This is an in depth guide on auto allocation; starting from the basics on how to auto allocate to auto allocation system logic, requirements and settings.

BASICS: How To Auto Allocate

First, navigate to the allocation page and select your region

Selecting your unallocated bookings

In the allocation page, you have an unallocated booking section. This is all your bookings that have been booked in for the date you have selected, and have not yet been allocated to a vehicle.

Selecting Unallocated Bookings Individually

To auto allocate these unallocated bookings to available vehicles you will need to select which unallocated bookings you would like to include in the auto allocation. To select unallocated bookings individually, you can tick the boxes next to the unallocated bookings.

Selecting Unallocated Bookings All At Once

Alternatively, you can select “ALL” unallocated bookings by selecting the empty box that is located next to the “info” column.

Filtering Unallocated Before Selecting

You can also break up the unallocated booking data by using the filters available. Before selecting any unallocated bookings for auto allocation, select the filtering icon located above the unallocated bookings.

You have multiple filtering options that can be applied together to only show unallocated bookings based on what has been filtered, allowing you to auto allocate in groups with data that might be priority or specific to your allocation needs. As you select different filtering options, you will see this reflect in the unallocated bookings section, only displaying unallocated bookings that match your filtering options. After you are happy with the result, you can then use the “select all” checkbox to capture all the filtered unallocated bookings at once for auto allocation.

Selecting Available Vehicle Runs For Auto Allocation

Now that you know how to select you unallocated bookings, you can now select appropriate vehicle runs that you wish to include in the auto allocation. To select the vehicle runs you want to include in the auto allocation solution, tick the boxes against each vehicle run.

Split Shifts / Vehicle Runs

With split shifts / vehicle runs on the same vehicle, you can also individually select either or both to include in the auto allocation solution.

Generating the Auto Allocation Solution

Once you have your filtered unallocated bookings selected and your vehicle runs selected, you can run the auto allocation solution by clicking on “Auto Allocate”

This will start generating a solution & could take up to 10 minutes for it to complete for your review. It may seem like a long time, but being able to allocate 100’s of bookings in 10mins will save you hours of work based on the bookings selected, vehicle runs selected, all the client & vehicle requirements and auto allocation settings. Further down the guide we will dive into all these Auto Allocation requirements.

Data Preparations for Best Auto Allocation Results

In this section, we are going to dive deep into the areas that impact the results of auto allocation, allowing you to improve the solution for more efficient scheduling. Data preparation is a fundamental attribute for the auto allocation to work effectively. Below are the key data categories that need to be configured accurately.

Client/Booking Information

Some client/booking information is factored into the auto allocation process and shares a direct relationship with “Vehicle Information” mentioned below. Some of this data can be set as default on the client profile to auto populate in the booking form. I will mention this throughout the below section.

Origin Address

The pickup location is required by the auto allocator & needs to be accurately geocoded to ensure the auto allocator has the exact location to calculate route & timing. ==NOTE: The origin address will be auto populated on the first (forward) leg of the booking via the client’s home address on their profile.==

Most addresses will be accurately geocoded via google when creating the address, but even google can get things wrong. You can check any address by searching for the location under the “locations” module in TRIPS. If updates need to be made you can can click-hold-drag the red pin and move it to where it needs to be, this will change the geocode points.

Destination Address

Drop-off location is required by the auto allocator & needs to be accurately geocoded to ensure the auto allocator has the exact location to calculate route & timing. ==NOTE: The destination address will be auto populated on the last leg (return) of the booking via the client’s home address on their profile.==

Requested Time

Requested time is the time the client needs to be dropped off or picked up, depending on the selection of “drop-off timing” or “pick-up timing” preference. This is required by the auto allocator, allowing for accurate pick up, arrival times and route calculation.

Service Type / Flexibility Windows

Service Types control the flexibility windows by default, so ensuring that the service types have been set up correctly with the right flexibility windows will improve your auto allocation solution. ==NOTE: The Service Type can be auto populated in the booking form via the client’s default booking service or selected per booking.==

Flexibility windows within the booking, allow the auto allocator to pick up or drop off a client within a time frame of the requested time. For example, the requested drop off time is set to 9:00am, with flexibility windows set the 15mins early / on time, meaning that you are allowing the auto allocator to drop off this client off between 8:45am (15mins early) and 9:00am (on time). Another example is, the requested drop off time is set to 9:00am, with flexibility windows set the 30mins early / 10mins late, meaning that you are allowing the auto allocator to drop off this client between 8:30am (30mins early) and 9:10am (10mins late).

