Information processing apparatus for hourly parking lot and computer program

Abstract

To estimate the availability in a general hourly parking lot having no reservation service for securing a parking space.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus includes: a usage schedule information receiving unit 11 which receives, from a user terminal, usage schedule information for an hourly parking lot in a region to be used; a parking lot extraction unit 12 which extracts an hourly parking lot in the region to be used; and an available parking space estimation information generation unit 13 which generates estimation information related to parking spaces available on a scheduled date and time. A user can understand the availability of general hourly parking lots in the region to be used on the scheduled date and time and can quickly select a parking lot or securing a parking space to be actually used on the day of use.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for predicting and providing usage conditions for a user's planned usage date and time in a general hourly parking lot where parking spaces are not reserved by reservation. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a system that transmits information about the time periods when the parking lot owner is not using the parking lot to a management system via the Internet, searches for vacant parking lots from the user's terminal, matches it with the user's desired use information, and reserves the matching parking lot. For the owner, this leads to effective use of assets, and for the user, it allows them to reliably use a convenient vacant parking lot for a short period of time.

[0003] Patent document 3 discloses a technology for storing information on a first parking lot that can be reserved (reservations can be accepted) separately from information on a second parking lot that cannot be reserved (reservations cannot be accepted), and for outputting information on the first parking lot and the second parking lot to a user terminal in a visually distinguishable manner in response to an output instruction from the user terminal.

[0004] Patent Document 4 discloses a system that searches for a route from a departure point to a destination by combining vehicular and non-vehicular sections, identifies relay facilities (railroad stations, etc.) that relay between the vehicular and non-vehicular sections on the searched route, and further recommends and guides to a specific parking lot from among multiple parking lots that exist in the vicinity of the identified relay facilities. The recommended parking lots are extracted from a parking lot arrival reference time that is calculated by considering, for example, the departure time, parking time, and walking time required at a train (non-vehicular) relay facility (station to be used), and if there are multiple parking lots, the recommended parking lots are narrowed down based on criteria such as past usage, availability, whether or not reservations are possible, and usage fees.

[0005] On the other hand, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1, there are websites that provide real-time availability information for general hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-214265 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2018-84906 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2018-116622 A [Patent Document 4] JP 2012-202920 A [Non-patent literature]

[0007] [Non-Patent Document 1] "Times Parking Lot Search", searched on August 1, 2023, Internet, URL: https: / / times-info.net / Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] Incidentally, when using a general parking lot that does not accept reservations for parking spaces, the user usually patrols parking lots in the vicinity of the area where the user plans to use the parking lot as appropriate, or patrols by referring to the real-time availability information disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, and when the user finds a parking lot with an available parking space, the user uses the parking lot. Therefore, it may be impossible to secure a parking lot in the vicinity of the area where the user plans to use the parking lot. In particular, if the date and time of visiting a specific area is decided in advance due to work or an event, and it is necessary to secure a parking lot in the area, but there is no parking lot that accepts reservations in the vicinity of the destination, the user feels uneasy about visiting by car. In addition, the usage situation of hourly parking lots varies greatly from area to area, such as being particularly crowded during the daytime on weekdays if the area is a business district, or being crowded on weekends if it is a tourist destination. However, if the user visits the area without fully understanding such local circumstances, he or she may end up having difficulty in securing a parking lot.

[0009] If users could know whether or not there was a possibility of securing a parking space at a given date and time in a general parking lot that does not accept reservations, or to what extent, this would encourage them to secure a parking space quickly and alleviate their anxiety. If it is predicted that there is a low possibility of securing a parking space at a given date and time, this could also be an opportunity to consider alternative means of transportation.

[0010] However, Patent Documents 1 and 2 only disclose management systems for owner-owned reservable parking lots, and make no mention of general hourly parking lots that cannot be reserved. Patent Document 3 describes how, by simultaneously and visually distinguishing information on a first reservable parking lot and a second non-reservable parking lot, location information of a non-reservable second parking lot near the destination is provided to the user when a reservation for the first reservable parking lot cannot be secured. However, whether or not parking is possible in the non-reservable second parking lot near the destination cannot be known until the user actually heads to that second parking lot (hourly parking lot) on the date and time desired for reservation.

