Patent ID: 8825255

Claim:
A method for reconciling service class-based routing affecting user service within a controllable transit system, comprising: assigning, by at least one processor, a service class to each of a plurality of vehicles within the controllable transit system based on at least one of an emissions and a fuel type of each of the plurality of vehicles, the service class having an associated priority therewith, each of the plurality of vehicles being a small automatically controlled form of ground-based public transportation operating on a network of specially-built guideways that provides on-demand, non-stop transportation to an individual occupant; computing, by the at least one processor, routes for each of the plurality of vehicles to reach a desired destination specified by the individual occupant based on the priority level of the service class assigned thereto; responsive to receipt of at least one of a financial commitment and selection of a delayed start time associated with at least one of the plurality of vehicles, upgrading the at least one of the plurality of vehicles to a service class of a higher level priority; recomputing, by the at least one processor in response to the upgrading, updated routes for each of the plurality of vehicles to reach the desired destination based on the priority level, as upgraded, of the service class assigned thereto; making, by the at least one processor, a prediction as to whether the recomputing of the routes resulting from the upgrading of the at least one of the plurality of vehicles will result in vehicles assigned to a lower priority service class having a collective adverse impact that exceeds a predetermined impact threshold; making, by the at least one processor, a prediction as to whether the recomputing of the routes resulting from the upgrading of the at least one of the plurality of vehicles will result in any other vehicle of the plurality of vehicles having an adverse impact that exceeds a predetermined impact threshold; and responsive to a prediction of either a collective adverse impact or a single-vehicle adverse impact, re-computing, by the at least one processor, at least one of the routes to reduce the adverse impact below the predetermined impact threshold.