To configure the flexibility time windows against the service types, go to Organisation Settings > Booking Service Types > create or edit Service Type > change the flexibility windows. ==NOTE: Destination timing flexibility is when the user selects the “drop-off timing preference” & the Origin timing flexibility is when the user selects the “pick-up timing preference”==

Extra Travel Time:

Extra travel time allows the user to extend the travel time from point A to point B of the specific leg of the booking. So instead of the auto allocation calculating the direct travel time from point A to point B, it will factor in the extra travel time on top of this. ==NOTE: Extra ride time + Direct travel time (calculated by the auto allocator) = Max ride time==

Booking Priority

Booking Priority has 3 levels: Low, Medium and High. Medium Priority is always set as default on all bookings, making each booking equal in the eyes of the auto allocator. If this priority is changed in the booking form to Low or High, the auto allocation will prioritise all the high priority bookings first before the medium, and then priorities medium before any low priorities bookings. For example, this allows the auto allocator to allocate a higher priority booking to a vehicle run before reaching potential capacity, leaving only low priority bookings unallocated. It is best to not have too many high priority bookings as eventually this could affect the solution in a negative way. It’s always good to have majority of your bookings set equally at medium, so as to not limit the auto allocator. ==NOTE: The booking priority is available on the client’s profile under the “default bookings requirements” tab which will be default values for the booking form but can be changed in the booking form to adjust to that day of travel.==

Isolation

The Isolation Flag tells the auto allocator that a client needs to be isolated from other clients. This means that when the auto allocator generates a solution for a client’s bookings, it will always make sure that they will not be picked up at any point with other clients, allowing a client to remain alone when travelling. The isolation flag can only be activated on the client’s profile under the “default booking requirements” tab.

Group Isolation

Group Isolation tells the auto allocator that all clients within the group template should be isolated together away from any other client not in the group template. For example, Client A, B and C are booked together via group management template, if group isolation is turned on, the bookings for these clients will be grouped together, not allowing another client outside of this group to be picked up while these clients are travelling even though they may share the same pick up / drop off location & time. ==NOTE: This feature is not out yet, it will be released with the new group booking management feature.==

Grouping clients/bookings

There are 2 different logics that the auto allocator will use when allocating bookings together.

Logic 1 - The auto allocator is designed to group clients/bookings together when both bookings share the same locations and same timing. For example, booking A and booking B are both due to be picked up from location C and dropped off to Location D at 10:00am.

Logic 2 - When 2 or more clients are booked together on the same booking form, the auto allocation recognises this, and will ensure that these clients will be allocated together. ==NOTE: Unlike the group isolation, the auto allocation may still decide to pick up other clients with these clients if the route makes sense.==

Booking Transport Requirements

Transport Requirements let the auto allocator know if the client requires any type of wheelchair transportation, ensuring that the client gets allocated to the correct vehicle that can accomodate the booking needs. Based on the wheelchair selection, this will automatically configure other requirements automatically such as “Vehicles Requirements, Assistance Requirements and Cargo Requirements, to ensure appropriate wheelchair requirements are catered for within auto allocation. ==NOTE: The following Transport Requirements are available on the client’s profile under the “default bookings requirements” tab. These will be default values for the booking form, but can be changed in the booking form to adjust to that day of travel. This requirement has a direct relationship with vehicles & drivers, meaning that vehicle and driver profiles will need to be configured correctly otherwise this will affect the auto allocation results.==

Booking Vehicle Requirements

Vehicle Requirements is like Transport Requirements, except is goes beyond “wheelchair needs”. Vehicle Requirements allow you to customise what type of vehicle & what seating requirements the client requires. Please see the list of vehicle needs below. ==NOTE: The following Vehicle Requirements are available on the client’s profile under the “default bookings requirements” tab which will be default values for the booking form. These can be changed in the booking form to adjust to that day of travel. This requirement has a direct relationship with vehicles, meaning that vehicle profiles will need to be configured correctly otherwise this will affect the auto allocation results.==