[0011] In Patent Document 4, parking lots around the transfer facility are extracted based on predetermined conditions, and if a reservable parking lot is extracted, the parking lot can be secured for the planned date and time of use by executing the reservation, but for other parking lots, the availability status is unknown or real-time availability status is shown. Therefore, for parking lots that cannot be reserved, it is difficult to predict the possibility of actually being available on the planned date and time of use until the real-time availability status immediately prior to the date and time is known. Non-Patent Document 1 is similar in this respect.

[0012] The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above, and has an objective of providing an information providing device and computer program for hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, which estimates the availability of hourly parking lots in the area and time period that a user wishes to use, and provides this information to the user, thereby helping the user to quickly select and reserve a parking space on the day of use, and in some cases encouraging the user to use an alternative means of transportation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides An information providing device for hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, A usage schedule information receiving unit that receives usage schedule information of the hourly parking lot in the usage schedule area from a user terminal; A parking lot extraction unit that extracts one or more hourly parking lots in the planned use area; a vacant parking space estimation information generating unit that generates, for each of the extracted hourly parking lots, estimation information regarding a vacant parking space at the scheduled use date and time included in the scheduled use information; an output unit that outputs the extracted hourly parking lot information together with the estimated information regarding vacant parking spaces to a user terminal; Information providing device for hourly parking lot having to provide.

[0014] The vacant vehicle space estimation information generating unit As the estimated information of the vacant parking space, for each of the hourly parking lots extracted at the scheduled date and time of use, Estimated number of vacant parking spaces and the probability of being full It is preferable to generate at least one of the above.

[0015] The vacant vehicle space estimation information generating unit is configured to generate the vacant vehicle space estimation information, Past vehicle occupancy status on the same date and time as the scheduled date and time of use; Past parking space usage status for the same time period on the same day as the scheduled date and time of use; Parking space usage status for a certain period in the immediate vicinity, The vehicle cabin usage status under past weather conditions similar to the expected weather conditions on the scheduled date and time of use, and Event information for the scheduled date and time of use It is preferable to use at least one of the following:

[0016] a scheduled use date and time determination unit that determines whether or not a difference between the scheduled use date and time received by the scheduled use information receiving unit and a current time is within a predetermined time; It is preferable that the configuration include a current vacant parking space information providing unit that operates when the scheduled usage date and time determination unit determines that the usage date and time is within the specified time period, and provides current vacant parking space information to the user terminal for each of the one or more extracted hourly parking lots.

[0017] In addition, in the present invention, A computer program that causes a computer to function as an information providing device for hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, receiving information on the planned use of the hourly parking lot in the planned use area from a user terminal; A step of extracting one or more hourly parking lots in the intended use area; generating, for each of the extracted hourly parking lots, estimated information regarding available parking spaces at the scheduled use date and time included in the scheduled use information; outputting the extracted hourly parking lot information together with the estimated information regarding vacant parking spaces to a user terminal; A computer program for causing the computer to execute the to provide.

[0018] moreover, a step of determining whether a difference between the scheduled use date and time and a current time is within a predetermined time; a step of providing current vacant parking space information to the user terminal for each of the extracted one or more hourly parking lots, which is operated when it is determined that the time is within the predetermined time; The present invention can be configured to cause the computer to execute the above steps. Effect of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, for general hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, hourly parking lots in the planned area can be extracted based on the user's planned use information, and estimated information regarding available parking spaces at the planned date and time of use for the extracted parking lots can be provided to the user. The user can know the possibility of using general hourly parking lots in the planned area and the planned date and time of use, and can quickly select a parking lot and secure a parking space for actual use on the day of use. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing device for hourly parking lots according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the information providing device for hourly parking lots. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a process of generating the estimation information by the vacant space estimation information generating unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows an example of the estimated information displayed on the screen of a user terminal. [Diagram 5]FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a case where a search is performed again using new use schedule information in the above embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6(a) is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when changing the planned use area when searching again, and FIG. 6(b) is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when changing the planned use date and time. [Figure 7] FIG. 7(a) is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a user terminal before changing the planned area of ​​use when searching again, and FIG. 7(b) is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a user terminal after changing the planned area of ​​use. [Figure 8] FIG. 8(a) is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a user terminal before the scheduled use date and time is changed when searching again, and FIG. 8(b) is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a user terminal after the scheduled use date and time is changed. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an information providing device for hourly parking lots according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of how to construct a parking lot database. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The present invention will be described in more detail below based on the embodiment shown in the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots according to this embodiment. As shown in this diagram, the information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots according to this embodiment is composed of a processor 1a such as a CPU, a memory unit (when referred to as a "memory unit" in this specification, it means a memory, storage, etc., including both volatile and non-volatile recording media, and is not limited to either) 1b, and is basically used as a server managed by the operator of the hourly parking lot.

