Incentive management system and incentive management method

Abstract

To provide a system and method for more easily meeting a request to promote the use of public transportation even in movement to commercial facilities with a parking facility.SOLUTION: A method calculates a user's movement load showing cost in the case that the user moves by an exclusive movement means and a user's movement load showing cost in the case that the user moves by a public transportation system, records information showing that the user uses the public transportation system during movement from a departure place to an arrival place and information showing that the user arrives at the arrival place in a movement result management system for managing user's movement results, determines that the user moves to the arrival place by the public transportation system in the case that information showing that the exclusive movement means is used during movement is not recorded, and gives an incentive corresponding to a movement load to the user in the case that a user's movement result matches a movement route of the public transportation system used when the user's movement load is calculated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for encouraging users to use public transportation.

Background Art

[0002] In commercial facilities such as large shopping malls, the arrival of customers by passenger cars is concentrated, and parking lot congestion may occur. Since parking lot congestion causes traffic jams on surrounding roads and an increase in traffic accidents, in order to prevent this, each commercial facility and the local government where the facility is located are taking measures to alleviate parking lot congestion. As one of the specific measures, there is a measure aimed at promoting visits by public transportation (trains, buses, etc.) and reducing visits by passenger cars by providing incentives to customers who visit by public transportation. For example, in a large shopping mall, customers who get off at the nearest station to the mall and make purchases of a certain amount or more are provided with shopping vouchers / points that can be used in the mall. There are also local governments where facilities such as department stores and shopping streets in the city give "return tickets", which are discount tickets for public transportation, to those who have used a certain amount or more.

[0003] Also, as a known technology, there is the technology described in Patent Document 1 as a technology for promoting the use of public transportation rather than passenger cars when users move. This technology discloses a method of promoting the use of public transportation by giving points corresponding to the amount of CO2 emissions reduction when moving by a means of transportation with a lower CO2 emissions than a passenger car.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The technology described in Patent Document 1 provides incentives when using public transportation with a lower CO2 emissions than passenger cars. However, the incentive-providing conditions are the same for all users, and the conditions for using public transportation that vary from user to user are not considered. That is, even for the same distance of travel, for example, the fare and travel time may vary depending on the railway operator or route. Since this technology only focuses on CO2 emissions, factors related to the cost of travel, such as the cost and travel time of the movement, are not considered. Therefore, for users with a heavy travel burden, who spend more on travel costs and travel time than other users for the same distance, the provided incentives are relatively low, making it difficult to encourage or obtain a response to the promotion of using public transportation as a means of getting to commercial facilities with parking facilities.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that make it easier to encourage and obtain a response to the promotion of using public transportation even when traveling to commercial facilities with parking facilities, by providing incentives according to the travel burden even for users with a heavy travel burden.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] One configuration of the incentive management system for solving the above problems is an incentive management system that promotes the use of public transportation for users by a computer having a processor and a memory. The processor searches, by a predetermined search method, the moving route from the departure place to the arrival place of the user's movement for each means of movement indicating whether it is a movement by a private means of movement or a movement by public transportation and for each time zone of the movement by the means of movement, and records the result of the search in the memory. From the moving route by the private means of movement and the moving route by the public transportation, the user's moving burden indicating the cost when moving by the private means of movement and the user's moving burden indicating the cost when moving by the public transportation are respectively calculated, and the result of the calculation is recorded in the memory. In a movement achievement management system that manages the movement achievement of the user, information indicating that the user used the public transportation during the movement from the departure place to the arrival place and information indicating that the user arrived at the arrival place are recorded, and when information indicating that the user used the private means of movement during the movement is not recorded, the user is determined to have moved to the arrival place by the public transportation, and the result of the determination is recorded in the memory. When the user is determined to have moved to the arrival place by the public transportation and the moving route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's movement achievement and the user's moving burden matches, an incentive corresponding to the moving burden is given to the user. It is configured as an incentive management system characterized by this.

Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, even for a user with a large moving burden, an incentive corresponding to the moving burden is provided, so it becomes easier to get a response to the request for promoting the use of public transportation even in the movement to a commercial facility with parking facilities.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. The following description and drawings are examples for explaining the present invention, and for the sake of clarity of explanation, appropriate omissions and simplifications have been made. The present invention can also be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural.

[0011] The positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, etc. of the components shown in the drawings may not represent the actual positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, etc. in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. For this reason, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, etc. disclosed in the drawings.

[0012] In the following description, various types of information may be described using expressions such as "table" and "list", but the various types of information may be represented by data structures other than these. In order to indicate that it does not depend on the data structure, "XX table", "XX list", etc. may be referred to as "XX information". When explaining identification information, when expressions such as "identification information", "identifier", "name", "ID", "number", etc. are used, these can be replaced with each other.

[0013] When there are a plurality of components having the same or similar functions, they may be described with the same reference numeral and different subscripts. However, when it is not necessary to distinguish these plurality of components, the subscripts may be omitted in the description.

[0014] In the following description, there may be cases where the processes performed by executing a program are described. However, the program is executed by a processor (e.g., a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)), and in order to perform the defined processes while appropriately using storage resources (e.g., memory) and / or interface devices (e.g., communication ports), etc., the processor may be regarded as the main body of the process. Similarly, the main body of the process performed by executing the program may be a controller, a device, a system, a computer, or a node having a processor. The main body of the process performed by executing the program only needs to be an arithmetic unit, and may include a dedicated circuit (e.g., an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)) for performing a specific process.

[0015] The program may be installed from a program source into a device such as a computer. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable storage medium. When the program source is a program distribution server, the program distribution server includes a processor and a storage resource for storing the program to be distributed, and the processor of the program distribution server may distribute the program to be distributed to other computers. Also, in the following description, two or more programs may be realized as one program, or one program may be realized as two or more programs.

[0016] Also, in the following, the case where the present system is realized by a certain single computer is exemplified. However, all or part of the functions of the present system may be provided in a distributed manner in one or more computers such as a cloud and communicate with each other via a network to realize the same functions.

[0017] Hereinafter, an incentive management system which is an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0018] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system including an incentive management system according to the present embodiment. In the incentive management system 1 according to the present embodiment, a movement performance management system 2 is connected via a network 4 to form a system. The network 4 is constructed, for example, by a LAN (Local Area Network) or an Internet VPN (Virtual Private Network), but the construction form is not limited thereto. Further, a user terminal 3 is connected to the incentive management system 1 via a network 5. The user terminal 3 corresponds to, for example, a smartphone, a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, etc., and the network 5 corresponds to a communication carrier network, the Internet, etc., but none of them are limited thereto.

[0019] The incentive management system 1 is a system that encourages users to visit commercial facilities by using public transportation instead of private transportation means when visiting commercial facilities. Specifically, when moving from the user's place of residence to a commercial facility, if the moving burden when using public transportation is greater than the moving burden when using private transportation means, by announcing that an incentive corresponding to the difference will be given, the user is encouraged to move using public transportation. After that, it is confirmed by referring to the user's movement record that the user who received the announcement of incentive granting used public transportation to reach the commercial facility. If the movement record matches the movement route used when calculating the movement burden, the incentive as announced is given to the user. The movement record referred to here is obtained by inquiring the movement record management system 2 described later. Although it will be specifically explained below, the incentive management system 1 is a system that gives incentives according to the movement burden expressed by the cost for movement such as the cost and required time of movement in order to promote the use of public transportation by users. In addition, as a means of movement to encourage conversion to public transportation, in addition to passenger cars, motorcycles (motorcycles) and bicycles are also included, and the general term for these means of movement is called private transportation means. When visiting a commercial facility by the private transportation means listed here, in all cases, a parking / parking space is required, and since they are common in that they put pressure on the parking / parking facilities when visits are concentrated, they are the means of movement targeted to encourage conversion to public transportation.

[0020] The movement record management system 2 is a system that manages the movement routes and means of transportation for each user in chronological order as the movement records of the users. The movement routes and means of transportation of the users are obtained by estimating from the position information and acceleration information captured by the GPS (Global Positioning System) function and acceleration sensor of the smartphones owned by the users, or by referring to the history information of check-ins using short-range wireless communication when visiting spots such as commercial facilities, and are recorded in chronological order. The movement route records the departure / arrival date and time of each location and the travel time between locations, with the place of residence, station, bus stop, spot name, etc. as the departure / arrival or passing points. Also, the means of transportation records the movement mode between locations (walking, bicycle, motorcycle, car, bus, train, etc.), and in the case of public transportation such as bus or train for the movement mode, the route name and line name are recorded. When there is a request for obtaining movement records from the incentive management system 1, the movement record management system 2 returns the requested movement records.

[0021] The user terminal 3 is a terminal that receives and displays the notification when the incentive management system 1 sends out a notification to encourage the use of public transportation. For the display of the notification, a membership application of a commercial facility installed on the user terminal 3 or a general web browser is used.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the incentive management system 1. The incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment includes a user movement route search unit 21 that searches for the movement routes from the user's place of residence to commercial facilities by means of transportation and time zone of movement, a user movement burden calculation unit 22 that calculates the movement burden for each means of transportation from the movement routes for each means of transportation obtained by searching by the movement route search unit 21, and a public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 that, if the movement burden when moving by private means of transportation is less than the movement burden when moving by public transportation, sends a recommendation notification to the user recommending the use of public transportation along with a notice of incentive provision according to the difference, a public transportation use determination unit 24 that determines whether the user has moved to a commercial facility by public transportation with reference to the user's movement record, and an incentive provision determination unit 25 that determines whether to provide an incentive to the user based on the user's movement record and the movement route of the public transportation used when calculating the movement burden.

