Location-based taxi service in wireless communication environment

The convergence of multiple technologies, including the Internet, wireless communications, geographic information systems, location technologies, and mobile devices, has given rise to new types of information utilities that may be referred as mobile location-based services (LBS). LBS can be described as applications that exploit knowledge about where an information device (user) is located. This paper presents a new approach to the taxi assignment problem in a mobile environment based on optimization and simulation. Our specific interest is to predict the impact of the interaction between the assignment algorithm and fleet management in the mobile environment on the desired quality of service for the mobile users. The paper also discusses the current approach and limitations of the new approach and some simulation results, such as average transport time and unserved mobile users average. Finally, some conclusions are presented.