Booking Cargo Requirements

Cargo Requirements allows you to select what type of items the client will bring while being transported. ==NOTE: The following cargo requirements are available on the client’s profile under the “default bookings requirements” tab which will be default values for the booking form. These can be changed in the booking form to adjust to that day of travel. This requirement has a direct relationship with vehicles, meaning that vehicle profiles will need to be configured correctly otherwise this will affect the auto allocation results.==

Each cargo requirement option comes with an assigned space, meaning that if a vehicle is configured to only hold 10 space points worth of cargo, then the auto allocator will not allocate clients at the same time with a collective space points of 11 or more. Below is the list of all default cargo options and their default assigned space points required. ==NOTE: The cargo options are not customisable but the space points required can be customised on request if needed.==

code	name	description	space_required
WC	Folding Wheelchair/Scooter	A collapsible wheelchair/scooter that is not needed by the passenger during transport	4
WFF	Forearm Fixed Walking Frame	A forearm fixed walking frame that is not needed by the passenger during transport	4
WFN	Non-Collapsible Walking Frame	A non-collapsible walking frame that is not needed by the passenger during transport	3
WFC	Collapsible Walking Frame	A collapsible walking frame that is not needed by the passenger during transport	2
P	Pram	A collapsible pram that is not needed by the passenger during transport	6
O	Oxygen	A portable oxygen cylinder that is not required during transport	1
C	Crutches	Crutches that are not held by the passenger during transport	1
WS	Walking Stick	A walking stick that is not going to be held by the passenger during transport	1
SB	Small Bag	A bag of about the size of a backpack	2
MB	Medium Bag	A bag of about the size of a duffle or nappy bag	3
LB	Large Bag	A bag of about the size of a large piece of luggage	4
SWS	Small Shopping	About 2-4 average sized shopping bags	2
MS	Medium Shopping	About  5-10 average sized shopping bags	4
LS	Large Shopping	About 11-15 average sized shopping bags	6
B	Bicycle	A standard size bicycle	6

Vehicle / Vehicle Run Information

Some vehicle information is factored into auto allocation and share a direct relationship with “Transport Requirements, Vehicle Requirements & Cargo Requirements” mentioned above. It is essential to keep the vehicle information up to date and accurate.

Depot Address

Depot address is recorded on the vehicle profile, and it is the address a vehicle will be garaged at and leave from each day. If the vehicle leaves from a different address each day, just add a central address to the depot address as you can control the starting and finish address each day on the vehicle run. To edit this information navigate to the following:

Vehicle Type

Vehicle Type has the direct relationship with the client’s booking “Booking Vehicle Requirements” mentioned above. This means that the auto allocator will look at booking vehicle requirements & type of the vehicle, ensuring that it accurately matches bookings to vehicles. The following vehicle types can be found by editing the vehicle information on the vehicle profile:

Vehicle Capacity Configuration

Vehicle capacity configuration allows you to configure seating and storage capacity on the vehicle. This has a direct relationship with the “Client” and “Cargo Requirements” meaning that the auto allocation will treat a clients booking as 1 to 1 for seating on a vehicle (without a carer) and ensure the client’s cargo can be stored on the vehicle at any one time. For example, the vehicle capacity configuration for a sedan, can be set up to have 1 front seat, 3 back seat, 0 wheelchairs, 0 stretchers, 8 cargo spaces, 2 anchor points. Allowing the auto allocator to allocate 1 client to the front seat, 3 clients in the back seat and take 8 space points worth of belongings at any one time. The auto allocator might also assign 1 client to the front seat with 1 client in the back seat and 2 child booster seats in the back with 8 cargo points worth of belongings.

==NOTE: Multiple vehicle configurations can be entered for the one vehicle and the auto allocator will take this into consideration. E.g. you may have a bus that can accomodate 2 wheelchairs but, has fold up seats when this configuration is needed. If no client’s are travelling in wheelchairs, the seats can fold down and the vehicle can now accommodate 8 extra client’s.== To add multiple configurations, simply click on “Add Configuration” and repeat the steps until all configurations are entered.