[0023] Further, the user movement route search unit 21 refers to the member information stored in the facility member information 201, obtains the place of residence information, and uses it for movement route search. The user movement burden calculation unit 22 refers to the user's movement route information stored in the movement route information 202, obtains the movement route information for the specified time zone, and calculates the user movement burden. The public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 refers to the user's movement burden information stored in the movement burden information 203, obtains the movement burden information for the specified time zone, and calculates an incentive when the movement burden by public transportation is greater than that by private means of transportation. The calculated incentive is stored in the incentive information 204. The public transportation use determination unit 24 obtains the user's movement record information stored in the movement record management system 2 and determines whether the user has moved to a commercial facility by public transportation. The incentive provision determination unit 25 obtains the public transportation use determination result of the user stored in the public transportation use determination information 205. When it is determined that the user has used public transportation, it determines whether the movement route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's movement burden matches the user's movement record. If they match, the incentive announced in the notification to the user is provided to the user.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. The incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment can realize the functions described in FIG. 2 by using a general-purpose computer having a CPU 31, a memory 32, an external storage device 33 such as a hard disk, an input device 34 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device 35 such as a monitor, a communication device 36 that communicates with other systems and terminals via networks 4 and 5, and a control device 37 that controls data transmission and reception between these systems.

[0025] Various data stored in or used for processing by the incentive management system 1 can be realized by the CPU 31 reading and using them from the memory 32 or the external storage device 33. Further, each part of the incentive management system 1 (for example, the user movement route search unit 21, the user movement burden calculation unit 22, the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23, the public transportation use determination unit 24, the incentive granting determination unit 25) can be realized by the CPU 31 loading a predetermined program stored in the above-described memory or external storage device into the memory and executing it.

[0026] FIG. 4 is an overall processing flowchart of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. The user movement route search process S4001 is executed by the user movement route search unit 21 (details are described in FIG. 5). The user movement burden calculation process S4002 is executed by the user movement burden calculation unit 22 (details are described in FIG. 6). The public transportation recommendation notification process S4003 is executed by the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 (details are described in FIG. 7). The public transportation use determination process S4004 is executed by the public transportation use determination unit 24 (details are described in FIG. 8). The incentive granting determination process S4005 is executed by the incentive granting determination unit 25 (details are described in FIG. 9).

[0027] FIG. 5 shows an example of a processing flow in the user movement route search unit 21 when performing a process of searching for a movement route from the user's place of residence to a commercial facility by means of transportation and time zone of movement among the processing operations of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing flow of FIG. 5 will be described.

[0028] (1) When the user movement route search unit 21 receives a start instruction by a timer, it proceeds to the process of step S5002. Note that the start timing of the timer may be any timing at which the commercial facility wants to encourage the user to visit by public transportation, such as the business start time of the commercial facility or the distribution time of advertisement information (step S5001).

[0029] (2) The user movement route search unit 21 refers to the first member information stored in the facility member information 201 and acquires the place of residence information. The member information is composed of, for example, a member number, the name of the member, a telephone number, the place of residence, the member registration date, etc., and the place of residence information can be expressed in various data formats such as an address, latitude and longitude, the nearest station / bus stop, etc. (FIG. 10). In FIG. 10, for example, the member named "Taro Sato" identified by the member number "0001" is a member having a telephone number "03-4567-8901" residing at "〇〇1-2-3, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo" represented by the position information of "35.6813, 139.7660". Also, the nearest station to the place of residence of the member is "Tokyo Station", indicating that the member was registered on the date "2022 / 10 / 01" (step S5002).

[0030] (3) The user movement route search unit 21 searches for candidate movement routes from the user's place of residence to the commercial facility by means of transportation and time band of movement, using the acquired user's place of residence information and the location information of the commercial facility. The search function is, for example, a general route search function (train, bus) provided by a system having various search applications known in the art or a route search (automobile), and may be held inside the incentive management system 1 or an equivalent search function provided by an external service provider as an API (Application Program Interface) may be used. The user movement route search unit 21 performs a search when using public transportation (train / bus) as the means of movement and when using exclusive means of movement (passenger car / motorcycle / bicycle), and selects the most suitable search result (for example, the shortest required time route) from both. The user movement route search unit 21 changes the time band, for example, while shifting the arrival time at the commercial facility one hour at a time from 10:00 am until 20:00 pm for searching (step S5003).