[0022] Specifically, in the information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots of this embodiment, a computer program that executes procedures for making the computer, which is the information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots, function as the utilization schedule information receiving unit 11, the parking lot extraction unit 12, the vacant parking lot estimation information generating unit 13, the output unit 14, etc., is stored in the storage unit 1b. The computer program is usually stored in a non-volatile recording medium such as a hard disk or SSD built into or external to the computer (information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots), and is read and executed by the processor 1a. The storage unit 1b is not limited to the above-mentioned storage unit built into or external to the information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots, but also includes the use of various storage devices connected via communication lines. The storage unit 1b of this embodiment is provided with a parking lot database 20 that stores various information such as location information and past usage status for each "hourly parking lot." The "hourly parking lot" referred to here, that is, the "hourly parking lot" that is the subject of vacant parking lot estimation in this embodiment, is a general hourly parking lot that does not accept reservations for securing a parking space (cannot accept reservations). Hourly parking lots that accept reservations (can accept reservations) to secure parking spaces are not included in the estimation of available parking spaces in this embodiment, because a specific parking space can be secured by making a reservation based on the planned date and time of use. Therefore, all "hourly parking lots" in the following explanation are general hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations.

[0023] The usage schedule information receiving unit 11 receives usage schedule information of hourly parking lots in a usage schedule area from a user terminal (portable information terminal such as a smartphone or tablet, car navigation system, etc.) 100 (see FIG. 2).

[0024] The planned use information includes the planned use area and planned use date and time of the hourly parking lot. The user accesses the website provided by the information providing device 1 of the hourly parking lot of this embodiment from the user terminal 100, and specifies, for example, "Nihonbashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo" on the screen for specifying the "planned use area", and specifies, for example, "September 1, 2023, 13:00-14:00" on the screen for specifying the "planned use date and time". This information is received by the planned use information receiving unit 11 via a communication line. It is of course possible to specify the "planned use area" in a wider range such as a prefecture unit or a city, ward, town, or village unit, or in a narrower range including the address. The "planned use date and time" is not limited to being specified on a date and time basis, but can also be specified on a daily, weekly, or other basis. When specified on a daily, weekly, or other basis, the estimated information described below (such as the estimated number of vacant parking spaces) is inevitably rougher than when specified on a date and time basis, but can be used as a guide to indicate a trend.

[0025] The parking lot extraction unit 12 accesses the parking lot database 20 and extracts one or more hourly parking lots based on the planned use area of ​​the planned use information received by the planned use information receiving unit 11. When the planned use area is specific (for example, "Nihonbashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo"), the hourly parking lots to be extracted can be extracted from the area including the area and within a predetermined distance (for example, within 1 km) from the area. When the planned use area is wider, for example, "Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture", hourly parking lots within the area (Kamakura City) can be extracted. However, this is merely an example, and in the former case, for example, it is possible to set it so that parking lots only within the area of ​​"Nihonbashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo" are extracted, and in the latter case, for example, it is possible to set it so that the area including the area several kilometers away from the city border of Kamakura City is extracted. In addition, it is also possible to set the area range to be extracted to be different, taking into account the number of parking lots in the specified "planned use area". For example, if the number of parking lots to be extracted exceeds 20, the area range can be narrowed to 20 or less, and if the number is 5 or less, the area range can be widened to 10 or more.

