6.1 - Provide Trip Planning Services DFD

The processes in this DFD comprise the Provide Trip Planning Services facility within the Provide Driver and Traveler Services function. These processes enable travelers to plan, reserve, and pay for multimodal trips.

The key points about the facility are as follows:

Multimodal trip planning available to include private car, transit, demand responsive transit, ridesharing and other modes, e.g., walking and cycling, plus services from Multimodal Transportation Service Providers;
Trip planning available for routes using all modes of transportation, and based on incidents, evacuation plans, and other factors;
Traveler provided with details of the best possible route including its cost;
Trip confirmation reserves any included services e.g., demand responsive transit and ridesharing;
Trip confirmation may also involve payment for services it includes;
ISP operator controls parameters used in selecting the best modes for trips;
Data about the types of services and trips requested is stored for later archival.

There are three processes in this DFD:
a) Provide Trip Planning Information to Traveler (6.1.1)
b) Confirm Traveler’s Trip Plan (6.1.2)
c) Provide ISP Operator Interface for Trip Planning Parameters (6.1.3)

The traveler’s trip request is received by process (a) which determines the route that provides the best match to the request. In doing this the process will be guided by the traveler’s requirements and by the parameters set up by the ISP operator through process (c). Process (a) will obtain vehicle, transit and other mode route details from the Provide Guidance and Routing Services facility - see DFD 6.6. If required the process will also obtain details of multimodal services, demand responsive transit services, or details of a rideshare that fits in with the trip plan from other DFDs. The travelers’ confirmation of a previously requested trip and any required payments are received by process (b). This makes any necessary reservations with the previously mentioned facilities and gets the payments transacted by the Collect Advanced Payments facility - see DFD 7.4.1. These processes are coupled through their joint use of the two data stores.

The parameters set up through process (c) by the ISP operator for use in trip planning, influence the type of trip that is provided in response to requests from travelers. They will control the degree to which the preferences and constraints specified by the traveler in the trip request should be ignored, and to set the priority that will be given to the use of non-private vehicle modes. For example, the parameters will give the weighting that should be applied to one preference, e.g., start and arrival time, over that which requests the use of several modes. Thus for example, a traveler may find that the proposed trip starts earlier or finishes later (and therefore takes longer) than requested in order to accommodate the use of modes other than the private car.

DFD: 6.1 - Provide Trip Planning Services

Parent DFD: 6 - Provide Driver and Traveler Services

PSpecs in this DFD: