Fee calculation device, method for calculating fee, and fee calculation program

Abstract

To provide a fee calculation device which can be used safely and inexpensively by elderly people after they return their driver's licenses and also which can enhance convenience of taxis as transportation means.SOLUTION: The present invention includes a fee calculation unit 2 for acquiring action history data showing a history of visit that such a user as an elderly person makes to a certain place from home according to each user and each visit place and calculating the fee of a taxi that the user uses to visit a place as a fee for a predetermined period of time on the basis of the acquired action history data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to the technical fields of a fare calculation device, a fare calculation method, and a fare calculation program. More specifically, the present application relates to the technical fields of a fare calculation device and a fare calculation method that calculate the fare required when using a means of transportation such as a taxi, and a fare calculation program used in the fare calculation device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the number of accidents involving vehicles driven by elderly people has been increasing, which has become a social concern. In addition, in light of the risk of such accidents, the number of elderly people who are returning their licenses is also increasing. Here, when such license returners visit places that they used to visit by car before returning their licenses, possible means of transportation include trains, buses, and taxis. And, considering that they are elderly, it is likely that they will use taxis more often, since they do not need to go to a station or bus stop.

[0003] On the other hand, when using a taxi, a fee is incurred, but considering that license surrenderers will be using taxis frequently, it is preferable to be able to use taxis efficiently at as low a fee as possible. For example, the following Patent Document 1 is a prior art document that discloses a conventional technique made in consideration of such a request.

[0004] In Patent Document 1, when presenting a fare to a user who wishes to carpool, dispatch conditions for requesting a taxi, including departure point information indicating the departure point and destination information indicating the destination, are obtained from an information terminal held by the user, and before a taxi is dispatched to the user, a discounted fare to be applied if the user carpools, which is cheaper than the standard fare to be applied if the user does not carpool, is calculated based on the departure point and destination, and the discounted fare is displayed on the information terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-6959 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the conventional technology disclosed in the above Patent Document 1 does not consider the mobility of elderly people after they have surrendered their licenses as described above. Therefore, the conventional technology disclosed in the above Patent Document 1 does not solve the problem of enabling elderly people to use taxis safely and, as a result, promoting the use of taxis.

[0007] Therefore, the present application has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned demands and problems, and one example of the object of the application is to provide a fare calculation device and a fare calculation method, as well as a fare calculation program for use in the fare calculation device, that enable even elderly people who have surrendered their driver's licenses to use taxis more cheaply and safely, while also increasing the convenience of taxis as a means of transportation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 comprises an acquisition means for acquiring, for each user and each of the visited places, history information indicating a visiting history from a preset point for each of the visited places of the user, and a calculation means for calculating, based on the acquired history information, a usage fee for a transportation means used by the user when visiting the visited places as an amount for a preset fixed period of time.

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 6 is a fare calculation method executed in a fare calculation device equipped with an acquisition means and a calculation means, and includes an acquisition step of acquiring, by the acquisition means, historical information indicating a visit history from a preset point for each of the user's visited places, for each of the user and each of the visited places, and a calculation step of calculating, by the calculation means, a fare for a transportation means used by the user when visiting the visited places as an amount for a preset fixed period of time, based on the acquired historical information.

[0010] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 7 causes a computer to function as an acquisition means for acquiring historical information indicating a visit history from a preset point for each of a user's visited places, for each user and each visited place, and a calculation means for calculating, based on the acquired historical information, a usage fee for a transportation means used by the user when visiting the visited places as an amount for a preset fixed period of time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation device according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] These are block diagrams showing the detailed configuration of a user terminal and the like that constitute the fee calculation system of the embodiment, where (a) is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the user terminal, and (b) is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of a server that constitutes the fee calculation system. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of behavior history data according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] 11 is a flowchart showing a fee calculation process according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation device according to the embodiment.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, a fee calculation device S of the embodiment includes an acquisition unit 1 and a calculation unit 2.

[0014] In this configuration, the acquisition means 1 acquires, for each user and each visited place, history information indicating a visit history from a preset point for each visited place of the user.

[0015] Based on the history information acquired by the acquisition means 1, the calculation means 2 calculates the transportation fee for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the destination as an amount for a preset fixed period of time.

[0016] As described above, according to the operation of the fare calculation device S of the embodiment, the fare for the transportation means used by the user when visiting the destinations is calculated as a fare for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the historical information for each of the user's destinations.

[0017] Therefore, by making it possible to use the transportation means more cheaply and safely in accordance with the history information, the convenience of the transportation means can be improved. EXAMPLES

[0018] Next, a specific example corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2 to Fig. 5. The example described below is an example in which the present application is applied to a fare calculation system that executes a fare calculation process to calculate, for example, a monthly fare for each elderly person who uses a taxi and for each place that the elderly person visits using the taxi when the elderly person uses the taxi after returning their license. In the following description, the elderly person who has returned their license will be simply referred to as "elderly person".