Vehicle Run Timing

Vehicle run timing is an important factor for the auto allocator to achieve good results. Vehicle run departure and return times are considered to be the times that the driver can work between. This being said, you can have vehicle run times and assigned driver times different from one another but it is best practice to set the vehicle run times as the time you would like the assigned driver to start and finish their day. Simply create a vehicle run with a departure and return time, select “create availability for the selected driver to create a vehicle run” and then select the nominated driver for this vehicle run. This will automatically create a driver availability matching the departure and return times.

If you set the driver availability to match the vehicle run departure and return time then the auto allocator would start the timing calculation from the vehicle depot at the assigned departure time, and return back to the vehicle depot at the assigned returned time. For example, If you set the vehicle run departure time to be 9:00am and the return time to be 4:00pm, the auto allocator would start the travel timing calculation from 9.00am from the depot address and make sure the driver will be back at the depot address by 4:00pm. ==NOTE: If the driver assigned has different availability times to the vehicle run departure and return times, the auto allocator will calculate the travel from the driver’s start time and finish times instead. This is expanded on in the guide under “Driver Availability Time” below.==

Driver Information

Some driver information is factored into auto allocation, so it is essential to keep Driver information up to date and accurate.

Driver Availability Time

Driver availability time needs to be set accurately when assigning a driver to a vehicle run. The auto allocator is restricted by the driver availability times when it comes to assigning trips to the vehicle run. It is good practice to set the driver availability times the same as the vehicle run times as mentioned above in “Vehicle Run Timing”

If you do set the driver availability time differently to the vehicle run time, the logic will work as follows:

1. To assign a driver to a vehicle run, the driver availability time has to have start and end times in between the vehicle run departure and return times. (If not, the driver will not appear in the list of available drivers).
2. The auto allocator will only calculate and assign trips between the driver availability times and not the vehicle run times. For example, vehicle run departure time is set to 9:00am and the return time is set to 4:00pm. The driver assigned has availability times set to start at 11:00am and finish at 2:00pm. The auto allocator will only start calculating and assigning trips to this vehicle between 11:00am and 2:00pm.

Pre-allocated Resources

Some resources may be pre-allocated to vehicle runs before you run auto allocation, which can affect the behaviour of the auto allocation result.

Driver Allocation

If the allocated driver has availability times that match the departure and return time windows of the vehicle run, this will not affect the auto allocation result. If the driver availability times are different to the vehicle run departure and return times, the auto allocator will only assign trips within the driver availability time windows. Please see “Vehicle Run Timing” & “Driver Availability Time” in guide for more explanation.

Booking Allocation

• Manually allocating a booking to a vehicle run will affect the auto allocators' behaviour. When you manually allocate a booking to a vehicle, the auto allocation set rules and constraints are not factored in. If you then try to select this vehicle to auto allocate to (with the manually allocated trip) the auto allocation will recognise that this manual booking is breaking the constraints and could unallocate this booking from the vehicle or change the pick up and drop off timing to meet the rules. It is possible to freeze “force allocate” this booking on the vehicle run, which will prevent the auto allocation from un-allocating the trip, but the auto allocator can still change the pickup and drop off timing for this booking if it recognises the timing conflicts. The auto allocator will also give you a reason why the trip violated the constraints.

• Auto allocating a trip to a specific vehicle run - by selecting a trip, then selecting a specific vehicle run and running the auto allocation, this will ensure that the single trip meets all vehicle and timing constraints. If you then try to select this vehicle again to be a part of the auto allocation process, the auto allocator will not remove this trip but could slightly modify the pick up and drop off timing as long as it still stays within the timing constraints of the booking.

Auto Allocation Best Practice Process Steps

Sometimes the auto allocation rules and constraints can only do so much, the rest of the effort comes with the process of manual allocation. Below are key steps that may suit your business when using the auto allocation.

Step 1 - Sorting Unallocated Bookings

Although it is possible to select all unallocated bookings, all available vehicle runs and auto allocate everything at once; it is possible to get better results for your business operations if you filter the data first and break it up into smaller groups.