[0026] The vacant parking space estimation information generating unit 13 generates, for each hourly parking lot extracted by the parking space extraction unit 12, estimated information on vacant parking spaces at the scheduled usage date and time included in the usage schedule information received by the usage schedule information receiving unit 11. As the estimated information on vacant parking spaces, at least one of the "estimated number of vacant parking spaces" and "probability of being full" for each hourly parking lot can be used. When receiving the usage schedule information by the usage schedule information receiving unit 11, the user may be allowed to select which or both of the estimated information he or she desires by operating the user terminal 100. Depending on whether or not the user is a member of the operating company of the hourly parking lot, only one of the pieces of information may be generated if the user is not a member, and both pieces of information may be generated if the user is a member.

[0027] The generated vacant parking space estimation information is, for example, when the "scheduled date and time of use" is "September 1, 2023, 13:00-14:00" as described above, for "Hourly parking lot A" that is a 2-minute walk from the nearest station extracted based on the "scheduled area of ​​use", information such as "Estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 1-2" and "Probability of being full: 70-80%" and for "Hourly parking lot B" that is a 10-minute walk from the nearest station, information such as "Estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 4-6" and "Probability of being full: 10% or less". Note that "full parking space" does not only mean that all parking spaces in the hourly parking lot are full, but also includes a setting that the parking space is "full" when the parking space usage rate reaches 90%, in cases where it is expected that the current vacant parking spaces will be filled soon due to cars moving in the parking lot or cars waiting in line.

[0028] The information on which the vacant parking space estimation information generating unit 13 generates the vacant parking space estimation information is not limited, but is preferably generated using at least one of the following: (a) past parking space usage status at the same date and time as the scheduled date and time of use, (b) past parking space usage status at the same time on the same day of the week as the scheduled date and time of use, (c) parking space usage status during a fixed period in the immediate vicinity, (d) parking space usage status under past weather conditions similar to the expected weather conditions of the scheduled date and time of use, and (e) event information at the scheduled date and time of use (see FIG. 3). The same date and day of the week in the past may show similar trends, and the most recent usage status and usage status under similar weather conditions in the past may also show similar trends. The presence or absence of an event has a large impact on the usage status of the parking lot, as described below.

[0029] Therefore, the parking lot database 20 stores the location information of each hourly parking lot as well as the past usage status of each parking space for each hourly parking lot. The vacant parking space estimation information generating unit 13 accesses the parking lot database 20, and if the planned usage date and time is, for example, "Friday, September 1, 2023, 13:00-14:00", when (a) is used as the basis information, the usage status of "September 1, 2022 (2021, 2020...) 13:00-14:00" is referenced. For example, for hourly parking lot A, the number of vacant parking spaces for the past five years at the same date and time and the number of times the parking lot has been full are read, and the estimated number of vacant parking spaces is calculated from the average number of vacant parking spaces for the past five years, for example. If the number of times the parking lot has been full in the past five years is three, the probability of the parking lot being full is calculated as 60%. When (b) is used as the basis information, the number of vacant parking spaces on "Fridays" for the most recent few weeks or months and the number of times the parking space has been full are read and similarly calculated as estimated information.When (c) is used as the basis information, the number of vacant parking spaces for the most recent week or several weeks, regardless of the day of the week, and the number of times the parking space has been full are read and similarly calculated as estimated information.

[0030] When the "vehicle space usage status under past weather conditions similar to the forecast weather conditions for the planned date and time of use" in (d) is used as the basis information, the forecast weather conditions for the planned date and time of use are obtained from a local weather observation system, etc., and information on the date and time when past weather conditions similar to the forecast weather conditions occurred is obtained from the local weather observation system, etc. Once the date and time when similar past weather conditions occurred are identified, the usage status of each hourly parking lot on that date and time is obtained by accessing parking lot database 20 to read information on the number of vacant parking spaces and the number of times the parking lot was full, and estimated information is obtained in the same manner as in (a) to (c).

