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ViaAlgo’s Reassign Assistant: move today’s trips with guidance from our efficiency-maximizing algorithm

Written by Via Transportation | Jul 29, 2022 4:00:00 AM

Meet ViaAlgo, the brain behind Via's 500 worldwide deployments. In our ViaAlgo Features Series, get to know her expertise, honed by delivering millions of rides all over the globe.

Via operates some paratransit services ourselves, and we know from experience that anything can happen during live service. How can dispatchers keep on top of a schedule that’s continually changing, with trips adjusted or vehicles becoming unavailable? 

ViaAlgo is really great at optimizing large numbers of rides — but she understands that sometimes, the human touch is necessary when making adjustments to live paratransit service. ViaAlgo’s Reassign Assistant offers a few different reassign features that empower dispatchers to make targeted, day-of interventions in the Ride Plan, while still taking advantage of the algorithm’s efficiency and keen memory for service rules.

After selecting the trip from today’s plan they want to adjust, dispatchers can choose to:

  • Reassign: ViaAlgo finds the best alternate place to put the trip, while respecting the original pickup or drop-off windows of the selected trip and every trip in the Ride Plan.
  • Flexible Reassign: If the rider requesting the selected trip has flexibility to be picked up earlier or later than their current window, ViaAlgo will look for places to assign the trip that may be early or late. Other trips in the Ride Plan will not be affected. 
  • Priority Reassign: If the rider must be picked up or dropped off within their requested window, ViaAlgo will do everything in her power to make that happen — even if doing so may affect other trips in the Ride Plan. 
  • Reassign to Specific Shifts: If the dispatcher has a shift in mind for a trip, ViaAlgo will show them every option within the shift — even early or late options. 

When dispatchers need to reassign multiple trips at once, ViaAlgo gets to show off a bit more.

Let’s say that Joe’s vehicle breaks down with both Lisa and Manuel onboard. Joe communicates his maintenance issues to agency staff, and now dispatchers are tasked with figuring out alternative vehicles for every trip remaining in Joe’s shift. Luckily, ViaAlgo’s Assisted Reassign function has a nifty solution: Dispatcher Andrea can click a single button to reassign all Joe’s remaining trips at once, to whichever available shifts are best suited to deliver them. 
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