Control system, allocation system, allocation planning method and computer program

Abstract

To provide a control system for transport vehicles capable of effectively utilizing rest facilities on toll roads and relieving congestion of the facilities.SOLUTION: A control system 1 includes: a congestion information acquisition unit 11 that acquires congestion information representing congestion states of two rest facilities respectively provided on an inbound lane and an outbound lane corresponding to the same point on a toll road; and a vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 that uses the acquired congestion information to determine a vehicle-allocation plan including a traveling schedule causing a transport vehicle 7 capable of transporting a user who rides on a vehicle parked in a parking facility being one of the two rest facilities, to travel from the parking facility to a facility on the opposite lane side being the other of the two rest facilities.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control system, a vehicle dispatching system, a vehicle, a vehicle dispatching plan creation method, and a computer program for creating a vehicle dispatching plan for a vehicle that transports users.

Background Art

[0002] Toll roads such as highways are provided with rest facilities such as service areas and parking areas. Such rest facilities are provided with parking lots, and users of the rest facilities park their vehicles in the parking lots and use the rest facilities. Parking lots in rest facilities are often large enough to park a large number of vehicles, and there may be a distance from the parked position to buildings such as toilets and food court streets in the rest facilities, and it may take time to move on foot. Therefore, if a vehicle for moving to buildings such as toilets and food court streets in the rest facility is operated so that it can be used after the user gets out of the vehicle they came in at the parking lot, the convenience of the users of the rest facility may be improved.

[0003] By the way, in recent years, a vehicle dispatching system that dispatches vehicles traveling within a defined route or a defined range in response to user requests has attracted attention. Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle operation management device that assigns a vehicle to a passenger in response to a vehicle dispatching request from a user's mobile terminal as a technology expected to be applied to on-demand transportation in depopulated areas and suburban new towns. When the vehicle operation management device described in Patent Document 1 receives a boarding request including the boarding desired time, the boarding desired location, and the alighting desired location from the user via the mobile terminal, it assigns a vehicle for transporting the user and creates an operation schedule to dispatch the assigned vehicle according to the boarding request.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Rest facilities on toll roads may be extremely crowded at certain times of day. Generally, toll roads are provided with rest facilities for both the uphill and downhill directions respectively. However, the uphill rest facility may be crowded while the downhill rest facility is empty, or vice versa, where the congestion situation differs between the uphill and downhill directions. Thus, in some cases, while some rest facilities on toll roads are crowded, other facilities may not be effectively utilized. Also, due to congestion, the waiting time of users at rest facilities may increase, impairing the convenience of users.

[0006] In view of the above, the present disclosure aims to obtain a control system for transport vehicles that can effectively utilize rest facilities on toll roads and alleviate congestion in the facilities.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] To solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the control system according to the present disclosure includes a congestion information acquisition unit that acquires congestion information indicating the congestion situation of two rest facilities respectively provided on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road, and a vehicle allocation plan determination unit that determines an allocation plan including a travel schedule for a transport vehicle that can transport users boarding a vehicle parked at a parking facility, which is one of the two rest facilities, from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities, using the acquired congestion information.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] The control system according to the present disclosure has the effect of effectively utilizing rest facilities on toll roads and alleviating congestion in the facilities. Also, since users can be guided to uncongested rest facilities, the waiting time of users at rest facilities can be reduced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, the control system, vehicle allocation system, vehicle, vehicle allocation plan creation method, and computer program according to the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle allocation system according to Embodiment 1. The vehicle allocation system 2 of the present embodiment includes a control system 1 and a facility management system 6. The control system 1 manages the allocation of transport vehicles 7. The transport vehicle 7 is a vehicle capable of transporting users who have parked their vehicles at a rest facility provided on a toll road to a destination within the facility. The rest facility is, for example, a rest facility such as a service area or a parking area and has a parking lot. The rest facility is, for example, a facility provided in the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road, and is, for example, a rest facility with the same name existing at the same location on the upper and lower lanes. Hereinafter, a vehicle that carries users and travels on a toll road and arrives at a rest facility is also referred to as a general vehicle in order to distinguish it from the transport vehicle 7.