[0031] For information regarding climatic conditions, a climatic condition information acquisition unit 131 is provided as a function of the vacant parking space estimation information generation unit 13 (see FIG. 3). When (d) is used as the basis information, the climatic condition information acquisition unit 131 accesses a database of meteorological observation data provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency, a private weather company, etc., acquires the above information, and generates estimation information.

[0032] The reason why the "event information at the scheduled date and time of use" in (e) is used as the basis information is that, for example, when an event such as a festival, a sports match, or a concert is held in the area to be used at the scheduled date and time, the utilization rate of the hourly parking lot will be high in the area to be used and at the scheduled date and time. Therefore, when such event information is held, the estimated information is obtained taking that into consideration. If there is data on the past utilization status when a similar event was held, the information is stored in the parking lot database 20 as the past utilization status, so the number of vacant parking spaces at that time and the number of times the parking lot was full are read, and the estimated information is obtained in the same manner as above. If no data on the past utilization status of the event is stored, the utilization status when an event of a similar scale was held is read, and the estimated information is created based on that. Alternatively, the estimated number of vacant parking spaces considering the scale of the event (number of spectators, duration) and the probability of the parking lot being full may be set to appropriate values ​​based on the position (distance) between each hourly parking lot and the event venue.

[0033] Incidentally, event information can be stored in the parking lot database 20 at the beginning of a fiscal year in association with each hourly parking lot. Event information that is subsequently determined and announced can also be handled by updating the data on the associated hourly parking lots. Such event information may also be known by city / ward / town / village offices and other public institutions, ticket agencies, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc., and it is also possible to obtain the information from these related institutions on a regular or irregular basis.

[0034] As described above, the vacant vehicle space estimation information generating unit 13 can generate the estimated information by using the basis information (a) to (e) individually, but it is also possible to generate the estimated information by appropriately combining two or more of these pieces of basis information. The method of combination is not limited, and for example, the estimated number of vacant vehicle spaces or the probability of being full obtained based on each piece of basis information can be averaged and output to the user terminal 100 as the estimated information. In addition, it is also possible to use the estimated information obtained by accumulating and statistically analyzing these pieces of information and taking into account the priority of each piece of information, or to create a trained model in which each piece of basis information is an explanatory variable and the "estimated number of vacant vehicle spaces" or the "probability of being full" is an objective variable, and the estimated information can be obtained using this.

[0035] The output unit 14 outputs the hourly parking lot information extracted by the parking lot extraction unit 12 together with the estimated information on the vacant parking lot generated by the vacant parking lot estimation information generation unit 13 (see FIG. 2). For example, as described above, the output includes information such as "Hourly parking lot A, estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 1-2, probability of being full: 70-80%" and "Hourly parking lot B, estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 4-6, probability of being full: 10% or less." When the user terminal 100 is accessing a website operated by the information providing device 1 of the hourly parking lot of this embodiment, these pieces of information are displayed as output results on the website, and the user can understand them. The output unit 14 can also be configured to transmit the output results to the user terminal 100 separately via e-mail or the like.

[0036] According to this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, a user accesses a website operated by the hourly parking information providing device 1 of this embodiment with a user terminal 100 and transmits planned use information including the planned use area and the planned use date and time. The hourly parking information providing device 1 receives the information at the planned use information receiving unit 11, and the parking lot extraction unit 12 extracts hourly parking lots in or near the planned use area based on the information of the planned use area.

[0037] The vacant parking space estimation information generating unit 13 generates at least one of the estimated number of vacant parking spaces at the scheduled date and time of use and the probability of the parking space being full as estimated information for each of the extracted hourly parking spaces. Next, the output unit 14 outputs the extracted information on the hourly parking spaces and the vacant parking space estimation information for the hourly parking spaces to the user terminal 100.

