Autonomous vehicle services

Abstract

The technology relates to facilitating transportation services between a user and a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode. For instance, one or more server computing devices having one or more processors may information identifying the current location of the vehicle. The one or more server computing devices may determine that the user is likely to want to take a trip to a particular destination based on prior location history for the user. The one or more server computing devices may dispatch the vehicle to cause the vehicle to travel in the autonomous driving mode towards a location of the user. In addition, after dispatching, the one or more server computing devices sending a notification to a client computing device associated with the user indicating that the vehicle is currently available to take the passenger to the particular destination.

1 . A method of reducing downtime for vehicles of a fleet of vehicles between trips, the method comprising:
 identifying, by one or more processors of a server, a current location of a specific vehicle of the fleet of vehicles that is available;   identifying, by one or more processors, one or more users, each of the users being associated with a respective client computing device;   sending, by the one or more processors, to the respective client computing devices of the one or more users, a notification including an offer for the specific vehicle to take the one or more users on a trip to a destination;   receiving, by the one or more processors from at least one of the respective client computing devices, a response to the notification indicating that at least one of the one or more users accepted the offer; and   sending, by the one or more processors, dispatching instructions to the specific vehicle to cause the specific vehicle, while operating in an autonomous driving mode, to maneuver to one or more pickup locations to pick up the at least one of the one or more users who accepted the offer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dispatching instructions are sent in order to reduce the downtime for the specific vehicle between trips. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more users is based on whether the one or more users are located within a predetermined distance of the specific vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more users is based on whether any user is associated with a tsk metric corresponding to the user's ride history. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates an estimated time of arrival of the specific vehicle at a current location of the respective client computing device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the one or more processors, location information identifying current locations of each of the respective client computing devices.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates how many seats in the specific vehicle are available for use for the trip to the destination. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the response to the notification indicates for which seats the offer is accepted. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 prior to sending the notification to the respective client computing devices of the one or more users, determining, by the one or more processors, whether to dispatch the specific vehicle or allow the specific vehicle wait.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates that the specific vehicle is currently maneuvering to the one or more pickup locations, or when the specific vehicle will arrive at the one or more pickup locations. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification indicates that the specific vehicle is waiting at one of the one or more pickup locations. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the notification provides a first option to accept the offer and a second option to decline the offer. 
     
     
         13 . A server computing device for reducing downtime for vehicles of a fleet of vehicles between trips, the server computing device comprising:
 a memory configured to store data and instructions; and   one or more processors configured to:
 access the data and instructions stored in the memory; 
 identify a current location of a specific vehicle of the fleet of vehicles that is available; 
 identify one or more users, each of the users being associated with a respective client computing device; 
 send to the respective client computing devices of the one or more users a notification including an offer for the specific vehicle to take the one or more users on a trip to a destination; 
 receive, from at least one of the respective client computing devices, a response to the notification indicating that at least one of the one or more users accepted the offer; and 
 send dispatching instructions to the specific vehicle to cause the specific vehicle while operating in an autonomous driving mode, to maneuver to one or more pickup locations to pick up the at least one of the one or more users who accepted the offer. 
   
     
     
         14 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the dispatching instructions are sent in order to reduce the downtime for the specific vehicle between trips. 
     
     
         15 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the identification of the one or more users is based on whether the one or more users are located within a predetermined distance of the specific vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein identification of the one or more users is based on whether any user is associated with a tsk metric corresponding to the user's ride history. 
     
     
         17 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the notification indicates an estimated time of arrival of the specific vehicle at a current location of the respective client computing device. 
     
     
         18 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive location information identifying current locations of each of the respective client computing devices. 
     
     
         19 . The server computing device of  claim 13 , wherein the notification indicates how many seats in the specific vehicle are available for use for the trip to the destination. 
     
     
         20 . The server computing device of  claim 19 , wherein the response to the notification indicates for which seats the offer is accepted.