provide a transport service that collects a t. ra.veller from his starting point al address anct conveys him to his destin.It:ion point or address.

I'his cont.ra.sts to fixed-route transport vehicles such as buses and trains which do not alter their roIlling to accomrnotlate the traveller's itinerary. Ordinaly taxi cabs use aclaptal>le routing, as of course does the private Call.

Intelligent grouping involves the placement of'disparate travellers, who happen to have compatible itineraries, onto the same t:r.lospolt. vehicle. I4ixect-route vehicles such HIS buses anti trains automatically use intelligent grouping; though obviously in these cases, no great intelligence is involved, as the conveyance ol' passengers with compat:ibie itineraries is intrinsic to fixecl-route transport vehicles.

In the case ottadaptively-routed transport vehicles, however, intelligent. grouping of' travellel-s is by no means a.tit.oma.tic and to achieve it requires precise orchestration of both travellers and transport vehicles. It is a. very complex undertaking to operate transport vehicles that'l; nllllallr7ll.'l.y use adaptable routing.locl intelligent grouping.

Nevertheless, this is exactly what this invention does, as we shall see.

Aclapt.tUle routing is an important characteristic ol'this invention I'ecatise it can provide travellers with door-lo-ctoor travel From their starting point or address to their destination point or adtil-ess, thus creating a. convenient and highly attractive tootle of public transport.

Int.eiligent grotiping is an equally important characteristic of thisinvention as it enables transport. vehicles to carry many clispar.Ite tra. vellers at once, which allows passenger tar-e costs to be kept. low. anti allows travellers to share the same transr>ol l vehicle.

The simultaneous union ol'adaptabie routing and intelligent. grouping achieved by this present invention is fundamental to rctiticing road trat't'ic as it entices travellers who might have otherwise journeyocl in their own individual cars to climb aboard an actaptively-routed transport vehicle and get exactly the same cloor-to-door service that their cars would have provicled.

In aclaplively-routetl transport vehicles, a set of'traveilers are saitl to be intelligently gIouped when the itinerary of any one traveller does not force the transport vehicle to significantly deviate f'rom, a.nct thus increase the journey times al; the itineraries ol' the other travellers aboard the vehicle. A set of travellers can only be intelligently grou,oed when they have reasonably compatible itineraries.

(generally, an individual traveller will want to be conveyed on the quickest rolite Tom his embal kation to his destination (such as he would take in his own private _ 11 car), rather than travel by a longer and more roundabout path in an adaptively- r-outed transport vehicle; the above definition states that when traveilers are intelligently grouped in an adaptivel.y-rotite<3 transport vehicle, each inclivi<3ual travelleris journey time From his embarkation to his destination point is not signilica.ntly increased in relation to this quickest rotite.

Note, however, that this definition ot'intelligent grouping, although succinct, clues not quantitatively specil'y what is meant by 'signit'icantly increased. A quantitative definition of'inteiligent: grouping which does is provided in section 5.7.

In section 5.7 we shall show that for each set of travellers intelligently groupe<3 in an a.c:laptively-roLItecl transport vehicle, there exists an associated optimal transit route which represents the quicicest way (or almost the quickest way) to convey the said traveilel s in accordance with their itineral ies; we also introduce a parameter called the Compatibility Index which quantitatively meastlres intelligent grotiping 5.3 - Some Further Terminology Slaving clelined the terms adaptable routing, intelligent grouping, optimal transit route, and t.hc Compatibility Index, we now introciticc some Further terminology.

Note that any terms intrordticecl in bold type in this document are definitions that apply throughout the document.

In this document the term traveller is used to cienot.e a person journeying on their own itinerary, which includes drivers journeying on their own itinerary. 'I'he term passenger clenot.es any person journeying on their own itinerary, excluding cirivers.

lhc term driver covers both drivers who are travellers (sue h as car pool drivers and <Irivers al' the seit'-drive transit vehicle <described in section 9.21, who are jOUI neying on their own itinerary), as well as drivers who are not traveilers (such as taxibus drivers, who have no itinerary ol'theil- own).

A traveller or passenger itinerary is defined as a data structure or a computer ciata format which specifies a travciler or passenger travel plan. In most l'orms ol'public transportation, the embarkation and disembarkation points are the most important aspects of a t-raveller itinerary, and many traveller itineraries fire specified by just two items ol'dat-a: the tra.veller's embarkation point and the t:raveller's destination point. This definition ol'itinerary, however, includes more complex travel plans, including travel plans with more than one destination point, and travel plans with specific routing requirements (such as itineraries recluirecl to avoid specified areas of town). Mathematically speaking, using the terminology ol'graph theory, most traveller or passenger itineraries can be encoded as a clirectec3 graph whose vertices are the embarkation and clisembarkation points ol'tile itinerary, and whose clirectet3 e<lges in<licate the t-3irection of travel.

A vehicle itinerary is cielinc<3 as a <3a.ta structure or a comptiter data format which specifies the travel plan of the vehicle. 'I'ypically, a vehicle itinerary will comprise a - 12 set of prescribed geographic points or aciciresses to which the vehicle must navigate in a. prescribed order. A vehicle itinerary may or may not inclucie a specification of' the road route that will enable the vehicle to reach the said geographic points or addresses. Typically these geographic points will be traveller embarkation and destination points. Mathematically speaking most vehicle itineraries can be encoded as a. clirectecl graph whose vertices are the said geographic point-e ol ac-ldresses, and whose directerl edges indicate the direction of'travel between these geographic points or addresses.

A journey request is defined as a. data structure or a compLItel data t'orma.l which inclucies a specification ot'a. traveller or passenger itinerary, and may also include a specification ol'any other travel requirements relating to this itinerary, SLIch as the number ol'travellers to be conveyer on the said itinerary, the details of'any luggage carried by the traveilers, and the time and date at which conveyance of the travellers according to the said itinerary is to commence. 'I'he journey request may also specify certain travel preferences, such as whether the traveller pref'el-s to avoid split journeys (section 9.2), or whether he wants to pl-ioritise transit vehicle speed of response or speed of-'journey (section 7.12).

Car pool drivers are classed as travellcrs, but their itineraries are specified in a data structure or a computer data format which we call a car pool intended itinerary specification, rather than a journey recluest. A car pool intended itinerary specification will include details of the vehicle itinerary that the car pool driver intentis to follow, and will usually include related int'ormation such as the number of available passenger seats in the car pool vehicle. Usually the driver's intended itinerary will simply comprise his current location point or address and his intenclecl destination point or aciciress; however if the car pool driver needs to make additional stops en route, then the location point or address ot'these stops must be inclLIded in

the car pool intended itinerary specification.

The term transport vehicle is cletinecl as a vehicle which is capable of'carrying travellers. The term adaptively-routed transport vehicle is defined as a vehicle which is capable of carrying traveilers and which is capable of being adaptively routed on the road networks. Ac:laptivelyrouted transport vehicles include, for example, the car, minibus, coach, the rickshaw, and the holse-cirawn carriage.

A transport vehiclels current itinerary commitments ale defined as the set of itineraries of the travellers currently being conveyed in the vehicle, plus the it.ineralies of any travellers that the vehicle is currently committec3 to picking up.

A digitized street layout map is defined as a data structure or a computer data format, typically a graph, which details the layout or connectivity of the road networks ot'the particular geographic regions in which this invention operates.

I'he term data-processing instructions is used to denote any compLItelinstructions or compLIter programming code, including software, and including computer instructions or code encapsulated in hardwa.le (such as firmware or purpose- c-3esignetl int:egra.tecl circuits). A data-processing module employs a set ot'data- processilig instructions to perform a specific data-processing function. (Note: one _ 13 - set of rlata-proeessing instructions may constitute more than one dataprocessing module; t'or example, the intelligent grouping module and the electronic st.reeL navigation moclule del'inerl below may be eml:'odierl in the same set ol'cl.tta processing Inst.ructons.

5.4 - Component Parts of. the Invention We now introduce anti rlel'ine a number ol'eomponent parts userl in this present invention. The components defined appear in bold type, anti tilese definitions apply throughout this document.

A transit vehicle is defined as one which is capable ol'earrying travellers, which is capable ol' teeing adaptively-routed on the road networks, Anal which is participating (or is about to participate) in the transportation system of' this invention, and whilst participating, forms a component part of'this invention (in other words a transit vehicle is an adaptively-routecl transport vehicle which is operating as part of this invention). We clef'ine a taxibus as a transit vehicle piloted by a driver who has no itinerary al' his own; a.ncl define a car pool vehicle as a transit vehicle piloterl by a driver who is currently travailing in this vehicle on his own itinerary.

A controlling computer system is defined as a data-processing system eompl ising one or more mainframe computer data-processing installations, or comprising a set of distributed (typically portable 01' mobile) computer processors, or comprising a combination of these last two setups, or comprising some other configuration of clala.-proeessing hardware; in this document the term controlling computer system not only refers to the data-processing hardware, but also encompasses the data- orocessing instructions (computer programming Joule) running on this hardware; in paltietilal note that both the electronic street navigation moAtilc and the intelligent grouping mocitile defined below are component parts of' the controlling computer system; by definition a controlling computer system will have the ability to send and receive data over the data transmission system definer below.

A data transmission system is delinecl as one which facilitates transmission of data between the remotely-located (geographically distant) components in this invention.

The data transmission system may comprise one or more transmission methods, inelucling wireless eieetromagnetie transmission (1'or example radio, optical and microwave), land-line transmission (fol example electric or fibre optic cable), and transmission ovel the lnieinet- or other computer networks. rl'he remotely-located components in this invention may inelucle: the controlling eompuLel.systcm (and any geographically distril:'uted computer processor elements thereof), the electronic positioning system (anal any geographically distributed elements thereof), and the communicator crevices (cielinec1 below) used by travellers and transit vehicle drivel-s.

When remotely-located components need to exchange data, the data transmission system is used to transmit this data; components of' this invention that are ad jaeently located (such as an eomptiler processor element ineorpora.lecl into a communicator cieviee) may exchange data directly via a local data connection. - 14

A communicator device is the generic name we shall give to the (typically portable and electronic) gacigets which allow people interacting with this transportation invention (passengers and drivers) to send and/or receive data over the data transmission system (typically to the controlling comptiler system). When a communicator crevice is locally connected lo the controlling computer system (or a compilter processor element thcreol), then the sending and/or receiving of' dale may be pCI formed via. this local connection. 14 xarnpies ol commtinicator devices include the telephone, the ceilula.r telephone, the wireless PL)A (personal Digital Assistant) and an lnternet-connectecl personal comptiter.

An electronic positioning system is used in its commonly-understood meaning: an electronic ol cornputelisecl system that allows its users to determine their geographic location. A satellite positioning system such as the American GINS (Global losiliyrlilig System) is an example of an electronic positioning system. An electronic positioning system may comprise one or more methods of providing positioning d.lt:a (such as for example the methods clescriLed in section 9.); using more than one method may be done in order to improve positioning accuracy, to widen the geographic coverage ol'lhe system, or l'or any other- reason.

An electronic street navigation module is clel'ined as a data-processing module that, given a vehicle itinerary, can provide navigational instructions which allow a transit. vehicle driver to follow this vehicle itinerary; by cletinilion the electronic street navigation module (both its data-processing hardware and its data-processing inst:rucl.ions) forms part ol'lhe controlling computer system. A basic form ol' electronic street navigation rnotiule might simply pass on the optimal transit route data generated by the intelligent grouping module (described below), thereby providing the drivel with static navigational instructions lol the optimal transit route itinerary; a more sophistic. lt:ed electronic street navigation module would operate along the lines ot'the in-car satellite navigation systems that are nova commonly available: in-car satcilite navigation systems make use of a cligilised street layout reap, anti make tlSC of tlata t'rom a satellite electronic positioning system, in ol tier to provide the car driver with real-time navigation instructions which are based on, and dynamically respond lo, the vehiclels current geographic location.

An intelligent grouping module is defined as a clata-processing module which, on the basis ol'traveller jOtil ney requests, and on the basis of the transit vehicles available, inteiligentl,y grotips the traveilers a. ssocialecl with the journey requests into the saitl transit vehicles and devises optimal transit routes by which these transit vehicles can transport the sait3 travellers in accordance with Ille itineraries specified in the said journey recluests; by definition the intelligent. grouping module (both its clata.-processing hardware and clala-processing instructions) forms part. of' the controlling computer system. An intelligent grouping module may utilisc a cligitisecl street layotit map with which to plan rotates. -

5.5 - Essential Features of the Invention In accordance with the objectives described in section 5.1 the essential features of this present invention are described using the terminology defined in sections 5.2, 5.3 and 5.7 along with the components defined in section 5.4, a.nc1 are as follows.

This invention provides a traveller transportation system operating on the roacis in which travellers use cornmLInicator devices to send their journey requests, and any car pool vehicle drivers use communicator devices to send their car pool intencle<l It.merary specifications, to a controlling computer.system wherein: an intelligent grouping module intelligently grotips the sa.ic3 travellers into transit vehicles, and creates an optimal transit route t'or each ot'these transit vehicles to convey the said travellers in accordance with the itinerary and the other travel details specilled in each of' the said journey reqLIest-s or car pool intended itinerary specltcatons; the said intelligent grouping module operating with the aid of data from an electronic positioning system detailing the current geographic posit-ion ot'ea.ch of the said transit. vehicles; the drivels in each of' the said transit vehicles being directed along the said optimal transit roLItes to convey the saic1 travellers by means of navigational data sL'ppliet1 by an electronic street navigation mot/tile incorporated into the said controlling computer system; the said navigational data being sent to the communicator crevice within each of'the said transit vehicles, these communicator devices detailing the navigational data to the drivers ol' the said transit vehicles; throughout the ahove-descl-ibecl operations, a data transmission system is used wherever data needs to be sent between the remotely-located components of the invention, these components including the controlling computer.system (and any geographically distributed computer processor elements thereof), the electronic positioning system (and any geographically distl ibutec1 elements thereof) , and the COmmLIniCator devices used by traveilers and transit vehicle drivers.

Note: it l'ollows From these essential l'eatules that: all transit vehicles are equipped with a communicator device; and that the electronic positioning system is able to locate the geographic position ofl.ll operational transit- vehicles.

Note: it is acivant.ageous l'or the electronic positioning system to be able to locate travellers as well as transit vehicles, but this is not a mandatory features _ 16 5.6 - Preferable Features of'the Invention Preferably the jOUI ney request will allow travellers to specify the number of traveiler seats required on the journey, so that groups ot'peopie travelling together can be accornmoc.latetl by this invention.

Pref'erably the join ney request will allow traveilels to specify their luggage requirements, so that traveilers with luggage can be l'otincl a suitable transit vehicle.

Pref'erably this invention will have the ability to handle pre-order booking and regular order booking traveller journey retiuests: travellers who place a pre-orUer booking with the controlling computel- system will have a. transit vehicle arrive to collect them at the time they specify in the journey request:, in artier to convey them along the itinerary they specify in the journey request; a regular order booking is like a pre-orclel booking except that it is repeated on a regular basis specified in the journey request (lol example: daily) until cancelled (see section 7.).

Pref'erably this invention will operate with traveller itineraries that tall into the category ot'simple two-point itineraries which comprise the traveiler's embal Ica.tion point and destination point.: this makes the itineraries simple to specify on a communicator device and easy to process computationa.lly.

Preferably this invention will operate with vehicle itineraries that comprise a set of deitinecJ geographic points or addresses to which the vehicle must navigate in a prescribed order, to pick up or drop ol'l'travellers.

Pref'erably the transit vehicles operated by this invention will be able to service the same sort of' street addresses and locations as can a private car or taxi cab (in other words, like the car and taxi cab, these transit vehicles will be suf'liciently small an.l manoelivrable to be able to reach virtually all street acIdresses).

Pref'erably the transit vehicles operated by this invention will be piloted by a prol'essiona.l cir iver with no itinerary ol' his own (by tietinition, this is the electronic navigation taxibLIs configuration of this invention); alternatively these transit vehicles may be piloted by a ciriver who is travelling on an itinerary ot'his own, anct who wishes to accommo.late and transport passengers in his vehicle (by ciet'inilion, this is the car pooling configuration of' the invention); alternatively this invention may operate both taxibus and car pooling vehicles simult. aneoLIsly.

Pref'erably the transit vehicles operated by this invention will include the self drive transit vehicles described in section 9.21.

Preferably the data transmission system will use a cellular telephone netwol k as a method or''.lata transmission, and preferably this cellular network will use the 3(, (thirc3-genelation) cellular netwollc technology currently being introclucecd in the Ulk, or later generations thereof; which is palticLllarly adept at text and graphic data tralisrnissiorl; alternatively this data transmission system may use a mesh net-work rnethorl of data transmission (mesh networks are <Iescribel in section 8. 4).

Preferably the clal.l transmission system will be able to tiansrnil data more or less - 17 instantaneously, typically with the speed ol'an electromagnetic wave or the speed of a signal propagating along an electric land line, so that no burst ot'data will take longer than a few seconds to travel via the data transmission system. Such speerl is necessary il'this invention is to operate el'ftectively in real time.

Prel'erably this invention will opertil.e a door-l.o-cloor transport service, that is to say, run transit vehicles that convey each traveller in accoirlance with his itinerary rigilt from his starting point or arlrlress to his destination point or address; alternatively travellers mtty be conveyed almost door-to-door by being pickocl tip and/ol dropper! of'l'within a short walking distance ot'their starting and destination points or addresses (such as in the 'qtiasi door-to-dool' ltixibus in section 9.3).

Preferably this invention will employ commtinicatol- devices that are electronic gadgets capable of' two-way transmission of information (able to send data. and receive data via the data transmission system).

Preferably this invention will employ commtinicalor devices that are portable so that users of this invention can carly a communicator device on their person.

Prel'erably this invention will employ communicator devices that possess a text ancl/ or graphics dispicty screen and some SOl't of' keyboard or keypad, allowing a visual presentation of information to the user' ancl allowing users to type in intimation.

Preferably this invention will employ communicator devices that are of the cellular telephone or wireless PEA (Persona.! L)igital Assistant) type and which operate with a cellular telephone network data transmission system (see section 7.2 t'or a more det-a.ilecl ciescriplion ol' such types of communicator crevice).

Preferably the electronic positioning system of this invention will be able to locate the geographic position of communicator devices carried by travellers, as well as locate the geographic position ol' transit vehicle communicator crevices.

Preferably the electronic positioning system will be a satellite positioning.system; alternatively the electronic positioning system will based on cellular base station triangulation (both are described in rletail in section 9.22); alternatively a combination of both satellite positioning and cellular base station triangtilalion.

Preferably the electronic positioning system will use a roan coding system or a short range r adio transmitter system as rlescribecl in section 9.22 as an ancillary (or alternatively as the main) electronic positioning system.

Prel'erably the electronic positioning system will be capable of providing a locatiomil accuracy to within 1() metres when operating at optimum pert'orma.nce, so that communicator devices equipped with electronic positioning f'unctionalitv can be located to within this distance.

Preferably this invention will operate using pre-definecl passenger pickup (ancl optionally set flown) points, each with a unique pick-up point reference code, in ortler to eliminate passenger pick-up point aml-, iguity (see section 9.16). _ 18

Preferably the electronic street navigation moclule would operate in a similar manner to the seil'-contained in-car satellite navigation system, providing the vehicle driver with real-time streot-by-street navigation directions which are Lasers on the vehicles current geographic location. Such in-car navigation systems rely on a ctigitisect street layoLIt map, and use an electronic positioning system lo provide current location cloth.

Preferably this invention will rapidly process incoming journey requests, so that when a. prospective traveller submits a journey request on his communicator device, the controlling computer system will marshal a t'ast response that has a transit vehicle arrive to collect the travellel and convey him along his specil-ied itinerary typically within minutes (section 7.12 explains why a test response is important).

Preferably this invention will operate such that prospective travellers will generally have their transit vehicles art iving to collect them within three minutes ol' submitting their journey request (section 7.12 examines the importance and theoretical t'easilility of a three minute response).

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will take into account. transit vehicle proximity to the prospective traveller: this means that when trying to place a new travellel into a transit vehicle, not only will the intelligent grouping module seek a vehicle with a. good itinerary compatibility to the travelle1, the module will also try to find a transit vehicle that is currently located in the vicinity of that traveiler, enabling the transit vehicle to get to the traveller's pick-up point quickly.

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will process traveller journey requests which specily an immediate departure time as l'ollows. The intelligent grouping module will examine the current position and current itineraries of its transit vehicles en route (anct any idle transit vehicles, il'ava.ilatle), searching l'or a. transit vehicle in the vicinity (a flew minutes driving distance) ol't.he traveller's pick-up point-, and one into which the traveller can be intelligently groupecl. When the intelligent grouping module finds such a transit vehicle for the traveller, this modLIle revises the transit route ol'th.lt vehicle so that. it can pick up the traveller from the pick-up point specified in his journey request, and convey him and the other t:ravellers on boar cl the vehicle to their respective destinations. This method is uset'ul when dealing with new journey requests in which travellers require immediate pick up anct departure. Alternatively the intelligent. grouping module may process journey requests some time in acivance ot'the traveller's departure time, searching ttor a transit vehicle which will be in the vicinity of the traveller's pick-up point at (or close to) his departure time, and one into which the traveller can lee intelligently grouped. This second method is useful when dealing with batciles ot'pre-orcter and regular orclel journey requests. Alternatively the intelligent grouping module may operate tootle ot these two methods. (These two methods respectively correspond to the processing of' crass C and class 1) journey requests c-lescriled in section 7. 1).

I'referally the intelligent groIlping module will have the ability to split a traveller's journey into dit't'erent legs using two or more clit'l'erent transit vehicles (the need for split journeys is explained in section 9.2). 19 -

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will have the ability to route, or, in the ease ol'split journeys, partially route, a traveiler itinerary via existing modes of public travel such as btises anti trains as well as by taxibus or ear pool transit vehicles. This will enable this invention to seamlessly integrate with existing public transport (multi- moclal travel is cIeseribecl in section 7.17).

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will operate SO as to aim to place at least 6 travellels into each transit vehieie. An objective of this invention is an ability to provide mass transportation ol'travelleIs withotit generating high levels ot'roacl tral'lie congestion: this ol:)jective depends on placing several travellers in each transit vehicle. Placing 6 passengers is certainly achievable with the taxibtis. Section 7.11 details how trat'tic congest-ion is overcome, and section 7.18 details how this invention substantially lowers greenhouse gas emissions, when there are 6 to cS travellels travelling in each transit vehicle. Obviously this pret'erabie I'eattile only applies to transit vehicles ol'sut'ficient size: those having 6 or more passenger seats.

In particular we exclude ear pool vehicles, most ot'wl1ieil will not have sut'tieienl seats to aeeommoctate 6 passengers (and even if they hall, the Cal' pool driver would be unlikely to want to convey that many passengers in his vehicle).

Preferably the intelligent grouping morlLlle will intelligently group traveilers so that the Compatibility Inclex (defined in section 5.7) of their itineraries is typically less than 1.6 (meastilecl when there are at least 6 travellers in the transit vehicle). A low value lor theCompatibility Inclex is important to achieving one ot'the obieetives of this invention: to provide a mode ot'public transport that for the cloorto-door journey is quicker than existing public transport.

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will intelligently gl'OUp (raVelIel'S SO that the Compatibility Inclex ot'their itineraries is t. ypieally less than 2 (measurecl when thel-e are at least 6 travellers in the transit vehicle). This invention still remains a VCIy viable mass transportation system when the Compatibility Inclex is less than 2.

Pretterably the intelligent grouping module will perit-,rm its intelligent grouping calculations using data Iliat details the current trat'tie speed on each road - that is to say, using a tralfic-speecl travel-time metric as cleseribecl in sections 5.7 and 9.1.

Preferably the intelligent grotiping module in this invention will be employed in such a way that when a transit vehicle, for whatever reason, gets signif'ieantly clisplaced Tom its optimal transit rotate' or sut'f'els a significant cielay along this optimal transit route, the intelligent grotiping modtile will be triggered to re- optimise the intelligent grouping and c-revise a new optimal transit route for that transit vehicle (see section 9.1).

Preferably the intelligent grouping module will ineorpol-ale all the tealtiles described in section 9.1 Preferably il1is invention will operate with a transit vehicle density ot'at least 10 vehicles pet scluare mile in a large city. Such scales ol'operation vastly improve the el'ficiency ot'this invention (see section 5.c8) which is important to all the objectives _ 20 ot'this invention stated in section 5.1.

Preferably this invention will be designed to take advantage of the transportation efficient ies that arise at large scales of operation (scales such as 10 Ol more transit vehicles per square mile). Three important transportation efficiencies ma.t.erialise at a large scale of' operation which enable this invention to function in a manner that is not possible at smaller scales (see section 5.).

Preferably this invention will be tIesigned to provide transportation coverage across a. whole city. City-wide implementation is important for reducing city t.raf-'f'ic congestion and air pollution.

Preferably this invention will be designed to provide transportation coverage to a whole state or nation - wiciescale implementation is important to the environmental objectives of' this invention in reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Preferably this invention will pre-emptively marshal its transit vehicle fleet in order to geographically position the fleet in readiness to hanfie the expected traveller numbers arising From the morning and evening rush hours, from large-scale public events, and similar situations where it is known in advance that there will be high concentrations of new traveilers requiring transportation (see section 7. 9).

Pref'erably this invention will operate a system of'automatic computercalculated fare metering anti charging f'or travellers using its transit vehicles: this will speed up journeys anti will make travel more streamlined and convenient (see section 9.5).

Preferably in its ordinary handling of'traveller journey requests and in the control and orchestration of' its transit vehicles, this invention will work automatically without the need of'human operators or assistance. When implemented in a large city this invention might operate tens of' thousands of'transit vehicles and receive thousands of'joul-ney requests each minute - far too many for human operators to handle, unless a huge number of operators are employed, which would be costly.

Preferably this invention will operate using a central controlling computel system as described in the pret'erl-etf embodiment (see section 7), but will also have the capacity to operate using a clist.riLtited controlling computer system as described in the second embodiment (see section X), such that in the event of' a failure of the central controlling computer system, the clistributef controlling computer system will be able to take over, thus keeping the transit vehicle fleet in operation.

Prefcrably the controlling computel system will, on request, pl-ovirie electronic StlCCt navigation to its users (passengers anti vehicle drivels) even when they are not travailing by means of'this invention.

Pret'erably the controlling computer system of' this invention will incorporate quantum computer hardware when quantum computer technology becomes available: quantum computers are especially good at handling the non-polynomial calculations that can arise during the process of'intelligent grouping. - 21

S.7- Quantitative Definition of Intelligent Grouping lithe provisional definition of'int-elligent grouping provided in section 5.2 was: In aclaptively-lolitecl transport vehicles, a set of'traveilers are said to be intelligently grouped when the itinerary cl'.lny one traveller does not force the transport vehicle to significantiv cIeviate from, and thus increase the joLIrnev times of the itineraries ol' the other travellers aboard the vehicle.

This however was a qualitative ciel'inilion: no quantitative meaning was given to the term Isignif'icantly cieviatel. In this section we are going to remedy this: we define a.

parameter and mathematical "'unction caned the Compatibility Index which, given any set cl'travellel itineraries, expresses the average increase in each travelleris journey time that results when these travellers are grolipec3 together and conveyed (along one of'the qtlickest routes) in an adaptively-routed transport vehicle; the said increase is in relation to the journey time that would result il'each traveller were to travel on his itinerary via the most clirect rotite (such as would normally be taken in a private car). 'lathe Compatibility Index thus measures the klrec of compatibility of a set of' traveller itineraries; it measures how well a given set of travellers can be intelligently grouped into an adaptively-rotitecl transport vehicle.

Tlie lower the value of'the Compatibility Inclex, the more compatible are the itineraries ol' the set of' traveilers. Perf'cct intelligent grouping has a G,mpatibility Index of I and, f'or reasons that will shortly be expla.inetf, Gmpatibilily Index valises in the range of I to 1.3 represent cxceilent intelligent grouching, with values between 1.3 anc3 1. 6 representing an acceptable level of intelligent grouping. A Compatibility Index approaching 2 or higher represents an increasingly inefficient: anal a generally unacceptable level of' intelligent grouping.

We shall now Locals on deriving the Cornpalibility Index.

For any set S ol'tiaveller itineraries, we shall clefine a Gompatibility IntIex function which takes S as its argument and ret.ur ns a real number which is the Compatibility Index value of the set S. We assume that each traveller itinerary in S is expressed as a directed graph whose vet rices encode the traveileris embarkation and destination points (and any other points), anti whose directed edges indicate the direction of travel. We similarly assume that the itinerary ol2the a.cla.ptively-rolilecl transport vehicle can be expressed as a clirectec3 graph whose vertices are the embarkation and destination points of the travellers on board (and any:>t:her points to which the vehicle must- navigate)' and whose directed edges indicate the direction of' travel of the vehicle.

We will mate rel'elence to figures 1, 2 and 3 in the accompanying drawings, in which three example sets S of'travellel itineraries are given (figure I is a set ol' two travellers, ligul e 2 is a set ot'three travellel s and figure 3 is a set of seven travellers).

Note: in tilese figures the travellels have simple Iwo-point itineraries, btit our analysis equally applies Kit more complex itineraries.

Inch l'igul-e abstractly represents travellers making their way aCl'OSS a city in an - 22 adaptively-routed transport vehicle (for clarity, the streets of the city are omitted from the figures). Fetch arlowed line represents a particular traveller and his itinerary: the start ol' the line denotes the current location of' the traveller (which will be his embarkation point) anti the arrowhead of the line marks the traveller's desired destination. 'I'he dotted path R (beginning at point I and proceeding sequentially to points 2, 3, 4, etc) shows the itinerary route of'an adaptively-routed transport vehicle transporting these travellers.

Figure I for example shows a set S ot'two travellers, whose itineraries are indicated by the two arrowed lines, being conveyocl along the vehicle itinerary R. Here the adaptively-loutotl transport vehicle picks up the first traveilel at point 1, drives along to point 2 where the second traveller is picked up, proceeds to point 3 where the second traveller is dropped ot't; anti finally drives to point 4 where the first traveller alights.

