Unified Approach for Route Planning in Smart Transportation

Abstract

Based on the collected data and designed index, this research team has also studied the real-world problems in spatial applications. By collaborating with DiDi Chuxing (the biggest online taxi-sharing company in Mainland China), Prof. Chen’s STC group can utilize the huge amount of data generated by millions of drivers and customers to help the company improve the efficiency of their services and the user experience of both drivers and customers. One such service, ridesharing, which allows drivers to share their empty seats to different groups of customers as long as the detours are acceptable, has a huge potential to alleviate the shortage of vehicles and increase the throughput of the platform. With ridesharing, customers can enjoy relatively cheaper transportation services with guarantees, such as the suitability of fellow travelers and the deadline of delivery. However, to operate a good ridesharing service is challenging. Prof. Chen’s STC group has helped DiDi to design smart vehicle dispatching strategies, dynamic pricing strategies, and privacy protection mechanisms such that the efficiency of the ridesharing service can be improved, and the overall profit of the platform can be increased.