Add reservation price

[benwedge]

I work for Joyride, a whitelabel solutions company enabling small operators to launch micromobility fleets around the world. Many of our clients use GBFS.

We would like to include a reservation price in the feeds, as some of our clients charge a fee to reserve the vehicle. This appears to be common with our competitors as well based on a market scan.

Please describe some potential solutions you have considered (even if they aren’t related to GBFS).

1. Adding this information as a flat rate to system_pricing_plans as reservation_price
2. Adding this information as a variable rate in system_pricing_plans in the same manner as per_min_pricing
3. Some combination of the two options above for flexibility
4. Adding this to vehicle_types
5. Adding this to free_bike_status

Is your potential solution a breaking change?

• [ ] Yes
• [x] No
• [ ] Unsure

[mplsmitch]

Hello @benwedge - welcome, it's wonderful to have your input. This a sounds very reasonable to me although I haven't seen much reservation pricing like this in the wild. Can you point to some examples you know of, either on the Joyride platform or elsewhere? thanks!

[benwedge]

This is an example from Bird in Ottawa (non-Joyride), where they charge $0.35 per minute to reserve, with a maximum of 30 min, which suggests we should do this in the manner of per_min_pricing

This is an example from Unlimited Biking (Joyride client), who charges 1 USD for up to 5 minutes. This would suggest that a flat rate pricing plan is needed.

For the Bird example, the rider would be charged per minute for the reservation, then an unlock fee, then a per minute fee on the ride. With the Unlimited Biking example, there is a flat rate to reserve, an unlock fee, and then a per minute fee once the ride begins.

I can do a more comprehensive search if needed to prove how popular this may be.

[mplsmitch]

@benwedge there was some work done on reservations a while back when we were working on integrating carsharing but the only thing that ultimately made it in the spec was default_reserve_time as part of vehicle_types in v2.3-RC2. I think this belongs in the system_pricing_plans file and your examples above indicate that more than one solution is needed. Can you share a URL for an Unlimited Biking system_pricing_plans endpoint or maybe one from another of your clients? I'd like to see how they're using pricing.

[benwedge]

Hi @mplsmitch - we have yet to upgrade to a version where we would use per-minute pricing (2.2 or 2.3). What I can share is this older feed for Ginger, https://eu-feeds.joyridecity.bike/api/v1/ginger/chester/gbfs/1/system_pricing_plans.json, which refers to this fleet https://www.ginger.town/chester. The reservation rule for that operation is 2 GBP per 5 min interval.

When we upgrade to 2.3 their pricing will look like: "plans": [ { "plan_id": "{{uuid}}", "name": "Chester", "currency": "GBP", "price": 2.00, "is_taxable": true, "description": "Let's Go Tees Valley!\r\nLet's Go Ginger!", "per_min_pricing": [ { "start": 20, "rate": 2.00, "interval": 20 },

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[benwedge]

Hi @mplsmitch just wanted to follow up on the information provided above

[mplsmitch]

Here's a proposal - if it's acceptable to everyone I'll open a PR - if not, weigh in here and let me know what needs fixing and/or clarifying.

To be added to: system_pricing_plans.json

Field	REQUIRED	Defines
reservation_price_per_min	OPTIONAL	The cost, described per minute, to reserve the vehicle prior to beginning a rental. This amount is charged for each minute of the vehicle reservation until the rental is initiated, or until the number of minutes defined in vehicle_types.json#default_reserve_time elapses, whichever comes first. When using this field, you MUST declare a value in vehicle_types.json#default_reserve_time. This field MUST NOT be combined in a single pricing plan with reservation_price_flat_rate.
reservation_price_flat_rate	OPTIONAL	The cost, described as a flat rate, to reserve the vehicle prior to beginning a rental. This amount is charged once to reserve the vehicle for the duration of the time defined by vehicle_types/json#default_reserve_time. When using this field, you MUST declare a value in vehicle_types/json#default_reserve_time.  This field  MUST NOT be combined in a single pricing plan with reservation_price_per_min.

cc: @benwedge

[benwedge]

This proposal looks good to me, @mplsmitch. It does make me wonder if default_reserve_time is an appropriate descriptor, but that's a separate issue.

[mplsmitch]

@benwedge there's a discussion that explains why we went with default_reserve_time vs just reserve_time here: https://github.com/NABSA/gbfs/pull/331

On Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 10:24 AM benwedge @.***> wrote:

This proposal looks good to me, @mplsmitch https://github.com/mplsmitch. It does make me wonder if default_reserve_time is an appropriate descriptor, but that's a separate issue.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/NABSA/gbfs/issues/401#issuecomment-1225876182, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADUHWFOUTW3P3OWWCIHMTWLV2Y5D5ANCNFSM5L5BWRHQ . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[Sergiodero]

Hi @benwedge @mplsmitch

Would you be interested in opening a PR for this change using the current proposal?

At MobilityData we’re happy to walk along with you during the change process (PR opening and vote calling) and help facilitate it.

[benwedge]

Sure, how do I do that? @Sergiodero

[Sergiodero]

Thanks @benwedge

You would need to open a new Pull Request proposing the changes in the GBFS repo, allowing at least 7 calendar days for discussion to then call for a vote once the discussion is considered resolved. Perhaps @mplsmitch might still be able to help with this first step (opening the PR).

Please note that for the vote to be passed it requires unanimous consensus with at least 3 votes in favor (two of them coming from one producer and one consumer). For further reference please look at the current governance documentation.

[mplsmitch]

@benwedge I'll open a PR - if you open it then you're not eligible to vote and we may need your vote to pass it

[benwedge]

Oops, I created it before seeing your note!

[mplsmitch]

No problem - looks like you created it on an old branch of mine that's no longer relevant, which creates tons of merge conflicts. For future reference, when working on a PR you should always start with a new branch created from the master so that everything is up to date.

I'll make a new PR, should be ready later today.

[benwedge]

Sorry! Thanks for your patience & clarification on this

[josee-sabourin]

Closing this to ensure all discussion stays in #457

[mplsmitch]

Hey @benwedge - there's a PR on this that's open for a vote. We need one more vote for it to pass and become part of the next version. As a GBFS producer you are eligible to vote. Please have a look, voting closes tomorrow at 11:59PM UTC on Friday, January 20th.