• Using the “unallocated bookings” filters is a perfect way to capture unallocated trips you wish to auto allocate first (priority trips e.g. wheelchair clients). This will always be personal to the business, for example, you can filter the unallocated bookings by “long distance” trips because it’s easier to book taxis for short distance trips if you end up being at capacity. (refer to the basics “filtering unallocated bookings before selecting” on how to do this )

• Select those filtered unallocated bookings. ( refer to the basics “selecting unallocated bookings all at once” on how to do this )

• Select the available vehicle runs you would like to include in the auto allocation for these filtered trips. This gives you a chance to choose specific vehicles that the long distance trips need to be in etc. ( refer to the basics “selecting available vehicle runs for auto allocation” on how to do this )

• Click auto allocation to assign the selected bookings to the chosen vehicle runs through the algorithm. (refer to the basics “generating the auto allocation solution” on how to do this )

Step 2 - Handling Trips That Did Not Get Allocated

Sometimes the auto allocation process will have leftover trips could not be allocated. This could be for many reasons:

• By hovering over the yellow warning sign on the unallocated bookings after auto allocation, it will let you know the reason why this trip could not be allocated.

  

• Depending on the reason, you may need to address the problem by changing client requirements, booking timing, vehicle capacity etc. You can reach out to a TRIPS professional if you are uncertain on the reason

• Repeat the the auto allocation process with these booking selected after the fix has been made.

Step 3 - Scheduling All Remaining Bookings

Now that you have filtered and auto allocated priority bookings (based on your business requirements), you can auto allocate all the remaining unallocated bookings.

• If additional priority bookings or groups need to be auto allocated, repeat step 1
• Once all priority bookings have been allocated, select all unscheduled bookings and vehicle runs.
• Click Auto allocate again, to schedule remaining bookings, repeat step 2 if needed.

Understanding Common Constraints

When bookings cannot be scheduled to a vehicle, several common reasons could be behind the issue:

• Vehicle Type and Capacity Mismatch: The selected booking does not fit the vehicle type or exceeds the vehicle's capacity.

• Invalid Booking Address: The origin or destination address is not validated, or not properly recognised.

• Vehicle Availability Conflict: The vehicle’s availability does not match the booking requirements. For example, a vehicle may need to leave the depot earlier to meet the pickup time, or it may need additional time to return to the depot after drop-off.

• Violating Timing Restraints: The vehicle does not have the time needed to successfully deliver a booking without violating time constraints.

Auto Allocation Parameter Settings

The auto allocation algorithm can be adjusted in many ways by different settings. These settings can be adjusted as we get feedback from you when working with the auto allocator.

Traffic

We know that peak hours can be a problem for the majority of providers. We have a traffic setting that allows the auto allocator to factor in additional travel time to get clients to their appointment on time. We have the ability to adjust set times of the day to increase the normal travel time by a percentage. For example, we are able to set a traffic factor of 30% between 7:00am - 9:00am and 3:00pm to 5:00pm, meaning that all client travel between these times, will increase by 30%. ( Travel that may take 10 minutes to get from A to B, will allow 13 minutes from A to B between set times.)

Default Timings

Default timings are a subset of auto allocation settings that are on by default but can be customised by the TRIPS team to improve how the auto allocation calculates and interacts with client/booking data.

Service time

Service time is a default auto allocation setting that can be adjusted to allow extra time when loading a client on a vehicle or unloading a client off a vehicle. We have the ability to control this setting on the below factors:

• Client with a wheelchair - A default setting can be changed in minutes to extend the loading and unloading of clients with a wheelchair. For example, the auto allocator will factor “10mins” load & unload (20 mins all up) to all clients travelling with a wheelchair in addition to their travel time.

• Client with a walker - A default setting can be changed in minutes to extend the loading and unloading of clients with a walker. For example, the auto allocator will factor “5 mins” load & unload (10 mins all up) to all clients travelling with a walker in addition to their travel time.

• Client with no mobility aids - A default setting can be changed in minutes to extend the loading and unloading of clients that have mobility independence. For example, the auto allocator will factor “2 mins” load & unload (4 mins all up) to all clients travelling with no mobility aids in addition to their travel time.