[0038] FIG. 4 shows an example of the estimated information displayed on the screen of the user terminal 100. When this information is displayed on the user terminal 100, the user can obtain information with a certain degree of certainty as to whether or not a general hourly parking lot can be used in the area and the scheduled date and time of use. For example, when receiving estimated information such as "Hourly parking lot A, estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 1-2, probability of being full: 70-80%" and "Hourly parking lot B, estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 4-6, probability of being full: 10% or less", the user can understand that at least hourly parking lot B is highly likely to be available in the area and the scheduled date and time of use. This allows the user to use his or her car as planned when going to the area to be used on the day. After arriving in the area to be used, even if hourly parking lot B is somewhat farther away from the destination than hourly parking lot A, the user can quickly head to hourly parking lot B after arriving near the area to be used and park there because hourly parking lot B has a high probability of being available. Furthermore, if hourly parking lot A is closer to the user's destination, the estimated information above indicates that hourly parking lot A may be available for use, so after arriving near the area the user plans to use, the user can choose to head to hourly parking lot A first, and if it is full, head to hourly parking lot B.

[0039] Furthermore, if information is received regarding hourly parking lot C, such as "estimated number of vacant spaces: 0 to 1, probability of being full: 90% or more," then the user can quickly head to hourly parking lot B or hourly parking lot A without heading to hourly parking lot C in the first place, thereby contributing to minimizing the time required to select a parking lot and secure a space.

[0040] Also, if there is some kind of event in the planned area and on the planned date and time of use, and most of the hourly parking lots in the planned area have, for example, "estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 0 to 1, probability of being full: 90% or more," it is highly likely that you will not be able to park even if you drive to the planned area on that day. Even if there are spaces available according to the estimated situation, the user may decide that they would rather not use the parking lot if possible, for example, based on their experience, the parking lot is difficult to park in, or it is too far to walk to the building they plan to visit.

[0041] In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, after receiving the first output result as described above (S501), a search is performed again ("Yes" in S502), and new planned use information is sent from the user terminal 100 to the information providing device 1 of hourly parking lots of this embodiment, specifying a surrounding area different from the original planned use area including the destination as the planned use area. The information providing device 1 of hourly parking lots receives the new planned use information (S503), and the parking lot extraction unit 12 and the vacant parking lot estimation information generation unit 13 extract new hourly parking lots and generate new estimated information in the same manner as described above (S504). After that, the information is output from the output unit 14 (S505), and is received as a new output result by the user terminal 100 (S506). This makes it possible to grasp the possibility of securing an hourly parking lot in the surrounding area. As a result, the user can also consider the selection of a means of transportation, such as driving to a surrounding area, parking there, and then using other means of transportation such as a train to reach the destination. If it is difficult to secure hourly parking spaces in the surrounding areas, the user can either change the area to be used and search again ("Yes" in S502), or end the parking space search operation without searching again ("No" in S502).

[0042] However, for example, if a large-scale event results in an extremely low probability of securing hourly parking not only in the planned area including the original destination but also in the surrounding areas, for example, if the "probability of all hourly parking lots in the surrounding area including the planned area being full" is estimated to be 90% or more, this can be used as a reference for choosing to switch the means of transportation when traveling to the planned area on the planned date and time to train, bus, etc. As a result, it can contribute to avoiding a situation where, when there is unavoidable work or event in the planned area, a person travels by car but is unable to secure a parking lot on the day, causing disruption to subsequent plans.

[0043] When re-searching and changing the area to be used, it is possible to search by area name, but it is also possible to specify the surrounding areas of the original target area by dragging and moving button 110 indicating the center point displayed on the map as shown in Figure 6(a) or by operating arrow button 111.Various area specification methods used in known map information can be used.

[0044] For example, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the down arrow button 111a is pressed. As a result, the map displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 100 moves downward from the range displayed in FIG. 7(a), and for example, a map as shown in FIG. 7(b) is displayed. Then, on the user terminal 100, hourly parking lot D, which was not displayed in FIG. 7(a), is included in the map of FIG. 7(b). As a result, the user can understand that hourly parking lot D exists in an area shifted downward (for example, southward) from the range displayed in FIG. 7(a), and that its estimated information is, for example, "estimated number of vacant parking spaces: 10-15, probability of being full: 5% or less." For example, if the user plans to participate in an event held in a building located near hourly parking lot C but slightly south of it, referring to the estimated information of hourly parking lot C in FIG. 7(a) will likely not be available, but by changing the planned area to be used as shown in FIG. 7(b), the user can find hourly parking lot D, which is likely to have vacant parking spaces.