[0019] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of the fee calculation system of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the user terminal and the like constituting the fee calculation system, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the action history data of the embodiment, and Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the fee calculation process of the embodiment. In Fig. 3, the same component numbers as those of the respective components in the fee calculation device S of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 are used for the respective components in the embodiment.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment includes a user terminal T1, a user terminal T2, ..., a user terminal Tn (n is a natural number, the same applies below) that is used by the elderly and functions as a part of the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment, a server SV that functions as a part of the fare calculation system SS, and taxi terminals TX1, ..., and TXm (m is a natural number, the same applies below) that are provided in a taxi as an example of a means of transportation in the embodiment and provide various information to the taxi driver. The user terminals T1, T2, ..., and Tn, the taxi terminals TX1, ..., and TXm, and the server SV are connected to each other via a network NW such as the Internet so that they can exchange information or data with each other. In this case, the server SV may be provided, for example, in a taxi company to which the taxi used by the elderly belongs, or may be provided in a company that provides the fare calculation system of the embodiment other than the taxi company. In the following description, when describing matters common to the user terminal T1, the user terminal T2, ..., and the user terminal Tn, these will be collectively referred to as the "user terminal T." In addition, when describing matters common to the taxi terminals TX1, ..., and the taxi terminals TXm, these will be collectively referred to as the "taxi terminal TX."

[0021] In the above configuration, as part of the function of the fee calculation system SS, each user terminal T transmits behavior data indicating the manner of movement when an elderly person using the user terminal T moves (acts) to various places to the server SV via the network NW for each movement. The behavior data transmitted at this time includes, for example, location data indicating the location of each user terminal T, time data indicating the time when the location indicated by the location data was detected, and terminal identification data for identifying the user terminal T that transmitted the behavior data from other user terminals T. Here, the terminal identification data is usually user identification data for identifying the elderly person using the user terminal T. The server SV then associates the location data and time data transmitted from each user terminal T with the terminal identification data transmitted at the same time, and records them non-volatilely for each elderly person as the behavior history data of the embodiment. In the following description, an elderly person using a user terminal T is referred to as a "terminal user" for that user terminal T.

[0022] On the other hand, for example, when a terminal user makes a reservation for use on the user terminal T, data indicating the contents of the reservation is distributed to each taxi terminal TX via the server SV or other reservation servers (not shown). The data indicating the contents of the reservation includes information indicating the name of the elderly user, the reservation location (i.e., the location where the elderly plans to board the taxi), and the reservation time. As a result, the server SV searches for an available taxi running near the reservation location in response to the reservation, and transmits data indicating the reservation to the taxi terminal TX equipped in the searched available taxi. As a result, the driver of the taxi equipped with the taxi terminal TX (the available taxi) dispatches the taxi to the reservation location at the reservation time, and drives the taxi to the destination with the elderly person who made the reservation.

[0023] Next, the detailed configurations and operations of the user terminal T and server SV constituting the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3(a), each user terminal T of the embodiment is composed of a processing unit 20 consisting of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., a non-volatile recording unit 21 consisting of an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), etc., an operation unit 22 consisting of operation buttons, etc., a microphone 23, a camera 24 consisting of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) imaging element, etc., a sensor unit 25 constituting a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) or an autonomous navigation system, etc., a display 26 consisting of a liquid crystal display, etc., a speaker 27, and an interface 28.

[0025] In the above configuration, the recording unit 21 non-volatilely records programs and data necessary for the user terminal T to fulfill the functions to be assumed as part of the functions of the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment, and the programs and data are read out by the processing unit 20 as necessary. Under the control of the processing unit 20, the microphone 23 collects the voice of the terminal user and outputs sound data corresponding to the collected voice to the processing unit 20. Under the control of the processing unit 20, the camera 24 outputs image data corresponding to the captured image of the surroundings of the user terminal T to the processing unit 20. Furthermore, under the control of the processing unit 20, the sensor unit 25 detects the current position, moving speed, traveling direction, etc. of the user terminal T using the GNSS or the like, and generates detection data indicating the detection results and outputs it to the processing unit 20.

[0026] Meanwhile, the display 26 displays images or maps, etc., required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T, under the control of the processing unit 20. The speaker 27 emits sounds, etc., required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T, under the control of the processing unit 20. Furthermore, the interface 28 controls the exchange of information or data required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T with the server SV via the network NW, under the control of the processing unit 20. Furthermore, when an instruction operation is performed on the user terminal T by the user of the terminal, the operation unit 22 generates an operation signal corresponding to the instruction operation and outputs it to the processing unit 20. As a result, the processing unit 20 controls each member constituting the user terminal T, such as the sensor unit 25 and the interface 28, based on the above operation signal, and controls the performance of the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T.