Notice f'or this vehicle itinerary R. both travellers get point-to-point transport, yet neither traveiler is much inconveniencec3 by the otheris travel requirements - this is the essence of int.eiligent grouping. The vehicle itinerary 11 which lacilit.ates this el't'icient concur rent transport ol'travellers is called an optimal transit route.

We now provicle a Formal definition of what is meant by an optimal transit route.

For any given set S of'traveller itineraries (such as those in figures 1, 2 anti 3), an optima.! transit route is defined as the cluickest road route, or one of' the quicker roatl routes, by which an a.daptively-lotitec3 transport vehicle can travel so as to pick up, convey, and drop ol'l'each traveller in the set S in a.ccorc:3ance with his itinerary.

As a data structure, an optimal transit route takes the form of'a vehicle itinerary.

where will usually be more than one optimal transit r out-e by which a given set of travellels can be transportecl.

In order to determine the optimal transit routes for a given set S of traveller itineraries, we need to employ a travel-time metric. We define a travel-time metric as a mathematical method that allows us to calculate the journey time along any given vellicie itinerary - that. is, it allows us to estimate the time it will take t'or an ada.ptively-routec3 transport vehicle Lo traverse this itinerary. For the moment we shall use a direct-distance travel-time metric which assumes that the journey time along any given vehicle itinerary is proportional to the distance as the crow flies between the various points (such as traveller embarkation and tlisembalkation points) on that route. Then lay assuming a fixed vehicle speed along this vehicle itinerary (such as the average trat'fic speed in a city), we have ourselves a simple travel-time metric.

For example: in liguies 1, 2 and 3 the points on the vehicle itinerary R are labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, anti so forth. To apply a direct-distance travel-time metric to estimate the jOIll ney time along route R. we must first: measure the total length ol' R as the crow flies, which is simply the length represented by the dotted path R. and then divided by the t'ixec3 vehicle speed, in or:Jel to calculate the journey time along rotite R. 1,ater we examine two more travel-time metrics which are more complex but more accurate (they measure distance along the roac3 route, rat-her than as the crow flies). - 2.3

Once we have a travel-time metric, we can then calculate the optimal transit routes for any given set S ol'traveller itineraries by using an exhaustive search method (which is a standard method of graph theory). This exhaustive search finds optima.! transit routes by first enumerating all the mathematically possible transit routes that pass through the embarkation and destination points (pc.int-s 1, 2, 3, 4,... in the figures) al' the traveiler itineraries in set S. excluding any transit rotates that arrive at a travelleris destination point bel'ore they get to his embarkation point, and then applying the travel-time metric to each ol' these possible transit routes to measure the journey time for each transit route. L3y cicfinition, the quickest or the quicker of' these possille transit rotates, as measured by the travel-time metric, are the optimal transit routes for the set S of traveller itineraries.

(As a useful rule-ol thumb, we can define the quicker transit roLItes as those that are not more than a Actor of 1.6 slower than the very quickest route).

So for example, in figure 1, assuming the transport vehicle starts at point I initially, there al-e six mathematically possible transit routes that pass through the travellers embal kation point-e and destination points, namely the transit routes: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-4-3, 1-3-2-4, 1-3-4-2, 1-4-2-3 and 1-4-3-2. Out of these six routes, the 3rcl, the 4th and the 6th route are excluded on the groLInds that in these, the transit vehicle will arrive at a travelleris ciestina.tion point before it gets to his embarkation point.

I'his leaves us three possible transit routes: the Ist, the End and the Pith in the list.

Applying Olil' clirect-distance travel-time metric (just by visual inspection) to these three routes, it becomes clear that the Ist and End transit roLItes in this list are the optimal transit routes, with the Ist. being the very qtlickest route; and the 2ntl just a little bit longer; the 5th route is discounted due to its excessive length (visual inspection clearly indicates that the 5th route is more than 1.6 the length of the q sickest 1 st route).

Note: the exhaustive search method of {-inkling optimal transit routes can consume considerable computer processing time when the number ol'travellers in the set increases. However, graph theory otters various standard heuristic techniques which can lee usefully employee] to reduce this calculation time.

Although an optimal transit route always represents one ol't.he quickest ways to convey a set ol'travellers a.ccortling to their itineraries, the el'l'ectiveness ol'an optimal transit route will obviously depend on the actual itinerary comp.ttibility ol' the set of'travellers in question: if we have a set S of travellel itineraries that are totally incompatible, then the optimal transit route for this set, although one of the quickest rotites, will be hideoLIsly lengthy and inef'ticient. Only when traveller itineraries are compatible does the optima.! transit route become ef'licient in terms of' adal>tively-roLltecl transportation. This fact under-pins how we ale going to quantity itinerary compa.tit>ility: oLIr Compatibility Index measure is tasetl on calculating an opt.irnal transit route l'ol- a set S of traveller itineraries, and then gauging this routers transportation el'liciency. In order to do this, we would normally use the quickest out al' the calculated optimal transit routes for the set S of traveller itineraries however, as will be shortly explained, sometimes the quickest optimal transit route Call actually tJC very slow lol just one particularly traveilel-, and il'this is the case, - 24 one ot'the other quicker optimal transit routes should be used instead.

Gauging an optimal transit route's transportation el'l'iciency is achieved as follows.

Given the quickest (or a quicker-) optimal transit route lor a set S of traveller itineraries, we employ our travel-time metric to calculate for each individual traveller itinerary in the set S: Firstly, the estimated journey time required to convey that particular traveller, in accordance with his itinerary, t'rorn his embal kation to destination point, travailing in the aclaptively-roLIted transport vehicle along the given optimal transit roLIt:e; we call this the Transit Time lol- that traveller itinerary.

Secondly, the estima.tecl journey time requil-erl to convey that particular traveller, in accordance with his itinerary, from his embarkation to destination point, travelling by the quickest, at one the quicker, routes (such as the traveilel would normally take in his own Cal'); WC call this time the Quickest Time lor the traveiler itinerary.

For example: in figure 3im agine that route R is our given optimal transit roLIte, and consider the traveller itinerary that begins at point] and encis at point 9. Using a direct-distance travel-time metric, the Quickest Time l'or this traveller is the length represented by the straight line 1-9, divided by the fixed vehicle speed; and the Transit Time is the length represented by the path 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 along roLIte R. divided by the l'ixecl vehicle speed.

Once we have ca.lculalecl the 'I'ransit limes and Quickest Times, then t'or each travellel itinerary in the set S. we calcLIlale the ration F, l'liciency Ratio = Transit Time. Quickest lime For any given traveiler, an Efficiency Ratio ol I indicates that his jOUl ney is the most efficient. possible: that the optimal transit route between the travciler's embarkation and destination points is as last as (and probably identical to) the quickest route between these points. An Efficiency Ratio of say 1.3 indicates this optimal transit route jOUl ney will take 1.3 times as long the quickest route between the traveiler's embarkation and destination points.

I-{aving calculated the F,lliciency Ratio valLIe for each traveiler itinerary in the set S. we add these valLIes together, and divide the sum by the number ot travellers in the set, in order to arrive at the average lSt'ficiency Ratio (note that if'there are two or mol-e travellels in the set with identical itineraries, these itineraries are still counted as distinct). I his brings us to our cietinition ot the {compatibility Inclex: Compatibility In<:lex of set S = average Efficiency Ratio of the traveiler itineral ies in the set S I'he Compatibility Index precisely measures intelligent grouping. A Compatibility Index of' I obviously indicates a perfect intelligent grouping in which each traveiler is conveye-l lay the qLIickest road route from}lid elilbark.ltiOn to destination point.

By contrast, a set ol'travellel-s having a Compatibility Index as high as 2 would be conveyed fairly inel'liciently, with the traveilers' journeys taking twice as Icing, on - 25 average, as going by the quickest road route.

Note that the Compatibility Index of any set S of traveiler itineraries only applies if the travellers are transported in an aclaptively-routecl transport vehicle via the optimal transit route used to calculate that Compatibility Index. Note also that l'or a set S of traveller itineraries with a measured Compatibility Inclex, there is always an a.ssociatecl optimal transit route.

To provide an example ol the Compatibility Index, we rel'er to l'igure.3 in which the seven tra.vellers' lLtfticiency Ratios work out to 1.56, 1. 3t3, 1.44, 1.1(), 1.33, 1.30 and 1.15 when the '1ransit 'I'ime anct Ouickest 'I'ime are measured with a centimetre ruler (such measurement is a clirect-distance travel-time metric). Taking the average of these values gives these seven travellers a Compatibility Index of 1.32.

In taxibus transportation we would aim to intelligently group a set ot'lravellel-s with a Com,cat:ihility Index value somewhat lower than 2. The Department t'or 'lransport st.at.islics mentionect in section 4.1 show that, for the average door-to-door journey under 25 miles, going by existing public transport takes twice as long as going by car. Therefore to better existing public transport and to compete with the speed ol' the car, the taxibtis must operate with a. Compatibility Index below 2. Aiming for a Compatibility Index of 1.3 or less is a. gocyc:t objective: this means that the average taxibus journey will take at most 30% longer than the direct journey by car, making the la.xibtis a very fast corm of public transF'ort. A Compatibility Index of' 1.6 or less is an acceptable value: in this case the average taxibus ctoor-to-dool journey will take at most 6() /' longer than going by car. Compatibility Index values greater than 2 are generally undesirable, as the taxibus wotilcl then be slower than existing public transport for door-t.o-cloor journey under 25 miles. (Note however that in the long run, with a comprehensive taxibus fleet in operation, traffic levels will fall, roact speecis will increase, and taxibus journeys will become quicker, in absolute terms).

Note: it is relatively easy to get a low Compatibility Index when grouping just two ol t-hl-ee t.ravellers, but more ctit'ficult when the number of' travellers increases. In the case of' car pooling, there will ot't.en be just two or three travellers (including the driver). However Thor the taxibus we will be looking to achieve intelligent grouping with higher numbers ot'travellers, typically with UP to 6 or more traveliers in a.

taxibus vehicle at the same time.

Note: as explained above, corresF)oncling to a given set S of traveiler itineraries, there will generally be several optimal transit routes; for transporting the tra.vellers we woulc:l normally employ the quickest optimal transit rotite in order to calculate the Compatibility Index. Ilowevel- il'one or more travellers have an unacceptably higl1 Et't'lciency Patio (say more than 1.6 say) on the quickest route, these individual travellers will sut't'er a long journey time, even though, overall, the optimal transit route is the quickest one. In this case we would normally use another optimal transit route ol' the set S. employing the quickest optimal transit route which does not cause any pal ticular traveller to suffer an excessively long journey.

It is important to point Ollt that optimal transit routes can be calculated to different degrees ol'accurac.y, depending on what type ol'travel-lime metric used. 'thus tar _ 26 we have assumed a directdistance travel-time metric as the basis t'or calculating Optimal transit roUtOs. We now introduce two more metrics which are better: the roaddistance travel-time metric, ant] the trallic-speed travel-time metric.

Our original direct-distance travel-time metric is based on distances 'as the CIOW flies' between the (embarkation or destination) points on the vehicle itinerary. This direct-clistancc travel-time metric generates an optimal transit rout-e of reasonable quality, even though in reality the vehicle must travel from point to point by road and not 'as the crow tliesl. For higher accuracy, we can use a road- distance travel- time metric which, lice the clirect-clistance travel-time metric, operates by assuming an average vehicle speed, but calculates the distances between the points on the vehicle itinerary in relation to road distances, not Icrow'clistances. In practical terms, such a calculation is best achievecl with the aid of'a digitised street layout map that details the layout and length ol' the roads. Using such a map, and operating on the assumption that the road routes shortest in length represent the best optimal transit routes, a more accurate calculation of the optimal transit route is made (the shortest road routes between two points on the digitised street layout map can be found by employing a standard graph theory method such as I)ijkstrats algorithm).

Finally we come to the traffic-speed travel-time metric. This also operates with actual road distances, but rather than assuming an average speed t'or all roacis, this metric takes into aCCOLInt the particular speed at which a vehicle can travel along each individual section of' road on this route. Apart Prom being tne most accurate, certain conl'igurations ol' the traI'lic-speed travel-time metric have several other important advantages; these advantages al e discussed in section 9. 1.

Note: I-'or the highest accuracy, a travel-time metric should account for the transport vehicle stop time at each traveller embarkation and c1isembal kation point (the skip time is defined as the duration between the moment It transport vehicle pulls over and stops to let travellers board or alight, to the moment this vehicle is ready to get going again; a fast stop time might be less than one minute). When estimating the journey time for a given vehicle itinerary, a travel-time metric should accrue the stop time on each occasion the transport vehicle pulls over. Not only does this make the travel-time metric more accurate, it also enables better intelligent grouping, because then traveilers with identical embarkation or disembarkation points are more likely to be placed in the same adaplively-routec] transport vehicle in order to minimise the total stop time accrued.

Note: it is clear that optimal transit routes calcLIlatecl using the 'as the crow flies' direct-distance travel-time metric will comprise a vehicle itinerary whose data structure comprises a series of'geographic Points (traveller embarkation and cicstination points) to which the aclaptively-routed transport vehicle must navigate in sequence. By contrast, optimal transit routes determined with the aid of a digitised street layout map will create a vehicle itinerary whose data structure is much more detailed - consisting ol'tile entire route on a road-by-loa1 basis. II thLIS follows that any intelligent grouping module utilising a roacl-clistance travel-time metric or traffic-speed travcl-timc rneiric will output cletailecl roacl-by-ryacl optimal transit rotates, and thcletore such an intelligent grouping modillc can be construed _ 27 - as riving the work of the electronic street navigation module (whose t'unetion it is to provide rietailerl navigation clireetions to the transit vehicle drivers). In other wortis, the functionality ol' these two modules is provided by one set of ciata-processing instructions. (Note however that the electronic street navig.ttion module used in the emlocliments of' this invention is specified as having the capability to dynamically adapt transport vehicle routing using real-time electronic positioning ciata, to allow for small routing c3evia.tions such as navigation mistakes macie by the driver; thus on many journeys, the original roac3-y-roac3 optimal transit route created lay the intelligent grouping module may not lee followed exactly).

Note: the above cieseription is a mathematical definition ol'intelligent groLIping; however it is clear that this definition ea.n be used as a software specification for the intelligent groLIping module (a.nd in the ernl:'otliments of this invention, we indeec3 use this definition as a data-processing specifie.ttion of tile intelligent. grouping module). I Ic>wever the intelligent groLIping module rives not necessarily have to he pl ogrammec3 along the lines of this cielinition: the l'undament.al essential IcatLIre of' the intelligent grouping module is simply that it performs int.eiligent grouping - lay any equivalent or near equivalent mathematical means. (There.-tre also many desirable t'eatures that the intelligent grouping module might have in addition to this essential feature; some of these desirable t'eatul-es are discussed in section 9.1).

I-ina.lly, let us provide some f'urt:her clefinitions and not-es on terminology usage: In terms ol't-he Compatilility Index, intelligent grouping is defined as the process ol-'selecting and matching traveller itineraries to create a set of travellers that has a ealeulatecl Compatil:'ility Index which is minimized, or has an acceptably low value.

When Scaling with large numbers of traveiler itineraries (as t'or example when this invention covers a whole city), intelligent grouping may be cleaned as the process ol'clivicling the traveller itineraries into small sets (each set to be allocated to an ava.ilalle adaptively-routed transport vehicle) such that the calculated Compatibility I nrlex values of' these sets. when a.veragec3, is minimised. or has an acceptably low val ue.

I'he ter m intelligent grouping also COVCI-S any processes that are mathematically equivalent or mathematically similar to the two processes above which maximise the time-elficieney of concurrently conveying traveilers according to their itineraries in an aclaptively-l-oLltec3 transport vehicle.

We say that a. set al travellers are intelligently grouped in-c:, an adaptively-rr.,L'te<3 transport vehicle when the ealcLIlated CompatibilityIndex of those travellers' itineraries is minimisec3 or is ol'an acceptably low value.

WC say that- a traveilel is intelligently grouped into an ada.ptivelyroLIted transport vehicle when the overall ealeulatecl Cornpatilility Index of that traveller's itinerary plus the itineraries of the other travellcl-s alrea.cly at>r.>ard the vehicle (anr3 usually plus the itineraries ol\ny travellers the vehicle is currently committcr3 to picking up), is minimised or is of an acceptably low value. _ 28

5.S - Efficiencies of Scale In a large city such as 1,onclon, assuming this invention is running a sizeabie fleet of say 10 thousand transit vehicles, the intelligent grouping mot/tile will have anything up to 'S thotisancl new journey requests coming in from travellers every minute.

I lowever a great viritle ot'this invention is that it becomes more efficient as the scale ol' its operation increases; that is to say, as the passenger flux (defined as the number of travellers requesting transit per unit area per unit time) increases, and the transit vehicle density (Ike number ol' vehicles per unit area) needed to handle these travellers is increased proportionately, the transportation efficiency of this invention is not only maintained, btit is further increased.

This greater et'ficiency arises simply because the more numerous the journey r equests, the greater the chance ol'ha.ving itinel aries amongst these journey requests that are highly compatible. Consequently the intelligent grouping module becomes better able to intelligently group traveilels; that is to say, better able to group traveilers into transit vehicles at lower Compatibility Index values.

Two other et'ficiency of scale lactors come into play when the number of transit vehicles pCI unit area increases: the first factor is a. quicker response time (see section 7. 12) to traveller journey requests, due to the larger number of t.l-ansit vehicles in close proximity to the traveller; and the second factor is the greater ease of scheduling split journeys (see section 9.2) across two or more transit vehicles, again due to the larger number ot'transit vehicles available.

It is important, however, that the intelligent grouping module has an appropriate clala-processing tlesign to take advantage ol'these three el'llciencies of' scare, anal that the controlling computer system has sul'ticiently last a.ntl powerful hardware lo be able to search through the larger numbers (thousands per minute in a large city) of' journey requests to be able to seek Otit highly compatible itinerary marches.

ISt'liciencies ol' scare are vital lo the success ot'this invention. The increased el'ticacy of this invention at high passenger fluxes helps mate it a. viable mass transportation system which can solve the problems of trat'tic congestion, air pollution, greenhotise gas emissions, and so ltorth. Operation a.t a large scale (and reaping the efficiencies that ma. lelialise at such scales by means of an suitably-designed intelligent grouping module and a sul'ticiently powcritil computer with which to run it) constitute a.

preferable lcature of this inventions. - 29

6 - OVlERVIEW OF THE EMBODIMF,NTS

6.1 - Introduction to the Drawings

Two ways ot'embodying this invention are described in chapters 7 and Bs (with chapter 9 detailing some aspects that are common to both embodiments).

We now provide a brief'overview ol' these two embodiments, with rel'erenee to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the prineipic ol'intelligent grouping which is l'undamental to this invention (these l'igures were described in section 5.7).

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the basic t'eat ures ol' the preferred em bock ment ol' the i nvention.

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram ot'the basic features ol' the second embodiment of the invention.

l4'igure 6 shows a schematic diagram lor the eornputel clata-ploeessing operation of' the prel'erred embodiment al' the invention (figure 6 is cieseriLed in section 7.1).

I'iglre 7 shows a schematic diagram t'OI' the eompilt-el- data-ploeessing operation ol' the second embodiment of the invention (I;gure 7 is described in section 8. 1).

Figlrc 3 shows part ol' the sequence ol user-intert'aee events on the text display screen Otis communicator device when a passenger submits a journey request to the controlling computer system lor taxilus transport, and tOI ear pool transport (note: a passengel- must choose either taxiLtis or C<l.l pool transport; the figure shows both selections just for completeness). This figure applies to both embodiments.

6.2 - Schematic Overview old the Two Embodiments Figure 4 shows the pretcried embodiment of tile invention in which a central controlling computel system 15 has, by means of the data tr<tnsmission System 16, a two-way communications connection with the communicator devices 17 and 13 of' the prospective travellers 19, and a two-way communications connection with the communicator crevices 20 ol' the transit vehicles 21 (in the figures, the communicator device of a transit vehicle is shown as a small black box on the vehicle dashboard).

An electronic positioning system 22 provides the controlling computer system with data regarding the current- geographic location of tile transit vehicle communicator devices 2() and (optionally) some passenger communicator devices 17.

Iiigure 5 shows the second embodiment of the invention in which the controlling eornplter system (not shown explicitly) consists ova distributed series of'eomputer plOCCSSOI-S which ale incorporated into the Communicator devices 2() of the transit vehicles 21. The delta transmission system 16 provides two-way communications -lireetly between the communicator devices ot'the prospective travellers 19 and the eommunicator devices of the transit vehicles 21. An electronic positioning system 22 supplies the said computer processors with data detailing the current geographic location ol'the transit vehicle communicator devices 20 and (optionally) some passenger communicator devices 17.

In both the preferred and the second embodiment ot'the invention, the data transmitted over the cat-a transmission system 16 will consist ol' such information as journey requests clet:ailing the itinerary requirements of travellers, the controlling computer system's responses to these journey requests sent back to travellers, and other categories of int'ormation.

In the preferred embodiment shown in I'igures 4 and 6, tile data transmission system 16 transmits car pool intended itinerary specittieations from ear pool vehicles to the central controlling computer system. The data transmission system 16 also transmits street navigation instructions, created by the electronic street navigation module that is run on the controlling computer system 15, to the communicator crevices 20 in the transit vehicles 21; these instriletions enable the drivers al' these transit vehicles to follow the optimal transit r out:es devised by the intelligent grouping module that is run on the central controlling computer system 15.

A uselill variation ol' the prct'erred embodiment shown in figures 4 and 6 has the electronic street navigation module relocated into computer processors incorporated in the communicator devices 20 ol't.he transit vehicles 21, with a separate electronic street navigation module in each transit vehicle, but is otherwise the exactly same as the system shown in figure 6. EClectronie street navigation is a fairly sell'-eontained laslc which can easily be per l'orrned locally in the transit vehicles 21. In such a configuration, the appropriate transit vehicle itinerary, I'rom the transit vehicle current itineraries database on the central controlling computer system 15, is sent over the data transmission system 16 to the said electronic street navigation mociule in the transit vehicles 21. This electronic street navigation module takes this transit vehicle itinerary as input (it also inputs transit vehieie CUI rent geographic location data t'rom the electronic posit-toning system 22), and from this data alone provides street-by-street navigation instructions to the transit vehicle.lriver. This eontiguration has three advantages: I'irstly it eases the data-processilig bul-den on the central controlling computer system; secondly it can reduce the amount ol'da.ta travelling via the data transmission system 16, because a. transit vehicle itinerary Contains less data than do real-time street-by-street navigation instructions; thirdly it allows uninterrupted navigation even when the transit vehicle temporarily looses Contact with the central computer system (such as when ciriving through a tunnel).

In the second embodiment of' the invention shown in figures 5 and 7, in which there is no central computer system, all clata-proeessing functions, including the electronic street navigation module and the intelligent grouping moclule, are perfoI med on the COrnpLller processors incorporated into (or connected to) the Communicator devices of'the transit vehieies 21.

Both eml:,oclirnents of this invention are capable ol'rilnning the inventions two main transF:>ort mocies, namely the electronic navigation taxibus and ear pooling. - 31

7- PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the invention is now describecl with ref-'erence to figures 4, 6 and 8 in the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, a single central controlling computer system 15 orchestrates all transit vehicles 21 and traveilers 19.

A data transmission system 16 comprising land lines, cellular telephone networks, and Internet transmission is used to provi le a two-way data exchange between this centralised controlling comptiter.system 15 and the communicator devices 17 and 20 (of' the travellers 19 and transit vehicles 21 respectively).

The electronic positioning system 22 in this embodiment is a satellite positioning SyStelil such as the American Gl,S (Global Positioning System) , the broadcast positioning signal of'which is received by Gl'S receivers contained in the vehicle communicator devices (and optionally in passenger communicator devices). These GINS receivers transmit electronic positioning data to the controlling computer system via the data transmission system. Note: this embodiment may instead operate with one or more ol' the electronic positioning systems describecl in section 9.22.

In this embodiment, the electronic street navigation module will "'unction in a manner similar to the existing in-car satellite navigation systems now commonplace in cars: that is to say, this module will use the said electronic positioning data to determine the current location ot'a transit vehicle, and by relating this current location to a digitised street layout map, will provide the vehicle driver with real- time navigation instructions based on this location to guide him street- by-stieet along the vehiclels itinerary.

Lo describe this embodiment of'the invention, we begin in section 7.1 by detailing the sol'tware operation at a systems analysis level. Section 7.1 represents the data- processing core of this embocliment, and in itself; this section sul't'iciently describes a full working embodiment ol' this invention at the systems analysis level.

Subsequent sections of this embodiment describe the transportation operation of this invention From the perspective of'the passengers and transit vehicle drivers that will utilise this transport system. These subsequent sections also detail certain communicator device user interface l;1nctions; these user interface Functions are desirable Features that help streamline the use of this invention but do not in tilemseives form part of this invention's core transportation operations and essential features. One example oft a user interlace ['unction is the automatic passenger fare calculation descril>ed in section 9.5 (and elsewhere); another example is the allocation of'a user name and password for registered users ol' this transportation described in section 3.7 (and elsewhere). Such user interface Functionality is a standard part of software design, and rather than provide a description in terms ol' clataprocessing operations, we instead detail it from the user perspective but with suf'f'icient precision to allow any competent systems analyst to understand the data- processing requirements ot'cacl1 use- Intel lace 1'unction thus describecl. - 32

7.1 - Computer Data-Processing Operations Figure 6 in the accompanying drawings schematically illustrates the data-processing elements ot'the controlling computer system 15. 'l'he main elements are: the intelligent grouping module, the jour ney requests database, the transit vehicle cull-ent itineraries database, and the electronic street navigation module.

In figure 6 a prospective traveller 19 uses a communicator cievice 17 to formulate and send his journey request to a central controlling computer system 15 via the data transmission system 16 (travellers who ale car pool vehicle c rivers will LISC a communicator device to submit their car pool intencied itinerary specification to the controlling comptiter. system in a manner to be described below).

* The clata in each such incoming journey request is stored as a journey request record in the journey requests database. The format of the journey reqtlest recoicl is such that it inclucies the six following data fifties: (1) The specification ot'the itinerary ol' the traveller 19 (note that this traveiler itinerary will inclucie the current location or desired pick-up point for the traveller).

(2) 'I'he number ol'travellers to be conveyocl on the said itinerary.

(3) The departure time (and date) at which the traveller requites conveyance in a transit vehicle according to the sairl itinerary. By cIelaLIlt the departure time is set to the present moment f'or immediate travel unless a specific time (and slate) is given.

(For regular order journey requests, this data field will specify the regular times and dates at which conveyance is reqLIirecl).

(4) A specification of whether the traveller wants to prioritise transit vehicle speed ol' response or transit vehicle speed of jotil-ney (see section 7.12). When speed ol' response is the priority, we would aim to pick up the traveller within 'S minutes ol' his specified rlepartul-e time (and date); when speed ol'journc,y is the priority, then we have a window of' 15 minutes after the specil'ied c eparture time (ancl Late) in which to pick up the traveller. We clefine the late,;t acceptable pick-up time ol' each journey request record as the latest possible time (anal date) that a transit vehicle can arrive to pick up the travellel-. We can calculate the latest acceptal-'le pick-up time by adding either 3 or 1'<' minutes to the tlepalture time (depending on whether the traveller has specified speed ol'lesponse or speed ol'journe.y respectively). The alla is to pick up travellers in the time wintlow between their specified departure time, and the latest acceptable pick-up time 3 or IS minutes later.

(5) 1\ specification ot'the type ol'transit vehicle requested by the traveller (either a taxibus, a car pool vehicle, or an indication that either type is acceptable).

((j) The current stattis ot'the journey request. Current statLIs is defined as follows: Tlie current status of a journey reqtiest recol-d will be one of live classes which ale labeilecl A, 13, C, O and E. rl'hese live classes indicate the stage that the traveller is at in the transportation process. The live current status classes ale: - 33 (Class A) These are journey request records for travellers who have been allocated a transit vehicle by the controlling computer system, and who are currently being transported in that transit vehicle.

(Class B) These are journey request records l'ol- travellers who have been allocated a transit vehicle and who are currently waiting for their allocated transit vehicle to collect them Tom their current location or pick-up point.

(Class C) These are journey request recorcis fol travellers who have NOT yet been allocated a transit vehicle and whose latest acceptable pick-up time is within the next three minutes (Ol has already passed). The Class C statLIs is intent:led to flag Journey request records that retlLlire urgent attention, that is, journey request records ot'travellers who must be f'ount3 a transit vehicle quickly. The class C category will include jOUI ney requests that have just been submitted by travellers who require immediate travel a.ntl who have prioritised transit vehicle speed of' response (meaning that the traveller should be picked up within 3 minutes) .

(Class 1-)) These are jOL'Iney request records lor t:ravellers who have NOT yet been allocated a transit vehicle and whose departure time (and date) is within the next minutes, hL't whose latest acceptable pick-up time is still more than 3 minutes away. The Class 1) status is intended to flag journey request records lor which the traveiler must be found a transit vehicle, but for which there is no pressing urgency as yet. Class [) journey request records will include pre-order and regular order jOUI ney requests (see section 7.8) whose specified departs time (and date) falls within the next 20 minutes. Class 1) jotirney retlLlest records will also include newly submitted journey requests from travellers who require immediate travel, but who have prioritised transit vehicle speed of journey rather than transit vehicle speed of response (,orioritising speed of journey implies the traveller is prepared to wait up to 1S minutes a.l'ter his specified departure time for a transit vehicle to pick him up).

(Class F) 'I'hese are jOLIl ney request records for travellers who have NOT been allocated a transit vehicle and whose departure time (ancl date) is more than 20 minutes in the tutus. Class 1: journey request records will include pre-orcler and regLIlar order jOU'ney requests which are to be executed in the future.