[0045] According to this embodiment, even when moving from the display range of FIG. 7(a) to the display range of FIG. 7(b), not only the location of the hourly parking lot but also the estimated information is displayed for the hourly parking lot included in the range. Specifically, a new hourly parking lot is extracted from the range, and new estimated information is generated and transmitted to the user terminal 100 (S502 to S506 in FIG. 5). In actual operation, when the screen is switched from FIG. 7(a) to FIG. 7(b), the information and estimated information of the new hourly parking lot are displayed immediately. As a result, in a general hourly parking lot where parking spaces cannot be reserved by reservation, the availability of parking spaces at a specified scheduled date and time can be easily and quickly known.

[0046] In addition, the scheduled time at the user's visit location may change, and the scheduled date and time of use of the hourly parking lot may be changed when searching again. In that case, a new hourly parking lot and new estimated information can be obtained by transmitting the changed scheduled date and time of use to the information providing device 1 for hourly parking lots. The operation for changing the scheduled date and time of use is not limited to inputting the date and time, but may also be performed by using the date and time specified at the time of the initial search and specifying 30 minutes or 1 hour before, or conversely, 30 minutes or 1 hour after, by operating the arrow button 112, as shown in FIG. 6(b).

[0047] For example, referring to the estimated information of "September 1, 2023, 13:00-14:00" in FIG. 8(a), it is possible to secure hourly parking lot B among the three hourly parking lots A to C, but when the button "1 hour later" is selected, it is possible to know that hourly parking lot C is likely to be available, as shown in FIG. 8(b). In this case, by re-searching, new information on the hourly parking lot (however, if only the time is changed, the same parking lot as last time) and new estimated information are generated and transmitted to the user terminal 100 (S502-S506 in FIG. 5). In actual operation, when the screen is switched from FIG. 8(a) to FIG. 8(b), the information on the new hourly parking lot (however, if only the time is changed, the same parking lot as last time) and the estimated information are immediately displayed. If the user plans to visit a place close to hourly parking lot C, it can be determined that there is a high possibility that hourly parking lot C closer to the visit destination can be used by shifting the visit time. Thus, according to this embodiment, even if the time is changed, the estimated information corresponding to that time is displayed, which is highly convenient for the user.

[0048] Fig. 9 relates to an information providing device for hourly parking lots according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the planned use information receiving unit 11 receives planned use information, and the parking lot extraction unit 12 extracts parking lots in the planned use area, as in the above embodiment, but a planned use date and time determination unit 15 is provided that determines whether the current time is within a predetermined time period for the planned use date and time. If the planned use date and time determination unit 15 determines that the planned use date and time is within the predetermined time period for the current time (if "Yes" is determined in the determination step S901 in Fig. 9), the current vacant parking lot information providing unit 16 operates.

[0049] For example, if the planned use date and time determination unit 15 determines that the planned use date and time is within a predetermined time (e.g., 15 minutes or less) from the current time, the current vacant parking space information providing unit 16 transmits current vacant parking space information for the hourly parking lots extracted by the parking lot extraction unit 12 to the user terminal 100. The user who receives this information immediately heads to the hourly parking lot that currently has a vacant parking space. This current vacant parking space information providing unit 16 is functionally equivalent to the system disclosed in the above non-patent document 1, but can be used in conjunction with the present invention when the planned use date and time is approaching.

[0050] The "current time" to be compared with the scheduled use date and time in the scheduled use date and time determination unit 15 can be the time of receipt of the scheduled use information received by the scheduled use information receiving unit 11. This time is the timing when the user transmits the scheduled use information when intending to use the hourly parking information providing device 1 of this embodiment, and if the timing is already within a predetermined time, the current vacant parking space information is provided without generating estimated information based on the vacant parking space estimation information 13. However, if it is determined that the timing is not within the predetermined time (if "No" is returned in the determination step of reference numeral S901 in FIG. 9), the vacant parking space estimation information generating unit 13 operates and generates estimated information as described above.