[0031] (4) Once the user movement route search unit 21 has completed all searches, it stores the search results in the movement route information 202. The search results are stored as record information consisting of, for example, a member number, the departure location of the movement by the user identified by the member number, the movement type indicating the type of the movement (public transportation / specialized means of transportation), the means of transportation indicating the method of the movement (train, bus, car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), the arrival time at the commercial facility that is the user's destination, the movement route from the departure location to the destination, the required time when moving by the means of transportation, and the required cost (Fig. 11). In Fig. 11, for example, when a member with the member number "0001" departs from their home represented by the position information "35.6813,139.7660" and moves by train, which is a public transportation means, and arrives at the destination "Ariake" at time "10:00", it shows that there is a movement route of "Tokyo → Shin-Kiba → International Exhibition Center → [on foot] → Ariake". Also, it shows that the required time for this movement route is "30 minutes" and the required cost is "450 yen". Similarly, when the said member moves from the said departure location to the said destination by car, which is a specialized means of transportation, and arrives at time "10:00", it shows that there is a movement route of "Tokyo → [Kanjyuni-dori] → Ariake". Also, it shows that the required time for this movement route is "18 minutes" and the required cost is "300 yen" (step S5004).

[0032] (5) The user movement route search unit 21 refers to the facility member information 201, checks whether the next member information exists, and if it exists (step S5005; Yes), proceeds to the process of step S5006. If it does not exist (step S5005; No), the process ends here (step S5005).

[0033] (6) The user movement route search unit 21 refers to the next member information, acquires the residence location information, and proceeds to the process of step S5003 (step S5006).

[0034] The process described above realizes the process in the user movement route search unit 21.

[0035] FIG. 6 shows an example of a processing flow in the user movement burden calculation unit 22 that calculates the movement burden for each means of movement from the movement routes for each means of movement obtained by searching in the movement route search unit 21 among the processing operations of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing flow of FIG. 6 will be described. Note that hereinafter, a case where the movement burden in a specific time zone designated by a commercial facility is calculated will be described.

[0036] (1) The user movement burden calculation unit 22 refers to the movement route information of the first user stored in the movement route information 202, and acquires the movement route information (movement route by public transportation, movement route by exclusive means of movement) in a specific time zone (e.g., 11:00) designated by the commercial facility (step S6001).

[0037] (2) The user movement burden calculation unit 22 calculates the user's movement burden, which is represented by the cost of movement such as the cost and required time of movement, from the acquired movement route. When the user movement burden calculation unit 22 measures the movement burden in terms of time, it obtains the required movement time and uses it as the value of the movement burden. When measuring the movement burden in terms of amount of money, it obtains the fare (public transportation) / fuel cost (passenger car) and uses it as the value of the movement burden. Note that it is also conceivable that the required movement time and the required movement cost are calculated and already stored simultaneously with the movement route search. In that case, the user movement burden calculation unit 22 may acquire the required movement time and the required movement cost stored in the movement route information 202 and use them as the values of the movement burden (step S6002).

[0038] (3) The user movement burden calculation unit 22 stores the calculated movement burden value in the movement burden information 203. FIG. 12 shows an example when the movement burden is measured over time. Specifically, for example, it is stored as record information consisting of a member number, arrival time, movement burden when using public transportation, and movement burden when using exclusive means of transportation. In FIG. 12, for example, when a member with a member number of "0001" moves from the user's place of residence shown in FIG. 11 to a commercial facility and arrives at time "11:00", the movement burden when using public transportation is "30 minutes", and when using exclusive means of transportation is "20 minutes" (step S6003). When the movement burden is measured in terms of amount of money, it is stored in the same manner as described above.

[0039] (4) The user movement burden calculation unit 22 refers to the movement route information 202 and checks whether there is movement route information for the next user. If there is (step S6004; Yes), the process proceeds to the process of step S6005. If not (step S6004; No), the process ends here (step S6004).

[0040] (5) The user movement burden calculation unit 22 refers to the movement route information of the next user, obtains the movement route information (movement route by public transportation, movement route by exclusive means of transportation) for a specific time period (e.g., 11 o'clock) specified by the commercial facility, and proceeds to the process of step S6002 (step S6005).

[0041] The process described above realizes the process in the user movement burden calculation unit 22.

[0042] FIG. 7 shows a process performed when the moving burden when moving by private transportation means is less than the moving burden when moving by public transportation in the processing operation of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. Specifically, it shows an example of a processing flow in the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 that sends a recommendation notification to the user to encourage moving using public transportation, along with a notice of incentive provision according to the difference in moving burden. Hereinafter, the processing flow of FIG. 7 will be described. In the following, a case where a recommendation notification is sent to the user during a specific time period designated by a commercial facility will be described.

[0043] The public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 refers to the moving burden information of the first user stored in the moving burden information 203, and acquires the moving burden information (the moving burden when moving by public transportation, the moving burden when moving by private transportation means) for a specific time period (e.g., 11 o'clock) designated by the commercial facility (step S7001).

