Backend - Operator Admin Page - Updating the rider and/or driver list due to unforseen events

[stephenscapelliti]

Considering the functionality of the new Operator Admin Page :

Scenario 1: I am a driver who is scheduled and confirmed to provide a ride, and unforeseen events prevent me from fulfilling my ride commitment (e.g., Driver's car overheats on the freeway and she's unable to drive for commitments the rest of the day).

Scenario 2: I am a rider who is scheduled and confirmed to receive a ride, and, due to a change in circumstances, my ride needs change (e.g., a neighbor has agreed to take me, or I need to change my ride to a different day or time).

• How is the organization's operator notified? In both scenarios, notifying the org's operator is important, especially if the driver is scheduled to make several stops for riders.
• In Scenario 1, how is/are the rider/s notified?
• In Scenario 2, how is the driver notified?
• Can we add functionality where the driver logs in to the CarpoolAction site to notify the organization and/or the rider? Notifying both will increase the likelihood that riders matched to that driver will reach the polls in time.

[jkbits1]

@stephenscapelliti thanks for these good questions. I'm slightly thinking aloud with this response, so do feel free to challenge anything.

The general thinking behind the original system was that driver/rider would have enough info to contact each other with provided contact details so the situation was for them to resolve outside the system. The system does provide Cancel options on the self-service page for both driver and rider which notify the other person.

The operator/help-line facility existed as back-up to the above, although in practice they were very busy, which suggests not every driver/rider pairing was able to use the above system.

I'm not the originator behind the the revised operator approach, so my views on this that follow are my interpretation (although I think much of the design thoughts are more at the general guideline stage anyway). Given that, the idea seems to be to centralise organisation around the operator, with the operator provided with more system tools to do this.

One benefit of this is to avoid the system having to manage various logins and co-ordination. Although in some ways the new login system could be extended, it is extra complexity that's beyond the midterms. Perhaps something to consider for a later version, though.

One key point at the end of this is how the operator page should display information about cancellations. To some degree, that info exists for drivers with the status field, although currently time info is not shown (that should be added shortly). Similar info should be shown for riders. However, is this sufficient for the operator? I'm not an operator, so I don't know. It wouldn't be so hard to show cancellations for the last hour/day on the operator page, but any contribution means something else isn't done.

[stephenscapelliti]

Thanks so much for that history, @jkbits1. These were general thoughts about functionality, and it sounds as though they might be beyond the original scope, certainly with regard to the 2020 midterms. Perhaps notification would be something to consider later on. It might help to have input from operators, to determine from their experiences whether this is even worth considering.

[jkbits1]

A similar (not quite duplicate) discussion is in issue #355