[0012] The facility management system 6 manages the congestion status of the uphill facility and the downhill facility. The control system 1 receives usage information, which is information indicating a user's request regarding the use of the transport vehicle 7, from a user terminal that is at least one of, for example, a mobile terminal 3, a vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and a stop terminal 5. The user terminal is a terminal operable by the user. In FIG. 1, one mobile terminal 3, one vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and one stop terminal 5 are illustrated, but the number of each of the mobile terminal 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and the stop terminal 5 is not limited to one. The facility management system 6 uses the usage information and the congestion status of each rest facility acquired from the facility management system 6 to allocate the transport vehicle 7 to the user and create an allocation plan including the travel schedule of the transport vehicle 7. Note that the fee for the user to use the transport vehicle 7 may be free or charged. There are no particular restrictions on the method for determining the fee and the method for collecting the fee when it is charged, and any method may be used.

[0013] The transport vehicle 7 travels within the uphill facility and can also travel from the uphill facility to the downhill facility. Similarly, the transport vehicle 7 travels within the downhill facility and can also travel from the downhill facility to the uphill facility. The route between the uphill facility and the downhill facility on which the transport vehicle 7 travels may be a dedicated passage provided specifically for the travel of the transport vehicle 7, or may be an existing dedicated passage provided to allow two-way traffic between the uphill facility and the downhill facility. Further, a general road may be included in the route between the uphill facility and the downhill facility on which the transport vehicle 7 travels.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the uphill facility and the downhill facility of the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the uphill facility 8 is provided in the uphill lane 201 of the toll road, and the downhill facility 9 is provided in the downhill lane 202 of the toll road. The uphill facility 8 includes a parking lot 81 where general vehicles can be parked, toilets 83-1 to 83-3, and a food and beverage street 84. The toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and the food and beverage street 84 are provided inside a building. In addition, a plurality of parking sections 85 for large vehicles and a plurality of parking sections 86 for ordinary vehicles are respectively provided in the parking lot 81. The downhill facility 9 also includes a parking lot 91 where general vehicles can be parked, toilets 93-1 to 93-3, and a food and beverage street 94, similar to the uphill facility 8. The toilets 93-1 to 93-3 and the food and beverage street 94 are provided inside a building. A plurality of parking sections 95 for large vehicles and a plurality of parking sections 96 for ordinary vehicles are respectively provided in the parking lot 91. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 have substantially the same configuration, but the configurations of the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 may be different.

[0015] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle 7 can travel along the travel route 300 indicated by the dashed line. Four stops are provided at each of the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 on the travel route 300. Note that the transport vehicle 7 travels from the departure point to the destination included in the scheduled travel notified from the control system 1. For this reason, the transport vehicle 7 does not need to travel all of the travel route 300, and travels at least a part of the travel route 300 within the scope of the travel regulations in the parking lot such as one-way traffic. At each stop, stop terminals 5-1 to 5-8 are provided respectively. The stop terminals 5-1 to 5-8 are each the stop terminal 5 shown in FIG. 1. Note that the travel route on which the transport vehicle 7 travels is not limited to the travel route 300 shown in FIG. 2, and the number of stops is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, the transport vehicle 7 can travel within each of the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9, and can also move from the uphill facility 8 to the downhill facility 9, and can move from the downhill facility 9 to the uphill facility 8.

[0017] Returning to the description of FIG. 1. The mobile terminal 3 is a terminal carried by a user such as a smartphone or a tablet. The vehicle-mounted terminal 4 is a terminal mounted on a general vehicle. The stop terminal 5 is a terminal installed at the stop where the transport vehicle 7 stops. The mobile terminal 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and the stop terminal 5 are all user terminals that receive input of usage information from the user, and can perform a process of reserving the transport vehicle 7. In FIG. 1, three types of user terminals, namely the mobile terminal 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and the stop terminal 5, are illustrated, but at least one of these may be used, and all three types do not have to be used.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 3 includes a communication unit 31, an input reception unit 32, a position acquisition unit 33, a usage information generation unit 34, and an information display unit 35. The communication unit 31 communicates with the control system 1 via a network. This network includes, for example, a mobile phone network, the Internet, etc., but is not limited thereto and can be any network. The input reception unit 32 receives an input operation from the user and outputs input information corresponding to the input operation to the usage information generation unit 34. The position acquisition unit 33 detects the position of the mobile terminal 3 and outputs position information indicating the detected position to the usage information generation unit 34. The position acquisition unit 33 acquires the current position using, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. The usage information generation unit 34 generates usage information based on the input information received from the input reception unit 32 and outputs the generated usage information to the communication unit 31. Note that the mobile terminal 3 may perform a process of reserving the transport vehicle 7 by installing application software for the process of reserving the transport vehicle 7, or the control system 1 may have a function as a web server, and the mobile terminal 3 may perform a process of reserving the transport vehicle 7 by accessing a website.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of usage information in the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the usage information includes a desired boarding position, which is the position where the user wishes to board the transport vehicle 7, a desired boarding time, which is the time when the user wishes to board the transport vehicle 7, the purpose for which the user uses the rest facility, and the number of passengers. When receiving the input of each piece of information included in the usage information from the user, the information display unit 35 displays, for example, an input screen for receiving the input of each item shown on the left side of FIG. 3, with the right side being the input field, and the user may input the information of each item in the input field. This input screen is displayed by the information display unit 35 by means of the above-described application software or by accessing a website.