[0044] The public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 compares the acquired moving burdens (the moving burden when moving by public transportation, the moving burden when moving by private transportation means), determines which moving burden is less, and confirms the result. As a result of the confirmation, if the moving burden when moving by public transportation is less, the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 determines that the user is likely to move using public transportation, and ends the process as it is (step S7002).

[0045] If the result of the check shows that the travel burden of traveling by the exclusive means of transportation is less, the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 calculates the difference between the travel burden of traveling by the exclusive means of transportation and the travel burden of traveling by public transportation, and calculates an incentive according to the calculated difference. For example, when the travel burden is determined by time, as shown in the example of member number 0001 in FIG. 12, when the required time when traveling by the exclusive means of transportation is 20 minutes and the required time when traveling by public transportation is 30 minutes, the difference is 10 minutes, and the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 calculates an incentive according to this value. If it is specified that 100 points are awarded for every 5 minutes of difference in the required time, a difference of 10 minutes is calculated as 200 points (step S7003). When the travel burden is determined by the amount of money, the calculation may be done in a similar way.

[0046] If the user visits a commercial facility by following the travel route (travel route by public transportation) used to calculate the user's travel burden, the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 sends a notification to the user informing him or her that the incentive calculated in step S7003 will be granted (step S7004).

[0047] The public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 stores the incentive calculated in step S7003 in the incentive information 204. Fig. 15 shows an example of information stored in the incentive information. Fig. 15 shows, for example, that when a member with membership number "0001" arrives at a commercial facility at time "11:00", the incentive given to the member is "200" points (step S7005).

[0048] The public transport recommendation notification unit 23 refers to the travel cost information 203, checks whether the travel cost information of the next user exists, and if it exists (step S7006; Yes), proceeds to the process of step S7007. If it does not exist (step S7006; No), the process ends here (step S7006).

[0049] The public transportation recommendation notification unit 23 refers to the following user movement burden information, obtains the movement burden information (the movement burden when moving by public transportation, the movement burden when moving by exclusive means of transportation) for a specific time period (e.g., 11:00) designated by the commercial facility, and proceeds to the process of step S7002 (step S7007).

[0050] The process described above realizes the process in the public transportation recommendation notification unit 23.

[0051] FIG. 8 shows an example of a processing flow in the public transportation use determination unit 24 that determines whether a user has moved to a commercial facility by public transportation with reference to the user's movement record among the processing operations of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing flow of FIG. 8 will be described.

[0052] (1) The public transportation use determination unit 24 obtains the user's movement record information associated with the first user of the incentive management system stored in the movement record management system 2. The movement record information is, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the member number of the moving member, the arrival time designated by the commercial facility that is the destination, the arrival record (actual arrival time) of the user at the destination, the departure place of the user's movement, the arrival place indicating the nearest station to the destination, the means of transportation indicating the user's movement method, and the visit record (time of visit) to the commercial facility that is the destination, and is stored in the movement record management system 2 as a record composed of these. In FIG. 13, it shows that a member with the member number "0001" designated to arrive at the destination (in the example of FIG. 11, "Ariake") at the time "11:00" actually moved by the means of transportation "train" and arrived at the arrival place "International Exhibition Hall", which is the nearest station, at "2023 / 11 / 08 10:58" and visited the above destination at "11:05" (step S8001).

[0053] (2) The public transportation usage determination unit 24 refers to the acquired movement record information, and determines whether there exists a boarding record in which the user boarded a public transportation from the nearest station to the place of residence, a getting-off record in which the user got off at the nearest station of the commercial facility, and a visiting record in which the user visited the commercial facility after getting off, and checks the result. If, as a result of the check, these records do not exist (step S8002; No), the process ends as it is (step S8002).

[0054] (3) If, as a result of the check, the public transportation usage determination unit 24 determines that the records described in step S8002 exist (step S8002; Yes), it determines whether there exists a movement record of the user using a private transportation means between the date and time when the getting-off record of the public transportation was recorded and the date and time when the visiting record was recorded, and checks the result. If, as a result of the check, there exists a movement record of the user using a private transportation means (step S8003; Yes), the process ends as it is. For example, in the example of FIG. 13, the user with the member number "0002" got off the "train", which is a public transportation, at the arrival destination "Shimbashi", and then, at the destination "Ariake", there is a record of using a "passenger car", which is a private transportation means, until the time "10:55", which is the date and time when the visiting record was recorded. Therefore, the process ends up to this step (step S8003).

[0055] (4) If, as a result of the check, the public transportation usage determination unit 24 determines that the records described in step S8003 do not exist (step S8003; No), it determines that the user moved to the commercial facility by public transportation, and stores it in the public transportation usage determination information 205. FIG. 14 shows an example of the information stored in the public transportation usage determination information 205. Specifically, if it is determined that the user moved to the commercial facility by public transportation, identification information indicating that fact (for example, a ○ mark) is stored in the field of the determination result, and if it is not determined that the user moved by public transportation, identification information indicating that fact (for example, a × mark) is stored in the field of the determination result. In FIG. 14, it is shown that the member with the member number "0001" who arrived at the arrival time "2023 / 11 / 08 10:58" moved to the commercial facility, which is the destination, by public transportation (step S8004).