In the controlling computer.s,ystem, the journey requests database is regularly maintained every few seconds by clata-processing instructions that update the CUI rent StatLIS data field (6) to ensure that, with respect Kim the current time (the present- moment), this data l'ieid contains the correct value. These data-processing instructions will search lor any journey request records that have a current status ol class 11 arid a departure time (and date) within 20 minutes ol the current time: any sLIch records found will have their current status updated to class D. These data- processing instr actions will also search for any journey request recoils that have a current status ol' crass I) anti a latest acceptable pick-up time within the next three minutes (or a latest acceptable pick-up time that has already passed): any such recorcis fountl will have their current status updated to class C. A travellerts journey retlLlest recoltl remains in the journey request database until thcit traveilel has been trcinsportecl according to the itinerary specified in the - 34 _ journey request. C)nce travellers have been conveyed to their destination, their jOUI ney r equest records are deleted f'rom the jour ney requests dritab.tse (and may be archived elsewhere for reference). I-lowever reguirtr order journey requests are not cleleted loom the jOUt ney requests rlat-abase atter travellers have been conveyed to their destination since such journey requests are regularly executed at special dates and times; regular orders are only deleted l'rom the journey requests database when cancelled by the user.

In acllition to the journey requests database, the controlling computer. systern also maintains a transit vehicle current itineraries database. 'I'he transit vehicle current itineral ies fatat-ase contains a data recoirl, which we shall call the transit vehicle record, I'or each currently operational transit vehicle. By a currently operational transit vehicle we mean a vehicle that is currently conveying travellels, or a vehicle that is CUI rently empty but is reatly to convey travellers.

The format of' the transit vehicle recorf incitides the following seven data lieids: (1) 'I'he current geographic position ol'the transit vehicle (this data is obtained l'rom the electronic positioning.system).

(2) 'I'he current vehicle itinerary of'the transit vehicle (this is usually an optimal transit route that was earlier created by the intelligent grouping module).

(3) The passenger capacity of' the transit vehicle (exclurling the driver) ; that is, the total number ol'tlesignated passenger places (seated or stancling) in the vehicle.

(4) The number ot'passengers currently being conveyed in the transit vehicle (this data fiekl is normally set to zero when a new transit vehicle record is created).

(5) 'I'he type ot'transit vehicle (ustially either car pool or taxibus).

(6) The unique vehicle identification number of'the transit- vehicle. This number is painted on the outside of the transit vehicle so that travellers can unambiguotisly identity their vehicle - see section 7.7. For car pool vehicles this data field instead contains the vehicle license plate number, vehicle make, model and colour.

(7) 'I'he itinerary commitments of'the transit vehicle. This field contains relational database links pointing k' the journey reLltlest records of all travellers currently being conveyed in that transit vehicle (class A journey request records), and any travellers that the transit vehicle is currently committed to picking up (class [3 journey request records). 'I'he relational database links in this filled make it possible to obtain the jOUI ney request records of the traveilers that constitute the current iti nerar,y com mitments of the t r ansit vehicle.

The transit vehicle current itineraries database is rcgtilarly maintained by data- processing instructions which ensure the current geographic position data r'ieid (1) I'or each transit vehicle record is kept updated with the latest geographic position data ttor that transit vehicle, received From the electronic positioning system.

In these transit vehicle records, most current vehicle itinerary data tielcis (2) will - 35 contain optimal transit routes created earlier by the intelligent grouping module.

Howevel- some records in the transit vehicle curient itineraries database will have a null itinerary. A nLIII itinerary represents a transit vehicle that is currently empty (no travellers on hoard) and with no route to follow, but which is available for use.

When a driver ol a car pool vehicle want-x to make himselt'availabie liar car pooling, he will use the communicator crevice in his vehicle to submit his car pool intended itinerary specification, via the data transmission system 16, to the controlling compLIter system 15, ant:l these details are stored in the transit vehicle CuI rent itineraries database, in the same transit vehicle record t'ormat ciescribecl above, the only dit'ltrence being that the car pool driver's specilled itinerary is also entered in the journey request database as a journey request recorcl, with a relational link set Lip from this transit vehicle record to this jouine.y request record. (A journey request record is created for the car pool drivel because he is also a traveller, and his personal itinerary forms part ot'the itinerary commitments of his vehicle).

In this way, the transit vehicle current itineraries database will contain a record for each available taxibus and car pool transit vehicle, and each such transit vehicle record will have relational database type links in data lielt3 (7) pointing to the journey request records in the journey reqLIest database that form the itinerary commitments of the transit vehicle.

I'ransit vehicles that ale not currently available for transporting travellers are not logged in the transit transit vehicle current itineraries database. Only when a transit vehicle becomes available does it get a corresponding transit vehicle record entered in this database (initially, new transit vehicle records for ta.xibuses will have a null itinerary in the current vehicle itinerary data field (2); new transit vehicle records t'or car pool vehicles will have the current vehicle itinerary set to that in the car pool intended itinerary specification that is, to the personal itinerary t>l'the driver).

Having described how data in the transit vehicle current itineraries database and the journey requests database is maintained in order keep tabs on the transit vehicles and the traveilers, we now proceed to describe how the intelligent grouping modLIle operates and how it ut. ilises these two cla.tabases.

I'he intelligent. grouping module constantly scans the journey requests database Sol journey request- records whose CLIr rent status is either class C or class l). As a matter of priority, the intelligent groLIping modrIle will Teal with class C journey reqLIest records first. Class C journey request records relate to travellers whose latest.Icceptabie pickup time is less than 3 minutes in the Future, and who have not yet l:,een allocated a transit vehicle by the intelligent grouping module, and must therefore be foLInd a transit vehicle with the utmost urgency.

Whenever it finds a journey request record of class C, the intelligent grouping modL'le copies the data from this journey request record with the objective of intelligently grouping the traveller or traveilers 19 to which the record relates into a transit vehicle or vehicles. In order to achieve this objective, the intelligent grouping rnoclulc searches the transit vehicle curl-ent itineraries database tOI transit vehicle - 36 records that satisfy the following three search criteria: ( I) ']'he current geographic position of the transit vehicle is within the vicinity of the travelleris cur rent location or ember kalion pick-up point as specified in the journey request record. Elvis vicinity is clelinecl as a 3 minute driving distance radius arotinc the traveller's current location. The 3 minute driving distance may be converted to miles or kilometres using the clirect-distance travel-time metric. Il'no transit vehicles are curiently fotincl within this raditis, the raditis is repeatedly extended in size, up to a 20 minute radius (though clearly any transit vehicles found therein will not be able to get to the traveiler's pick-up point bet'ole the latest acceptable pick-up time).

(2) 'I'he transit vehicle has a sul'l'icient quantity ot'available passenger places l'or the number of travellers specified in this jour ney request; the number ol\vailable passenger places is l'ounc3 by subtracting the valtle in data {'ield (4) from the valtic in data l'ieicl (3). When no single vehicle can be l'ouncl with sul'ficient passenger places for the quantity of travellers specified in the journey request, then it is necessary to find two or more transit vehicles to accommodate these travellers.

(3) 'I'he transit vehicle is of the type specil'ied in this jotir ney reqtlest (taxibtis, car pool vehicle, or either).

If no transit vehicles are currently available that satisfy these three search criteria, the intelligent grouping module will wait a l'ew minutes, and then search again, repeating until a suitable transit vehicle is t'ouncl. (Other options open to handle this situation are: to make more transit vehicles available by taking currently idle transit vehicles out of their ciepots and onto the roads t'or use; or prompt-in" the traveller tly alter-native forms ok travel: if he requested a taxibus, then suggest car pooling).

Once one or more transit vehicle records satisfying these three search CI'itCI ia are t'ound (we wotilcl nol mally expect to find quite a few such records), the intelligent grouping module reads the current itinerary commitments ol' each such transit vehicle record (these are the traveller itineraries in the class A and 13 journey request recorcis rotationally linked to each transit vehicle record). Then for each transit vehicle, the intelligent grotiping mot/tile must calculate the Compatibility Index for the set S ol'traveller itineraries comprising the current itinerarycommitments ol'the transit vehicle plus the itinerary of the traveller or travellers 19.

This Compatibility Index calculation is pCI l'ormecl using the exhaustive search procecJtil-e described in section 5.7 and this is clone in the following steps: For each of the transit vehicles satisfying the above three search criteria: (Step 1) The set ol'itinerary commitments ol' the transit vehicle is combined with the ciesirec3 itinerary ol'the traveller 19, and this combined S set of itineraries is examinecl in artier to cletermine.Ill the mathematically possible transit rotites that can convey the travellers whose itineraries are in set S (these are the routes passing through the travellersl embarkation and disembarkation points, excluding routes that get to a traveilel 's destination point bel'ole they get to his embal Ration point). - '57

(Step 2) A travel-time metric (such as a simple direct-distance traveltime metric) is then employed in order to fintl the quickest and the quicker transit routes out of' all these mathematically possible transit rotites in set S. 'these quickest and qtlicker routes are ol' course the optimal transit routes l'or the set S ol'traveller itineraries (for the rule-ol thumb definition ot''tiuickest' and ttiuicher' see section 5.7).

(Step A) For each optimal transit rotite in tUI n, we calctilate the Efficiency Ratios for all traveller itineraries in set S (if we are using the direct-distance travel-time metric, the F,l't'iciency Ratio f'or any traveller itinerary is simply the distance along the optimal transit roLIte from the travellel-'s embarkation point to destination point, divided by the direct distance between these two points).

(Step 4) We then select the quickest and quicker optimal transit routes in which no travellel- itinerary has an F,t'ficiency Ratio greater than 1. 6 (or failing that, out ol' the quickest and quicker optimal transit routes available, select those which have the smallest values t'or the maximum Et'ficiency Ratio).

(Step 5) II'the transit vehicle is currently committed to picking up traveilels (such travellers will have class [:3 journey request r ecords), we really need ensure that each of these traveilers can still be collected within the time window between their departure time and their latest. acceptable pick-tip time (the size ol' this time window being or 15 minutes, depending on whether the traveller prioritized speed of' response or speed of' jOUr ney in his original journey request). For each optimal transit rolIte, we can use the direct-distance travel-time metric to estimate the time the transit vehicle will arrive at these travellers' pick-up points. We would exclude optimal transit rotates in which these t:ravellers can no longer be picked up within their time windows.

(Step 6) Out of' the optimal transit routes which satisty the above steps (4) and (5), we calculate the Compatibility Index liar each ol' these rotit.es (try taking the average ol' each optimal transit route's F, t'ticiency Ratios) and we l'inally select the optimal transit route whose Gmpat:ibility Index value is the lowest.

We repeat these six steps to calctilat-e the Compatibility Index f'or each transit vehicle that satisfied our three search criteria..

Once we have a Compatibility Index value (a.ncl an optimal transit route) For each ol' these transit vehicles, we can choose the most appropriate vehicle or vehicles to convey the tra.vellel- or travellers 19. We would normally select the vehicle with the lowest Compatibility Inclex. Il' the lowest value corresponds to more than one transit vehicle, the vehicle positioned nearest to the traveiler pick-up point is selected.

Note: in the case ot'jouiney reqtiests l'or taxiLtis travel, the intelligent grotiping rnoUtile will select just one suitable transit vehicle; but in the case of'journey requests for Cal' pool travel, the intelligent grouping module will normally select one or more suitable transit vehicles to older the prospective passenger.

When the intelligent grotiping mobile has selected a suitallc transit vehicle into which the travellel 19 can be intelligently grotipecl according to his jOUI ney request, - 38 details of this transit vehicle are sent to the traveller's communicator device 17.

These details include the estimated time For this transit vehicle to arrive at the traveller's picl<-up point, and the estimated journey time in tile vehicle to the travelleris destination (these details are calculated simply by applying the travel- time metric to the new optimal transit route). Xhotild the traveller choose this transit vehicle ot'fered, the traveller's communicator crevice will inform the controlling computel system of this choice. (In the case of pre-orUer and regular order journeys, however, details of'these vehicle options are not sent to the traveiler's communicatol- device: a suitable transit vehicle is automatically chosen to pick tip and convey the traveller).

Once a transit vehicle is chosen, the intelligent grouping module will update its transit vehicle record in the transit vehicle current itineraries database so that the currant vehicle itinerary data l'ield (2) contains the new optimal transit route. The journey request record of the traveiler 19 will have its current status updated to class B. indicating that the traveller has been allocated a transit vehicle and is now wailing t'or that vehicle to pick him up. A relational database pointer to this journey request record is added to the itinerary commitments data field (7) ot'the said transit vehicle recorcl. (When the travciler 19 is picked up by the transit vehicle, this journey request record will have its current status updated to class A).

Once the transit vehicle record is thus updated with the new optimal transit route, the details ot'this revised rotite get passed on to the electronic street navigation moclule, whose function it is to send, Vitl the data transmission system, navigational instructions to the communicator device in the said transit vehicle to guide the vehicle driver along this optimal transit route. From this point onwards, the electronic street navigation module alone takes care of the operation of'guiding the transit vehicle along the optimal transit route. 'I'he electronic street navigation module provides real-time navigation instructions, based on the transit vehicieis cur-rent position, to guide the transit vehicle driver along the optimal transit route.

When the travelleI 19 is delivered to his destination, his journey request record is deleted From the journey request database (unless it is a regular order record), and the pointer to this record in the itinerary commitrnenis data field (7) is also deleted.

When all the journey request recorcis with a current status ot'class C have been dealt with by the intelligent grouping module, this module can dedicate some time to dealing with class I) journey request records these are For travellers who must be picked up and conveyed within the next 20 minutes. Class t) journey recitlest records encompass pre-order and regular order tr.lvellers whose specil'ietl departtire time is within the next 20 minutes; and also travellers whose specified departtire time is immecliate, but who have prioritised transit vehicle speed of'journey.

For these class I) journey request records, the intelligent grouping module searches the transit vehicle current itineraries database For transit vehicle records that satisfy the following three search criteria: (1) 'I'ransit vehicles that will be in the vicinity (3 minutes driving distance) of' the traveilcris pick-up point at lime which falls in between his departure time, and the - 39 latest acceptable pick-up time, all of which are specified in the journey request.

(2) Transit vehicles that have sufficient available seats t'or the number ol'travellers - , . . . specl t loci m t IS JOU r ney req nest.

(3) 'I'ransit vehicles that are ol' the type or types specified in this journey request (the type will usually be a taxibus, a car pool vehicle, or either).

Searcl1 criteria (2) and (3) are the same as the search criteria clescribetl above For class C journey request records. I lowever search criterion (I) is tlift'erent: it requires that we determine the geographic position of' a transit vehicle tip to 20 minutes into the l'uttire. 'I'his is achieved using our travel-time metric to estimate the f'utilre position of the transit vehicle along its out rent transit roLIte, which is a straightl'orward calculation.

Once one or more transit vehicles that satisfy these three search criteria are found, the intelligent grotiping mot/tile then proceeds exactly as described in the class C case: that is to say, for each transit vehicle, we calculate the Compatibility Index t'or the set S consisting of' the vehicle's cul-l-ent itinerary commitments plus the specified itinerary of the traveller 19. We tic this with the objective of placing the traveller in the transit vehicle which has the lowest Compatibility Index.

I'he only dil'f'erence in this class L) case is that, given we have up to 20 minutes to place the travellel, we can al'l'ortl to be more exacting regarding finding him a tl-a.llSit vehicle with a low Compatibility Inclex. rIhis means that out of the transit vehicles that currently satisfy the three search criter ia, it'a vehicle with a low Gmpatihility Inciox is not availal-le, we can wait S minutes, and then search the transit vehicle current itineraries database again, in the hope of'getting.t low value. We might aim to find a transit vehicle with a Compatibility Index value ol' 1.3 or Iess, and reject transit vehicles whose G,mpatilJility Index is higher. When the current time reaches a point within 3 minutes from the latest acceptable pick-up time of the traveller, if that traveller has not- been found a transit vehicle, the class D journey request record is automatically changed to a class C journey request record and processed accordingly (that is, more urgently, and with less emphasis and concern about lintling a good ComFr.ltibility Inclex value).

By dealing with class C and class D jOtil ney requests separately like this, the former can be hanciled with the necessary urgency that they reqtlire' whereas the latter are handled let leisured, and as a consequence, the traveller itineraries of class D journey reqtlests will olden be intelligently grouped with a better Compatibility Index value.

I laving descr ibed the data-pi ocessing COI'C ol' this invention, we now proceed to describe the operation of this invention f'rom the perspective of'the passengers and transit vehicle drivels that will tlSC it.

- A

7.2 - The Communicator Device Passengers a.ncl transit vehicle drivers will use a communicator device to interact with the controlling computer system. This embodiment ol' the invention uses seven practicable types of'commilnica.tor crevice, and these are described and listed below.

Note that communicator devices 1 to 4 in the list are portable or mobile units, whereas COrnmLlniCator devices 5 to 7 are fixed-location units. Some communicator devices in the list are specifically designed to be operated by passengers, others are specifically designed to be operatet.l by drivers. Communicator devices I and 2 in the list are lesigned to be used by both pa.sseners and drivers: these crevices will include functionality that allows switching between passenger mode and driver mode ol'operation (this is useful because the owner of' the communicator device may at one time file a car pool Al iver, but later travel as a passengerhirnselt'in a taxibus or car pool vehicle).

(1) Itlell'elJl/)ri,enan)halcil,n: cellular telephones mate excellent communicator devices, since many of'the latest models allow two-way transmission of' text and graphical in['orrnalion, and the soon-to-belaunched 3(] (third-generation) cellular telephones are particularly adept. at text and graphical information transmission.

When used in driver mode, drivers will need to mount their cellular telephone on the dashboard For easy viewing of inl'ormation whilst on the move.

(2) 117r u.fC lly {)/'li'e/.1 ant) //YI ('elle/1: a wi reless 1'l'7A (Personal Digital Assistant), the ubiquitous electronic agenda and mini computer, can transmit data over a cellular network. When used in driver mocle, drivers will need to mount their wireless PL)A on the cla.shboard for easy viewing of'int'ormation whilst on the move.

(3) [iJ/'l/.,e lly t)/,l;,e/1 (J/Ily: a dashboard communicator device is one speciI;cally designed For use with this invention. It comprises a display screen and keyboard, and is intenIed to be pCI manently fit.tecl on the dashboard of the transit vehicle, such that the Al iver can easily see its display screen and enter inl'ormation on its keyboard. I)ashboard communicator devices will be standard equipment in taxibuses, and are desil-abie in any car pool vehicle regularly participating in car pooling.

(4) l Or floe lJy pn,J1Jenqt'/'t1 (7/llY: an on-board kiosk communicator device unit is a communic.ttor crevice that is located within a taxibus vehicle where it can be used fey passengers. These kiosks compl ise a display screen and keyboard (or a virtual touch-screen keyboard, which is more robust), and will be used by p.tssengers t'Ol' such purposes as cancelling or changing their journey request (see section 9.14) or used t:Jy passengers that board a taxibus by manual hailing to specify their foul ney request (see section 9.4).

(5) leer ll1e blip t/Yll't'lle/'tJ (J/Ill/: a r oadside kiosk communicator device unit will comprise a display screen and keyboard (or a more robust virtual touch-screen keyboard), and these kiosks will be incorporated into bus stops or similar roadside structlIles. Kiosk commLInicatol cievices may be located both on high streets and on quieter residential streets. Al

() l tar l/4ft by hater. 7/zil/: a web browser communicator device allows a personal computer with Internet access to a.et as a communicator device.

(7) 11 us. fly //'a,elll'/,1 {JIIl,l/: regular lanc3 line or cellular telephones will of 1'er audio eommtinication with the controlling computer system by means of a voice recognition or touch-tone telephone interaction with the controlling eomptiter system in It style similar to automated telephone banking. This is not the easiest way oft interacting with the controlling computer system, btit this method has the advantage ol'operating with any telephone. I;or people without a touch-tone phone, or l'or teehnophobes, human operator assistance could also l:,e provided.

We use the term vehicle communicator device to denote communicator devices ol' type] or 2 used in rlrivel- mode, and communicator cleviees of' type 3. We use the tel m passenger communicator device to denote a eommtinicator devices of' type 1 or used in passenger mode, and to denote eommtinica.lor devices ol types 4 to 7.

I'he most popular communicator device is likely to l:>e the cellular phone: it is anticipated that most users will use these to correspond with the controlling computer system. This is not just because cellular phones are small, portable and ubiquitous, and can send ancl lCCCiVC text and grapilies (and will have an enhanced ability to do so once the new 3G eeilular networks are operational), but is also because in a low years, most cellular phones will have electronic positioning ftinCtiORa.lity btlill-ill as stanc:la.rd. This is due to the American 911 manclat.e which requires that electronic positioning is fitted to all new cellular telephones to help emergency services locate a caller. Else European Union is planning an equivalent law, the E112 mandate. In the meantime, there are cellular telephone replacement ba.l.lely packs containing a satellite electronic positioning unit to upgrade existing phones. Thus the ordinary cellular telephone, that tiny gadget in everyone's pocket, becomes the perfect miniature communicator device for use with this invention.

7.3 - The Journey Request and the Car Pool Intended Itinerary Specification I'o illustrate how passengers and vehicle drivers will use their communicator devices to interact with the controlling computer system, we start with car pooling, perhaps the simplest configuration of this invention, describing the sequence of events that takes place in a car pool trip from the perspective of passengers and ear drivers. Once the operation of ear pooling is understood, we shall, in section 7.7, proceed to explain the operation of the eieetronie navigation taxibtis.

In orclel- to allow dit'f'erent drivers to use the same vehicle for ear pooling, a user name and password are allocated to every registered user (see section 9.7) of this transportation invention. The tlSCI' name and passwol-cl are first keyed into the vehicle eommtinieator device to establish the icientity oI'the driver At the journey start, a driver thus identified who wants to engage in car pooling must inform the controlling comptiter system oft his intended itinerary (this is the Gil st part of' the car pool intenclec3 itinerary specification). The user interface of the - 42 vehicle communicator rievice would be designer! so as to let the driver easily specify the destination atitiress (or ac3dl-esses) on his itinerary simply by selecting this address from a liSl: ol-' persona! travel locations: each regist.erecl user would maintail1 his own list. of personal travel Cations; this list is analogous to the list of personal telephone numbers that people save on regular cellular phones, except that personal travel locations are addresses rathel- than phone numbers, and persona.! travel locations ale stored on tile controlling computer system rather than on tint useris communicator clevicc. Most users will save the address locations of theil- home, ot'ttice, I'riends houses, the sports contre, the local shopping contre and so t'ortl1 in their personal travel locations.

When a drivel-'s intended destination adrlress is not in his list al' persona! travel locations, he must inform the controlling computer system of'the exact acidress of the intended dest-inaticn. Tllis is most easily achieved by entering the house number/ postcode combination ot'the destination acichress into the vehicle communicator cievice, troy which the controlling computer system will determine the full address, returning the address details to the driver for validation. Should the driver only have partial Icnowledge ot'1lis intended destination, options are available to perform an a.ciciress search, to examine an on-screen street atlas, or to speak to an operator assistant. Once an a.dciress is tilily determined and validatecl, it may be savetl IS a.

personal travel location, lot ease of selection next time.

Having declared his destination address (ol- acidresses)' the ciriver must next tell the controlling computer.system how many passenger seats are available in his vehicle (in an ordinal-y saloon car this wool usually be 3 or 4 seats, unless some seats are already taken by the rh-iveris own passengers). The controlling computer system always knows the car pool vehiclels current location through data obtained from the electronic positioning.system. Once the controlling computer.system has been int'orrned of the car pool vehicle's current location, its intended destination addiess (or addresses), anc! the number ot' passenger seats in the vehicle (these data items constitute the complete car pool intended itinerary specit'ication), then the driver's vehicle is loggecl as available for car pooling, and the the striver lady now begin his journey. (As clescriLed in section 7.1, a vehicle is logged as tor car pooling simply by creating a new transit vehicle record in the transit vehicle current itineraries database in the controlling computer.system; this transit vehicle record details the car pool vehicle's real-time current location, the vehicle's intended itinerary, and the numbel- othvailahle passenger seats in the vehicle; the car pool driver's itinerary is also included in a new journey request record in the journey request database).

Let us tul n otir attention to the prospective passenger.

Most prospective passengers will typically car ry a passenger communicator device in the form of their cellular telephone or wireless PITA; however any communicator- cievice can be used lay a passenger. The prospective passenger til'St enters his user name and password info the communicator rlevice in ogler to identity himself to the controlling computer.syslem; he then specifies his intencietl rlestination aciciress (we assume hole that the passenger has just one destination). Just like car- pool drivers, r-assengers will have their personal travel locations detailed on the communicator - "is cleviee that they are currently using, and simply need to select the appropriate destination from this set. When travelling to a destination address which is not one of these personal travel locations, the passenger must specify the exact arldress, just as the ear pool driver floes, as described above.

For passengers using eommunica.tol devices that have built-in electronic positioning t'unetionality, the controlling comptiler system ea.n automatically determine their eurient location acl:lress. I lowever passengers using communictitor crevices that t30 not have l:,uilt-in electronic positioning functionality must manually specify their curl-ent location acidress. Typically this aciciless might be one of'their personal travel locations, which makes things easy; otilel-wise they will have to speeity the exact address (if'the passenger is waiting in the street, they will need to supply the adciless of the nearest house or building). For lixecl-location communicator cleviees such as roaciside kiosks, however, tile location addl-ess ol' the communicator device will be known to the controlling computer system and will not need to be supplied by the prospective passenger.

I laving cleela.red his desire<:! itinerary, the passenger will speeity how many people ale t:ravelling on this itinerary (it'there is more than one), and whether he wishes to prior itise transit vehicle speed al' response Ol' speec3 ot'jotirney (see section 7. l 2).

Once the controlling computer system has received this information, a new journey request record in the journey request database is created, as clescribecl in section 7.1. Assuming this jOUI ney request is for immediate travel, the intelligent grouping mocitile will begin searching the transit vehicle current itineraries data.lase for a suitable ear pool vehieie, seeking one that is close to the passengel- (a low minutes drive away), and with itinerary Commitments that can easily aeeommodale the passenger's ciesirecl destination (that is to say, with itinerary commitments that are compatible with the passenger's itinerary).

As soon as a suilalle ear pool vehicle is i'ouncl, the controlling eomptitel- system provides details to the passenger: the vehicle's distance from the passenger (in minutes), an estimate tOI'lhe total Cal' pool journey time (in minutes), and the cost of' t h is ear pool jOUt ney. Shou 1(1 the cent rolling computer system find more than one suital:,le ear pool option, a list ol' the suitable vehicles will lee cietailec3 on the passeilger's communicator cleviee. 'fiche passenger then simply selects any vehicle from the list in orcier to proceed with the ea.r pool trip. Figure 8 in the accompanying drawings illustrates how the user interiaee on the display screen of the passenger communicator device handles this selection pl-OCCSS.

7.4 - Responding to the Car Pool Journey Request As soon as the passenger selects a car pool vehicle t'rom the list, the controlling eompuler. system will send a message to that vehicle's communicator device, requesting the driver to convey this passenger. The ciriver can accept this journey r equest by pressing the appropriate key or button on his communicator device. I i' he does not responcl to the request within a short time, the controlling computer.system assumes that the driver has deelinec3 the request, and the passenger will be so - 44 informerl via his communicator crevice. The passenger may then try another car on the list. (Note: prel'erably this embodiment will be such that any adrlitional suitable car pool vehicles newly arriving in the passenger's locality will automatically appear on the list detailed on his communicator device). As descl iced in section 7.1, once the passenger finds a car pool driver who accepts his journey request, the intelligent grotiping module will devise an optimal transit route which allows the car pool driver to pick up, convey and deliver this passenger, the transit vehicle record in the transit vehicle current itineraries database is then updated with this optimal transit route, and the current statLs of the passenger's journey request record is uplIatecl to class 13. 'I'he street navigation modtile in the controlling computer system then proceeds to direct the vehicle drivel along this route by means of real- time electronic street navigation instructions exhibited on his communicator device.

I'hese navigation instructions will be similar to those given by existing in-car sat-eilite navigation systems: stake the next let't'l, stake tile third exit on the rOUlidabOLltil, alill SO forth. By using the electronic street navigation module and the electronic positioning system the controlling computer system can guicie the vehicle At iver to the waiting prospective passenger with pinpoint precision.

A real-time countdown to the estimate3 car pool vehicle al-l-ival time is provided on the passenger Is communicator device, intirming the passenger ol'the estimated nuinber of minutes to the earls arrival at the passenger pick-up point. This is usel' in conditions of' ball weather-, where the passenger can remain under shelter or indoors, coming out into the street just before the car arrives.

As the car pool driver nears the passengers pick-up point, his vehicle communicator device will give precise guidance to home in to the exact position ol'the passenger.

The navigation instructions indicate ll200 metros... 100m... bum... 25mil and so forth until arrival at the passengeris location. At arrival, the driver is given identification details oft his passenger: an indication of'chilcl or at3ult aorl an indication of' male or l'emale. Similarly, the waiting passenger communicator device gives identit'ication details of the car pool vehicle: registration number, coloLIr and model - making it easier for the passenger spot the car. The controlling compLIter system also gives both driver an-] passenger each otilel Is user names. Should the passenger and driver not immediately spot each other, some Form of identit'iLation etiquette (such as switching on the vehiclels hazal-rl warning lights) might be necessary. It'the passenger uses his ccilulal telcpilone as a communicator- device, then it would be possible for the car pool driver to telephone the passenger in cases when the ciriver and passenger are unable to spot each other. Passengers that use a roadside kiosk communicator device to make their journey request are more easily spotted since the kiosk structure will be clear ly visible from the road.

Once the passenger is spotted and enters the Cal' pool vehicle, the jOLII'llCy Call commence. A quick check on the passengeris USCI' name ensures the car pool driver has picketl up the collect person. A more sophisticatetl passenger user name check would have the passenger Is and vehiclels communicator devices exchange rlata over a short-range wireless datalinicin order to establish that the correct person has been pickocl Lip, 01'WC>LIIC] use a Smart-Cal'CI system as descril-,cclin section 9.5. O nce picic up IS COntir'mCd, the CLlRrCllt StatLIS ot the passcngcrisjotirney reqLIcst record in - 45 the journey request database is upclatec3 to class A, as cdescribecl in section 7.1.

Electronic street navigation instructions are now sent to the vehicle communicator device to guitle the driver to the passenger's destination. Once the passenger has been delivered, (he controlling computer systemwill supply StlCCt navigation directions to guide the dr iver onwards to his own destination, should these be r equirecl.