We have the ability to add additional mobility aids or even cargo to service time setting. ==NOTE: Currently you can not set this at a per client level==

Extended Ride Times

Extended Ride Time is a default auto allocation setting that can be adjusted to allow extra time to the travel in general. For example, we can set this setting to 10mins, giving all client travel an extra 10 mins to their travel time. ==NOTE: This setting can be set individually at a booking level, giving more flexibility to individualising this per client. This will add extra time to the already extra time set for this parameter.==

Driver Lunch Break

Driver lunch breaks can be factored into the auto allocation process with different rules. Below are the different options that can be set for the auto allocator to add lunch breaks in automatically in the solution.

• Set timing lunch break - We can set a lunch break to occur between set times for all vehicles. For example, you would like the lunch break to be added anywhere between 11:00am - 13:00pm. The auto allocator will add the 30 minute lunch break in the drivers schedule between these set times.

• Scaling lunch break - We have the ability to set some timing rules so that the lunch break can be added to scale to the driver hours. An example is , the auto allocator has the driver starting at 9:30am and finishing at 3:30pm, we can have a lunch break rule that we want to add a lunch break after the 3rd hour from start time (12:30pm) but before the 5th hour from start time (2:30pm). This allows the lunch break to scale with drivers that may start their day later, for example 11:00am start and finish at 7:00pm, as a fix timing lunch break would not be ideal.

Driver lunch break durations can also be adjusted. The length of the lunch break can be set if you wish to decrease or increase it from the default 30 mins.

Driver lunch break minimum hours can be adjusted. We can set the lunch break to be added if the driver has done a certain amount of hours for that day. The auto allocator will only add a lunch break if those hours are met.

Flexibility Settings

Flexibility settings allows the auto allocator to ease up on hard set rules, giving a bit of leeway with certain rules. This gives more flexibility to the schedule/results. The hard set rules will always be priority, but if it can have leeway to get a trip completed, it could break the hard set rule by X minutes if set.

Work limit Flexibility

This flexibility gives the auto allocator leeway with driver start and end times by X minutes if needed. Giving the auto allocation the ability to fit more trips in if possible.

Ride Time Limit Flexibility

This flexibility gives the auto allocator leeway with booking ride times by X minutes if needed. Allowing the client to be on board the vehicle a little extra just to be able to fit their transport in, otherwise they could stay unallocated.

Vehicle Availability Flexibility

This flexibility gives the auto allocation leeway to arrive back to the depot X minutes later then the set return time. Giving the auto allocation the ability to fit more trips in if possible.

Time Window Flexibility

This flexibility gives the auto allocation leeway with the pickup and drop off flexibility windows by X minutes. Giving even more flexibility if the auto allocation needs it as a last resort.

Default Priority

Default priority is an auto allocation setting that allows you to priorities certain factors to best suit your business needs. The below factors can be prioritised in any order you would like if needed.

• Forward legs
• Disabilities
• Long Trips
• Short Trips
• Linked Trips
• Reoccurring Chain Trips

==NOTE: The booking priority mentioned in this guide “====Booking Priority====” is the top priority by the auto allocation, these priorities will be factored in next.==

Feedback

Feedback is important when trying to improve your auto allocation solution. There is some helpful information to share with the TRIPS team, that assists us to investigate what can be done to improve your scheduled solution.

• Date of the allocation - share with us the date your are trying to auto allocate.
• Vehicle Description - share with us either the vehicle description or the vehicle registration
• Vehicle run ID - share with us the vehicle run ID you are trying to auto allocate to.
• Clients - share with us some of the clients you are trying to auto allocate.
• Screenshots - share with us screenshots of the vehicle run that you may be having trouble with, which will capture clients onboard, vehicle run ID etc.
• Expectations - share with us any schedule expectations, what you want to happen etc.

Items excluded from auto allocation guide until further improvement in trips.

• Assistance requirements linking to driver abilities and the ability for auto allocation to schedule based on this relationship.

• Driver licenses linking to vehicle licenses required and the ability for auto allocation to auto assign drivers based on this relationship.

• Client specific load and unload times. Work has begun introducing this feature into the UI but no linking has been incorporated as yet.