[0056] (5) The public transportation use determination unit 24 refers to the movement record management system 2, checks whether there is movement record information of the user associated with the next user of the incentive management system, and if it exists (step S8005; Yes), proceeds to the process of step S8006. If it does not exist (step S8005; No), the process ends here (step S8005).

[0057] (6) The public transportation use determination unit 24 acquires the movement record information of the user associated with the next user of the incentive management system and proceeds to the process of step S8002 (step S8006).

[0058] The process described above realizes the process in the public transportation use determination unit 24.

[0059] FIG. 9 shows an example of a processing flow in an incentive granting determination unit 25 that determines whether to grant an incentive to a user based on the movement route of a public transportation vehicle used when calculating the movement record and movement burden of the user among the processing operations of the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing flow of FIG. 9 will be described.

[0060] (1) The incentive granting determination unit 25 acquires the public transportation use determination result of the first user stored in the public transportation use determination information 205 (step S9001).

[0061] (2) The incentive granting determination unit 25 determines whether it is determined that the user has moved to the commercial facility by public transportation, and checks the result. If it is not determined that the user has moved by public transportation (step S9002; No), the process ends as it is (step S9002).

[0062] (3) If it is determined in step S9002 that the user has traveled by public transportation (step S9003; Yes), the incentive granting determination unit 25 determines whether the user's travel record matches the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's travel burden (FIG. 11), and confirms the result. At this time, the incentive granting determination unit 25 may inherit the user's travel record from the end of the process in FIG. 8, or may reconnect to the travel record management system 2 to inquire about the user's travel record. If the result of the above confirmation does not match (step S9003; No), the incentive granting determination unit 25 ends the process as it is (step S9003).

[0063] (4) If the incentive granting determination unit 25 confirms in step S9003 that the user's travel record matches the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's travel burden, the incentive granting determination unit 25 acquires the incentive information of the user stored in the incentive information 204 and performs the granting process according to the announced content. At this time, even if the travel record does not completely match the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's travel burden, if the incentive granting determination unit 25 determines that the user's travel record is a valid route as the route when traveling to a commercial facility by public transportation, the same incentive as announced in the notification sent to the user may be granted to the user. This is a relief measure considering that when traveling from the user's place of residence to a commercial facility using public transportation, even in the same time zone (for example, around 11 o'clock), the station stop time and transfer points may vary depending on the train schedule. Specifically, for example, even if the user's travel record does not match the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's travel burden, if the required time is within a predetermined range (for example, ±20%) of the required time of the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's travel burden, the incentive granting determination unit 25 may determine it as a "valid route". Such a relief measure may be similarly applied when measuring the travel burden in terms of amount (step S9004).

[0064] (5) The incentive granting determination unit 25 refers to the public transportation use determination information 205, checks whether there is a public transportation use determination result for the next user, and if so (step S9005; Yes), proceeds to the process of step S9006. If not (step S9005; No), the process ends here (step S9005).

[0065] (5) The incentive granting determination unit 25 acquires the public transportation use determination result for the next user and proceeds to the process of step S9002 (step S9006).

[0066] The process described above realizes the process in the incentive granting determination unit 25.

[0067] According to the incentive management system 1 in the present embodiment described above, even for a user with a large movement burden, an incentive corresponding to the movement burden is provided, so that it becomes easier to receive a request for promoting the use of public transportation even when moving to a commercial facility with parking facilities.

[0068] Specifically, as described with reference to FIGS. 2-9 and the like, an incentive management system for promoting the use of public transportation for users by a computer having a processor and a memory. The processor executes a user movement route search unit 21 as shown in FIG. 5 to search for a movement route from the departure place (e.g., home) to the arrival place (e.g., destination or the nearest station to the destination) of the user's movement by a predetermined search method (e.g., a method using various conventionally known search applications), and determines whether the movement is by a private means of transportation (e.g., a passenger car) or by public transportation (e.g., a train), and searches by movement means and by time zone of movement by that means of transportation, and records the result of the search (e.g., movement route information 202 shown in FIG. 11) in the memory. The processor executes a user movement burden calculation unit 22 as shown in FIG. 6 to calculate, from the movement route by the private means of transportation and the movement route by the public transportation, the user's movement burden indicating the cost when moving by the private means of transportation (e.g., the cost of movement such as the fare and required time for movement by the private means of transportation) and the user's movement burden indicating the cost when moving by the public transportation (e.g., the cost of movement such as the fare and required time for movement by the public transportation), and records the result of the calculation (e.g., movement burden information 203 shown in FIG. 12) in the memory. The processor executes a public transportation use determination unit 24 as shown in FIG. 8. If information indicating that the user used the public transportation during the movement from the departure place to the arrival place and information indicating that the user arrived at the arrival place are recorded in a movement performance management system (e.g., movement performance management system 2) that manages the movement performance of the user, and information indicating that the user used the private means of transportation during the movement is not recorded, it is determined that the user moved to the arrival place by the public transportation, and the result of the determination (e.g., public transportation use determination information 205) is recorded in the memory. The processor executes an incentive granting determination unit 25 as shown in FIG. 9. If it is determined that the user moved to the arrival place by the public transportation, and the movement route of the public transportation used when calculating the user's movement performance and the user's movement burden matches, an incentive corresponding to the movement burden is granted to the user.