Quite often, the car pool driver will not need the street navigation instr actions: remember that the controlling computer system only groLIps passengers whose itineraries are very similar to the cir iver Is, so the passenger's destination may well be llrnilial to the driver. Furthermore, as anyone who has used satellite electronic street navigation in their car knows, the ciriver can at any time insert his own navigation irieas or short-cL'ts into the routing, and at'terwarcis, the satellite navigation system will continue guiding the driver throw wherever he has got to; this is wonder t'ul because it means the driver floes not have to follow the navigation instructions verbatim, and may weave in his own routing pref'el-ences when he feels like it (even if'only to take the scenic route). A great advantage of using electronic street navigation is that anyone can become car pool driver, even people with little or no knowledge of the roads.

7.5 - Alternative Vehicle Selection Logistics In the scheme described in section 7.4, when a passenger makes a journey request, the controlling computer system provides a list ol suitable car pool vehicles, which are detailed on the passenger communicator device, leaving it to the passenger to select a vehicle out of the options on the list. The r eason for giving the prospective passenger more than one choice ol'several suitable car pool vehicles (when they are available) is because even when a particular car pool vehicle is selected, the driver ol'tl1at vehicle may clecline the journey request, and the passenger can then immediately select another car pool vehicle in the list.

I lowever, an alternative logistic is this: when a passenger makes a journey request, the controlling computer system semis this request to all car pool vehicles that have itinerary commitments that are compatible to the itinerary ol'the passenger; the first driver to respond to this journey request - by pressing the appropriate key or butto on his cornmLInicator crevice - gets the passenger.

Or perhaps an even better alternative: al'ter sending the journey request to suitable vehicles, the controlling computer system will examine all the 'accept' res,oonses received l'rorn car pool drivels, and out ol'these responses, select the vehicle that the controlling computer system calculates will most expediently convey the passenger to his cieslinatioll. Tl1is last alternative makes car pooling even easier for the passenger as the controlling compLIter system automatically selects the car pool vehicle which will transport the passenger in the most rapid and ef'ticient manner. - 46

7.6- The Incentive for Car Pooling The principal incentive f'or a driver to participate in car pooling is monetary. For every car pool passenger citclied' the driver receives a Lee. Fol- speed anti simplicity, no money is exchanged in the vehicle: the controlling computer system hanciles all financial transactions automatically. Every person registered with the controlling computer system will have their own.systcm-itciministered monetary account (see section 9.7), am-1 after a car pool journey, the controlling computer system credits the driver's monetary account with his f'ee ancl debits the passengeris monct;tly accotint by an amount which represents the tare for his journey.

It is thought that car pool tares should be set at approximately two or three times the price ol'an equivalent bus ride, making car pooling a remarkably cheap l'olm of cloor-to-cloor transport, yet I;om the ciriver's perspective, providing suf't'icient rowarcl flop carrying passengers. Note that when conveying more than one passenger-, the fee receivecl by the driver would be proportionally higher; a car driver can thus make a good profit Prom his journey by providing carriage to a series ok passenger s, or a group of passengers travelling together.

The fore charge lo the passenger and the tee received by the drivel is calculated by the controlling computer cyst-em. There is a minimum set fare f'or a car pool journey (just as there is in taxi cabs) at'ler which the cost is primarily based on the distance travellel-l. The controlling computer.syslem will use the distance between the passenger's starting and destinat-icyn point to calculate the tare. The total fare cost however, will also include an amount related to the additional time added on to the ciriver's own journey as a result ol'diverting to collect and deliver the passenger: this is ensures that the driver receives fair recompense when a larger route deviation is required lo convey a passenger-. Methods l'or accurately computer metering passenger fares are discussed in section 9.5.

Many car pool drivers will not purely be interested in the financial reward; perhaps they also enjoy the company and conversation provided by passengers, or might just be curious as to whom they will meet. 'I'his may not be so true in countries such as the UK where public behavioul is generally more introverted, but this invention is conceived with global application in mind. In any culture, though, there ale many sociological as well as technological consicleratic;ns involved in the implementation of car pooling. Will private vehicle owners want to take strangcis in their Cal'S'/ The American experience of Cal' pooling (ciescriLed in section 4.3) indicates that it floes work reasonably well: a passenger etiquette was even crealell to manage the social pl-ocess. Tllis etiquette inclulled rules such as: don't talk unless the driver initiates the conversation; don't tall: about religion, politics ol' sex; anti don't complain about the heat or the choice of'raclio station. In the US it was l'ouncl that car pool passengers came f'roin a wide social spectrum: bille collar- workers lo company directors were happy to travel by this means.

Should legislation be introclLIced that allows car pool drivers to IISC bus lanes (as do taxi cabs) 01' hilve access to f'ree city centre pinking, or similar privileges, then the incentive lo carry passengers becomes even stl-onger. - 47

7.7 - The Electronic Navigation Taxibus We now turn our attention to the electronic navigation taxibus.

The electronic navigation taxibLIs is an entirely new movie of'public transportation facilitated by this invention. The taxibLIs vehicle (which is typically the size o{'a minibus) can travel dool-to-cloor, ,oicking up passengers From their current location and dropping them of'f'piecisely at their destination. Just as in car pooling, the taxibus transports passengers using the principles of'inteiligent grouping. Unlike car pooling, however, the taxiLtis driver is a paid professional with no itinerary of' his own, so the process ol'intelligent groLIping is applied only to the passengers travelling in the taxibus, not to the cirivel.

From the passengel- perspective, riding a taxibus is just like travelling by car pool, but is even easier (and much cheaper). 'I'o make a taxibus journey, the prospective traveller semis his journey request to the controlling computer.system using a communicator crevice such as his cellular phone. From the passenger perspective, the user interface operation is just like the car pooling operation described in section 7.3. The passenger must specify his desired itinerary (current location acidress and intended destination acidress), how many people are travelling on this itinerary (il' there is more than one), anti whether he wishes to prioritise transit vehicle speed of' response or speech of' joul ney. As with car pooling, once the controlling compL'ter system has received this inlolmation, a new journey request record in the journey request database is createcl. Figure cS in the accompanying drawings illustrates the operation ohiser inter-lace on the passenger communicator crevice when submitting a Journey request.

JLIst as in car pooling, when the time comes to execute this journey request (which will be straight away if'the journey request is t'or immediate travel), the intelligent grouping motlLIle in the controlling computer.systern will search the transit vehicles cur rent itineral ies database in order- to f'incl a taxibus vehicle in the vicinity of' the passenger that has an itinerary compatible to the passengeris clestination. Out of the available laxibtis vehicles, the intelligent groLIping mot/tile will try to find the most ef'f'icient matching of' passenger with taxil-us; that is to say, to find a taxibus into which the passenger can be intelligently grouped with a good Compatibility Inclex.

When a suitable taxibils is found, its details will be displayed on the passenger communicator crevice. These details will include the estimated time for the taxibus to arrive at the passenger's pick-up point, details of'the estimated journey time, anti the calculated fare cost of the journey (these two time estimates are cicrivetl fey applying the traveltime metric to the optimal transit route calculated by the intelligent grouping modLIle). If'the passenger confirms that he wishes to travel by this taxibus, the current itinerary in the appropriate transit vehicle record is updatett to reflect the new optimal transit route. As per usual, the electronic street navigation moctille senc-ls the rlriver navigation clirections to the vehicle communicator device in order to guide the taxibLIs along the transit roLIte. A real-time countdown to the estimated taxibus arrival time is provitlecl on the passengeris comrnL'nicatol crevice. Note that since the taxibLIs is in the vicinity ot'the passenger, it will generally take just a - 48 couple of minutes for this vehicle to arrive at the passengeris pick-up point.

I,aeh taxibus has a unique vehicle identil'ication number (or name) that is prominently exhibited at the Front, on the sides, ancl at the real of'the vehicle. When a passenger makes a journey r equest, this identification number is detailed on the passengeris eomrnunieator device, to help him spot his taxibLIs when it appears. In addition, an electronically updatahic outside display screen situated at the Front of the taxiLtis will exhibit the principal cles(inations on the vehicle's itinerary. 'I'his display screen is controlled by the vehicle communicator cleviee. Both the t-axibLIs identification number and the outside display screen will be invalLIabie on BLISS high streets, where many passengers may be waiting For taxibLIses, and where there may be several taxibuses simultaneously arriving ancl departing.

Just inside the entrance C3001' of' the taxibils, an electronically updatable passenger display screen (which is capable of'displ<tying text and is which controlled via the vehicle communicator cIevice) will clearly exhibit the user names ot'the passengers that are expected to board the taxibils at that point; as they board, passengers just need to glance at the passenger display screen to ensure that their user name is listed, thus confirming they have entered the Correct taxibLIs vehicle.

The taxibLIs ciriver's communicator device will indicate the number of passengers that are expected to boar-d or alight at any particular stop point (on most occasions it will just be one or two passengers that alights or boards). It is the ciriveris responsibility to ensure that he picks up ancl cirops ot't'the correct number ol'people.

A mole robust method of verifying correct passenger-boarcling in taxibus (and ear pool) travel would employ smart card technology wherein each passenger would carry a personally-issiled smart card, and this card would be remotely scanned (without needing to take the smart card out ol' one's wallet or bag) by a card reader In the taxil>LIs vehicle communicator device as the passenger boards, thus confirming a correct passenger pick-lip. Using such a system of' smart cards, as each passenger boards the t-axibus vehicle, both the taxibus driver and passenger will see a correct pick up confirmation sign appear next to the passenger ls user name on the passenger display screen. SmaI-t cards are Further cliseussed in section 9.5.

JLIst as in ear pooling, payment of taxibus flares is handled alitcmatieally by the controlling computer system, ancl the amount ol' the fare is ciebitecl From the USCI'S system-aci m inistered monetary aeeou nt. This allows passengers to board t he taxi bus without fuml:> ling tOI coins or travel passes, thus minimising the vehicle's stop time.

VarioLIs practicable methods for computer metering passenger fares are diseusseci in section 9.5.

Once on board, the passenger will typically share his trip with several other reflow travellers. Because it picks up ancl cirops c;l'l'other passengers en route, the taxibus is not quite as quick as the car. E3LIt taxiLtis travel is much cluieker than an excursion on a regLIlar bus. BUS journeys are lengthy because of the walk to ancl Irom the SLIS stops, the time spent waiting t'or the bus, ancl the time it takes f'or passengers to board alid alight at each ot'the bus stops along the route. 'I'he cloor-to-clool- service ol the taxibus operates with much greater rapidity and convenience. I'he controlling - 49 - computer system will ensure that all taxibuses follow a reasonably linear trajectory, pressing forwards towarris their destinations at all tines. The controlling computer system will allow a taxibus to pick up new passengers il'they are located ahead on its itinerary, btit generally not if'the taxibus must double back in order to get them, as this would be inet'ticient (such passengers will be placed on another taxibus).

Passengers travelling on a taxibLIs are intol med when their destination is imminent.

Inside each taxibus, one or more large interior display screens capable calf' displaying textual information will be mounted so that they are visible to all passengers within the vchicie; these screens, which are controlled by the vehicle communicatol- device, will show the geographic name ol' the upcoming taxil-,us stop points (with a format such as 'NF,XT Srl'OP: Kensington I ligh Street WE 6NA').

Additionally, these interior tfisplay screens will list the usel name of'the passenger or passengers who should alight at the displayed destination. Passengers who carry their own portable communicator device (such as a cellular phone) will have the general progress of their personal jOUI ney exhibited on this device, including advance notice of their upcoming destination.

Note that a passcilgel can ask the driver lo stop the taxibus at anytime shoulci he wish to disembark before his specified destination (see section 9.14 For details).

7.cH - Advantages of the Taxilus From the Passenger Perspective Tlle laxibus does something thal even the private car ol'ten cannot: it delivers passengers exactly k, their clestination. In most cities, when a parking space is eventually found for a privale car, it is often several minutes walk away From the intended destination. This is a problein in barf weather, in areas of' high crime rate, and t'or single women late at night. I,eaving a car unattended and Otit of view can also increase the risk of'thel't or vandalism. The door-to-dool service of' the taxibIls has an inherent level of security that neither the car nor conventional public transport can beat. A taxibus can be used, f'or example, to safely transport children to school on a cloor-to-clool- basis, SO that parents need not worry abotit the school run each morning (which in itselt'will clear a great deal of traf'f'ic prom the roads in the Ul(: just before 9 am in urban areas, an astounding one car in every rive is taking childlen lo school).

rl'he dool--to-rloor service of' the taxibils is also invaluable t'or the frail, elderly or disabled. Manly towns in the Ul: have a 'clial-a-ritle' service for people with a mobility impairment, which provides minibus rfool-t-o-foor travel in the local clistl ict; typically these r ides must be booked by telephone a day in advance. This invention can sul- 'sume the dial-a-l-ide service: the taxibils ot't'ers rnor-e efficient rotiting, and can be requested just n7liluftt, before required; the existing dial-a-ride minibus vehicles, which are specially designed for use by mobility-impairef people, can be mcol-pol-.lted straight into this invention as taxibuses simply by fixing a communicator device for thc driver on the rfasilboarcl (and installing a passenger display screen, an interior display screen, anti painting a vchicic identification _ 50 numL'er (or name) on the outside of the minims).

By delatilt this invention will marshal a rapid response to passenger journey requests, providing a taxibtis to pick up passengers within minutes; however it is also possible to submit a jOUt new request that books a taxibils trip some time in advance, using pre-order looking. A pre-order booking is just like an ordinary jOUI ney recluest, except that the passenger must additionally specify the precise time in the l'uture that she wishes the taxibus to come and collect her for the journey. It is also possible to organise a regular order booking l'or taxibus trips. A regular order booking iS a otirney request whicl1 is automatically executed at a specified time, and which is repeated on a specified regular basis. Ilegular order bookings are very usel'til l'or people who commute to and From work at the same bout each day. When commtilel s place a regular order booking with the controlling computer system, a taxibus will automatically collect them from their home on the days and the times they have specil'iecl t'or the journey to work, and likewise for the return journey if so requestecl. Regulal order journeys have many other uses: t'or children travelling to and from school each day, for regular visits to the gym after work, and {'of any trip or journey that is routinely undertaken. Regular order bookings have advantages both t'or passengers, and I'or the taxibus system. For passengers, it saves them the trouble ol'oldering a taxilJtis every time; the taxibus will arrive automatically as specified. For the controlling computer system, foreknowledge ol' passenger journey requirements can allow l'or a more efficient routing ot'the taxibus fleet. Pre-orcler spooking and regular order booking journey requests are stored in the journey requests database (see section 7.1).

It is anticipated that the taxibus will be more convivial and communityorientecl than any other means ot'travel, becatise the controlling computer system will naturally tend to group like-minde(l passengers in the same vehicle. Football tans, theatre goers, concert crowds, conference attendees, tourist attraction visitors, and so l'or th, will all tend to be groupe(l with their own kind into the same taxibus, simply becatise this is the most el'ficient way ot'transporting people heacle(l l'or the same destination. It would even be possible to program the controlling computer System to delil-Jelately exaggerate this social grouping el't'ect. This might be done not just for conviviality, but also l'or security: school children, t'or example, would benefit {'rom lying exclusively grouped together in one taxibus t'or sal'er travel.

I'he taxibus is an interesting way of t-ravelling. Even for commuters going to the same destination every day, the taxibus will generally r un a dil'lterent rotite variation on each journey, depending on the itineraries of' the other passengers on board. This means that on every journey the traveiler may see something new: a street he has not been down bet'ore, or an area of' the city he has never seen. AIso, because the taxibus talces the most et'ficient route and because the system knows all the back streets, travelling by taxibus is a great way to learn new short cuts.

I'here are so many benefits to taxies travel. 'I'here is the great feeling of l'reedom the taxibLIs gives: it talcesyotl exactly whereyou want to go, and whereveryou are, a taxibus iS always available whenever nestled. As a taxibus traveller, there is no need to carefully monitor the amount of alcohol you are drinking, as car drivers r - ;,1 must. This in itself may revolutionize the social lives of many people, but more importantly, a hidden benefit of introducing a comprehensive taxibus service might be a marked decrease in alcollol-rcl;-ltecl road accidents.

The taxibils is pal ticularly last and convenient for travel to an unfamiliar address: instead ol'pre-planing the trip using a street atlas, you simply submit a journey reqtlest t'or travel to this address, and the taxibus will dropyotl right otitside.

The taxibus brings simplicity kit pulJlic travel, offering an easy way of taking a trip.

I4,ase and simplicity are partly why the private car remains so popular: with the car yotl just get in and go. 'I'he taxibus is equally uncomplicated: state your clestination, and let the taxibus takeyou there. One must resect Or a moment to really appreciate the almost magical power of taxibus transportation. With notl;ing btit a cellular phone, you press a couple of' keys, and a taxibus appeal s just minutes later, ready to whisk you away to the destination yotl selected.

7.9 - The Taxibus Fleet I'he taxibus fleet will contain a diversity of types anal sizes of vehicle. Vehicle size brings advantages and rlisacivantages. I,al-ger vehicles can transport more people (arid using just one driver, so it iS also more economic on personnel); but higher passenger numbers equate to longer journey times, IBIS a result ol' the extra picic-ups and diop-off.s en rotate. By contrast, smaller vehicles transport less people, but do so more rapidly. I,arger vehicles are et'licient at transporting passengers that have identical embarkation or destination points, Or example, passengers travailing from an airport to city centre hotels, or passengers travelling to a large public event such as a music concert or iorytball match. Larger vehicles may be more appropriate t'or inter-city travel. Smaller vehicles are better at driving down narrow residential streets, picking up and riropping oft' passengers from their homes. It is thought that taxibils fleets in cities should comprise mainly smaller-sized vehicles, in the range of' 4 to 12 passenger seats (in other WOl'dS, the size of a multi-purpose vehicle or people carrier, up to the size ol a minibus).

The journey range ot'eacl1 taxibus vehicle may vary. Some vehicles might be restricted t'or use within specif'iecl suburban areas; other vehicles might cover the whole of a city; still others might run from city-to-city or cover an entire country.

Occasionally a passengeris journey may be split into two legs, using two diticlent taxibtis vehicles. Typically, passengers travelling city-tocity by taxibus may have their jouroey thus split: a local taxibus vehicle first collects the passengel- Prom his acidress, and latel- the passenger is trcinsterred to another (perhaps larger) taxibus vehicle for the inter-city portion of'1lis jOuI ney. 'I'he controlling computer system will however always try to transport passengers on a single taxibus it'possible. Split Journe.ys ale examined in more detail in section 9.?.

An entrancement to l'urthel improve the el'liciency of'this embodiment of'the invention wouli involve the controlling computer system deploying its taxibils fleet - 2 _ according to the time of clay. During commuter rush hours the controlling computer system will tend to pull all its taxibus vehicles into operation; at quieter times such as during the night, many taxiLtises will rest in their clepots (small taxibuses might lice parked outside the residence ol' the taxityus driver). In the morning rush hours, the controlling computer system will ensure that plenty oI'taxibuses are mustered around the suburban regit>ns ready to take passengers into the city centre. In the evening rush Louis, the controlling computer system will orchestrate the reverse.

The controlling computer.system will maintain a database of' the statistically averaged passenger flux in all regions ok the city, t'or all times ot'day, and lor all tIays ot'the week. (The passenger flux from a given area is det'inec3 as the number ot' passengers per unit time recluesling taxibLIs transport in that area). Using this passenger Ilux database, the controlling computer system will pre-emptively marshal its taxibus fleet so that the vehicles are t'ully prepared and positioned to meet temporal variations in travel clemands (the controlling computer system will generally pre-emptively reposition taxibuses that are currently empty). 'I'he controlling compilter system will also act on any notice that it is given ol' large public events, pre-emE'tively marshalling its fleet in order to handle the crowds.

Dater in the evening and at night the controlling computer system will withdraw larger taxibus vehicles from the roads, keeping just the smaller taxibuses in operation. This will save fuel, keep noise Ieveis down, and further decrease road congestion, AS smaller vehicles take less space and cause less blockage when Stilling over to pick up or drop off passengers. One of the problems with regulaI buses is that large vehicles are needed to deal with the peals hour passenger flux, but at other times these vehicles remain halt'empty. 'I'he taxibtis fleet responds much more dynamically to variations in passenger flux.

Who would r un the taxibus Ileet'J Many operators coultl be accommodated by franchising diI'f'erent organiscitions to run taxibuses. As long as each taxibus vehicle runs under the control of the controlling computer system, it does not melter who owns or drives the vehicle. Even an individual t3river may purchase a taxibtis vehicle anc3 enter into a t'ranchise; existing taxi cab or mini cab drivers might consider this (more of whicl1 in section 7.15). At the other end ot'the spectrum, large companies might operate a fleet comprising thousands ol'taxibus vehicles. This invention can accommoc}ate all.

I'he controlling computer system may also accommodate specialist taxibuses: for example, large shopping centres or supermarkets might operas-e a small kccil fleet of taxibuses which would respond only to passengers headed Ior the shopping conlre.

Containing ample SpclCC I'or Chases, these taxibuses might even other free rides to customers. Other types ot'specialist taxibuses could inclucle ones designed I'or transporting particularly large or heavy items. There is even the possibility ot' including first class laxibtis vehicles in the fleet. I-'irst class vehicles would levy higher tares, but would contain larger and more comttortabie seats, and provide additional services such as t'or example airline style l-,ack-ot2seat Internet access terminals. A first- class laxibus vehicle might even be tiesigned to comprise several small compartments which are separated or semi-separated from each other, thus providing "reciter privacy for passengers carried. In general, the greater the - 5.3 - diversity of taxibus vehicles operating, the better this invention is ahie to satisf'y specific transport requirements.

I'axibus vehicles coLIld ac-lvantageously be powered lay hydrogen fuel ceil engines. In certain conl-'iguratiolis these engines are completely pollution-I'ree: their exhaust product is actually pure water vapour. No pollutants or greenhouse gases are emitted. rlycirogen fuel cells create electricity which then drives an electric motor: vehicles with these engines thus rLIn very silently. barge investments in developing hydrogen powered vehicles have been macle, and they are Cast becoming a viable technology. The main problem is the lack of luelling stations. I lowever, proponents for hyrlrogen fuel argue that at this initial stage, the rollolil of fuel cell technology is ideally suited to public transport vehicles. Such vehicles are ustially rel'uelled at their depots: this small number ot'depots Call be equipped with hydrogen I'ueiling stations at minimal expenditL'le - thus providing an extremely cost etiective way of cutting air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

7.10 - The Taxibus Combats Parking Congestion We have seen that the inherent efficiency of the taxibils arises l'rom aclaptabie rotating andintelligent grouping, with each taxibus typically conveying several! disparate passengers at once on a cloor-to-door basis. By contrast, the private car, which occupies pretty mLIch the same road space, typically cart ies only the ciriver.

Worse still, each solo driver has a whole exhaust emitting engine to himself', which primps OLlt pollutants and greenhouse gases. The private car is thus indicted on transportation inefficiency, and excessive emission of undesirable exhaust products.

I lowever the private car harbours a third and equally disturbing inet'ficiency: the aver-age automobile is only utilisec.l 1() > of' the time, with the typical car driven I'or less titan 1.5 hours each day.

The rest ot'the time, which is 90\, a private vehicle lies idle, parkecl, and taking up spa.cc. G>nsiclering this inel'I'iciency it is not surprising that l.l1e kerbs on most main roads and residential streets are crammed with parked cars. If the usage et'f'iciency ot'cars were 100"/\ then clearly no parked or stationary vehicles would be seen anywhere, apart from when cropping otI or picking up traveilers Ol delivering goocis. I his is self eviclent, belt it is worth repeating this point because it is normally overlookocl: the reason our streets are so overbuiclenecl with parked cars is not just a factor oI'the level of'vehicie ownership, but also a tactol- ot'vehicle usage et'I'iciency, which as stated is a meagre 10. A simple equation describes parking congestion: Number al' Par keel Vehicles = Number ot'Vehicles Owned x (1() ()- Usage EI'f-'iciency) . 1()0 We have become so accustomed to seeing pal keel vehicles clogging up towns and cities that: we assume this is an unavoiclal:>le consequence of en joying the convenience of motor transport. But it is not: the above equation implies that it - 54 vehieie usage effieieney is inereasecl, the number ot'parkocl vehicles will decline proportionately, and that increasing the usage efficiency to 10() % will actually result in having no pal keel vehieies in the streets whatsoever. A taxiLtis vehicle's usage eitieiency generally tentis towards a pertest 1 00l,/o, heeause the controlling Computer system tries to ensure that all of'the ta.xibusis time is clec:lieatecl to active transportation. Once the taxibus cielivers a passenger, it does not remain icile, but continues conveying other passengers. rl'he private ear, on the other hotel, tennis to I:'e quite useless once the driver has c:lepartecl.

In urban areas, the tact that the private ear must he parkec.l when it airives at its destination Can be eonsiclered a)1i.n flatly in this mocie ol' transportation. Consider the amount of'time that is lost looking for parking places, the parking l'ees that must be paid, ancl the inevitable parking l'ines, vehicle ela.mping ancl tow-away eosis, the Cost of huiltling massive multi-level ear parks, the running of Controlled street parking, of belying parking area land for shopping eent.res anc1 Sports eentres, ancl so forth. Still Further expense results l'rom salary costs lor trat'tie warciens ancl other stal'l'to r egulate these parking zones.

Even when cirivers are on the move, parking she'll at'teets their journey: in many cities, most smaller roacis are now el'tteetively reciticecl to one lane due to parked ears on both herbs, a.ncl during any trip, drivels are t'requently f'oreed to pull over into a gap between these parkec1 ears in order t.o let. oncoming t.ra.t'fie squeeze past. Parked vehicles are cholesterol on the r oad arteries of our cities.

In a Future where the electronic navigation taxiLtis has taken over t'rom the Cal as the primary l'orm ol'travel, ancl the number ol' privately owned vehicles has t'allen, parking congestion will be ol'historieal interest c:>nly, ;nc-1 free parking spaces will be abundant. I'erilaT:'s the StlCCtS will never quite revert to an era when they were largely elea. l of parked vehicle clutter, IJUL with a comprehensive taxibus service in place, this epidemic of'icile kerbside automobiles ea.n he ahatec1.

In such a l'titure of streamlined taxibus transportation, the roadside parking meter would become redunc.fant; parking meters could be acivanta. geously eonvert-ec1 into mini roacisitie kiosk Communicator devices on which passengers Can request t:axibus r ides, ancl by which they Can wait 1'or their taxibus to arrive. -

7.11 - Greater London Case Study of the Electronic Navigation Taxibus I, et us examine how an electronic navigation taxibus fleet compares to existing f'ol ms of'lransport. We shall take Greater London as OU1 case st.ucly. I4'or each 24 hour period in central and outer London, a.rc) LInc7 25 million passenger journeys take place. These divide modally as follows.

9 million Private Gl.r (as Drivers) 6 million Private Cal- (as Passengers in above) 4 million BLIS 2 million London Undergroun(: 2 million Wal king I million Train (Xurtace Rail) S'.7l/l: 1)7tllll7lellt fill liYll.77tlr'. F'i7lllt, htli' Shell llllllt)er).

Other modes ol' travel in Greater l,onclon (motorcycle, taxi car', mini cab, bicycle) are fairly negligible in comparison. The relative importance ot't.hese transport modes is somewhat reversed as t'ar as peak- hour travel to and ttrom central I,ondon is concerned: morning peak hour (7 a.m to 10 am) passenger journeys into central London divide modally as follows.

0.5 million Tlain (Surface Rail) ().4 million I,ondon Undergrouncl 0.1 million Private Car (Either as Driver or Passenger) 0.05 million Bus StIlll ': D7llll lr7,llt f'l Tl t11147711-t. I'iJlll Ed I,7tl,e lit call l lllllt)el).

I Iow would a l,onclon-based electronic navigation taxibus I-leet compare'! Consider a taxibus fleet of just] O thousanc.l vehicles. Assume an average vehicle occupancy of 6 passengers and a typical passenger journey time of 20 minutes (average journey length in Cleater London is 7 miles and the average suburban speed ot'20 mph; this corresponds to a journey time otlbout 20 minutes when the Compatibility Index is low). A quick calculation shows that this taxibus fleet would complete 180 thousand passenger journeys every hour-. In a 24 houl periocl, the fleet could in principle handle 4.3 million door-to-doc)r passenger journeys, which is a f'ormiclable number.

We can compare this to Lc)nclon's 6 thousand buses, which carry 4 million passengers each day, mainly in donble-c7ecker vehicles having a capacity of'around 8() passengers. Another point of reference is I,ondon's 20 thotisand licensed taxi calJs which, thl-oughc)ut every 24 hour period, manage to transport ().5 million passengers.

I low will these 10 thousand taxibuses cope, theoretically at least, with the 7 am to lO am rush hour commute to central I,onclon'' Assuming, during these rush times, an average taxibus occupancy of 8 passengers anal an average commuter journey length oI'say 4() minutes, then a simple calculation shows that the taxibus fleet will manage to transport over (). 36 million commuters during these three hours. This is a very impressive figure, almost e(1ualling the pert'ol-mance of the entire I,ondon - 56 Undergrouncl system during the same time periocl.

The incredible power of this invention becomes even more apparent if passenger jOUI neys l'rom car pooling are also taken into consicleration. There are 9 million pi ivate car jOUI neys made each day: if' Ihesc drivers were to offer a car pool ride just once in every five journeys they make, this would add up to nearly 2 million car pool passenger journeys claily. Again for comparison, this is a figure equal to the daily total ol' passenger journeys on the London Unttergrotind.

What about tile operating profit and the r tinning costs of' the taxibus lleet'l The major r tinning costs will arise Irom ciriver wages: this fleet of I () thousand taxibtises will require arotind 30 thousand drivers working in cS hotir shifts to keep these vehicles on the road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (basest on only a reduced laxibt1s service running at night). Assume each driver costs a total of ú25,000 per year for salary anct other costs, then the wage bill will amotint to ú750 million annually. I4tlel costs for this Beet can be calcul<ltcd at ú3()0 million a yeal- (basecl on the fleet using diesel fuel, and each taxibus giving arotincl 20 miles Fer gallon).

Further costs will be incurred from vehicle servicing anal maintenance, angst the expenditure of running the controlling computer system. rl'elecommtinications costs shotild be minimal, since only low volumes of data are transmitted. Driver training costs will be low: a standard ciriveris licence will suf'l'ice since most ol' the taxibus vehicles will be not mucl1 lal-ger than a regular multi-purpose vehicle or people Carrie type ol' motorcar. rl'axibus drivel s will not need to have knowledge of'the street layouts, as electronic street navigation is provided at all times.