[0051] In addition, it is preferable that the scheduled use date and time determination unit 15 is configured to operate constantly or at an appropriate timing even after the estimated information is generated. As a result, if the scheduled use date and time is approaching but information that the extracted hourly parking lot has started to be used is not transmitted to the hourly parking lot information providing device 1 (if information is not transmitted from the user terminal 100 or the management device of the hourly parking lot), the determination step of S901 in Fig. 9 becomes "Yes", the current vacant parking lot information providing unit 16 operates, and the current vacant parking lot information can be provided to the user terminal 100.

[0052] In the above description, the parking lot database 20 stores information about hourly parking lots managed by the operating company of the hourly parking lot information providing device 1, but is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a computer program for crawling and scraping can be set as the web data collection unit 17 in the hourly parking lot information providing device 1, and the computer program can be executed at an appropriate timing to collect parking lot information from various websites and web pages accessible via the Internet, etc. The collected parking lot information can be stored in the parking lot database 20, and the information can be used. In addition, the parking lot database 20 in this specification includes a data storage means such as a data warehouse on the cloud. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1. Information device for hourly parking lots 11. Usage schedule information receiving section 12 Parking lot extraction section 13. Vacant vehicle space estimation information generation unit 14 Output section 15 Scheduled use date and time determination unit 16 Current Vacant Car Information Department 17 Web Data Collection Department 20 Parking Database 100 user terminals

Claims

1. An information providing device for hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, A usage schedule information receiving unit that receives usage schedule information of the hourly parking lot in the usage schedule area from a user terminal; A parking lot extraction unit extracts one or more hourly parking lots in the planned use area; a vacant parking space estimation information generating unit that generates, for each of the extracted hourly parking lots, estimation information regarding a vacant parking space at the scheduled use date and time included in the scheduled use information; an output unit that outputs the extracted hourly parking lot information together with the estimated information regarding vacant parking spaces to a user terminal; An information providing device for hourly parking lots having the above-mentioned features.

2. The vacant vehicle space estimation information generating unit As the estimated information of the vacant parking space, for each of the hourly parking lots extracted at the scheduled date and time of use, Estimated number of vacant parking spaces and the probability of being full Generate at least one of 2. An information providing device for hourly parking lots according to claim 1.

3. The vacant vehicle space estimation information generating unit is configured to generate the vacant vehicle space estimation information, Past vehicle occupancy status on the same date and time as the scheduled date and time of use; Past parking space usage status for the same time period on the same day as the scheduled date and time of use; Parking space usage status for a certain period in the immediate vicinity, The vehicle cabin usage status under past weather conditions similar to the expected weather conditions on the scheduled date and time of use, and Event information for the scheduled date and time of use Generate using at least one of 3. An information providing device for hourly parking lots according to claim 2.

4. a scheduled use date and time determination unit that determines whether or not a difference between the scheduled use date and time received by the scheduled use information receiving unit and a current time is within a predetermined time; and a current vacant parking space information providing unit that operates when the scheduled use date and time determining unit determines that the scheduled use date and time is within the predetermined time period and provides the user terminal with current vacant parking space information for each of the extracted one or more hourly parking lots.

2. An information providing device for hourly parking lots according to claim 1.

5. A computer program that causes a computer to function as an information providing device for hourly parking lots that do not accept reservations for parking spaces, receiving information on the planned use of the hourly parking lot in the planned use area from a user terminal; A step of extracting one or more hourly parking lots in the intended use area; generating, for each of the extracted hourly parking lots, estimated information regarding available parking spaces at the scheduled use date and time included in the scheduled use information; outputting the extracted hourly parking lot information together with the estimated information regarding vacant parking spaces to a user terminal; A computer program that causes the computer to execute the above.

6. moreover, a step of determining whether a difference between the scheduled use date and time and a current time is within a predetermined time; a step of providing current vacant parking space information to the user terminal for each of the extracted one or more hourly parking lots, which is operated when it is determined that the time is within the predetermined time; causing the computer to execute 6. A computer program according to claim 5.

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