[0020] The desired boarding location may be information indicating a bus stop in a rest facility or information indicating the location where a user parked a general vehicle. Here, after the user arrives at the rest facility and parks a general vehicle in the parking lot of the rest facility (in the case of the example in FIG. 2, parking lot 81 or parking lot 91), the user operates the mobile terminal 3 so that the mobile terminal 3 transmits usage information. For example, the control system 1 transmits a map of the rest facility including the location of the bus stop in the rest facility to the mobile terminal 3, the communication unit 31 of the mobile terminal 3 outputs the received map to the information display unit 35, the information display unit 35 displays the map, and the user checks the map and selects a bus stop close to the parking location which is the current location, and inputs the identification information indicating the selected bus stop as the desired boarding location. Alternatively, a map indicating the location of the bus stop is displayed in the parking lot, the user checks the map and selects a bus stop close to the parking location which is the current location, and inputs the identification information indicating the selected bus stop as the desired boarding location. Alternatively, the parking lot is divided in advance into a plurality of areas, and information indicating the areas is displayed in the parking lot, so that the user may input information indicating the area where the general vehicle is parked as the desired boarding location. In this case, the control system 1 holds the correspondence between each area and the nearest bus stop, and can obtain the bus stop corresponding to the desired boarding location using the held correspondence. Note that, as described above, when the user inputs the desired boarding location, the position acquisition unit 33 does not have to output the position information to the usage information generation unit 34. Also, in this case, the mobile terminal 3 does not have to include the position acquisition unit 33.

[0021] In addition, a travel route may be determined so that the transport vehicle 7 travels within the parking lot even within the scope of driving restrictions in a one-way parking lot or the like, and the stops may be located at positions corresponding to each parking section of the parking lot. In this case, for example, a position close to each parking section on the travel route becomes the boarding position. For example, by pre-defining the correspondence between the parking section and the boarding position on the travel route, the boarding position corresponding to the parking section is determined. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a travel route when stops are not provided. In the travel route 301 shown in FIG. 4, parking positions corresponding to each parking section are defined in advance, and the usage information generation unit 34 holds parking position correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the parking section and the parking position. When a parking section is designated as the desired boarding position in the usage information, the usage information generation unit 34 calculates the boarding position corresponding to the parking section based on the parking position correspondence information. In the example shown in FIG. 4, for example, the parking position corresponding to the parking section 861 is the position 863, and the parking position corresponding to the parking section 862 is also the position 863. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the stop terminal 5 at each stop. For example, identification information may be assigned to each parking section in the parking lot, and the user may confirm this identification information and input the confirmed identification information as the desired boarding position. Also, the position of the mobile terminal 3 may be used as the desired boarding position. In this case, the usage information generation unit 34 generates usage information using the position information input from the position acquisition unit 33 as the desired boarding position, and the control system 1 holds in advance the section position information indicating the positions of each parking section in the parking lot, and identifies the parking section where the vehicle is parked using the section position information and the position information of the mobile terminal 3.

[0022] Returning to the description of FIG. 3. Regarding the desired boarding time, the user may input the desired boarding time, or the usage information generation unit 34 may set the current time as the desired boarding time. The purpose is input by the user. The purpose is, for example, either using the toilet or having a meal. The purpose may be, for example, that options are shown on an input screen and the user selects from the options. Also, the purpose of having a meal may be further subdivided, and the type of restaurant such as Japanese cuisine, Western cuisine, ramen, light meals, etc. may be specified. Also, purposes other than using the toilet and having a meal, such as shopping, may be made selectable.