What about the sales revenue generated'! Setting the taxibus passenger Are at a modest 15 pence per mile, and assuming an average vehicle occupancy ol'6 passeligel-s, with an average vehicle speed ol'20 miles per hour, then the tlaily (24 hour) reventle collect-ecl by the fleet will be ú4.3 million. This adds up to nearly ú1.6 billion a year, which should easily cover the running costs al' the taxibus fleet.

Regartling the capital cost of introducing such a taxibus fleet: most of'the illVCStmellt will al'iSC' from buying taxibus vehicles; the computer technology that runs Illis invention is relatively cheap. Assume each taxibLts vehicle costs ú3(),000, which is the typical CUI rent price of a multi-purpose vehicle or minibus: it will then reclLllre a capital investment of [:'300 million to,oul-chase a fleet of 10 thousand taxibLIs vehicles. Not only is this a modest figure by transport budget standards, bLIt this amount might even be accommodated within the annual profits generated bs such a fleet.

It is interesting to examine the {igures for a larger taxibus Beet. Suppose the Reet is ncreasecl to 30 thousand taxibLIses. This reclLlires a capital investment of ú9()0 million to buy the vehicles, a team ol'90 thousand drivers to keep them moving, ú2.25 billion a year In driver salaries, and 190() million a year on fuel; such fleet will generate an annual revenue of ú4.7 billion, antt provide almost 13 million cloor-todool passenger jouincys each clay - a figure that is close to the daily total ol' passenger journeys made by private car in London. TllIls a fleet of 30 thousand taxibtises can C3O more or less the same job as London's 2.3 million privately-ownecl - 57 cars. We could therefore dispense with many of these cars. This possibility is not just a utopian vision: it is a glimpse at what cities of the futtire will be like. The taxibl1s has the potential to transl'orm urban lif'e and the city landscape. Car manut'.actilrers need not wor ry uncluly about the prospect of a decline in private car sales: due to the high workload of'taxibuses, which will be in operation 24 hours a clay, it is expectecl that taxibus vehicles will wear Out quickly, and will require frequent replacement.

I)oes it make economic sense for a Lon<loner to sell his car tnc1 travel primarily by taxillis'' Ownership ol' the average car can be cost-e<! at around ú10 a day inclusive of f'uel, road tax, insurance, servicing, maintenance, and vehicle <-depreciation, but exclusive of'parking. rl'he average vehicle covers a distance of' Iess than 30 miles each clay with an average occupancy ol' 1.4 travellers: this equates to a cost of 24 pence per per-son per mile, excluding any pal-king fees. Comparing this to the 15 pence per mile taxibus cost, this analysis sLIggeStS that it does make goof] economic sense to sell the car an<l adopt the taxibils, although the precise economics will greatly <lepend on in<livilual circumstances. Families with children may not be so keen to sell the car, since the Cal' becomes more economically viable when there ale more travellers. A special discount on taxilyus flares might be offered to family groups in older to make the taxibL's mole financially appealing (o families.

I'he ultimate objective of tl1e taxibus is not to eliminate the private car, but Kim seduce people away from the car by providing a taxibus transportation network that the public will come to view as a much more convenient an<l convivial way to travel.

I'he taxibus aims to compete with - and beat - the private car in terms of transport excellence; winning over clientele through its manifest superiority.

Note: the alcove transportation and Financial performance analysis ol' the taxibLIs is based on an assumed average vehicle occupancy ot'just 6 passengers; if higher average vehicle occupancies are achieve<!, say 10 passengers per vehicle for example, then all the above performance figures will be proportionally improved.

7.12 - Taxibus Response Times The SllCC'C'SS al' the electronic navigation taxibus as an everyclay means of transport will crucially clepen<l on the time a prospective passed has to wait for a taxibus to arrive. To compete with the 'jump in anal gol immediacy of'the private car, it is felt that a taxibl1s must appear 1ifbfil ffr,e n'l;lilter of a passenger making a journey request. Is such a rapi<l response feasible? Some simple analysis can answer this question. Again we shall take Greater London as OUI case stildy.

I'he tot-al area of Greater London is til'OU ncl 61 () square miles. Assuming we have a Rcet of 10 tholisancl taxibilses more or Iess evenly spread across this area, this gives an average vehicle density of 16 taxibuses per square mile. I)epartment for ralispol t statistics Educate that the average road speecis in the suburbs are around mph, and 11 mph in the central I,ondon area. Thus in the SL'billLs, in order for the typical taxibils response time to be three minutes or Iess, the responling vehicle - 58 must be situated no further than one mile away (since at the average suburban road speed of 20 mph, it takes three minutes to travel one mile). I low many taxibuses are there within a one mile radius ot'any waiting passenger', The answer is simply the area ot'a one mile radius circle (which is.142 square miles) multiplied by the taxibtis vehicle density per square mile. Finis gives 16 x 3.142 = 50 taxibuses. 'I'his is a fair number of vehicles, and since these 50 taxibtises will have a wide variety ol' itineraries, there is a high chance that one or more will be travailing in a direction compatible to the passengeris desired destination (this probability also depends on the closeness of' the passenger's clestination; the closer the clestinalion, the higher the chance; note that the average journey length in l,onclon is just 7 miles).

In central I,onc30n, the average speed is 11 miles per hour-, so the three minute response time will encompass a smaller circle: one ot'just over half'a mile in radius.

I'his circle is smaller than the suburban one: its area is only I square mile - thus containing fewer taxibuses. I lowever the controlling computer system could be conl'igtired to maintain central London taxibus densities at a higher level, and this greater abundance ot'vehicies will ensure that a three minute response time is attained, even if the road speeds are lower. Of course, it'traJ't'ic congestion lolls due to the ubiquitous success ol' the taxibus, then average road speecis will improve, and so speetl up response times all rotind.

This simplit'iecl analysis is no substitute for a more in depth mathematical modeiling of taxibus response times, but it does strongly suggest that a three-minute response is eminently l'easible.

It'we relax the constraints and allow the passenger's jotilne.y to be split into Iwo legs on cliJ'ferent taxibils vehicles (see section 9.2 for split jOUI neys), then there is almost certainly going to be a suitable taxibus within three minute's proximity to run the first leg of the journey. It the taxibus fleet is increaser] from 10 thousand to 30 thousand vehicles, then the taxibus density increases proportionately, yielding a remarkable 150 taxibtis vehicles within a three-minute radius ol'a passenger, thus making the desired response time still more feasible.

In certain travel circumstances, such it rapid response time might not be so critical.

When a regular taxi cab or mini cab is orcierecl over the phone, t'or example, the taxi normally arrives around 10 or 15 minutes later; in many situations this time scale is perfectly acloquate. In taxibLts travel, there are advantages lor passengers who are more flexible regarcling the arrival time of their laxibtis: such time flexibility gives the controlling comptliel-.system more opportunity to tin<.! a taxibus with a near- pert'ect itinerary match to the passenger. rl'his means that although the passenger may have to wait a little longer lol hel- taxibtis to al rive, the journey on the taxibus itseil'will be quick and et'f'icient, clue to good itinerary matching.

When ordering a taxibtis or car pool vehicle, passengers should be given the choice of prioritizing the transit vehicle speed of response or the speed ol'journey.

Perhaps most passengers will prioritise the speech of response, pret'eiring to get aboard a vehicle as quickly as possible (which is ciesirabie if the prospective passengel- is waiting in the street). I lowever passengers who prioritise the spell ol' journey will find that, once al-'oartl their transit vehicle, they will be more speeclily - 59 cleliverecl to their destination (perhaps this is a better option t'or prospective passengers waiting inc300rs). When speed ot'response is prioritized, the controlling computer.system would aim to get a transit vehicle to pick up the tr.lveller within 3 minutes of the departure time specified in the jowl ney request; that is to say, the latest acceptable pick-up time t'or tile traveller will be 3 minutes after this ciepallule time, the total traveller pick up time window thus being 3 minutes. When speed of journey is prioritized, the traveller pick up time window is extended to 15 minutes, starting Irom the specitiec3 clepartLIre time.

7.13 - Car Pooling versus the Taxibus Car pooling is an inl'or mal means of transportation provided by this invention. Car pooling enlists the help ol'pl ivale vehicle cirivers to provide traveilel s with a door- to-cloor service similar to that supplied by the taxib1ls. It is hoped that the numb ol passenger joLIlneys arising Irons car pooling will be a uselill addition to the number of passenger journeys proviciec3 by the taxies fleet, so that car pooling will further COlltlibUtC to cieteating traffic congestion.

It is thoLIghl that many car cirivers will convey passengers now and then, according Kim their mooc3 and schedule. Some cirivers may want to give car pool r icles because it helps top up their.system-aciminist-erecl mone;,1ry account: by filling theil- monetary account in this way, such dr ivers effectively get their l-ravel ttor t'ree when they themselves are passengers in a taxibus or car pool vehicle. In other words 'whatyou give is whatyou getl and this is a great motivation t'or ot'tering car pool ricles.

7.14 - Testing the 'I'axibus Concept The taxilus is an entirely new form ol transport, and must initially the tested on a small scale, firstly to examine its overall functionality, and secondly to optimise certain design and operational pal-.1meters.

Implementing the car pooling mode ol'this invention is.1 simple and inexpensive way of' testing the inventions general l'unctioning: no vehicles need Lo be purchasc-3, so the car pooling mode can be implemented at a very low cost. Once Cal pooling is up and running, it will yield valuable data on how this invention opel-ates in reality.

I--lowever, there are many clillterences between car pooling and the taxibus, and the taxitus transportation system neecis to be tested separately.

Perhaps the cheapest way of testing the taxibLIs is by means ol computer simulation ot'a cityls travel networks. Tile sot'tware Sol such a simulation could be written without much cdillicLIlty, and would be extremely usel'ul I'or obsc rving the effects of' adjusting ValioLIS palalnetel'S, SllCh as the number ol'taxibuses in the fleet, the passenger capacity ot'each taxibus, and the operational characteristics ol'the intelligent grouping moclule. 13y means ol this simulation, optimum parameter valLIes can be cletel-mined before setting up a real taxibLIs service. - 60

Subsequent to computer simulation tests ol' the taxibus, the next step would be to implement a taxibus SCI'ViCC on a small scale. '['his might best be accomplished in a city of less than halt'.t million inhabitants, wherein a relatively modest tieet ol' taxibus vehicles can cover the whole town. It is very important to implement a saturation level ot'taxibus vehicles in any test. Saturation level is tlef'ined as the minimum taxibils vehicle density that Call consistently provide a three minute response time to journey requests. IJ'the taxibLIs density is below the saturation level, then the average response time to passenger journey requests becomes longer.

Slow response times will put people ot't'using the taxibus: nol:'otly is going to tind the taxibils qLIicic and el'licient if it takes 2() minutes l'or the vehicle to arrive. Thus this invcotion must be t-estetl at sattiration capacity in orUcr to investigate how the general public talce to the taxibLIs.

A small scale test is even possible in large cities. '['his is achieved by providing a station level, 24 hour taxil:'us fleet to a particLIlar suburb in the city. Just a few huncired taxibLIs vehicles will be needed l-'or saturation coverage. 'lravel on these taxibilses would be restricted to journeys within the seiecterl subLlIban area, anti joul- neys f'rom the suburban area to the city centre and back. 'these limited transport options will not be able to accommodate all the travel demands ol' these people, but shoLIkl encompass a good percentage of their normal journeys enoLIgh to make the test meaningtLIl.

Small scale testing in a large city may also lee achieved by confining the taxibuses to the central area. The central 1,onclon region, lor example, bounded by the Inner Ring Road covers just eigilt square miles. A {feet of 2()0 vehicles constrained to this zone would vieltl a density of 25 taxibuses per square mile, which shoLIld be - . suttclent.

Note that the vehicles used for testing need not be specially designed Ol purchasecl.

I,aige cars anti minibuses can be employed. For testing purposes, the only essential modifications required are the tatting of a communicatol- device on the clashboard, anti the displaying ol'a vehicle identification number (or name) on the outside of the taxibus. I lowever, if-the buciget- is available, a fleet of' new, purpose-built vehicles will obviously make a better impression on the public.

7.15 - Including Regular Taxi Cabs into this Invention Regular taxi cabs are readily inclucletl in this invention, and there are two ways a taxi driver can benefit. In the first, the taxi drivel uses this invention just to act]LIile customers, in a manner similar to the existing Radio taxi' passenger procurement system. In this mode ol'opelation, when a passenger makes a jOUI ney request, his communicator device, in addition to detailing the currently availal:>le taxibus and Cal pool travel options in the passenger's vicinity, will also detail the taxi cab options available. Should the passenger select a taxi cab option, the controlling computer system will res;concl accorclingl,y: the journey request will be detailecl on the selected taxi ciriver's COmmLInicatOl clevicc, anti if the taxi drivel accepts the joLlIney reqtIcst, the controlling computer system will guide him to the passenger, just as it does with - 61 _ car pool drivers (this was described in section 7.4). This taxi mode of operation is not strictly speaking an application of this invention since it cioes not follow the principle of'inteiligenl grouping; nevertheless this taxi motie can easily be provided 1 the controlling computer system, and will be helpful for both taxi drivers and their passengers.

I'he second way a taxi driver can benefit Prom this invention is to operate his vehicle as a taxibus. In this taxibus mode oi'operation, the passenger fares charged will be lower - being pricetl similar to car pool laces; however the taxi driver will be conveying perhaps three or four disparate passengers at once, so their concull-ently metered t'ares will add up to an amount which is comparable to a normal taxi tare. It is entirely up to the taxi driver how he wants to operate: he can t'Llnction in taxi cab motle or in taxibus mocie. 'I'he mode of operas-ion can be switched at any time; the taxi driver would select the motle in order to maximise his business and profit.

Even if taxi drivers prel'el to remain as regtilar cabs, operating only in taxi cab mocle, it is anticipated that this invention will deliver taxi drivers more custom.

Many prospective passengers using this invention will want to take the first and fastest transport Option available: this will always be the taxi cab. Why'' E3ecaLlse with taxibus or car pool travel there are two requirements to satisfy: the transit vehicle must be in proximity to the passenger ant) the vehicle must have itinerary commitments compatible to the passenger's itinerary. With the taxi cab there is only one constraint to satisfy: proximity. rl'hus a taxi cab vehicle will generally be the First vailabie. and because it does not pick up other passengers en route, it will generally be the fastest availahie. I;or these reasons it is believed that this invention will deliver more business to taxi cabs. Whether the taxi driver's lee is paid automatically into his systemadministel-ed monetary account, or paitl in cash within the cab, is a question that needs t'ulther consideration.

One advantage this invention ot't'ers the taxi driver is the ability to accept or clecline incoming journey requests on the basis of the passenger's specified itinerary - this itinerary will always the detailed on the taxi driver's communicator clevicc. This is usef'Lll when the taxi driver is finishing his working day and is about to return home: in these circumstances he can seicct a passenger with a destination close to his home, and thus conveniently include one more tare bel'ore he ends his shift.

For mini cab drivers too, this invention holds promise. Instead of illegally soliciting business on the streets, mini cab drivers might find it much more rewarding to work as a proi'essional taxibus driver. 'l'hoLIgh many mini cab drivers often have a less than complete knowledge ot'the road layouts, this does not present a problem since taxibils drivers just need to Follow the electronic street navigation directions cietailed on the vehicle communicator- device.

- 62 _ 7.16 - Including Existing Modes of Public Transport Most of' the clii'liculties and time wasted using existing modes of public transport ar ise From the trips to and l'rorn the transport departure and err ival points (train Stat;OnS, bLIS stops, and so t'orth). It is anticipated that just by introducing a taxibus SCIV;CC - which can cheaply and el'ficiently provide these trips - the general public will start to make better use ot'existing public transport, especially the railways, which other f'ast long distance travel.

However, it is thought that in the long term, existing pLIblic transport modes such as bilS, train, tram, coach and metro may also be inclutlecl in the controlling computer- system of this invention. These existing modes ol' transport are not strictly speaking an application of this invention, since they are fixed route rat-her than adaptivel.y- r outed transport vehicles. Nevertheless these existing public transport modes can be advantageously incorporated into the contiolling computer system ol'this invention, and in this section we outline how this can ice done.

In order to operate with existing pLIblic transport, the controlling computer system of'tl1is invention must have real-time Icnowiedge of' the current location, routing, anti destination ol\Ill participating publictra.nspoIt vehicles (this may require the installation ol'commL'nicator devices in each transport vehicle, ancl/or linking up to any computer systems that help control these transport vehicles). With this information available, when a traveller submits a journey request, the controlling compLIter system ol'tl1is invention will be able to provide the traveller with details of the val iOLIS trans,oort options that enable the traveller to get to his desired destination; the controlling computer system will detail these various transport possibilities on the traveller's communicator device.

I'ixed-route transport vehicles such as bLIs, train, tram, coach and metro cannot divert in ogler to pick up or Atop ol'l'passengers; so il'a passenger opts to travel by these modes of'transport, he will be provided with a walking route to the appropriate bus stop or train station. I'asseogers using a roadside kiosk communicator device will be shown a map of this walking route on the kiosk screen, and passengers that have a portable electronic positioning communicator device (such as a cellular phone) equipped with electronic positioning will be given electronic street navigation directions in real time as they walk to the station ol bus stop. On arrival at the station or bus stop, the controlling compilter system will inform the passenger what ticket to buy, an:l which transport vehicle to tilde. 'I'he controlling computer system will also inl'orm the passenger at what point he or she must alight from the vehicle. I,assengel s carrying their own electronic positioning communicator device will even be prompted to alight prom their transport vehicle just before their destination station or bus stop comes up (provitlec3, of course, their COrnmuniCatol device is within range ol'a signal). Al'ter alighting, Further walking directions t'rol11 t}liS disembarkation point to the destination address are available on the passenger Is communicator crevice, if needled.

Note that the taxibus and car pooling configurations ot'this invention operate by means of a scit-containcd Completer system which r uns entirely independently, without any interlace to the sol'twarc systcins oftexisting transport systems. - 6.3

However if'existing transport modes are included, this adds considerable complexity, since the controlling computer system ol' this invention will need to intert'ace with the computer systems of these various l'orrns oft existing public transport. For this reason, it is thought that the integration ol'existing transport modes into the controlling computer. system should be def'el-red, and not Corm part of the immediate implementation ot'this invention. In the long term, however, such an integration of transport modes will be enormotisly convenient to travellers, as the next section describes.

7.17 - An Integrated Multi-Modal Transport System Should existing public transport modes such as btlS, train, tram, coacl1 and metro he incorpolatec-l as described above in section 7.16, then the controlling computer system ot'this invention will become an incredibly flexible transportation nerve centre, yet one whicl1 anyone can access using a communicator device such as a cellular telephone.

Once existing public travel modes are integrated into this controlling computer system, prospective passengers will have a comprehensive range of travel possibilities instantly at their disposal. I4or example, consider a passenger in London wishing to travel From Kensington to Islington. I laving submitted his journey request to the controlling computer, the passenger might have the l'ollowing travel options exhibited on his communicator device: FROM: 263 Kensington High Street W8 6NA TC): 116 Upper Street Nl IAN Transport Wait Journey Cost ú Arrival Taxibus 2? mins 32 mins 1.05 11:34 am Car Pool 4 mins 25 mins 4'S0 11:29 am Bus ()+1 min walk 56 mins, 2 legs 2 ()() 1 1:57 am Underground 6+7 min walk 30 mins, 2 legs 1 60 11:43 am TaxiCab 1 min 24mins 1400 11:25am Time Now: 1 1:00 am Passengers: I Distance: 7 miles I'hese detailed travel options are l:,asecl on the passenger's CUI rent location, his desired destination, and the current availability of'transtyort vehicles in his vicinity.

These options cietail the estimated wait before the transport reaches the passenger, the estimated journey time, the cost ol' the jOUI ney, and the estimated time of\rrival at the destination. For taxibus, car pool and taxi cab modes ol'transport, the [Wait' estimates the time it will take t'OI'tile vehicle to get to the passengeI (in this example the taxibus is estimated al Iwo minutes away). For bus and UnclergrouncJ modes, the 'Waitl estimates the time it will take for the passenger to walk to the transport (in this example the Unclergroulid station is 6 minuses' walk away, and at the other end of'tile journey, theIe is a 7 minute walk From the Underground station to the final destination).

All travel options shown on the Communicator rleviee are available to the passenger.

Should he select one, the ec>ntrolling Computer system will proceed with that Choice, either organizing a transport vehicle to collect him, al guiding the passenger tc> walk Lo the transport embarkation point. In C. ll' pooling, note that vehicle availability is unconfirmec3 until the driver accepts the lare: when a passenger selects Cal pooling, the passengeris journey request is sent to the ear rlriver, who may or may not accept it; il'he does not aeeept, the controlling eompLIter system will try tc> find another ear pool vehicle lor the passenger-. The same uneontirmed status applies to taxi Cabs too, since the Controlling eomputer.system gives taxi rlrivers the Choice ol'aeeepting or cleelining passenger journey recontests. In reality, taxi drivers will generally accept passenger journey requests beealise these drivers earn their living from providing carriage.

As the figures indicate, carriage by Cal' p(>c>l is more expensive than travel by taxibus. This is because ariequate remilneiation is needed to provide an incentive t'or ear pc>c>l drivers to> Carry passenger s, ancl also because Cal' pooling is genel ally quiekel- than the taxibLIs: ear pool vehicles Carry tower passengers (usually just one Or twc>) so there are fewer pick-lips and drc>p-offs en route.

Hike the taxibus, the east of a ear pool trip is ealeulatecl aeeording to the distance travelled. However a seec>nc-1 costing laster is also acic3ed to the ear pool pricing equation, this t'aetor based on the additional time the driver spencis in picking up and ciropping c>l'l'his passenger. 'l'hc additional time is Called the diversion times. 11' the diversion time is large, the passenger tare will increase eorrespc> nclingly in order to l-airly remunerate the driver t'or his trouble. Because ol' this diversion time tarter, shortel- ear pool journeys c> t'ten have a higher cost per mile compared tc> the tlxibus.

I lowever long ear pool journeys Can be relatively inexpensive, approaeiling taxil>us Ares, because, t'or these Iengthiel trips, the cliversic>n time laetor will generally be less signil'ieant than the distanee-travellecl laetor.

With the controlling computer system having real-time knowledge ot'the current Ic>eatic>n, routing, and clestination ot'all participating public transport vehicles, it is possil>le to program the Controlling ec>mputer system to respond to a travelleris jc>urney request in a dynamic and tiexibie way, employing the most suitable travel captions available at the time, and splitting a travelleris journey actress dit't'erent transport modes il this Can expedite the trip (see section 9.2 tc>r split jOLII neys) I4OT example: a traveller may submit a journey request speeilying that she wishes tc> tl'aVel as rapidly as possible Irom a suburban adciress in ['nclon to an c>ltiee in eential Loncic>n during the morning rush hours. 'I'he controlling computer system ealeLIlates that the quickest way c>l'getting tc> central London at that time is by Unclergrc>unc3, and thils al ranges {'car a taxibus t-o Collect the traveller from her addiess and droF> her ol'l'at the appropriate Underground station, where she will Catch a train into l,onclon. -

7.1 cS - Greenhouse Gas F,missions - Can the Taxibus Save the Planet? Although global warming studies are Controversial, most predict that manmade emissions ol'greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxicie will cause an increase in average global tempera/tires, and this in turn will precipitate more extreme weather phenomena such as t1ash t100cling and hurricanes.

Transportation is a major source of'greenhouse gases, accounting f'or as much as 33/ of a nationis carbon dioxide emissions. What impact Can this invention have in CUttilig this greenhouse gas Otitptit'' The taxibus has great potential t'or reclueing greenhouse gas emissions. Lo elucidate this potential, let us again take Greater London as our example. Assuming that the average taxiLtis holcis 8 passengers during the rush hotirs, and given that the typical occupancy of' a ear is 1.4 travellel-s, this equates to each taxicbtis vehicle having the capability o{' removing about 6 ears f'rom the roof (since. 1.4 is roughly 6).

This analysis thtis suggests that in major cities, for every 10 thousand taxiLtis vehicles introUtieell, up to 6() thousand ears Can be removed From tile roacis - if' Cal' cilivels Can be persuaclecJ to travel by taxibus. In terms of greenhouse gases, this equates to 60 thousand carbon cJioxicle emitting engines being reclueed to just 1 () thousand (or rcUticocl to zero if the taxiLtises are powered by hydrogen t'uel). There are arotincl a quarter of a million vehicles on the roads at any one time in Greater London, the majority of'these are private ears; therefore, introIfueing a Goriest fleet ot'just 20 thousand taxiLtis vehicles could in theory remove 100 thousand private ears Prom Lontfonis roatis - this roughly translates to a twofold reduction in road traf'fie. By dotibling the size of'this taxiLtis ticet, an incredible foIlit'oltf reduction in traf'fie Can be aehievecl. Would this traf'fie reduction manifest in reality, though? Turning theory into reality means enticing ear cIrivers to leave their ears at home and travel by taxibus. Considelable efforts should be macle to make taxibtis travel as attl'aCtiVe as possible in order to seclude people away From their ears. I-lowever, should global warming, air pollution anti tra{'fie congestion start to become really eritie.l.l problems, then more Coercive means of'getting ear drivers to switch to the taxibus may be necessary. Such means may include running persuasive advertising campaigns, increasing road and f'uel tax, providing corporate tax incentives t'Ol' companies that champion taxibus usage, and so Forth. It is believed that once the public have got into the habit ot'travelling by taxibus, the ear will be Considered as a little bit eitimsy. Eventually no-one will want to return to their old driving habits, especially when they see how traf'fie-{'ree the roacis have become.

Note: introcitieing a taxit:,us fleet might initially /;7C/'ttat1, the number of vehicles on the roacis, because to start with, the taxiLtis may attract bus passengers rather than car cirivers (the taxibtis being viewed as a superior type of' bus) and since taxibuses generally have smaller passenger capacities than buses, there may be a net- increase in vehicles on the roacis. I lowevel, even if'the taxibus Reot were to entirely replace the t)us service, this net increase in vehieies wotilcl be small: each clay in Greater l,oncloll there are 4 million passenger journeys provided by a fleet ot'6 t.housa.ncl buses; in orclel to accommodate these bus passengers a {1CLt of around 10 thousand _ 66 taxibus vehicles would be necessary (see section 7.1 1), equating to a net increase of 4 thousand vehicles. This is an insignificant number eomparett to the quarter million or so vehicles on the roads in Greater lontlon at any one time; and once this surpitis of'eonverts' I'rom buses ancl other public transport are aecommoclatecl, the taxibus fleet can begin its job of'ctitting the number of' ears on the roacis.

Altogether, it is believed that the taxibus, plus the ear pooling eonf'iguration of this invention, will have tremendous impact in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, espeeiall.y if this invention is implemented in thousands ol'eities around the woricl.

Indeet3, world-wide implementation is the ultimate goal for this invention, and this prospect is much more feasible than one might initially think. although this invention comprises a sophisticated transport system run by computer and communications technology, the beauty ol'this system is that all its intelligence and complexity is contained within the controlling computer sol'tware rather than in transportation hardware. G,mparecl to the complex and costly physical inl'rastiuetures ot'railway and undeigiotincl railway transport- networks, for example, the physical infrastructure and hardware ol' this invention is very basic: it comprises just vehicles anal roacls.

Since the ntieletis ol' this invention is clata-plocessing, once the software is written, it becomes easy to implement around the woricl. Most countries already have the requirecl cellular networks, and all countries are covered by satellite electronic positioning. With these inl'rastrtietures already in place, the computer software that runs this invention can be installed virtually anywhere. In developing eolintries, even old and existing transport vehicles can be used as tclxibilses, just by l'ixing an inexpensive eommunicatol- device on the dashboard in front ol'Irie driver. This invention is therefore very 'thircl Wol Id t'riendly' and will operate with equal et't'ieaey in London or Mexico City. Indeed the developing world's heavily polluted and tral'f'ic congested cities stand to benef-'it the most from this invention.

Once the initial writing ot'the software that rtins this invention is complete, this invention can become the global solution to tral'lic congestion, parking congestion, noise pollution, toxic air pollution and climate instability; this invention will provitte reliable rapid transport, improved business el'l'ieieney, better health, anct It greatly enrieilecl Duality of life around the world.

- 67 - 8 - SECOND EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A second embodiment of tile invention will now be described with reference to figures 5 and 7 in the accompanying drawings. In this ernbocliment, the controlling computer system 15 is decontralised and all data-processing is performed by computer processors located within, or directly connected to, transit vehicle communicator crevices 20. In this embodiment, p.tssenger communicator crevices 17 and 13 also have some basic computer-processing capability.

In this ernbodimeilt, the data transmission.system 16 comprises a radio transmission system, Ol alternatively, a cellular telephone netwol k, and is used to provide a two- way data exchange betwocn the communicator devices 17 and 13 ol'tile travellers 19 and the communicator crevices 2() of'the transit vehicles 21 in which the computer processors of' t he control li ng computer. systern reside.

* The electronic positioning system 22 in this embodiment is a satellite positioning system such as the American Gi'S (Global Positioning System), the broadcast positioning signal of which is receive1I by (UPS receivers contained in the vehicle communicator- devices (anal optionally in passenger communicator crevices). These (UPS receivers pass on this positioning data to the computer processor in the commlInicatol crevice. Note: this embodiment may alternatively operate with one or more of' the electronic positioning systems described in section 9.22.

In this embodiment, the electronic street navigation module will function in a similar mannel- to the existing in-car satellite navigation systems now commonplace in cars: that is to Say, it will USC electronic positioning data to determine the current location ot'the transit vehicle, and by means of'a digitised street layout map, will provide the vehicle ciriver with real-time navigation instructions based on this current location, In order to guide the driver along a given itinerary.

13.1 - Computer Data-Procexsing Operations Figure 7 shows transit vehicles 21 whose communicator devices 20 contain computel processors labelled 1 5a, 1 5b and 1 5c. These CompLIter processors r un independently of' each otilel, bLIt perform the same data-processing taslcs.

