Taxi Dispatch Algorithms: Why Route Optimization Reigns

This is like a hit piece on the taxi industry, who can't subsidize their businesses with venture-capitalists' money.

> Traditional courier and taxi companies are so inefficient, you're not going to believe it. They typically employ a roomful of human dispatchers,

Dispatchers actually take customers' information, over the phone, and input it into their old-school GPS-enabled electronic dispatch system.

> 4. Easy wins > This method might sound familiar, because it’s what happens when old-school cab drivers deny you a ride if you request one that’s too far for their liking. It is more lucrative for a cabbie to make a bunch of quick trips, because of the minimum fixed fee they earn each time.

In the real world, a bunch of short trips ruin your day. Every cab driver needs long trips, to balance out all the time driving to the short trip, waiting for the passenger to come out, load up their groceries, etc.

This guy has never actually driven anyone anywhere for money.