[0023] Here, an example of creating a vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 of a set of rest facilities in the uphill and downhill facilities in the service area at one location by the control system 1 will be described. However, it is not limited to this. For multiple locations of rest facilities, such as the H service area, the F service area, and the G parking area, for each location, that is, for each service area with the same name, the vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 of the present embodiment may be created. In this case, the vehicle allocation plan corresponding to one location is created by the method described in the present embodiment, and by implementing this process for each service area of each location, the vehicle allocation plans for the transport vehicle 7 for the service areas of multiple locations are created respectively. When the control system 1 creates a vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 for the service areas of multiple locations, the usage information may include the identification information of the rest facilities that the user wishes to use. Note that the identification information of the rest facilities also includes information indicating whether it is an uphill facility or a downhill facility. Alternatively, the identification information of the stop may include the identification information of the facility. That is, the identification information of the stop may be assigned so as not to overlap between the rest facilities to be managed. Also, when the position information of the mobile terminal 3 is included as the desired boarding position in the usage information, the control system 1 may use the position information to determine the facility where the general vehicle corresponding to the usage information is parked.

[0024] Returning to the description of FIG. 1. The vehicle-mounted terminal 4 includes a communication unit 41, an input reception unit 42, a position acquisition unit 43, a usage information generation unit 44, and an information display unit 45. The vehicle-mounted terminal 4 may be a part of a car navigation system or an automatic driving system, or may be a terminal separate from these. Since the functions of the communication unit 41, the input reception unit 42, the position acquisition unit 43, the usage information generation unit 44, and the information display unit 45 are the same as the respective functions of the communication unit 31, the input reception unit 32, the position acquisition unit 33, the usage information generation unit 34, and the information display unit 35 of the mobile terminal 3, overlapping descriptions are omitted.

[0025] The terminal 5 at the stop includes a communication unit 51, an input reception unit 52, a usage information generation unit 53, and an information display unit 54. Since the functions of the communication unit 51, the input reception unit 52, the usage information generation unit 53, and the information display unit 54 are the same as the respective functions of the communication unit 31, the input reception unit 32, the usage information generation unit 34, and the information display unit 35 of the mobile terminal 3, duplicate explanations are omitted. However, since the position of the terminal 5 at the stop is fixed, the usage information generation unit 53 stores its own identification information (the identification information of the stop), which is defined in advance as the desired boarding position in the usage information. Note that the terminal 5 at the stop may receive a reservation with another terminal 5 at the stop as the desired boarding position. In this case, for example, on the input screen, its own identification information may be displayed as the initial value at the desired boarding position and can be changed from the initial value by the input operation of the user. Also, here, an example where the position of the terminal 5 at the stop is fixed is described, but the position of the terminal 5 at the stop may be changed. In this case, a position acquisition unit may be provided in the terminal 5 at the stop, or the position of the terminal 5 at the stop may be set in the facility management system 6 each time it is changed.

[0026] The facility management system 6 includes a congestion information transmission unit 61 and a congestion management unit 62. The congestion management unit 62 acquires the congestion status in the rest facility and outputs congestion information indicating the acquired congestion status to the congestion information transmission unit 61. The congestion information may include the congestion status for each facility in the rest facility, or may include the congestion status for the rest facility as a unit. The congestion management unit 62 may, for example, acquire an image of a surveillance camera and obtain the congestion status using the image, or may acquire the congestion information by receiving an input of the congestion status from the administrator of the rest facility. Also, when a sensor for detecting whether each individual toilet is in use is provided, the congestion management unit 62 may acquire the detection result of the sensor. The congestion information transmission unit 61 transmits the congestion information to the control system 1 via a network. This network may be a dedicated line, or may be the Internet, a mobile phone network, or the like. The facility management system 6 may transmit the congestion information to the control system 1, for example, periodically, or may transmit it to the control system 1 when the congestion information changes.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of congestion information according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the congestion information includes, for example, the congestion status of each facility such as a toilet and a food court. In the example shown in FIG. 5, as exemplified in FIG. 2, the upward facility 8 includes three toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and one food court 84, and the downward facility 9 includes three toilets 93-1 to 93-3 and one food court 94. Toilets 83-1 to 83-3 respectively correspond to toilets #1 to #3 of the upward facility in FIG. 5, and toilets 93-1 to 93-3 respectively correspond to toilets #1 to #3 of the downward facility in FIG. 5. Note that toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and 93-1 to 93-3 are toilet spaces provided with one or more individual toilets. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the congestion status is represented in three levels: congested, normal, and vacant (empty state). However, the congestion status is not limited to this, and may be shown in two levels of whether it is congested or not, or may be shown in four or more levels. For example, in the case of a toilet, it is congested when the number of waiting people is two or more, normal when the number of waiting people is one or less and the number of vacant individual toilets is less than 30% of all individual toilets, and vacant when all individual toilets are 30% or less. The congestion status is defined in advance in this way. The same applies to the food court, and the congestion status is calculated according to the ratio of vacant seats, the number of waiting people, etc.