I'he ciata-pl ocessing perl'ormec3 by each computer processor is VCIy similar to that already describet3 in section 7.1 of'the plef'erred embodiment ot'this invention, except I'or the Following dit'tterences: In each transit vehicle computer processor, the transit vehicle current itineraries latabase contains only the transit vehicle record relating to that particular transit vehicle.

In each transit vehicle compLIter plocessol-, the journey recluest database only contains the jour nay request records of' the travellel-s currently conveyecl in that particular transit vehicle, and the journey reclLlest recorcis ot'the travellers which - 68 that transit vehicle is committed to picking up (in other words, journey request recoicis relating to the itinerary commitments of that transit vehicle). Furthermore, this jOtil ney request database will only contain jOUl ney reqtlesl records ol'cla.ss A, B and C, that is to say, journey requests f'or immerliate travel (pre-orcier anti regular order journey requests are instead stored within the travelleris communicatol- clevice, and simply executerf and transmitted lay that communicator device at the date anti time that the journey is requited).

S.2 - Broadcasting to Transit Vehicles in the Traveller's Local Area In this emboclimenl, the operation of' the usel- interface on passenger communicatol- devices and car pool rlriver communicator devices is just as the seqtlence of events described in section 7.3 ot'tl1e preferred embocliment.

When a prospective traveller 19 submits the journey request formulated on commtinicatol device l 7, the journey request data is clirectly broadcast by this commtinicatol crevice over the data transmission system 16, and is received by the communicatol- devices 20 in transit vehicles 21 in the local area surrounding the traveller (the jOUI ney request is received lay transit vehicles that are within range of the signal broadcast t-'rcm the traveller's communicator device). The received jOUI ney request Clara is passed on to the computer processors (labellerf 15a, 15b, and 1 5c in l'igtlIe 7) in the communicator- devices 20 of' the said transit vehicles.

Each transit vehicle comptiler processor will calculate whether the vehicle has itinerary commitments compatible to the itinerary specified in the travelleris journey request. This calculation is performed lay an intelligent grouping module r un on the transit vehicieis computer processor; the result ol'this calculation is a Compatibility Index valtle (plus, of course, the corresponding optimal transit route) measuring the compatibility of'the lraveller itinerary to tl1e transit vehiclels current itinerary commitments. If'tl1is Compatibility Index is too large, it indicates insul'l'lcient compatibility, a.ncl in this case tl1e travelleris journey request is simply ignorecl.

When this Compatibility Index is small (say Ludlow 1.6) it indicates that there is good compatibility between the traveller itinerary and the transit vehicieis itinerary commitments. In this case, the transit vehiclels commilnica.tor device will respond by transmitting back to the travelleris communicator device (via the data transmission system) data regarding the estimated time it would take t'or the transit.

vehicle to arrive at the travelleris pick-up point, the estimated journey time aboard the transit vehicle to the traveller's rlestinalion, and the calculated passenger tare cost of'this journey.

All tiansit vehicles that receive the traveileris broa<.lcast journey request will respond in this vvay when their computer processors calculate that. there is good compatibility between the traveiler's desired itinerary anti the vehicieis itinerary commitments. The vehicle drivers themselves ale not involved or aware of'this plOCCSS; the comptiter processor in each transit vehicle Foes this calctila.tion atitoinatically. 'I'he travelleris communicator tIevice collates the responses Prom the transit vehicles that: receive:! the broadcast journey request-, and then rfetails these - 69 responses to the traveller. Based on these details, the traveller selects the most suitable transit vehicle in orcler to proceed with his jour ney.

Usually, the prospective traveller will select the transit vehicle that can most quickly arrive to collect him from his pick-up point, or the transit vehicle that can most rapidly deliver him to his clestination.

Note: an alternative approach is to arrange for the eomptiter processor in the travelleris eommunie.ltol tieviee to automatically pre-seleet the quickest transit vehieies, and only detail these transit vehicle options to the traveller.

Oncc the traveller selects a particular transit vehicle from the vchieie options detailecl on his eornmilrlieator device, the traveller's communicator device transmits his choice (over the data transmission system) to the appropr late transit vehicle.

It'the vehicle selected was a lax jI)LIS' the computer processor of' this taxibus will update the current itinerary ol'tile transit vehicle (in the transit vehicle current itinel-al ies database) to the alreadyealeulatecl new optimal transit route which incorporates the travelleris itinerary. The electronic street navigation module in the computer processor ol this taxibus will then provide the appropriate electronic street navigation instructions to the taxilJtis driver to direct him along this optimal transit route, thereby routing the taxibus to pick up awl convey the traveller.

If the transit vehicle seieeted was a car E'o<yl vehicle, the cornptiter pi oeessor of this vehicle will Gil st detail the desired journey request to the ear tiriver on the vehielels communicator device. Remember in car pooling, the vehicle driver must l-c given the option to accept or decline any journey request. Should the driver accept this journey request (by pressing an appropriate key or button on his communicator device), this acceptance response will be transmitter! (ovel- the data transmission system) back to the travellel-'s eoinmunieator device in artier to inform the traveller The computer processor in the car pool vehicle will then run an intelligent grouping rnocitile to devise an optimal transit route which incorporates the travellel's itinerary into the itinerary ol'the vehicle. 'I'he electronic street navigation motiule in the car pool vehicle's computer processor will then provide the appropriate electronic street navigation instructions to the car drivel- to direct him along this optimal transit route, thel-eby routing the ear pool vehicle nitpick up and eonve.y the traveller.

Note: a sligilt variation on the above-cieselibed embodiment has a eomptiter processor incorporated into the traveller's communicator device to perform the itinerary-compatibility ealcLllation. Another variation on the above-dcscribetl embodiment has the itinerary compatibility calculations performed partly on the traveller's comptiter processor, and partly on the vehicle's computer processor. In tact it does not really matter where the computer processing is performed; the principal Characteristic of't:his embodiment ol' the invention is that there is no central controlling computer system; all computational tasks are performed localiv rather than centrally. One advantage ol' this cleccntralised configuration is robustness: in the first embodiment ot'thc invention, should the central controlling computer system and its backup systems fail ltor any reason, then the whole transportation system ol' this invention would loll into lisarra.y. In this dccontraliscd _ 70 embodiment, any computer failure remains isolated and Concerns only the traveller 01' transit vehicle whose computer equipment has broken down.

Note: in section 7.16 above we explained how the controlling computer system of' the preterrerf emioclimcnt of this invention could include existing public transport modes (although such fixecl-route transport is not, strictly speaking, an application ot'this invention). 'I'his present embodiment of' the invention Can also work with existing public transport vehicles such as buses, trains or trams, if'they are tittecl with communicator devices and computer processors. When a prospective passenger broacJeasts his journey request (over the data transmission system), ftixerl- rolite transpol t vehicles in the ViCillity of' the passenger will receive his broacieast jOUI ney request, antf their computer processors will Calculate whether the passenger's journey request is compatible with the itinerary of' the transpor t vehicle.

It'il is not eompatibie, the journey request is ignorecl. When there is compatibility, tile transport vehicle eommLInieator cleviee will transmit data (over the cIata transmission system) back to the passenger Communicator rleviee describing the travel possibilities of'that transpol t vehicle (data that includes details of' how lo get to an appropriate embarkation point such as a bus stop in order to board the vehicle). 'I'his transport option is then cletailerf on the passenger's communicator cIeviee, and shoLIlrl the the passenger select this option, his eommLInic,ltor device will provide directions to guide him to the embarkation point.

It woLIlcl also be possible to ineorpolale ftixecl-loeation eommuniealol devices in the embarkation points (6L1S stops and train stations) rathelthan in transport vehicles: each embarkation-point Communicator device would respond to a passenger's broadcast journey request ilk suitable transpol t option is available at that point.

c3.3 - Semi-Direct Radio Transmission We have seen that, in this embodiment of' the invention, there is a)I;''Ct transmission of'clala (over the data transmission system) between vehicle and traveiler communicator devices. 'I'his contrasts to the f'irsl embodiment of'the invention, in which there is only an indirect transmission of'fata between vehicle and passenger Communicator televises, since in the first embodiment, all transmitted clata is meclialecl via the central Controlling computer system.

In this second emlocliment. it is feasible and advantageous to use aJemif)/cl radio transmission between traveller and vehieie ec>mmunieator devices. This somi-direet transmission would be performed by a cellular telephone network. 'I'he usefulness of' this approach is that it allows travellers to use their regular cellular telephone AS a Communicator device, which is very convenient. I ransit vehicle communicator cIeviees woLIlcl also operate by means of a cellular crevice.

A semi-direct cellular tclepilone data transmission system would operate as follows: when a prospective travellel makes a journey request using his Cellular telephone or wireless ADA, the eelluial network Ceil that received the journey recluest rlata from the tr.lvellel would re-broac-le, lsl his journey recillesl in that networic cell's local area - 71 (this cell might also pass on the data to the ad jacent network ceils for re-broatIcast as well). 'I'his re-broadcast is performed in ol-dcr to contact all transit vehicles in the vicinity ol'thc traveller: the communicator devices in such transit vchicies wotild pick up this ccilular re-broallcast. Setting tip SLIch a semi-direct cloth transmission system would rctiuire the co-operation of the ccilular tciepIlone companies, but tcchnica.lly it wotild be rcasonalyly easy to do.

Note: this second ernbolliment: ot'thc invention could serve well as a baCktlp 01' ancillary system to the central controlling computer system dcscril:,ed in the first embodiment. 'I'his would be particular ly valuable f'or large taxibus fleets, to ensure that they continue to operate in the event of' a central computer failtire Each taxiLtis watild be equipped with an on-boarcl computes that functions under the controlof'the central controlling comput:cr.system, but which also hats the capacity to work autonomoLIsly shouirf the central computer fail. This onboard computer could also help handle rotitine tasks such as providing electronic street navigation Elections and navigation maps to the vehicle driver, thus decreasing the central computes ciata-processing buiclen. I laving the on-board computer a.titonomotisly manage certain tasks is also uscfill in situations when contact between the central controlling computer system and the vehicle is momcnt-arily lost (when the vehicle enters a long tunnel for example).

8.4 - Mesh Networks 011C communications technology flier data communications and ccilular telephony that may be introduced in the f'uttire is called a 'mesh network'. Mesh networks comprise countless short-range wireless transceivers that link to each other by radio to Form a co-operating web of data transceiver nodes. Mesh networ ks are superior to the thirf- generation ccilular- networks that ale currently being introduced, and may also alleviate concerns over the efl'ect of'cellula.r telephone microwave ra.cliation on human health, since cquipmelit connectet:l to a mesh network broadcasts its rarlio signals at a Lucia lowel- power than conventional ccilular equipment. Such low power is f'easibic because mesh networks arc formed From a web of locally-situate-f transceiver nodes, and each node can broadcast a very low power signal yet still contact its ncighbotirs. Ccilulal phones, wireless PDAs, computers, and so forth which are eqtlippcd with an appropriate transceiver can automatically join and self-'- configure to the local mesh network, and in abolition, act to further extend the mesh (this is how mesh networks grow automatically). Even equipment. on the move Such as cellular phones carried in vehicles, ca.n self configure on- the-f1y into the local mesh network that the ccilulal- phone is passing through. Mesh networks ale an ideal data transmission system in both the central controlling computer cmborliment of'tilis invention, anti in this decontraliscd controlling computer embodiment. In the deccntralisef setup in particular, mesh networks will allow goon communication l:'etwcen prospective travellcrs and the vehicles in the local area. Fulthermol-e, as we shall see in section 9.2, mesh networks can be used to help increase the electronic positioning system's accuracy anti coverage. - 72

9 - FURTHER ASPECTS OF THE EMBODIMENTS Chaptel 9 Forms part ol'the description of' the two embodiments above; the sections in this chapter include miscellaneous aspects that are common to both embodiments.

9.1 - The Intelligent Grouping Module lathe intelligent grotiping module is really the operational nucleus of'this invention.

This module will comprise a comptitel algorithm or heuristic that implements the process of'inteiligent grotiping definecl in section 5.7. Within the scope of this det-;nition, there are many ways in which the intelligent grouping module can he mathematically crafted ancl programmed.

What tallows is a general ancl somewhat intuitively-pitciled description of' certain desirable features that the intelligent grouping module might incorporate, and how this int-eiligent grotiping module might handle certain important specific situations.

First of all, it must be uncterstoocl that the intelligent grouping module will be performing an enormous amount of computational work during the normal operation of this invention. Conseqtlently, it is crucially important to ensure that the mathematical programming of the intelligent grouping module is as cornptitationally efficient as possible. In paltictilar, the intelligent grotiping motitile should he able to make rough estimates of itinerary compatibility with minimal computational effort: such an ability will enable the intelligent grouping module to rapidly scan For good itinerary matches, and only when a Few good matches have been f'ouncl would a more accurate itinerary compatibility calculation be applied to these good matches, in order to arrive at a precise Compatibility Inbox value, and in order to devise optilnal transit rotltes.

The intelligent grouping module always seeks to produce the best intelligent groriping possible, ideally finding a transit vehicle that can incorporate a traveller's itinerary without: adding any extra Lime costs /,a'ae/ to the itineraries of the other travellel s abotilcl. This ideal solution will of'ten be possible: as anyone who strives a car knows, between ally two locations there al-e usually several Alternative routes that are more or less equally time ef'ficient. 'I'htis when faced with a new traveller journey request, the intelligent grouping module will first check if there are any transit vehicles that can accommodate the traveller simply by switching the vehicle to an alter native route; such a transit vehicle could convey the new traveiler without incurring any delay to the journeys of'existing on-bcrard travellel-s. (Note that the process ot'inteiligent grouping ciescribecl in section 5.7 automatically achieves this.) This is the ideal case: new traveller-s ale accommodated by an intelligent choice of' route, ancl no time is wasted. [-lowever this perfect situation will not always present itself, ancl in general there will be a time cost for picking Llp ancl transporting new passerigels. The intelligent grotiping module decicles whether this extra time cost is acceptable 01' not, ancl this decision, though handled automatically, is careftilly weighted up. A huge diversion with a large time cost to pick up just one single - 73 _ passenger must be balanced h, y the inconvenience caused to the other travellers already on board the transit vehicle (anti again the process of intelligent grouping ctescribecl in section 'S.7 automatically seeks this balance). 'J'he intelligent grouping module will need to be carefully fine-tunecl in order to get this balance right, so as to maximise overall transportation efficiency.

I'he overall pell'ormalice ol'the transit vehicle fleet is a key consideration: balancing the demands of'routing efficiency against the need to pack as many travellers as possible into each transit vehicle. It must be untierstoocl that these two dil'l'erent demands can be in conflict, bL't may also be in harmony. The intelligent grouping module aims f'or harmony: it tries Kim place travellers with highly compatible itineraries into the same transit vehicle, so that goocl routing speed and ef'ficiencv ale attained, even though many travellers are simultaneously transpoltett. Itinerary compatibility typically OCCUIS when the embarkation and ctisombalkation points tar all traveilers are reasonably aligned on a direct path, thus satist2ying both the need for routing efficiency anct the need to convey a sufficient quantity of travellers.

I'hough complete accord between these two requirements will not always be possible, the intelligent grouping module always aims to achieve it.

In terms of the Compatibility Index and the li2I'liciency Ratios defined in section 5.7, good accord between routing efficiency anti passenger packing means having a low value For this Compatibility Index (say less than 1.6), which indicates a good rotating et'liciency, but at the same time having many travellers (say six or more) on board a transit vehicle, which translates to good passenger packing. (Note that it is easy to obtain a low Compatibility Index ttor two or three people, but when we have ot'6 or mole travellers on board, it is not so ca.sy, and will not always be attained).

When good accord between routing et'ticiency and passengel- packing cannot be attained, tile t'OCLIS S}lit'tS to striking a balance between these two demands. This compromise will need to be caret'LIlly weighed up. It is imoortant not to pack on too many travellers, as this may result in an excessively high value t'ol the Compatibility Index ot'the transit vehicle, ant] a value greater than say 1.6 will not make these travellers vely happy because their journeys will be quite elongated. If a new passenger- would increase a transit vehicieis Compatibility Index to an unacceptably higl1 valtle, then it may be better to place that passenger on another transit vehicle, impossible. On the other hand, it is important not to leave a passenger stranctecl: it' there is only one transit vehicle currently in the vicinity ol a new passenger, even thoug} 1 that transit vehicle wotild need to run a significant diversion to pick him up, it may be necessary to thus divert the vehicle in orUel- not to leave this passenger waiting an unacceptably long time before the next suitable transit vehicle arrives.

These sorts of situations will typically occur in the small hours o{ the night, or in smaller towns or rural areas, where there may not be so many transit vehicles available. [during the clay, and in major cities, there will be numeroLIs transit vehicles, and the intelligent groLIping module will rarely need to be concerned with keeping a passenger waiting.

As well as the routing et't'iciency anct passenger,oacking bal.tnce, there is another important balance that the intelligent grouping module must always take into colisicicration: that between routing citiciency and vehicle proximity. The intelligent _ 74 grotiping module aims to place new passengers in transit vehicles with the highest itinerary compatibility; however it also tries to find a transit vehicle that is in close proximity to the passenger, in orcler to have the transit vehicle arrive for pick up within three minutes of the passenger making the journey request. These two requirements may be in conflict. Thele may, lor example, the a transit vehicle whose existing itinerary commitments can very easily accommo-late the new passenger itinerary, but whose current location is six minus-es away l'rom the passenger; there may, however, be another transit vehicle whose itinerary commitments ale not such a good match, but this vehicle is localed just one minute away from the passenger.

I'he intelligent groliping module must make a balanced choice between keeping the passenger waiting six minutes t'or the more compatible transit vehicle, or placing him on loal-d a transit vehicle within one minus-e, and accepting the compromise in routing et'ticiency (and therefore journey time). This balanced choice will be at'tccted by the passenger's own preferences: as described in section 7.12, each passenger may choose whether the controlling CompLIter system prioritizes transit vehicle speed of response (how quickly a vehicle arrives to pick him up) or transit vehicle speecl of journey (how quickly the passenger is delivered to his destination once aboard the transit vehicle).

Another automatic yet balanced decision the intelligent grouping module must make is whether to convey a passenger on a single transit vehicle, or split a passenger's journey using two or more clif'ferent transit vehicles. Allis is discilssecl in section 9..

rl'here will be many other balances that the intelligent grouping module automatically takes into account. rl'hese various balances may have to be f-'ine-l-tuned on a trial and error basis: adjusting a little, and observing the et'ftect it has on overall transit vehicle fleet performance (this is where a computer simulation of' the transit vehicle fleet becomes very uselill).

L)it'f'erent routing techniques coLIltl be expelimeniecl with to see which best expedites tile overall transportation process. [for example, it is conceivable that the technique ot'localion clustering might speed up certain journeys. Location clustering is the bunching ot'pick-up points and/or tIrop-off points within the same small area. This might work well for suburlan committing, where a transit vehicle will pick Lip passengers trOIll a cluster of homes in a particular suburban region, run all the way into the centre of' town on a main road without stopping, and deliver hose passengers directly to their various places ol'work, these places again clustered in the same locale.

Another technique relates to traveilels that have identical pick-up or drop-off points: il'these travellers also have compatible itineraries, placing them on the same transit vehicle can further increase transit vehicle ef't'iciency, because the vehicle will have less individual pickup or tirop-off points on its route (The process of intelligent grouping clescriLed in section 5.7 will automatically orchestrate this especially il transit vehicle stop time is taken into account in the travel-time metric).

In section 5.7 we saw that for the best results in calculating optimal transit routes, the intelligent grouping morlule must take into account not only the distance along a rolitc, I:,ut also the the speed at which a transit vehicle can traverse the various roads _ 75 that comprise the route. Although such a traffic-speed travel-time metric is more complicated to calculate, it yields many acivant,lges. The Complications come from the need to estimate the speed at which a transit vehicle Can travel on each road.

A simple approach to estimating these speeds assumes that the transit vehicle will travel at the speed limit ol'eaeh road traversed. Another simple approach - which woultl work quite well in traffic congested cities - asstimes that on all rolls, the transit vchicie will travel at the average trat'fic speed for that time of day (ttor example average tralt'ic speeds in suburban London are around 20 mph t'or most of the day) . A more sophisticated approach assumes the transit vehicle travels at the average traffic speed of each pal-tieulal- routs, t'or the p, lrticulal- time of clay, these average trallie speeds being calculated from previously recorded electronic positioning data reeeivoct From transit vehicles in the fleet.

I'he most refined approach would use relil-tl;,l, electronic positioning data receivers Irom the t-r.lnsit vehicles fleet to provide an up-to-themoment analysis of'the current traf'fie speeds on all roacis (see section 9.17 f'or more details). This last app1oaeh is the one reeotnmenclecl, not only because it provides the most accurate estimate ol traffic speeds, but more importantly, because it allows the intelligent grouping module to alltl'nln/lully take any trat'fie jams into account when devising optimal transit routes: il'the CUI rent estimated trat't'ie speed on a particular road is Very slow, then the intelligent grouping module would, by the definition ol' the optimal transit route, tend to avoid routing transit vehicles via that road until the t-rat-'fic situation improves. 'I'his means that the transit vehicles of this invention will tend to preemptivcly avoid traffic jams.

Note that once the intelligent grouping module has grouped travellers in It transit vehicle and has ctevisec3 a optimal transit rotite f'or that vehicle, the task of'direeting the transit vehicle driver along that route is clelegatecl to the electronic street navigation module, which in the two embodiments ol' this invention, operas-es in a similar fashion to in-car satellite navigation systems that are familial to many drivers. With the electronic street navigation module in control, should the vehicle driver want to change course slightly (in order to.IVOiCt a small trat'tic jam f'or example), or should the driver simply make a routing mistake, the electronic street navigation module will adapt to, and eontintle t'rom, his new position and Circumstances (such adaptability and flexibility is one of the uset'ul Features of in-car satellite navigation systems, as any driver that has used one knows).

Howevel should there be, f'or whatever reason, a large change in circumstances such that the transit vehicle gets signil'icantly displaced From the original optimal transit route, then, with respect to this transit vehicle's displaced current position, the original optimal transit route may no longer be the most el'l'ieient way ol' transporting the transit vehieie's passengers. So rather than letting the electronic street navigation module try to adapt to the highly displaced position, instead, the intelligent grouping module will momentarily step in to re- optimise the transit vehicle's route. Al'ter the intelligent grouping moclule has devised a new optimal transit route fol the vehicle, based on its displaced position, the electronic street 1lavig.ltioll lilOdLllC will proceed AS normal' directing the transit vehicle along that - 76 new optimal transit route.

I'his route re-optimisation would be set to kick-in automatically whenever a transit vehicle becomes signit'icantly displaced From its intencied route. Thus, provided a transit vehicle keeps close to the optimal transit route originally devised by the intelligent grouping module, transit vehicle navigation will remain under control of the electronic street navigation moclule; but should a transit vehicle, f'or whatever reason, significantly deviate from this optimal transit route, this will trigger the intelligent grouping module to step in and re- optimise that transit vehicle's route.

Such re-optimisalion may mean, t-or example, that the transit vehicle will be given a ntw path to Follow, and may also mean that it will be instructeci to pick up and drop of'l'its passengers in a dil'l'erelit sequence. Re-oplimisation might also entail that one or more passenger pick-ups planned t'or that transit vehicle are now cancellecl, with those waiting passengers now collected by another transit vehicle, the intelligent grouping module having calcLllatecl that, uncier the present circumstances, this is the most et't'icient way to convey them.

Re-optimisation would also be set to trigger in other significant circumstances, such as when a transit vehicle gets delayocl t'or a long time clue to heavy tragic, or when the traffic congestion conditions (as determined by the real-time trat't'ic speeds module described in section 3.17) have significantly detericyr-atecl ahead along the current optimal transit route of' the transit vehicle, now making that route less than opt imal.

This complex juggling of circumstances is pertoImed automatically in order to maximise the overall speed and efficiency ot'the transit vehicle fleet; transit vehicle drivel s thernseives are not involvecI (or aware of) this process. It- is the controlling computer.system that sweats; the transit vehicle drivers merely f'ollow the resulting navigational instructions shown on their vehicle commL'niCatOl cievice.

In summary: this section has consitlerecl some desirable Features that the intelligent grouping motiule might have. However this is nol an exhaustive survey' and f'urtiler pert'ormance-enilancing features may be adciecl. 'lithe beauty of' this invention is that when performance improvements are made to the intelligent grouping module, these instantly alter the operation ot'the whole transit vehicle fleet. It is anticipated that the mathematical operation of the intelligent groping module will be pertectecl over a period ot'manyyears. I',ach city in the world that implements this invention can employ mathematicians and sot'twale engineers to try to further increase the transportation efficiency of the intelligent grouping module: the "real virtue of this invention is that any new pel-l'ormance-eohancing features devised can be easily impiementecl in other cities, just as a software upgrade. _ 77

9.2 - Split Journeys Split journey are an optional aciclition to the basic functionality of the intelligent grouping module. Should this functionality be included, then when the intelligent grouping module cannot find a suitable transit vehicle for a given passenger itinerary, the module may divide the passenger's journey into two (or mole) legs utilising whatever transit vehicles are available at the time.

In such a split journey, the cons-rolling computer system will arrange l'or one transit vehicle to picic Lip the passenger and convey him along part of his itinerary, alter whicl1 the passenger will be set down at a convenient tianst'er point, from where a second transit vehicle will collect him for the second leg ol'his journey to his clestination.

The controlling completer system will actually be searching for the second transit vehicle whilst the passenger is still travelling on the thirst, thus on most occasions, passenger transt-'er will take place with minimal waiting time for the connecting vehicle, and on some occasions the first and second vehicle may even arrive at the transfer point more- or-less simultaneotisly.

The decision to divide a passenger's journey on separate transit vehicles is taken automatically by the intelligent grotiping module. 'I'he intelligent grouping module tries to final a transit vehicle that can talce the passenger directly to his destination, but if no such vehicle can be t'ound in reasonable time, the journey may be split into two or more colitic rent legs. The general strategy is to get a transit vehicle to the passenger as soon as possible, both t'or reasons of'transpol t speed, and so as not to keep the passenger waiting. Split journey will usually only occur on longer trips such as inter-city jour nays; shorter journeys within a city will tend to be direct.

Traveilers who clislike split journeys can be given the option to specify on their journey request tilat- split journeys are to be avoided if'possibie, even it'it means waiting longer to find a suitable transit vehicle.

Should this invention incorporate existing public transport (as describec:l in section 7. 17) so that the controlling computer system has real-time knowledge of' the current location, routing, and destination of' all participating existing public transport vehicles, then there is scope to split a passenger's journey across clit't'erent travel modes; such an integrated system would rarely leave a prospective passenger waiting ong.

9.3 - Quasi Door-to-Door Taxibus Service rl'raditiolial public transport generally has its access points on main streets in the form ot'tiain stations and bllS stops. I However the taxibtis is a unique Form ot'mass transport which distributes its passenger pick-lip and drop-ot'f points more witiely across smaller roacis and residential areas as well as on main streets. This strategy, it is l-'elievocl, will provide improved transF'ol-tation etticiency, even it some time is lost - 78 by taxibus vehicle excursions into the back-streets.

We present here some variations on this strategy that may help t'urther streamline ta.XibilS travel.

I'he taxil:'us conveys passengers on a c300r-to-tloor or point-to-point basis, and so a certain portion of its journey will be spent in excursions into residential or other back-steel areas to pick up or cirop ot'f passengers. 'I'he intelligent grouping modLIle always tries to streamline these excursions so that any diversion into the l.'ack- streets to pick Llp or diop of I a passenger- can also act as a short-cut or cut-tilroLlgh on the overall taxil.'us roLIte. However, not all l.'ack- stleet excursions can be made to double up as short- CLltS, and some excursions will slow down the taxibrIs jOLl ney.

C)ne way to eliminate this slow clown, and to lilrther streamline overall transportation efficiency, is by confining all t.axibLIs touting to main roacis and larger streets (jLISI as with regular buses), with passe nger cirop-ol'l's a.nc3 pick-ups taking place exclusively on these main roacis. This confinement to larger streets would be contiollecl by the intelligent grouping moc3LIlc, which would create optimal transit rolit- es that avoiclet3 the back-streets. This quasi dool-to-c300l taxibLIs is considerably more convenient and flexible than a regular bus service hecaLIse it still allows complete customization al l-ravel route. Iccorcling to each passengers personal itinerary; each main street would have several t.axibLIs stops containing a kiosk communicator crevice into which passengers can entel- their jOLIrney request, and at which they can wait for their requested ta.xibus to arl-ive; it just means that passengers must walk to a taxil:>us stop on the nearest main road to catch a taxil:'us, and on clisemba.rka.tion, it means that passengers will typically need to walk the last few hulidrec3 metros to their destination. One clear advantage of' such taxibus stops is that, with, oassengel s congregated in the street at such points, the taxibus will perl'orm less individual passenger pick-ups and drop off's, as there will tend to be several passengers l:yoarcling and alighting together. This will speed tip the t.axibLIs since therewill healeUucecl number ot'passengel-stopsen route. Furthermoie, by tencling to pick up passengers in such batches, it becomes t'easible (and necessary) to use largel- capacity ta.xibus vehicles, thus l'ul-thel increasing the fleet efficiency.

A hyl:'l id between the quasi taxi bus and the t rue taxibus service is also:' concept u.li ly possible, and is indeed an excellent compromise between efficiency of'the former and the convenience of'tile latter. In this hybrid system, the taxibus picks up passengers c.lilectly from their current- location (such as the home or office) as usual, btit cirops off passengers on main streets, so that passengers may need to walk the final Icw hun:3lec3 metros to their destination. This sensible compromise will be especially useful near one-way systems and cul-c:3e-sacs, where a taxibL's might otherwise have to make a large diversion in oiclel to deliver a single passenger.

