Dispatch Configuration: Route Calculation - 365 Management

What is This Section?

The Route Calculation tab contains settings that control how the system calculates the route for your bookings.

How Does It Work?

The Route Calculation settings enable you to customise your system to use different routing options to control how your Pricing, Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs), and Dispatching are calculated. These settings also allow you to enhance route calculation through features such as Consider Historic Travel Times.

Route Calculation aims to address issues like inaccurate ETAs and inefficient dispatching. For example,  selecting the appropriate routing mode can enhance ETA accuracy and dispatch efficiency in areas with geographical obstacles like rivers.

The sections within Route Calculation you can configure are the following:

• Pricing
• ETA's
• Dispatch

In addition, there is a specific feature you can activate depending on your configuration, Quantum Dispatch. Through using Autocab's routing system, our Quantum Dispatch feature enables the use of live traffic data when calculating routes for Dispatch and ETAs.

Pricing

The settings control which provider is used to calculate routes that are used when pricing is calculated.

• Mode: Use the dropdown menu to select which routing engine option to use to calculate routes. 
  • Straight Line: Calculates the route in a straight line (as the crow flies). We recommend avoiding using this option for route calculation as it is the most inaccurate choice of the options available. Traffic options and Shortest/Quickest route cannot be configured with Straight Line.
  • Autocab Routing: Use Autocab's own routing system to generate routes for pricing. You can select Historic as your Traffic Options so historic travel conditions are considered in the route generation.
  • Google: (Requires a Google API key) Uses Google's API to generate routes. This is beneficial as this way takes into consideration real-time traffic conditions but this can come at a considerable cost so be mindful of this.
    
    To configure Google routing, you must first enter your Google API Key into the corresponding text box.
    
• Traffic Options: Select whether your routing option should use historic traffic or not.
  • None: Disables the use of historic traffic when calculating routes.
  • Historic: Enable to use historic traffic where routes suggested by the system takes into account historic travel times, resulting in potentially differing routes and times depending on the time of day and day of week.

• Shortest or Quickest Route?:  
  • Quickest Route: Calculates the route to find the quickest way, this may increase or decrease the length travelled.
  • Shortest Route: Calculates the route to find the shortest way, this may result in longer times waiting in traffic etc. 

ETA's

The settings control which provider is used to calculate routes that are used when ETA's are calculated.

• Mode: Use the dropdown menu to select which routing engine option to use to calculate routes. 
  • Straight Line: Calculates the route in a straight line (as the crow flies). We recommend avoiding using this option for route calculation as it is the most inaccurate choice of the options available. Traffic options and Shortest/Quickest route cannot be configured with Straight Line.
  • Autocab Routing: Use Autocab's own routing system to generate routes for ETA's. You can select Live as your Traffic Options so real-time traffic conditions are considered in the route generation.
  • Google: (Requires a Google API key) Uses Google's API to generate routes. This is beneficial as this way takes into consideration real-time traffic conditions but this can come at a considerable cost so be mindful of this.
    
    To configure Google routing, you must first enter your Google API Key into the corresponding text box.
    
• Traffic Options: Select whether your routing option should use historic traffic or not.
  • None: Disables the use of historic traffic when calculating routes.
    •  
  • Historic: Enable to use historic traffic where routes suggested by the system takes into account historic travel times, resulting in potentially differing routes and times depending on the time of day and day of week.
  • Live: Enable to use live traffic data when calculating routes. Routes may vary at different times and days due to traffic conditions. See Quantum Dispatch for more information.

• Shortest or Quickest Route?:  
  • Quickest Route: Calculates the route to find the quickest way, this may increase or decrease the length travelled.
  • Shortest Route: Calculates the route to find the shortest way, this may result in longer times waiting in traffic etc. 

Dispatch

The settings control which provider is used to calculate routes that are used for dispatching bookings to vehicles.

• Mode: Use the dropdown menu to select which routing engine option to use to calculate routes. 
  • Straight Line: Calculates the route in a straight line (as the crow flies). We recommend avoiding using this option for route calculation as it is the most inaccurate choice of the options available. Traffic options and Shortest/Quickest route cannot be configured with Straight Line.
  • Autocab Routing: Uses Autocab's own routing system to generate routes for dispatching vehicles. You can select Live as your Traffic Options so real-time traffic conditions are considered in the route generation.
  • Google: (Requires a Google API key) Uses Google's API to generate routes. This is beneficial as this way takes into consideration real-time traffic conditions but this can come at a considerable cost so be mindful of this.
    
    To configure Google routing, you must first enter your Google API Key into the corresponding text box.
    

• Traffic Options: Select whether your routing option should use historic traffic or not.
  • None: Disables the use of historic traffic when calculating routes.
  • Historic: Enable to use historic traffic where routes suggested by the system takes into account historic travel times, resulting in potentially differing routes and times depending on the time of day and day of week.
  • Live: Enable to use live traffic data when calculating routes. Routes may vary at different times and days due to traffic conditions. See Quantum Dispatch for more information.
• Shortest or Quickest Route?:  
  • Quickest Route: Calculates the route to find the quickest way, this may increase or decrease the length travelled.
  • Shortest Route: Calculates the route to find the shortest way, this may result in longer times waiting in traffic etc. 

Route Calculation Options

• Use Quickest Route For Journeys Further Than (km): Set how far a journey can be before the system automatically uses the quickest route over alternatives.
• Google API Key: If using Google routing, you must enter a Google API Key in this field before selecting Google as your routing option.
  Important: Google's route calculation comes at a cost to yourself.

Quantum Dispatch

Quantum Dispatch, introduced in Management version 28, is a configurable setting for calculating ETA and Dispatch routes that takes live traffic conditions into consideration. This feature uses real-time traffic data to recommend the most appropriate routes for bookings, resulting in more accurate ETAs and improved driver allocation.

With Quantum Dispatch, your routes may vary at different times and days due to traffic conditions, providing improved efficiency and precision for route calculation.

To configure your system to use quantum dispatching:

1. Under ETA's and Dispatch, select the mode as Autocab Routing. 
2. Set the Traffic Options for both sections to Live.
3. Select Save to apply your changes.