Don't send the nearest rider. Not yet.
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Your biryani is ordered. A rider is free nearby. Don't send them. Do it anyway, and a city loses thousands of rider-hours a night.
Ride-hailing sends the nearest driver right away. The passenger is ready now. Food isn't ready yet. Say the kitchen needs 15 minutes. Your nearest rider is 6 minutes away. Send them now? They stand at the counter for 9 minutes.
So flip the question. Not which rider. When. Take the predicted ready time. Subtract the ride. Subtract a small buffer. 15 minus 6 minus one and a half. Dispatch about seven and a half minutes in.
But wait. What does that rider do for seven minutes? They deliver someone else's order. Nobody stands at a counter.
Watch it work. At 50 seconds, the kitchen accepts. Ready in 15. At 8:25, an offer goes out. That rider just finished a delivery nearby. At 15:05, they reach the kitchen. At 16:40, the food's in their hands. A minute and a half at the counter. Not nine.
Now look at the customer's clock. The ride to the kitchen isn't on it. It's hidden inside the cooking. That's what just in time buys.
Food dispatch isn't a nearest-rider problem. It's a timing problem.
Full breakdown in the lecture.