Indeed this hybrid system might advtintageolisly be set to operate only at such awkwal-cl destill.l.tions as one-wtly systems alic:3 cul-cJe-sacs. 79

9.4 - Manual Hailing of Taxibus Vehicles It may be l'easible to allow pl'OSpCCtiVC passengers in the street to manually hail a taxibils, just like hailing a taxi Cab, thus boarding the vehicle without having to use a eommunieatol device. Since the outside display screen at the l'ront of each taxibus exhibits the pl incipal points on the vehicle's route, should a taxibus be spottec.l that is headed in the right direction, a passenger Can flag it clown and jump aboalcl. Once on boalcl, this passenger will be able to enter his ciesired destination into an on- boaid kiosk Communicator device located within the vehicle (an on-boarcl kiosk communicator device must be installed in the taxibus it'ma.nilal hailing passengers a.l'C to be accommodated). If his exact destination is compatible with the existing itinerary commitments ol' the taxibus, the controlling eomptiter system will accept his request and the klxibus will deliver him to the floor. Il'not, the taxibus will take him as close as possible to his destination, after which the controlling computer system can arrange l'or the passenger to be transferred to another taxibLIs tor completion of his journey, or else the passenger can just walk the remaining distance it he prefers.

9.5 - Passenger Fare Metering and Calculation TaXibilS allot Cal' pool travel Can be further streamlined by arranging for the controlling Computer system to automatically Calculate and levy the fare charge as passengers enter the vehicle. 'I'his means that neither passenger nor vehicle ciriver need be Concerned with handling Basil, issuing tickets or Checking travel passes, thus laeilitating rapid boarc.ling ol'tile transit vehicle, and making taxiStis and ear pool travel delightfully simple. I4or ear pooling in particular, automatic fare charging is highly clesirabie, since the driver of a private Cal' is unlikely to want to fumble around with coins and change.

A system ol'alitomatic tare charging reqtlires some means ol'ealetilating and levying the tare, and there arc several ways that the controlling computer system Can To this. The simplest way uses data from the passengeris original joul-ney request. This journey request inelucies all the relevant details: embal kation anct destination points, the number of' passengers travelling, and the amotint ol'ltiggage carried. With this Patti, the controlling eomptitel system Can ealetilate the exact tare cost at' the passenger's journey based on the distance between his embarkation and destination points, and charge this tare to the passenger's system-administerecl monetary aeeotl n t. On its own, however, this system ol'ealeillatingcinct levying fares is not

foolproof'. it is based on the passenger's jOUI ney recluest, but there needs to be some method of' verifying that- the passenger was actually picked up and eonveyocl in aeeordanee with this request before the charge is levied on the passenger. 'I'his is pal-tieillcirly necessary in eel pooling, otherwise a ear pool driver cotilct accept a passenger journey request, atitomatieally receive payment for pl-ovicling carriage, btit not actually bother to pick up and deliver his passenger. -

Tn car pooling, perhaps the easiest way of'verifying that an accepted journey regtiest ]laS actually been carried out is by examining the electronic positioning data coming From the commtinicator levice in the car pool vehicle. Using this data, the controlling computer system can determine whether the car pool vehicle did indeed travel to the passenger pick-up point and did indeed travel to the passenger destination point. 'I'his is ample evidence f'or verification. Remember: there is not much SCOpC for dishonesty in this system since all drivers are registered on the controlling comptiter system, and should it driver engage in unreliable Ol' deceitful practices, his passengers' complaints would rapidly expose him, and he would be banned prom using the trcinsportatiol1 system of'tilis invention.

In taxibtis travel! the concern is not so milch whether the taxibus arrives to pick up the passenger, but whether at the pick-tip point, some person other than the passenger climbs aboal-d, either in an attempt to gain a f'ree ride, or simply just in error, and the taxibus departs with the acttial lare-lraying passenger left behind.

However it' this does happen, the passenger that was let's behind can contact a human operator at the control centre ol'this invention and explain the situation: this operator would hastily arrange f'or another taxibus to pick tip the stranded passenger, and the operator would also' contact the driver ol' the first taxibus vehicle and ask him to investigate what has happened.

Another concern is that a grotip of' passengers travelling together might try to enter a taxibus, when only one passenger is specil'ied on the journey request, in order that the other members of the group can avoid paying f'or their travel. However, this situation should easily be spotted by the taxiStis driver, whose is responsible for ensuring that the correct number of' passengers board (and alight) the taxibus at any strop point.

A more robust method of verifying that the correct passengers have boarded a taxibus (or car pool) vehicle would employ the smart card technology meotionecl in section 7.7. With such technology, the passenger would keep his personal smart card in his wallet or purse, and this card would be remotely seannecl by a card readel- in the vehicle communicator c-levice as the passenger boarcis, thus confirming a correct pick-up, and therefore veril,ying that the fare charge coUttl be levied on the passenger.

Another means ol'veritying passenger pick-up is possible when the passenger calm ies a cellular telephone or wireless PDA communicator device: it is quite leasil-le l'or this phone or PDA to automatically exchange data with the transit vehicle communicator crevice to establish that the passenger has boardecl. This data exchange cotilcl be l'acilitatec-] by an inf'rared or a short-range wireless data link (many cellular telephones and wireless i'DAs have infral-ecl or short- range wireless data link capabilities). 'I'his method oJ'ver il'ication may not always work, however, because passengers may have their phones turned ol'f; or their phones may have run Otit of battery power.

Automatic tare calculation can even be applied when a taxibus is hailed in the street: passeligels that manually hail a taxiLtis will specify their jotirney request at tin on- bo.ll-d kiosk coinrnilnic.ltor crevice located inside the taxibus vehicle; it'the passenger - 81 is a registerecl user, his system-administered monetary account will he ciehitecl in the normal way; if the passenger is not a registerecl user of this invention, he will specify his journey request at the on-board kiosk, and pa.y l'or the trip by swiping his credit ol banker Is car d al t his kiosk.

9.6 - Groups of Passengers 'lravelling Together Group travel by taxiStis or car pool is very str.1igilt.lt>rwal<:l when each person in the group is a registered user and carries his or her own commtinicator device: each person simply makes an inclividtial jOUI ney reqtlest to the same destination at more or less the same time. On receiving these mult-ipie requests arising from the same geographic local-ion, the controlling computer system will atitom.ltic.lily try to place these people on l-.,c> arcl the same transit vehicle or vehicles - simply because that is the most el'licient way to t.ranspol t tuern.

Another way t.hal a group ol'registere<l users can travel is by nomin.tt. ing a. group Ieader: all members ot'the group must enter the user name ol' the Ieader into their communicator:1evices to inform the controlling computel system that they are members ol'one group, and that their Ieader is the user specilled. Should some group members not have communicator cievices, this does not present. a problem, since these'reople can borrow a commtinicalor crevice from one ol'their- lellow travellers, log into their own system account (see section 9.7) by entering their user name and passworcl, and then, like cverybotly else, enter the user name ol'trie group Ieader. Once the group is thus <lefinecl to the controlling computer system, the Iealer can enter a single journey request for the group, and the controlling computer system will send a transit vehicle to transport the whole ensemble.

(group travel can be arranged more simply by one user making a journey request which includes details of the number ol'p.l.ssenger seats requirel. On receiving such a request, the c<-,ntrolling computer system will send a taxibtis vehicle with sul'l'icient capacity to transpol t this number ol people. The controlling computer system will charge the entire group stare to the user who made the journey ret-ltiest, an<l thus this tlSCI' may need to he rcimEtirse<l by the group. 'I'nis method of group travel, however, introduces a security breach: when several passengers travel under one usel-ls system accotint, although the icientity of this USCI'vv'ill be known to the controlling computer system, the identities ot'the other passengers will not. Car pool cirivers that are concerned with security may prefer to avoid groups travailing under one system account.

Another loran of group travel occtirs when one passenger orders a taxibus journey to a specified clestination, but would like his t-axiLtis vehicle pick up a t'rienl on the way' so that they can travel together to the same destination. It would be possible to inclu<:le this sort Ot'glOUp travel option (but note that it would only he available toll passenger when the t'riend's adlress is located more or less on the way to the destination the controlling computer system would reject the request otherwise).

Ol'course this sort of'gl-otip travel is mole simply achieved by first taking a taxibtis to the l;-iencl's a<ldress, alighting, anal sul. 'se<luently orderings second taxibus to - 82 convey both travellers to the desired destination.

In general, group travel is a very ef'l'icient use ot'the taxibus: groups tend to board or alight together-, which means that the transit vehicle has less pick-tip and drop-off points on its route to slow it down.

9.7 - Registering with the Controlling Computer System Lo apply to become a registered user on the tiles ol' the controlling computel system and thtis gain access to taxibus and car pool travel, some personal tietails must l'irst be provicled, such as the applicant's name, date o('birth, sex, home adciress, ciriver's licence number, telephone number, email address, occupation, banking and credit details. I4or security reasons, this data will be validated to ensure that the details are correct. Once validated, the applic.tnt will be set up with a system account (which includes a system-administered monetary account), and a user name and password that enables him or her to access this system account, and to make use O'Dell the transport l'aeilities ol' this invention. Users would usually need to transl'el t'untis to their system-administered monetary account bettors they can travel as a passenger.

As well as travelling as a passenger in taxibtis and ear pool vehicles, the same system aeeotint will also allow the registered user to net as a car Pool driver (provicled he or she meets certain requirements which ale discussed in section 9.9).

Note that since a registered llSCrtS system account incorporates a monetary account within it, there are certain security considerations that must be fully examinecl.

Although the user name and password scheme just mentioned is reasonably secure, it may l:>e deemed necessary to include additional security measures such as issuing each USCl With a. unique smart card which is automatically read by the transit vehicle communicator tlevice when the user begins a journey, anti thus automatically identifies the passenger to the controlling computer system. Smal t cards would also be helpful at roaciside kiosk communicator devices: the smart carol could be read by tile kiosk, thus identilying the user to the controlling computel- system without him needing to enter his user name. Smart earcis are brietiv discussed in sections 7.7 and 9..

9.S - Security and Saf'ety in Taxibus ['ravel I'he electronic navigatit>n taxibus is probably the salcst means ol' public transport ever clevisecl, ot't'ering more personal security than even the private ear. 'I'his is because it provides a dool--to-rlool service overseen by a professional driver, and hecatise all 3ctails owl taxibus journeys are logged on the controlling computer systcrn. 'I'hese details include the identities of' the driver and all fellow passengers, the exact rolite traversed by the taxil>tis, the place and time each passenger boarUel and aligilted, and lot- extra safety, video surveillance inside the taxibus. - 83

In adctition, the controlling computer system will keep a security file for each regisicretl user. Any reported incidents of anti-social behavioLIr will be recorded on the users tile, and il any particLIlar user is implicated too Irequenily in such incidents, he or she woultl be banned Prom using the transportation system of' this invention for a certain number of' months. JLIst the possibility of a ban should be an incentive to maintain proper personal conduct in the taxibLIs.

Some passengers may be a little wor r ted by that tact that the taxibus (anal a car pool vehicle) drops them oftl' right outside their house, thereby indicating to l'ellow travellels where they live. I--lowevel, there is it simple solLItion t'or this concern about privacy: instearl ol'specitying their exact home address as their travel clestination, such passengers can specify an acirtress which is say just a hunttrecl metres away From their home, perhaps in l'ront ot'a local shop or similar location. The controlling computer system would then automatically direct the taxibLIs to Al op the passenger olf at the specilietl point.

9.9 - Security and Safety in Car Pool Travel In car pooling the inherent security again arises From the tact that the identity of all passengers and drivers is always known to the controlling computer system. The controlling computes system will keep a log of all journeys.tncl m. tintain a history of' who has been travailing with whom. In a regular taxi cab or mini cab journey, neither the rlriver's nor the passengeris identity is known, nor is the journey logged, so car pooling is in many w. tys sal'el than a taxi ride.

Should it be considered necessary, there are various other practicable means of' increasing security. For example, the controlling computer system coLIld monitor car pool jOUI neys in real time as they progress to their destinations. tiny inexplicable deviation f'rom the intended passengcl destination will flag an alert to a human operator at the control centre ot'this invention. 'lathe operator might then phone the driver or passenger to find out why there was a deviation f'rom the intended route, and could contact the police it'any Suspicious circLlmstances were encoL'ntel-ed - the location ot'the passenger and driver will be known through the incoming electronic positioning clata. As electronic equipment becomes cheaper, it may be Feasible to incorporate a small audio and video surveillance camera within the communicator ctevices fitted in car pool vehicles. Though many people may Feel that video surveillance during car pooling is too intrusive, it must be remembered that such surveillance systems are alrearly in oper.ttional on most public transport in the UK.

Regarcling security factors at passenger pick-up point: the car pool driver is always in his rights to decline providing carriage al'ter spotting his passenger in the street;.

Perhaps the passengel- has a demeanoLIr that makes the driver feel apprehensive. In this case, the driver could keep his Fools locked and drive away. The striver might wish to telephone an operator at the control centre to explain why he declined the pick-up; the operator may decide to telephone the passenger in question to assess the situation. ShoLIld there the a genuine caLtse l'ol- concern (say tOI example the prospective passenger sounded aggressively cirunk when the operator called) the - 84 operator could put a temporary bar (say l'or 6 hours) on that passengers system aecotint, allowing him access to taxibus and other public transport, but preventing l'urthel access to pool ear travel Turing that time.

In relation to the personal sat'ety of'women travailing solo: both women ear pool Al iVCl'S, anct women ear pool passengers, will lee able to indicate on their Communicator devices that they only wish to travel with other women. 'lhis option neel not always be usect; it couirl lee selected just at certain times such as, for example, late at night.

In eases of unpleasant indigents in ear pooling, 01' even milder Circumstances such as personality elasiles or just plain irritation with a particular person, it will be possible for either party to reqtiest that the controlling eomptiter system never groups them both together in the same vehicle in f'utuie.

I-laving mentioned all (hese iSStlCS in relation to security, evidence From the Unitotl States, which has been r tinning ear pooling on t'reeways f'or some time now, suggests that unpleasant ineiclents are actually very rare.

As For ciriving skills and road satiety, to help ensure a gooct standard of driving, all ear pool strivers would be reqllirecl to have a reasonably eiean ctrivel-s license, a minimum age of-25, anct minimum ot'5years striving experience. The controlling computer system itself will automatically monitor all cirivers engaged ear pooling: using real- time electronic positioning data it will Calculate vehicle speeds, anct will check for any excessive speecling. Any striver t'ouncl to be consistently speeding whilst carrying Call' pool passengers might receive some warning regarding his ctangelous striving, alicl would be banned f'rom ear pooling For a period of'time i{' these wal nings were not heectecl.

In the ease of lost propel ty lef t in a ear Pool vehicle, since the controlling computer system logs all journeys angst Icnows who has been travelling with whom, it wotild be possible to obtain the email address or telephone number of the appropriate striver or passenger in these situations. Similarly in taxibus travel, any lost property will be easily retul nest to its owner since most taxibils passengers will be registereci users, with their jOUI neys logged on the controlling computer system.

9.10 - Theta or Disclosure of a Registered User's Password and User Name Theft or ctiselostire ol'a user name and password to a third party involves two Seoul ity issues: one is that the third party will be able to travel;tsing f'uncts from this useris system-aciministere] monetary aceotint; and another is that the third party will be travelling unclel a false identity, thus breaching the inherent security ol' taxibus and ear pool travel, which is basest on knowing the identities olhill travellels. It is theref'ol-e impolitint f'or USCIS to Iceep their passwords Completely secret, and to change their passwol-cl if'they suspect someone else knows it.

Il. reality, tholigil, it wotilcl be VCIy tlil'l'ieult for a thief to make much use othl someone else's user name anal passworc-l. Since the Controlling computer system - 85 - monitors all journeys, the thief may manage a free ride on a taxibus - and then find the transport police waiting for him at his destination. Even if'the thief evades the police on that occasion, all taxibus vehicles have video surveillance on board, and all journeys ale loggerf on the controlling computer system, so it will not take long for the transport police to catch him. If you were a thief', would you feel coml'ol table travelling using a stolen usel identity, knowing that youl journeys will be loggerf and videoetf, and that the controlling computer system will alert the transport police tOyoul every movement? Such is the intrinsic secul ity of this invention, that even when user identities are stolen, its safety anti integrity ale barely compromised.

9.1 1 - Passengers Carrying Luggage In taxibus travel it is thought that there should be no extra charge for cat lying goods or luggage - in keeping with most other forms of public transport. Most taxibus vehicles will contain enough space to accommodate passengers carrying a suitcase or several bags ol'superm.lrket shopping. However, smaller taxibus vehicles will possess only a limited amount of luggage space, and may not be able to accommodate a group of passengers it each is carrying bulky luggage. Nevertheless, it such a group of passengers indicate in their initial journey request that they have heavy luggage, the controlling comptiter system will automatically deploy a SU['liCielltly spacious taXibtlS to transport them.

In car pooling, passenger s with weighty luggage are charged a little extra, and the car pool drivel- will receive a slightly larger tee to compensate f'or his trouble.

Passengers should indicate that they have luggage when the initial journey request is made, so that the controlling computer system can stipply a car pool vehicle with suItcent space.

9.12 - Pick-up Delay Charge Passengers who make a journey request t'or a car pool or taxibus vehicle, but who are not ready to leave when the vehicle al rives, will automatically be charged a small tine for every minute tint they keep the transit vehicle waiting. 'lathe controlling computer system will kilow when the transit vehicle has al-rivetf at the passenger pick-up point prom the incoming electronic positioning ciata it receives from the communicator crevice on the vehicle. Once the vehicle arrives at the passenger Is pick-up point, the contl oiling computer system begins the clelay-cilarge timer. Any delay in boal-tling that is longer than one minute will incur a fine, levied on that passenger's monetary account (the controlling computer system will make the car pool driver or taxiLtis operator the dil-ect benefactor- of' this fine). 'I'his fine will gently encourage passengcis to be prom,ot for pick-up. Pick-up tielays not only mconvenence the drivel and other passengers, but they also eqtiate to a waiting transit vehicle in the roatf that may be partially blocking the thoroughfare. Should a taxibus or car pool vehicle arrive fit the pick-up point anti final that the passenger is still not reacl,y to go even after waiting a Iew minutes lot him, the controlling 86 computer system will instruct the driver ol' the transit vehicle to leave without the passenger. That passenger will incur a t'ine equal to the minimum tare charge for travel in that transit vehicle, and will have to resubmit his journey reqtlest to the controlling computer system il'he still requires transit. When a passenger t'requently catises clel.lys through his or her lack ot'punctuality, he or she may be bairer-l loom using taxibus and car pool transportation for a period ol time.

Ouick and el-'t'icient passeligel pick-ups are important to the smooth t'tinctioning of this invention. The waiting passenger's communicator device will generally provide a countclowil to the estimated time ol arrival ol his reqtlestCd Cal' pool or taxibtis vehicle, so the passenger can have little excuse not to be ready.

9.13 - Cancelling a Journey Request het'ore the Transit Vehicle Arrives 1\ prospective passengcl can cancel any journey reqtlest he has made, even after the controlling comptiter system has alieady cliveltcd a vehicle to collect him. I lowevel- a small t'ine is automatically levied 011 that passenger to discourage this type ol' Capl'iCiOtlS beliaviour; the charge being paid directly into the system-administelecl monetary account of' the clivel ted car pool driver or taxibus operator by way of compensation. 'I'he amount ol' the l'ine would depend on how tal the vehicle has alieacly clivert.ecl at the time ol' cancellation; the maximum possible fine being eclual to the minimum talc chaige for that transit vehicle.

9.14 - Passenger en Route Cancels his Journey or Changes his Itinerary A passenger may at any time ask a car pool or taxiLtis drivel- to stop and drop him ot't'. The driver ot'the vehicle would subinit a cancellation reqtlest on the vehicle's COrnmLlniCatOr device. On receiving this cancellation request the controlling compeller system will cancel this passenger's journey request, and will update the rotitilig ol'the transit vehicle (the transit vehicle will no longer neetl to navigate to that passenger's destination). rl'he controlling CompLlter system will only charge the passenger f'or the proportion of the journey travelled, or the minimum iarc, whicllCvel is larger To determine the proportion ol' the journey travailed, the controlling computer system uses the current location ot'the transit vehicle at the time ol' cancellation (this location is derived from the electronic positioning system).

SnouLl a passenger en route want to entirely change his destination, he can alight as described above and submit a new journey recluest 011 his communicator device.

Alternatively, alid more conveniently, the passenger can submit the new jour ney request on his own communicator crevice whilst still on hoard the l'irst transit vehicle, Ol using an on-boaid kiosk communicator cievice located within the vehicle.

Since the controlling computer system knows that the passenger is currently journeying on board a transit vehicle, the controlling computer system will recognise that the passenger wants to cancel his cur rent joul-ncy and change his - 87 destination to that spceifiecl on the new journey request. The controlling computer system may keep the passenger on the t'irst transit vehicle for a while until another transit vehicle is l'ouncl to take the passenger to his new clestination; at which point the controlling comptitel system will prompt the passenger to alight, and will instruct the passenger to wait for the otiler transit vehicle to. trrive.

9.15 - Considerations to the Car Pool Driver This invention opel-ates in a way that is always very considerate to the car pool drivel-, making sure that he or she is not inconvenienced when conveying a passenger. 'I'he intelligent grouping module will only attempt to place a passenger in a ear pool vehicle when the passenger's itinerary is highly compatible with the At ivory existing itinerary; the cirivel- will thus only need to make a small deviation loom his own route in order to convey this passenger. The controlling computer system even calculates, and details on the vehicle's communicator device, the estimated extra time in minutes that will be aciciecl to the the driver's own journey il' he ciecicles to convey the passenger: this extra time is cailccl the estimated diversion time. Using the estimated diversion time, the driver can decide whether giving carriage to the prospective passenger will fit into his time scheclule. No pressure whatsoever is placed on car pool drivel-s to carry passengers; drivers may provide ear r iage according to their mood and schedule.

Whilst carrying a passenger, should a car pool driver have a sudden change ol'plan and thus t-,ecome unable to take the passenger to his destination, that driver is t'ully within his rights to cancel the joul- ney. On receiving such a cancellation the controlling computer system will instruct the dl'iVCI to drop the passenger ol't:t the next convenient point. The passenger will not be charged for this aborted journcy and the controlling eomputel- system will assign high pl iOI ity to finding the passenger an alternative means ol'transport, perhaps in another ear pool vehieie, or m a taxies.

Tllis eoul-tesy and t1exibility that the eontrollilig computer system extends towards car pool drivers is designed to encourage them to convey passengers frequently.

9.16 - Ambiguous Passenger Position lassengel- communicator devices would advantageously be equipped with electronic positioning functionality so that the eontrollilig eompLIter system can automatically detel-rnine a prospective passenger's cur-rent address location without the passenger needing to specify it explicitly. This is a very useful feature which will Dilation perfteetly well on most occasions. For example, when a prospective passenger located on a StlCCt pavement makes a jOUI ney request on a communicator device eqLIipped with electronic positioning, the controlling eompLItel- system will have no problem detel-rnining the nearest correspolidilig acidress location to that passenger. - 88

However when such a journey request is made from within a house or office, an ambiguity in location may sometimes arise clue t.o the last that some buildings may stradcile several streets. This ambiguity must be resolvec:l, because the controlling Computer system needs to know the street aciciress to which the transit vehicle must be sent for passenger pick-up.

When there is an ambiguity in the aciciress, the controlling eomputeI system will detail on the passengeris eommunieatoI device the various street addresses that surround the btlilclilig in which the passenger is loeatecl, and the passenger must select the right aciclIess. Alternatively the passengeI can exit the builc.ling and submit his journey request at the precise spot in the street at which he wants to be picked up.

Should a passenger make a journey recitlest from an inappropriate point (t'Ol' example, I'rom an ol'l roac:l location that is inaccessible to orc:linaly vehicles) then the controlling computer system will deny the journey request, sines no vehicle would be able reach that passenger. 'I'he controlling eomptiter system will however acivise the passenger where the nearest road is located, and once the passenger has relocated himsell'to such a toad (by means of electronic navigation directions supplied by the controlling eomputer.system, if necessary) then the passenger's journey rcqticsl will be aeeeptccl.

One scheme that would eliminate passenger pick-up point ambiguity involves a series ol'pre-del'inecl passenger pick-up (and optionally set- down) points placed throughout the region in which this invention oE'er- al-es. These pre-clefined pick-up points would be closely spacecl, say at 2?5 metl-e intervals along every roacl, and Could be inclieatecl by markings painted on the road or pavement, or pa.inierl on lampposts, with each such pre-clettinecl point clearly displaying a unique pick-up point reference code (such as, for example, the house-number/posteocle combination l'or that street location); when making a journey recItlest, using this pick-tip point ret'crenee Code would eliminate pick-up point ambiguity. Note: a.

similaI scheme eallecl road coding is discussed in section 9..

9.17 - Real-Time Traffic Speed Module Once a sulfieielit quantitytransit vehicles ale in operation in a City or similar region, it will be possible to assess the CUI r ent average vehicle speecis on all roads.

I'his is aehievocl by a real-time traffic speed module which runs on the controlling eomptiter system and examines incoming electronic positioning data Irom all transit vehieics in orcleI- to estimate current tral'l'ie speecis. This mocilIle has the ability to aIllomalieally cletcet any roacis with tral'fie jams or tral'l'ie blockages because the transit vehicle speecis, as ealeillalecl from their electronic positioning clata, would be slow or sttitiontiry on these roads.

The re:ll-lime tral'tie speed modille operates using a cligitisecl street layotil map.

E:Cael1 time a transit vehicle traverses a stretch ol' 1O,l.d, the realtime tral'lie speed mocilile will use incoming eieetionie positioning dale from that vehicle to plot the - 89 vehicles progress; by noting the time the transit vehicle takes to cover a known length of roatl' the modLIle can determine the transit vehicle's speocl on that road.

Working on the assumption that transit vehicles travel at the prevailing tral'fic speed (when not oicking up or ciropping ot't'passengers), the real-time tral'fic speed motiule can estimate the prevailing tral'fic speed on each road in the city.

When a large fleet of transit vehicles ale operating in a city, one would expect several transit vehicles to traverse a typical city street in each ten-minute pel-iorl.

For every stretch of road, the real-time traf'tic speed module averages the transit vehicle speetl values it receives over this time periol to provicie a constantly update< road-by-road city-wicle map of' the prevailing traffic speetis.

For roacis on which transit vehicles run only int'reqtlently, the realtime traffic speed mocitile wouirl use other methods to estimate prevailing trat'tic speeds (f'or example, if'a road only inl'requently has transit vehicles rulinilig along it, then one might assume that this road has very little trat'fic in general, meaning that any vehicle on it will lee able to tiavel at the speed limit of the roacI).

With this real-time tral'f'ic speed tlata at its disposal, the controlling coinpIltel system will be able to automatically re-route its vehicles away From blockel or heavily congested roacis, thus avoiding ciclays, and also relieving the traf'fic bultlen at these alreacly- congesteci points (see section 9.1 for details).

9.18- Predictive Crowd Convergence Occasionally, at large public events such as sports textures 01' music concerts, an unexpectedly huge crowd of' people arrive, the sheer numbers of which place event organisers anal the police under suciden strain. With existing transport systems, no advanced warning of such a r apicl convergence of people is generally available.

However with this invention, the controlling cornptlIer system can examine all traveller itineral ies to create a numerical analysis of the passenger journeys being unclertaken, From which it would be possible to predict any unusually large crowd convergence in a particular location. 'lathe controlling comptiler system could supply acivancocl warning of-' any large influxes ot'peopie to the police, who coultl promptly deploy more personnel to help cope with the crowds.

9.19 - Street Navigation Facility Always Available In this invention, an electronic street navigation module is used to tlirect cirivers of transit vehicles who are conveying passengers. However this electronic street navigatiol1 facility could also be made available at other times, so that any driver or pedestrian can use any communicator cievice equit, tyed with electronic positioning to get ':n-ecise street navigation c- Erections to any address at ally time. Since most cellular telopilones will be equi,oped with electronic positioning in the future, this useI'lil extra l'eatuic vvoulcl lee qtlite straightttorwarcl to implement.

- 9o - 9.20 - Current Location Address Sampling To facilitate easy saving ol'address locations, it is thought that communicator devices with builtin electronic positioning should have a grab current address Election. On activating this function, the controlling computer will work out the current location address, based on the electronic positioning data, anti will store this acirlress as a personal travel location. This is a very useful teattire: for example, when visiting any given location, a user can et't'ortlessly grab the address whilst there, and save it for fulLlle use.

9.21 - The Sell Drive Transit Vehicle I tore we present a way ot'cheaply extending the taxibils t1eet, and obtaining transit vehicle drivers completely for tree. 'I'his is achieved by introducing small capacity serf drive transit vehicles. 'lathe self tirive transit vehicle can be hired and driven by any registered user completely l'ree of charge, provided that whilst using t:}lC vehicle, the driver agrees to convey any passengers that the controlling computer system instructs him to convey (as per usual, these passengers will have itineraries that closely match that al' the driver). Using a sell'-drive transit vehicle is the's just like car pooling: the drivel must follow the navigation instructions on the vehicle's communicator device in Scaler to pick up and convey passengers. The dit'terence is that the drivel gets use of Lt vehicle at no expense; anti the controlling computer system gets a dl iver t'OI' free. It' the current- driver ol'a sell'-drive tr.Lnsil vehicle wishes Kit carry his own passengers, this is entirely acceptable, but his passengers will have to pay the normal taxibus late. Self drive transit vehicles would be,oal ked in the streets all over town; and these vehicles would be oft a distinctive style and colour lor easy visibility.

When a traveller makes a journey request on a communicator device, the controlling computer system will intlicate if any sell drive transit vehicles are available in the vicinity - the location O'Dell self drive vehicles is known to the controlling computer s.ystem through electronic positioning. Sell drive transit vehicles are bookable only on a communicator device. This is to -,revcnt the possible tussles that might ensue should two people simultaneously arrive at an available self drive transit vehicle in the street that they both wish to use. Once booked, the registered Llser will enter the vehicle try keying in his user name and password via a keypad on the vehicle door; some other security checics may also be required.

Once a Al iver and his passengers finish the journey, the sell rlrive transit vehicle is parked, and immerlicttely becomes available for the next registered user. In order to make the use of these vehicles as streamliner! anti el'l'icient clS possible, it is thought their the self drive transit vehicle should be entitle-! to t'ree parking on all public ro.ttis. It is anticipLtetl that most sell rlrive transit vehicles will spend only minimal time parked before another registered usel books them l'or a jOUI ney. - 91

Vehicle theft is clearly a potential problem with the self-cirive transit vehicle.