[0028] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the rest facility includes a plurality of facilities such as toilets and food courts, and the congestion information includes information indicating the congestion status of each facility. However, the congestion information is not limited to this, and may include the congestion status of each store in the food court. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a store included in the food court according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 shows an example of a store constituting the food court 84 of the upward facility 8 shown in FIG. 2. If the congestion information includes, for example, the congestion status of each store shown in FIG. 6, when the purpose in the usage information is specified down to the type of restaurant, the control system 1 can select the store that is the target facility for the user based on the congestion information of each store.

[0029] Furthermore, the congestion information may be the congestion status of facilities such as the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9. In this case, the congestion status of the rest facility unit may be determined based on the congestion status of the parking lot.

[0030] Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the control system 1 includes a congestion information acquisition unit 11, a usage information acquisition unit 12, a vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13, a vehicle communication unit 14, a facility information storage unit 15, a transport vehicle information storage unit 16, and a vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17.

[0031] The congestion information acquisition unit 11 acquires congestion information by receiving, from the facility management system 6 via a network, congestion information indicating the congestion status of the rest facility, and outputs the acquired congestion information to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13.

[0032] The facility information storage unit 15 stores facility information indicating information about each facility in the rest facility. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the facility information of the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 7, similar to the example shown in FIG. 5, as exemplified in FIG. 2, the uphill facility 8 includes three toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and one food court 84, and the downhill facility 9 includes three toilets 93-1 to 93-3 and one food court 94. As shown in FIG. 7, the facility information includes each facility and the position of the facility (the position of the entrance and exit of the facility). In the example shown in FIG. 7, the position of the facility is indicated by the unit of the bus stop, that is, the identification information of the nearest bus stop. Not limited to this, the position of the facility may be indicated by coordinates (the coordinates of the entrance and exit), etc. In this case, the facility information storage unit 15 stores bus stop position information indicating the position (coordinates) of each bus stop. Using the bus stop position information and the facility information, the bus stop corresponding to each facility can be obtained. The bus stop corresponding to each facility is, for example, the nearest bus stop to each facility.

[0033] Also, as described with reference to FIG. 6, when managing the congestion situation for each store, the facility information also includes information for each store. In the example shown in FIG. 6, as entrances and exits to the food and drink street 84, two locations, entrances and exits 87-1 and 87-2, are provided, and the food and drink street 84 includes two ramen shops, ramen shops 88-1 and 88-2. The nearest entrance and exit to the ramen shop 88-1 is the entrance and exit 87-1, and the nearest bus stop to the entrance and exit 87-1 is bus stop #4 where the bus stop terminal 5-4 is installed. The nearest entrance and exit to the ramen shop 88-2 is the entrance and exit 87-2, and the nearest bus stop to the entrance and exit 87-2 is bus stop #3 where the bus stop terminal 5-3 is installed. In this way, the bus stop corresponding to each store can be determined. For example, the facility information stores information indicating the corresponding bus stop as the position corresponding to each store. Alternatively, the coordinates of the entrance and exit corresponding to each store may be stored as the position in the facility information. The control system 1 can propose to the user the vacant one of the ramen shops 88-1 and 88-2 as the destination, and when the user accepts the proposed information, determine a vehicle allocation plan to transport the user to the bus stop corresponding to the vacant store.

[0034] The transport vehicle information storage unit 16 stores transport vehicle information. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the transport vehicle information of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the transport vehicle information includes the maximum number of passengers for each transport vehicle 7. The transport vehicle information may further include the remaining battery level, remaining fuel level, and travelable distance of the transport vehicle 7. The remaining battery level is updated each time it is acquired from the transport vehicle 7.