[0027] Here, the above-mentioned functions to be performed by the user terminal T will be described by taking as an example a case where the terminal user uses a taxi to leave his / her home from his / her home to visit a desired destination. In this case, the processing unit 20 of each user terminal T first acquires, from the sensor unit 25, position data indicating the position of the movement start point of the user terminal T (in other words, the home of the terminal user) and time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T left his / her home, triggered by, for example, an operation for taxi dispatch reservation processing being executed on the operation unit 22. Thereafter, the processing unit 20 transmits the acquired position data and time data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW in association with user identification data (terminal identification data) for identifying the terminal user from other elderly people. Next, when the terminal user arrives at the visited location, the processing unit 20 acquires from the sensor unit 25 location data indicating the location of the user terminal T at the time of arrival (i.e. the location of the visited location) and time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T arrived at the visited location, associates the acquired location data and time data with visited location identification data for identifying the visited location visited by the terminal user from other visited locations and the above-mentioned user identification data, and transmits them to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW.

[0028] Next, when the terminal user leaves the visited place and returns home, the processing unit 20 acquires time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T left the visited place from the sensor unit 25, associates the acquired time data with the above-mentioned user identification data, and transmits the data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW. Finally, when the terminal user returns home, the processing unit 20 acquires time data indicating the return home time from the sensor unit 25, associates the acquired time data with the above-mentioned user identification data, and transmits the data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW.

[0029] As a result, the server SV records the location data and time data transmitted from the user terminal T as described above at the time of leaving home, arriving at a visited place, departing from a visited place, and returning home, for each terminal user, visiting date, and each movement (visit), as behavior history data AH of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4, in a mutually identifiable and non-volatile manner in the recording unit 11 of the server SV, which will be described later. At this time, the processing unit 10 of the server SV, which will be described later, records stay time data indicating the stay time at the visited place based on the time data at the time of arrival at the visited place and the time data at the time of departure from the visited place, in association with the user identification data. In addition, the processing unit 10 records distance data indicating the travel distance during the visit (either round-trip distance or one-way distance) in association with the user identification data, based on each location data.

[0030] In addition, each user terminal T also transmits request information to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW to request calculation of the monthly taxi usage fee by a fee calculation process of an embodiment described later. This request information includes the terminal identification data (the user identification data) and visited place data indicating the visited places that are the subject of the monthly usage fee.

[0031] Next, the detailed configuration and functions of the server SV of the above embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 3(b) to 5. As shown in Figure 3(b), the server SV of the embodiment is composed of a processing unit 10 consisting of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., a non-volatile recording unit 11 consisting of an HDD or SSD, etc., an operation unit 12 consisting of a keyboard, mouse, etc., a display 13 consisting of a liquid crystal display, etc., and an interface 1.

[0032] The processing unit 10 is also configured to include a fee calculation unit 2. In this case, the fee calculation unit 2 may be realized by a hardware logic circuit constituting the processing unit 10, or may be realized in software by the processing unit 10 reading out a program corresponding to a flowchart showing the fee calculation process of the embodiment from the recording unit 11 and executing it. The interface 1 corresponds to an example of the acquisition means 1 of the embodiment, and the fee calculation unit 2 corresponds to an example of the calculation means 2 of the embodiment.

[0033] In the above configuration, the action history data AH illustrated in Fig. 4 is non-volatilely recorded in the recording unit 11. At this time, the action history data AH is generated and recorded by the processing unit 10 using the position data, the time data, the user identification information, and the like received from any one of the user terminals T via the interface 1, as described above.

[0034] In addition, the above programs, data, etc. necessary for the server SV to perform the functions to be assumed as part of the functions of the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment are non-volatilely recorded in the recording unit 11, and are read out by the processing unit 10 as necessary. Also, the administrator of the server SV inputs instructions, etc. necessary for the fee calculation process of the embodiment as the server SV described above using the operation unit 12. As a result, the operation unit 12 generates an instruction signal corresponding to the instruction, etc., and outputs it to the processing unit 10. As a result, the processing unit 10 (fee calculation unit 2) comprehensively controls the processing as the server SV based on the instruction signal. At this time, the information, etc. to be presented to the administrator is presented to the administrator by image display, etc., using the display 13, for example.

[0035] Next, a specific description will be given of the fee calculation process of the embodiment, which is executed mainly by the processing unit 10. The fee calculation process of the embodiment is a process in which a taxi company to which the elderly person belongs calculates a fixed monthly usage fee for each place visited for the elderly person, and is started, for example, at preset time intervals. In the following description, the fixed monthly usage fee for each place visited will simply be referred to as the "monthly usage fee."