[0069] In large commercial facilities, many visitors come by passenger cars, which is a cause of parking lot congestion and traffic jams on neighboring roads. Also, since passenger cars have a high environmental impact among means of transportation, there is a social demand for using public transportation (railways, buses) with a low environmental impact. According to this system, in such an environment, by increasing the number of users who choose public transportation when visiting commercial facilities, it is possible to suppress parking lot congestion and traffic jams on neighboring roads, reduce exhaust gas, contribute to reducing the environmental impact, and provide an environmentally friendly system.

[0070] Also, when a user visits by a means of transportation other than public transportation (for example, a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle), there may arise a problem of exceeding the physical constraints of resources such as a bicycle parking lot / parking lot allowed by the commercial facility side. In this system, by providing incentives according to the travel burden such as travel distance, travel time, and fare to encourage the use of public transportation, it is possible to control so as not to exceed the above physical constraints and effectively utilize resources. Furthermore, by dynamically providing the above incentives according to the travel burden described above, it is possible to promote the willingness of users who want to use public transportation.

[0071] Also, as described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 7, etc., when the travel burden of the user calculated above is less when traveling by the exclusive means of transportation than when traveling by the public transportation, the processor calculates the incentive according to the difference between the two, and sends a recommended notice to the user recommending travel using the public transportation together with notice information notifying that the incentive will be provided by using the public transportation. Thereby, the user can confirm in advance the incentive that he / she can receive when moving to the destination.

[0072] Also, as described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 8, etc., the above arrival includes the above user's destination (for example, a destination such as a commercial facility) and the alighting location of the above public transportation closest to the destination (for example, the station of the train closest to the destination). The above processor records the alighting at the alighting location of the above public transportation and the arrival at the above destination after the alighting. When information indicating that the above dedicated means of transportation was used is not recorded between the date and time when the above alighting was recorded and the date and time when the above arrival was recorded, it is determined that the above user moved to the above destination by the above public transportation. As a result, no incentive is given to a user who transfers to a vehicle at the station closest to the destination, and incentives can be imparted accurately and fairly.

[0073] Also, as described with reference to FIG. 6, etc., the above processor calculates the travel time required to move from the above departure location to the above arrival location as the above user's travel burden, and calculates the travel cost required to move from the above departure location to the above arrival location as the above user's travel burden. Therefore, these travel burdens can be grasped as the costs for the user to move, and incentives corresponding to the costs can be imparted.

[0074] Also, as described with reference to FIG. 9, etc., in the above determination, even when the movement by the above public transportation to the above arrival location does not match the travel route of the above user's travel record used when calculating the above user's travel burden, if the difference between the two is within a predetermined range (for example, a range of the required time ± 20% of the time), it is determined that the movement by the above public transportation is a valid route, and the same incentive as the incentive announced in the above notification sent to the user is imparted to the user. As a result, even in a case where the station stop time or the transfer location fluctuates due to a sudden schedule change (for example, a delay of a train due to congestion), incentives can be imparted appropriately in consideration of the situation.

[0075] As described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above various examples, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit thereof.

Explanation of Symbols

[0076] 1 Incentive Management System 2 Movement Performance Management System 3 User Terminal 4 Network 5 Network 21 User Movement Route Search Section 22 User Movement Burden Calculation Section 23 Public Transportation Recommendation Notification Section 24 Public Transportation Use Judgment Section 25 Incentive Grant Judgment Section 201 Facility Member Information 202 Movement Route Information 203 Movement Burden Information 204 Incentive Information 205 Public Transportation Use Judgment Information 31 CPU 32 Memory 33 External Storage Device 34 Input Device 35 Output Device 36 Communication Device 37 Control Device