I lowever, since only registerers users can operate such vehicles, anal since the controlling computer system will be tracking all transit vehicles at all times by electronic positioning, this will tend Kit make theft dif't'ieult. Additional security measures might include emUeticling electronic tags in the vehicle that can locate the vehielels position even il'stolen and shipped to another part of' the world. To stop seit drive transit vehicles being used by drivels under the influence ol'cirink or drugs, some sort ol'Ililman reaction response test could be built into the vehicle. If the potential cil iverls reactions were sluggish, he would not be allowed to Al ive, anti the controlling computer system would final him some other means of tl ansport.

lathe scit- drive transit vehicle is a somewhat controversial concept. It may work, but there is a chance that many vehicles will end up being vandalized, abused or stolen.

I-lowevel with sufficient security measures, inelu ling on-board audio and video surveillance, the sell cil ive transit vehicle idea eoull be sueeessl'lil in certain towns, especially in the more soeially-mindecl countries, such as Scandinavia, t'or example.

9.22 - Electronic Positioning Accuracy and Coverage In order lor this invention to operate properly and effectively, an electronic positioning system of sufficient accuracy and coverage is required. Accuraey is needed to determine the precise street location ot'transit vehicles (as well as prospective travellers): parallel roads may lee just tens ot metres apart, so the positioning resolution needs to be good enough to distinguish between such roads.

Good coverage is needed, since electronic positioning is needed at all locations.

In terms of accuracy, excellent restilts are obtained from satellite positioning systems, such as the American Gl>:S (Global Positioning System), the Russian GI,ONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), or the soon to be launeherl European Galileo satellite positioning system, which will be superior to both GINS and C;LONASS.

GPS is typically accurate to within 10 metros, but there ale methods ot'improving this accuracy: a system called WAAS (Wicie Area Augmentation System) improves the positioning accuracy of GPS to within 3 metros, and a teehnitiue called l)il't'erential GPS can be accurate to within I metro.

A F,uropean project called EDGNOS is working to combine the GPS ant] (SI,ONASS satcilite signals to create a positioning system accurate to within 5 metres even betole any improvement methotis are applied. 'lithe F,GNOX system will be operational in 2()04.

When the lo ulopean (Galileo satellites are launched, and the system begins operation in 12()()6 (fully opel-ation.ll in 20()13) it will be accurate to within I metro. Galileo will have.l stronger signal than GPS, anal is being designed to inter-operate with GPS alid Gl,ONf\SS to provide even gre.ltel positioning precision.

AltllOUgll SatCIIitC pOSitiOllillg iS Vel>.lCClll.ltC, coverage can he a pl-oblem. Satellite - 92 signals cannot penetrate inside buildings, an<l are often unavailable in the street valleys between higil-l ise blocks when the sky is predominantly obscurely Combining the signals From Galileo, GINS and GLON/\SS together will provide a slightly better coverage.

Other metho<ls ot'electronic positioning may he used when the satellite signal is lost, such as celltilar base station triangulation, which can locate a cellular phone to within 'S0 to]50 metres. Tllough not as precise as satellite positioning, IJase station triangulation has tile great advantage of working with an,l/ cellular phone or wireless }LISA, anc3 it usually works inside buildings too. Ideally both cellular triangulation and satellite positioning could be used in conjunction to augment each other: the satellite system providing accuracy anti cellular base station triangulation supplying coverage when the satellite signal is unattainable.

There are ac3clitionally some ace hoc means of electronic positioning that might be considered. For example, a city could be supplied with an radio positioning signal broac.Jcast locally f'rorn ratlio masts planted aroL'nt3 its perimeter. 'I'hese masts would he situated on high ground, perhaps where existing televisi<>n ancJ radio signals are transmitted. These ter restrial positioning signals would have two advantages oversateilite positioning signals. Firstly, the signal from these terrestrial transmitters can be broadcast at higher power levels in order to penetrate through buildings and thus provide a more complete coverage (GINS positioning satellites typically broadcast at a very feeble 50 Watts of power as the satellites rely on solar energy). "Secondly, terrestrial transmit-tars may be more reliable: the satellite positioning signal could conceivably be switchecl of't'ttor security reasons during military conflicts (this is less likely with Galileo which is civil system, but GPS is owned try the US military).

Another unustial means ol'electronic positioning coulcJ be achieved by installing cheap shol-t-range wireless transmitters (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or UWD devices) into lampposts, trat'tic lights, ancJ similar points on the roads. Mach transmitter wolilt3 digitally signal its own geographic acJdress location to any receiving device in proximity, thermally facilitating an electronic positioning system. Since many new cellular phones and wireless Pl)A crevices have short range transceivers l:,uilt-in, this method is an entirely practicable solution. It would also be possible to place cheap short-lange wireless transmitters into carts eye reflectors in the road, powering the transmitters from solar cells running on daylight curing the clay an<l from vehicle headlights cluring the night.

Still another means of electronic positioning may be realisec3 by means ot'a road coding.system wherein geographic location is encapsulatccJ into co<les continuoLIsly painted onto each lane in the road. 'I'hese painted codes need not necessarily he visible to the human eye, just detectable Lo a reader device. 'I'he painted co<les could be based on a barcocJe, or based on some other coding system; the coding system woLIlcJ encode the geographic location where the code is painted on the tarmac.

When a transit vehicle moves over these painted codes, a reader device fixed to the vehicle wolilc3 scan them anc3 thus oltain positioning information. If the painted cocle were visitable, anti of a form easily react by prospective traveilers, this code could also be used to specify current location when a traveller makes a journey _ 93 request. It would be easy to develop a paint-spraying unit that, Axed beneath a trtiek, wotild continuously paint the roads with these eocies as the truck moves along; the spraying unit could use a very accurate satellite positioning receiver in orUel to deter mine the exact location.

lload coding systems anc3 short range radio transmittcl-x are nonconventional methods ol'eieetronie positioning. I-lowever they might advantageotisly be used in conjtinetion with more stand.trd electronic positioning techniques in order to improve COVCI age 01 accuracy. In underground railway systems, lor example, where neither a satellite positioning nor cellular triangulation signal can penetrate, short range radio transmitters would make an excellent ancillary positioning system.

In the fLttire Imesh networks!, which comprise a web ol'radio-tlansmission-linkoc3 transceiver noties which will host equipment such as eeilular telephones, wireless I'I)As, computers, and other digital gadgets, may become the predominant means of' data communications. The principle ol' mesh networking could allow locally situated communicator devices to contel- with each other in order to eorl-obol ate electronic positioning data. This ol't'ers three ac3vantages: firstly such col-roloration would help improve the accuracy of the satellite positioning data using similar error reduction methods to those employed in l) il't'erential Gl'S; secondly, when a eommtinieator device is beyond the reach ot'the satellite signal (such as when incisors, or in a tunnel), a communicator device could still get positional tiata by corl-obol-ating with nearby communicator devices that al-e within range ot'the satellite signal; thirdly, communicator devices that do not have btlilt-in electronic positioning functionality can use this corroboration to obtain positioning data Irom nearly communicator devices that do. Such corroboration would work both for stationary Communicator cIeviees, and eoinmunieator devices in moving vehicles.

Note that mesh networks, and similar local electromagnetic Al oadeasting cotta transmission systems, may be set up to function cl.S simple electronic positioning systems just in themselves. (given that such local broadectsts have limited range, whenevel- bloacieast eontciet is made from one transceiver device to a second transceiver crevice, this automatically implies that these crevices are situated within a given radiux ol'e.tch other (this raclius equal to the maximum distance the eiectromcignetie signal can be blocicieast by the transceiver devices). 'this provides rticlimentaly electronic positioning data. Such a rudimentary electronic positioning system could in principle be used in the second embodiment of this invention. - 94

- IGT FROM THE PASSENGER'S PERSPECTIVE The following description, in the form of short story, illustrates the nature of IGT travel from the perspective of the journeying passenger.

It is 8:22 am in the 1,onclon suburbs. Alex is taking a last sip of eot't'ee before commencing his journey into work. I le puts on his jacket and takes cult his cellular telephone. from a list of pre-plogrammecl aciciresses on his phone, Alex selects the destination acid ress labellecl Ol't'iee followed by t he embarkation ac.ldress label letl I tome. On the telephoners <tisplay screen, a validation message summarises the travel itinerary that he has just recluestecl: Traveller lourney Request Embarkation: Home > 56 Muswell Hill, N10 3S-I Destination: Office > 110 C hating Cross lad, WC211 0JP Departure Time: Immediate Transit Vehicle Type: Taxibus Passengers: 1 This request t'or a journey is transmitted to the IG'I central computer system. Alex waits a moment whilst the system responcis to his journey request. Ile regularly travels to work by IGT and is completely ta.miliar with this simple, et'fieient and relaxing way ol'eommuting. A low seeoncis later, the IGT system details a nearby transit vehicle that is avlila.bie to Collect him. These c:letails are clisplayocl on Ale.x's cellular phone in the t'ollowing ftormat: Transit Vehicle Availability Vehicle Pick-Up Journey Cost Arrival Taxibus 2 mins 34 mins ú0 96 S:.58pm Please Confirm: YES I NO rl'hese details tell Alex that there is a taxibus-type transit vehicle available that Can pick him up in just two minutes, and which will deliver him to his of'fiee destination at the estimated time of 8:58pm. Alex hits the YES response to select. the transit vehicle ol'l'ered; his eellullr phone subsequently displays some eont'irmltory cletails: Taxibus Selection (onfirrme(l Embarkation: Home Destination: Office Distance: 6 4 miles Fare Cost: ú() 96 Vehicle Identification: Taxibus 4()5 Countdown to Pick-Up: 1 min.50 sec These eonfil-lnation details remain visible and provide a real-time Countdown to oiek-up. It is now just under two minutes to go bet'ole his transit vehicle arrives.

Alex has just got enough time to cheek the 110LISC, making SUI'C the doors and windows are elosecl. I lis umbl-eila anct briel'ease lie by the front door. file grabs the - 95 briefease, but leaves his umbrella behind; he rarely neecis to use it since he started travelling by ICT.

Alex glances at his cellular phone: the Countdown to pick-tip now shows just under one minute. Alex should be in the street when the taxibus arrives, so he steps olitsicic, locks the front floor, and walks clown to the roacisicle. A shol t while later, a taxiStis turns into the road, with the identification 4()25 marked on it. The taxibus pulls up at Alex's resilience. The vehicle is small and Compact: a sleek, narrow minibus with just 9 passenger seats. The passenger doors open, Alex climbs aboarcl, ancl the c-river politely greets him gocic-l morning. No money is hanciecl over, nor ale any travel passes shown, since the fare t'or the journey is computer ealeulatecl ancl automatically charged to Alexis IC'I' usel account. This makes bocircling the vehicle test and easy.

As the taxibus vehicle moves ot't; Alex walks clown the small central aisle ancl finds himseil'a eoml'ortable seat. rl'here are already a few passengers on boarcl. 'I'he jotirney to the olliee has been estimated at 34 minutes; Alex wonders which rotate the taxibus will take this morning. I Ie knows that there will usually be additional passenger pick-tips along the way, ancl a flew passenger drop-ofl'.s too. 'I'he IGrl' eomputelsystem provides real-time street navigation instructions on a dashboard display screen to guide the taxibus cirivel along the eustomisecl route. I lowever the IC,rl'system ensul-es that all pick-ups ancl cirop-ol'l's lie along a more-or-less direct trajeetoly, so Alex's own journey is not really that much lengthened by them Half an hour later, Alexis taxibus is nearing his clestination. An interior display screen, visible to all the passengers in the taxibus, shows the upcoming stop, and also indicates which passengers should aligilt at that stop. In this ease it is only Alex, and so his IGT user name (which he has chosen as tAlex-G,) is displayer on this i n ter for display set een: NEXT STOP: Charing (I Ross Rd. W(2 Arrival Time: 2 minutes Passengers Alighting: Alex-G The same information is also available on Alexis cellular telephone. Alex gets ready to aligilt. All taxibus passengers are made aware that they must board ancl alight reasonably citliekly in order to keep taxibus travel test and streamlined liar everybocly. Quick boarding ancl alighting are made possible by displaying on the passenger Is cellular telephone a precise Countdown to the time that their taxibus will arl ive to pick thein up, ancl by providing this acivaneed warning just before a passengeris destination is clue. 'I'he l-'aet that all passenger fares ale atitornatieally ealeulatecl by the IGT system - eliminating the need to buy tickets loom the taxibus driver - also greatly helps to expedite the whole transport process. The taxibils arrives at Alexis destination ancl pulls up at the herb. The ciriver annolinees "'Arrival at Chalking Cross Roacl'l ancl opens the vehicle Cools. As Alex steps Otit on to the pavement he observes that, as usual, the IG'l'.system has guided the taxibus right up to the l'rolit door ol'1lis c>t'fiee. Whiel1 is goocl, beeatise it had just started to rain. _ 96

Claims (1)

1. The terminology used in these claims is defined in sections Fi.2, 5.3, 5. 4 and 5.7.

   I A traveller transportation system operating on the roads in which traveilers use eommlnieator tleviees to send their journey requests, and any ear pool vehicle c:lrivers use eommuniealor devices to send their ear pool intenclerf itinerary speeificatiolis, to a controlling computer. system wherein: an intelligent grouping moclule intelligently grotipx the said tra.vellers into transit vehicles, anti creates an optimal transit route f'or each of these transit vehicles to convey the said travellers in aeeordancc with the itinerary and the other travel details speeifietf in each of the said jour ney requests or ear pool intended itinerary . specl I Cations; the said intelligent grouping module operating with the aid of cIata f'rom an electronic positioning system detailing the current geographic position of each ot-'the said transit vehieies; the cIrivers in each of' the said transit vehicles being clireetec-J along the said optimal transit routes to convey the said travellers lay means of navigational ciata supplietf by an electronic street navigation module ineorpolaltd into the said controlling computer system; tile said navigational cIata being sent to the communicator device within each of' the sniff transit vehicles, these communicator devices detailing the navigational data to the drivel s of the said transit vehicles; throughout the above-deseribecf operations, a cIata transmission system is used wherever data neecis to be sent between the remotely-loe<lted components of this invention, these components including the controlling computer system (anal any geographically distributed computer processor eierneots thereof), the electronic positioning.system (anti any geographically distributed elements thereof), and the communicator devices used by travellers anti transit vehicle drivers.

   2 1\ traveller transportation System as clescriberf in claim 1 in which the journey request format allows travellers to specify the number ot'tra. veller seats required on I he journey, so that groups of' people t ra. velling together can be a.eeomrnorfated by this invention.

   3 A traveilel trans,oorlation system as cleseriLed in claims 1 or 2 in which the journey request format allows travellel-s to st,eeif,'y their luggage requirements, so that travellers with luggage can be f'ouncf a suitable transit vehicle.

   4 A travellel- transportation system as cleseribetf in claims 1, 2 or 3 which has the ability to handle pre-orcler hooking and regular order booking traveller journey requests: travellers who place a pre-order booking with the controlling computer system will have a transit vehicle arrive to Collect there at the time they specify in - 97 the journey request, in order to convey them along the itinerary they specify in the jOUI ney request; a regular order booking is like a pre-order booking except that it is repeated on a regulal- basis specified in the journey request (for example: claily) until eaneellecl (see section 7.ct3).

   A traveller transportation system as described in claims 1 to 4 which operates with traveller itineraries that t'all into Ine category of simple two-point itineraries whicl1 Comprise the travellel's embarkation point and destination point: this makes the itineraries simple to speeily on a commtmiealor device and easy to process cornptltllionllly.

   6 A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 5 which operates with vehicle itineraries that comprise a set ol'clef'inecl geographic points ol a.ciciresses to which the vehieie must navigate in a prescribed orc:ler, to pick up or drop ot't' travellers.

   7 A travellel transportations system as described in claims I to 6 which operates with transit vehieies that are able to service the same sort of'streel a.dciresses and locations as can a private ear or taxi cab (in other worcis, like the ea.r and taxi cab, these transit vehicles will be sul'l'iciently small awl manoeilvrable to be able to reach virtually all street acitiresscs) 8 A traveller tr-ans,oortation system as described in claims 1 to 7 which c:,,oelates exclusively with transit vehicles that are piloted by a prol'essional ciriver with no itinerary of' his own (by definition, this is the electronic navigation taxiLtis eonl'iguration ot'this invention).

   9 A travelier transportation system as c.leseribed in claims I to 7 which operates exclusively with transit vehieies that are piloted by a driver who is travelling on an itinerary otthis own, and who wishes to accommodate and transport passengers in his vehicle (by del-init.ion, this is the Cal' pooling configuration ol'the invention).

   A traveller transport-a/ion system which combines the f'unetionality described in claims and 3 (that is to say, one that operates both taxibus and car pooling vehicles simultaneously).

   1 1 A traveller transportation system as deselibecl in claims I to 1() which operates the self drive transit vehicles described in section 9.21.

   12 A traveller Iranspor-tation system as cieseribecl in claims I to 11 in which the data transmission system comprises a cellular telephone network as a methocl of' data transmission.

   13 A travellel transportation system as c-lesclibed in claim 12 where the data transmission system comprises a 3C, (thircl-generation) cellulartelephone network 01' later generations thel-cof. - 98

   14 A traveller transportation system as cleseribecl in claims 1 to 13 where the data transmission.syst-em employs a mesh network method ol'clata transmission (mesh networks ale c3eseriLec3 in section 8.4).

   A traveller transportation system as cleseribec3 in claims I to 14 in which the C3.1t.l transmission system is able to transmit data more-orless instantaneously (t,ypieally with the speed ol'an eleetrorn.1gnetie wave Or the speed ol'a signal propagating along an electric land line) so that no burst of'data takes longer than a few seconds to travel via the d.1t.l transmission system; such speed is necessary if this invent-ion is to operate ef'f'eetively in real time.

   16 A traveller transportation system as clescritec3 in claims I to 15 which provides a c300r-to-clool transpc>rt service, that is to say, which runs transit vellieles that convey each traveller in aceol-danee with his itinerary right f'rom his starting point or address to his clestinatic>n point or adciress.

   17 A traveller transportation system as cieseriLecl in claims I to lrS in which travellers are Conveyed almost cloor-to-clool- by t>eing pinkos up an3/or dropped ot'f within a short walking distance ol'their starting and destination points or addresses (such as in the Iquasi c300r-to-t300rt taxibus in section 3.3).

   18 A tr.lvellel- transportatiol1 system as described in claims I to 17 which employs Communicator cleviees that are electronic gadgets eapatyle of two-way transmission of'information (able to senc3 data and receive ciata via the clata transmission.systern).

   19 A traveller transportation system as deseliSed in claims I to 18 which employs communicator devices that are portable so that LISCI'S of this invention Can Carry a eomrnunieator cieviee on their person.

   A traveller trctnsport1tion system as cleseribed in claims I to 19 which employs COrnmLIniCatol devices that possess a text and/or graphics clisplay screen anc3 some sort of'Iceyboarcl or keypacl, allowing a visual presentation of information to the tlser, an< allowing users to type in inlorrnation.

   21 A traveller transpol-t1tion s,ystern as cleseribecl in claims 1 to 20 which employs COrnmLIniCatOI cleviees that ale of the cellular telephone or wireless PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) type and which o,oerate with a Cellular telephone network tiara transmission system (see seetic>n 7.2 for a more cletailed cleseription ot'sueh types of eommLInieatol- device).

   22 Atraveller tcclnsF>oltcllion system ascleselilecl in Claims I k'21 in which the electronic positioning system is able to locate the geographic position ol' eommuniecltor devices Carried by travellers, AS well AS locate the geogrctphie position c>f transit vehicle eornmuniccltoldevices.

   23 A trclveller trclnsportcltion system as described in claims 1 to 22 in which the - 99 electronic positioning system is a satellite positioning system.

   24 A travellel transportation system as described in claims 1 to 22 in which the electronic positioning, system is based on cellular base station triangulation.

   A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 22 in which the electronic positioning system uses a comlination of loft satellite positioning and cellular base station triangulation.

   26 A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 22 in which the electronic positioning system is exclusively based on road coding and/or short range radio transmitters (both are descliLcd in section 9.22).

   27 A traveller transportation system as clescriled in claims I to 26 in which road coding and/ol- short range radio transmitters (described in section 9.22) act as an ancillary electronic positioning system.

   28 A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 27 in which the electronic positioning system is capable of providing a locational accuracy to within If) metres when operating at optimc.lrn performance, so that communicator devices eqtlipped with electronic positioning l'unctionality can be located to within this distance.

   29 A traveller transportation system as clescril-ed in claims 1 to 23 which operates using pre-det'ined passenger- pick-up (ancl optionally set. down) points, each with a unique pick-up point ret'erence code, in ortler to eliminate passenger pick-up point ambiguity (see section 9.16).

   A traveller transportation system as descliled in cla.irns I to 29 in which the electronic street navigation module operates in a similar manner to the self'- contained in-car satellite navigation system, providing the vehicle driver with real- time street-by-street navigation directions which are based on the vehicle's current: geographic location; such in-car navigation.systerns rely on a digitisecl street la.yoLIt map, and use an electronic positioning system to provide current location data.

   31 A traveiler transport.lt.ion system.l.S describe<::! in claims I to 30 which Spicily processes incoming journey requests, so that when a prospective traveller submits a journey recluest on his communicator device, the controlling computer system ma.l'SIlalS It last response, organizing a transit vehicle to collect the t-raveller typically within a time-scale ot'minutes in Ol'dCI to convey him along his specil'ied itinerary (section 7.12 explains why a fast response is import.,lnt).

   32 A traveller tl-.lnspol-tation system as described in claims I to 31 which operates such that prospective travellel-s generally have their transit vehicles arriving to collect them within thiee minutes ol'submitting their journey request (section 7.12 examines the impc> rtalice and theoretical f'easilility cuff three minute response). _ 100

   33 A traveller transportation system as described in claims 1 to 32 in which the intelligent grotipilig module takes into account transit vehicle proximity to the prospective travellel: this means that when trying to place a new traveller into a transit vehicle, not only does the intelligent grouping module seek a vehicle with a good itinerary compatibility to the traveiler, the moUtilc also trys to lincl a tl-anSit vehicle that is curiently located in the vicinity ol' that traveiler; enabling the transit vehicle to get to the traveller's pick-up point quickly.

   34 A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 33 in which the intelligent grouping mot/tile processes traveiler journey requests which specil'y an immediate depal-ttire time as follows: the intelligent grotiping mocitile examines the cur-lent position ancl current itineraries of its transit vehicles en rotite (ancl any icile transit vehicles, it'available), searching l'or a transit vehicle in the vicinity (a few minutes dl iving clistance) ol'the travellel Is pick-LIp point, and one into which the t-raveller can be intelligently grouped; when the intelligent grouping moc-lule antis StlCtl a transit vehicle for the traveller, this module revises the transit rotite ol'that vehicle so that it can pick up the traveiler l-'rom the pick-up point specified in his journey request, ancl convey him ancl the other travellers on board the vehicle to their respective destinations (this method is usel;l when dealing with new jOUI ney requests in which travellers require immediate pick up ancl cleparture, ancl corresponds to the processing of class C journey requests clescriLed in section 7.1) A travellcl tralispol-tation system as described in claims 1 to 33 in which the intelligent grotiping mocitile may process journey requests some time in advance of the traveller's departure time, searching t'or a transit vehicle which l,ilil, in the vicinity of' the traveller's pick-up point- at (or close to) his ciepal ture time, and one into which the traveller can be intelligently grouper! (this method is useful when clearing with batches ol'pre-ol der and rcgtilar order jOUI ney requests, ancl corl-esponcis to the processing ol' crass D journey requests ciescribecl in section 7.1).

   36 A traveiler transpolt-ation system which combines the functionality described in claims 34 and 35, such that the intelligent grouping morlule has the facility to operate either ot'the two methods ol' pi ocessing journey reqtlests riescribed in these above two claims.

   37 A tr.tveller transportation system as clescriberl in claims I to 36 in which the intelligent grotiping module has the ability to split a traveller's journey into cliff'erent legs using two 01- more clit'terent transit vehicles (the need 1'or split journeys is explained in section 9. 2).

   38 tinveller transport.ltion system as described in claims 1 to 37 in which the intelligent grouping module has the ability to route, or, in the case ol split jotirneys, oartially rotite, a tr.lveller itinerary via existing modes of public travel such as btises ancl trains as well.IS by taxies 0I car pool transit vehicles; this enables this invention to seamlessly integrate with existing public transport (multi-modal tr.tvel is descl iLed in section 7. 17). - 101

   39 A traveller transportation system as desel ibecl in claims 1 to 3cS in which the intelligent grotiping module operates SO a.s to aim to place at least 6 travellers into each transit vehicle: an objective ol't-his invention is an ability to provic:le mass transportation ol'travellers without generating high levels ol' road trat'tie congestion: this objective ciepends on placing several travellers in each transit vehicle (obviously this only applies to transit vehicles ot'suf'l'icient size, having 6 or more passenger seats; in particular we exclude ear pool vehicles, most ot'whieh do not have sufficient seats to aeeommoclate 6 passengers).

   A travellel transportation system.lS descrilecl in claims I to 39 in which the intelligent grouping modtile intelligently gl'OLlpS travellers so that the Compatibility Index (clef'inecl in section 5.7) of their itineral ies is typically less than 1.6 (measured when there are at least 6 travelleIs in the transit vehicle); a low value f'or the Compatitilily Index is important to achieving one ol' the objectives of' this invention: to provide a mode of'ptiblie transport that t'OI the cloor-to- rloor journey is quicker than existing public transport.

   41 A traveller transportation system as described in claims l to 40 in which the intelligent grouping module intelligently groups traveilers so that the Compatibility Inclex of their itineral ies is typically less than (measurecl when there are at least 6 travellers in the transit vehicle); this invention remains a very viable mass transportation system when the Compat:i1,ility Index is less than 2.

   42 A traveller transportation system as cleserilecl in claims I to 41 in which the intelligent gioLIping mot/tile performs its intelligent grouping calculations taking into account cietails of' the current tral'lie speed on each roa.cl - that is to say, using a tral'lie-speec.l travel-time metric AS cleseribecl in sections.4j.7 and 9.1.

   43 A traveller transportation system as cleseriled in claims I to 42 wherein the intelligent grouping mot/tile operates in such a. way that when a transit vehicle, for whatever reason, gets signif'leantly clisplaeecl groin its optimal transit route, of sut'f'els a signit'ieant delay along this optimal transit route, the intelligent grouping module will be triggerecl to re-optimise the intelligent grouping in order to cievise a new optimal transit route t'or that transit vehicle (see section 9.1).

   44 A traveller transportation system as clescrited in claims I to 43 in which the intelligent grouping module incorporates all the features deseribect in section c3 1 A traveller transportation system as cleseribecl in claims I to 44 which operates with a transit vehicle density ol'a.t least I () vehicles per square mile in a large city; such scales ot'opera.tion vastly improve the ef'tieieney of this invention (see section 5.c8) which is important to all the oljeetives of this invention stated in section 5.1.

   46 A traveiler transF:,ol tation system as clescril-ed in claims I to 45 which is designed to take advantage ol' the transpolicition et'lieieneies that arise at large sealts ot'c>peration (scales such as 1() or more transit vehicles per satiate mile); three impol t-ctnt transportation et'ficieneies materialize at: a large scale of' operation which _ 102 enable this invention to function in it manner that is not possible at smaller scales (see section 5.3).

   47 A traveller transportat:ic>n system as clescriberl in claims I to 46 which is lesignect to provide transportation coverage across a. whole city; city-wicie implementation is important lor retiueing City traflie congestion anct air pollution.

   48 A travellcl- transportation system as desel-ibect in claims 1 to 47 which is designed to provide transportation eovel-age to a whole state Or nation - wicleseale implementation is important to the environmental objectives of this invention in rec:lueing air pollution and greenhotise gas emissions.

   49 A traveller transportation system as cleseriSed in Claims I to 48 which pre- emptively mal-shals its transit vehicle fleet in c>rder to geographically position the fleet in readiness to handle the expected traveller numbers arising from the morning and evening rush hours, Irom large-scale putrid events, and from similar situations where it is known in advance that there will be high eoneentl Lions ol new travellers recluirilig transportation (see section 7.9).

   A traveller transportation system as cicseribecl in claims I to 49 which operates a system al automatic ec>mputer-ealetilated flare metering and Chaining for travellers using its transit vehicles: this speocis up jc> urneys and makes travel more streamlined and convenient (see SCCtiOI1 9.5) .

   S1 A traveller transportation system as cieseriSed in claims I to 50 wherein during its ordinary handling of traveiler journey reqtlests and in the eontcc>l and orchestration of its transit vehicles, this invention works automatically without the need c>f human c>peratc>rs Or assistance (when implemented in a large City this invention might- operate tens al thc>usancis c>l transit vehicles and receive thousands of journey requests each minute - tar too many tc>r human operators to handle, unless a huge number of operators are empic>yocl, which wc>ulct be costly) .

   52 A traveller transportation system as described in claims I to 51 which operates using a central controlling Computer.system as cleseribecl in the preferred eml>oclirnent (see section 7), but which also has the Capacity tc> operate using a distributed Controlling Computer system as described in the second embodiment (see section 8), such that in the event of a lailille of the Control Controlling eomptiter system, the distributed controlling eomputer.system will be able tc> take over, thus keeping the transit vehicle fleet in operation.

   53 A traveller transpc>rtatic>n system clS cleseribect in claims 1 lo 52 in which the eontcc>lling eornptiter system will, on recitlest, provide eleetrc>nie street navigation to its users (passengers anct vehicle drivers) even when they are not travellilig by means of this transpc> rtat:ic>n system.

   54 A traveller transportatic>n system as deselibecl in claims I to 53 in which tile eontrc>lling eomptltel system ineorpolates cluantum computer hardware when _ 103 cluantum computer technology becomes available: quantum computers are especially good at handling the non-polynomial calctilat-ions that can arise during the process of intelligent. growing.

   tra.veller transportation system sulsta.ntially according Lo any emlocliment heleinbe{orc described.

   56 traveller transportation system substantially according to any embodiment hereinbe{oie described with reference to the accompanying drawings.