[0036] When the fee calculation process of the embodiment is started, the processing unit 10 monitors whether the request information requesting the calculation of the monthly taxi fee by the fee calculation process of the embodiment is transmitted from any of the user terminals T used by the terminal user (elderly person) in association with the terminal identification data (step S1). If the request information is not transmitted in the monitoring of step S1 (step S1: NO), the processing unit 10 proceeds to step S4 described later. On the other hand, if the request information is transmitted from any of the user terminals T in the monitoring of step S1 (step S1: YES), the fee calculation unit 2 of the processing unit 10 calculates a certain usage fee for the next month or the following months for each elderly person and each visited place as the monthly usage fee of the embodiment based on the terminal identification data (in other words, user identification data for identifying the elderly person using the user terminal T from other elderly people) and visited place data included in the transmitted request information, and the behavior history data AH recorded in the recording unit 11 for the elderly person at that time (step S2). Thereafter, the processing unit 10 transmits monthly usage fee data indicating the calculated monthly usage fee for each visited place to the user terminal T that transmitted the request information, using the terminal identification data as a clue (step S3). Thereafter, the processing unit 10 judges whether or not to terminate the fee calculation process of the embodiment, for example, because the instruction signal from the operation unit 12 of the server SV indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should be terminated (step S4). If the judgment in step S4 indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should be terminated (step S4: YES), the processing unit 10 terminates the fee calculation process of the embodiment as it is. On the other hand, if the judgment in step S4 indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should not be terminated (step S4: NO), the processing unit 10 returns to the above step S1 and continues the above-mentioned series of fee calculation processes for the new request information. It is preferable that the calculated monthly usage fee is charged by credit card payment every month or every multiple months.

[0037] Next, the calculation process of the monthly usage fee in step S2 will be specifically described. That is, in the calculation process, the monthly usage fee is calculated based on the terminal identification data, the visited place data, and the action history data AH, for example, according to the following rules (I) to (III). (I) For a single visited location, the more times the location is visited in a preset month, the lower the monthly usage fee. In this case, if the number of visits in a month is equal to or less than a preset threshold, the location is preferably excluded from the monthly usage fee of the embodiment. (II) For a particular place to be visited, the shorter the distance traveled by taxi when visiting the place (round-trip distance or one-way distance), the cheaper the monthly usage fee will be. (III) For one visited location, the monthly usage fee is set high, for example, during the rainy season (in other words, during the season when the opportunities to use a taxi are expected to increase).

[0038] The monthly usage fee may be calculated using each of the above rules alone, or two or more rules may be combined (or weighted and combined) to calculate the monthly usage fee. Furthermore, when calculating the monthly usage fee over multiple preset months, the monthly fees for the multiple months may be the same (flat monthly fee), or may be calculated differently for each month. Alternatively, an annual fee system may be used, with a fixed fee for the entire year.

[0039] As described above, according to the fare calculation process in the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment, the fare for a taxi used by an elderly terminal user when visiting a destination is calculated as a fee for a predetermined period of time (e.g., a monthly fee) based on the behavioral history data AH for each destination visited by the terminal user. This makes it possible to use taxis more cheaply and safely in accordance with the behavioral history data AH, thereby improving the convenience of taxis themselves and increasing their usage.

[0040] In addition, since the visit history indicated by the behavioral history data AH is a visit history indicating the distance traveled from home or past visit dates for each location visited by the user, the usage fee for each terminal user and each location visited can be appropriately calculated.

[0041] Furthermore, when the monthly usage fee is calculated as the same amount for multiple months, it is possible to use a taxi more cheaply from the viewpoint of the terminal user. On the other hand, when the monthly usage fee is calculated on a monthly basis, it is possible to calculate the usage fee more appropriately according to the visiting history.

[0042] In the above embodiment, the case where the starting point when the terminal user travels by taxi is the home has been described, but the embodiment can also be applied to fare calculation when using a taxi to travel between points other than the home. In this case, in addition to the action history data AH, it is preferable to newly record action history data with a point other than the home as the starting point and a point other than the home as the visiting point for each of the starting points and / or the visiting points.

[0043] In addition, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in terms of the case of calculating the fare for a taxi, but the fare calculation process of the embodiment can also be applied to other cases, such as the case of calculating the fare for a public bus or a local community bus.

[0044] Furthermore, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 can be recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk or a hard disk, or obtained via a network such as the Internet, and then read out and executed by a general-purpose microcomputer or the like, thereby causing the microcomputer or the like to function as the processing unit 10 according to the embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1. Acquisition method (interface) 2 Calculation method (fee calculation section) 10, 20 Processing section SS Fare Calculation System AH Behavioral history data T, T1, T2, Tn User Terminals TX1, TXm Taxi terminal

Claims

[Claim 1] An acquisition means for acquiring history information indicating a visit history of each of the user's visited places; a calculation means for calculating a fixed usage fee for the transportation means used by the user within a fixed period of time based on the acquired history information; A fee calculation device comprising:

Images