Claims

1. An incentive management system for promoting the use of public transportation to users by a computer having a processor and a memory, The processor: Searches, by a predetermined search method, for the travel route from the departure place to the arrival place of the user's movement, by means of travel means and by time zone of travel by that means of travel, whether the movement is by private means of travel or by public transportation, and records the result of the search in the memory, Calculates, from the travel route by private means of travel and the travel route by public transportation, the user's travel burden indicating the cost when traveling by private means of travel and the user's travel burden indicating the cost when traveling by public transportation, respectively, and records the result of the calculation in the memory, When information indicating that the user has used public transportation during the movement from the departure place to the arrival place and information indicating that the user has arrived at the arrival place are recorded in the travel performance management system that manages the travel performance of the user, and information indicating that the user has used private means of travel during the movement is not recorded, the processor determines that the user has traveled by public transportation to the arrival place, and records the result of the determination in the memory, When it is determined that the user has traveled by public transportation to the arrival place and the travel route of the public transportation used when calculating the travel performance and travel burden of the user matches, an incentive corresponding to the travel burden is given to the user. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

2. The incentive management system according to claim 1, The processor: Regarding the calculated moving burden of the user, if the moving burden when moving by the exclusive means of transportation is less than the moving burden when moving by the public transportation, the incentive is calculated according to the difference between the two, and a recommendation notice recommending the use of the public transportation is sent to the user together with notice information notifying that the incentive will be provided by using the public transportation. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

3. The incentive management system according to claim 1, The arrival location includes the user's destination and the disembarkation location of the nearest public transportation to the destination, The processor, When the disembarkation at the disembarkation location of the public transportation and the arrival at the destination after the disembarkation are recorded, and information indicating that the exclusive means of transportation was used is not recorded between the date and time when the disembarkation was recorded and the date and time when the arrival was recorded, the user is determined to have moved to the destination by the public transportation. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

4. The incentive management system according to claim 1, The processor, Calculates the travel time from the departure location to the arrival location as the moving burden of the user. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

5. The incentive management system according to claim 1, The processor, Calculates the travel cost from the departure location to the arrival location as the moving burden of the user. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

6. The incentive management system according to claim 2, The processor, In the determination, even if the movement by the public transportation means until the arrival location does not match the movement route of the user's movement record used when calculating the movement burden of the user, if the difference between the two is within a predetermined range, it is determined that the movement by the public transportation means is a valid route, and the same incentive as the incentive announced in the notice sent to the user is given to the user. An incentive management system characterized by the above.

7. An incentive management method for promoting the use of public transportation means for a user by a computer having a processor and a memory, The computer, Searches for the movement route from the departure location to the arrival location of the movement by the user by a predetermined search method, by means of movement means and by time zone of movement by the movement means, indicating whether it is movement by exclusive movement means or movement by public transportation means. From the movement route by the exclusive movement means and the movement route by the public transportation means, the user's movement burden indicating the cost when moving by the exclusive movement means and the user's movement burden indicating the cost when moving by the public transportation means are calculated respectively. In the movement record management system that manages the movement record of the user, when information indicating that the user has used the public transportation means during the movement from the departure location to the arrival location and information indicating that the user has arrived at the arrival location are recorded, and information indicating that the user has used the exclusive movement means during the movement is not recorded, it is determined that the user has moved by the public transportation means until the arrival location. When it is determined that the user has moved by the public transportation means until the arrival location, and the movement route of the public transportation means used when calculating the user's movement record and the user's movement burden match, an incentive corresponding to the movement burden is given to the user. An incentive management method characterized by the above.

8. The incentive management method according to claim 7, The computer, When the calculated moving burden of the user is less when moving by the exclusive means of transportation than when moving by the public transportation, the incentive is calculated according to the difference between the two, and a recommendation notice recommending moving by the public transportation is sent to the user together with a notice information notifying that the incentive will be provided by using the public transportation. The incentive management method according to claim 7, characterized in that.

9. The incentive management method according to claim 7, wherein. The arrival destination includes the user's destination and the disembarkation point of the public transportation closest to the destination. The computer, When the disembarkation at the disembarkation point of the public transportation and the arrival at the destination after the disembarkation are recorded, and information indicating that the exclusive means of transportation was used is not recorded between the date and time when the disembarkation was recorded and the date and time when the arrival was recorded, the user is determined to have moved to the destination by the public transportation. The incentive management method characterized in that.

10. The incentive management method according to claim 7, wherein. The computer, Calculates the travel time required to move from the departure point to the arrival point as the moving burden of the user. The incentive management method characterized in that.

11. The incentive management method according to claim 7, wherein. The computer, Calculates the travel cost required to move from the departure point to the arrival point as the moving burden of the user. The incentive management method characterized in that.

12. The incentive management method according to claim 8, wherein. The computer, In the determination, even if the movement by the public transportation until the landing point does not match the movement route of the movement record of the user used when calculating the movement burden of the user, if the difference between the two is within a predetermined range, it is determined that the movement by the public transportation is a valid route, and the same incentive as the incentive announced in the notice sent to the user is given to the user. An incentive management method characterized by the above.

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