[0035] The usage information acquisition unit 12 acquires usage information by receiving usage information via a network from at least one of the user terminals, which are the mobile terminal 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and the bus stop terminal 5, and outputs the acquired usage information to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13.

[0036] Based on the congestion information indicating the congestion status of the rest facilities, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a vehicle allocation plan including a travel plan for the transport vehicle 7 that can transport users boarding a vehicle (ordinary vehicle) parked at the parking facility, which is one of the two rest facilities on the uphill lane and the downhill lane, from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities. Specifically, first, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the destination for transporting the users based on the purpose in the usage information and the congestion information. Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines candidate facilities that match the purpose. If there is a non-congested facility among the candidate facilities, the non-congested facility is determined as the destination facility for the users, and the stop corresponding to the destination facility for the users is determined as the destination (the destination of the transport vehicle 7).

[0037] Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 uses the determined destination, the usage information, the facility information stored in the facility information storage unit 15, the current position of the transport vehicle 7, the transport vehicle information stored in the transport vehicle information storage unit 16, and the vehicle allocation plan stored in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17 to determine the transport vehicle 7 to be assigned to the users corresponding to the usage information and determine the travel plan of the transport vehicle 7. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a vehicle allocation plan using the determined travel plan and stores the determined vehicle allocation plan in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17. The vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17 stores the vehicle allocation plan. The vehicle allocation plan includes the travel plans of all the transport vehicles 7. Also, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 outputs the travel plan to the vehicle communication unit 14. The vehicle communication unit 14 transmits the travel plan to the corresponding transport vehicle 7 via the network. Details of the operation of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 will be described later. This network may be a dedicated line, or may be a mobile phone network, the Internet, etc. Also, the vehicle communication unit 14 acquires the current position from the transport vehicle 7. Also, when the transport vehicle 7 is an electric vehicle, the vehicle communication unit 14 may receive the remaining battery level from the transport vehicle 7.

[0038] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle allocation plan according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle allocation plan includes, for example, the scheduled boarding time (scheduled departure time), boarding location (departure point), scheduled arrival time, destination, and vacant seat information for each transport vehicle 7. Each row in the vehicle allocation plan shows the planned route of one operation of each transport vehicle 7. The destination is determined based on the purpose and congestion information in the usage information as described above. The scheduled boarding time is determined according to the desired boarding time in the usage information, and the boarding location (departure point) is determined according to the desired boarding location in the usage information. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the identification information of the stops corresponding to the stop terminals 5-1 to 5-8 shown in FIG. 2 is shown as stops #1 to #8, respectively. For example, vehicle #1, which is one of the transport vehicles 7, is scheduled to transport users who parked their general vehicles in the uphill facility 8 from stop #1 in the uphill facility 8 to stop #3 in the uphill facility 8. When creating the driving schedule for this vehicle #1, toilet #2 (toilet 83-2) among the toilets in the uphill facility 8 is not congested, and the user is transported to stop #3 corresponding to toilet #2 (toilet 83-2). Also, vehicle #2, which is one of the transport vehicles 7, is scheduled to transport users who parked their general vehicles in the uphill facility 8 from stop #2 in the uphill facility 8 to stop #8 in the downhill facility 9. When creating the driving schedule for this vehicle #2, all the toilets in the uphill facility 8 are congested, the downhill facility 9 is not congested, and toilet #3 (toilet 93-3) is vacant, so the user is transported to toilet #3 in the downhill facility 9. Thus, in the present embodiment, when the facilities in the rest facility where the user parked the general vehicle are congested and the facilities in the rest facility on the opposite lane side are vacant, the driving schedule is determined so as to transport the user to the rest facility on the opposite lane side. Thus, when the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines that the rest facility where the user parked the general vehicle is congested using the congestion information, it can determine the driving schedule of the transport vehicle 7 so that the transport vehicle 7 travels from the rest facility to the rest facility on the opposite lane.

[0039] In addition, the vacant seat information shown in Fig. 9 indicates the number of vacant seats obtained by subtracting the number of people planned to board in the vehicle allocation plan from the maximum number of passengers that each transport vehicle 7 can carry. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 9, if the maximum number of passengers of the transport vehicle 7 of vehicle #2 is 8, and the number of people planned to board in the planned route shown in the second row of Fig. 9 is 5, the number of vacant seats is 3. In the example shown in Fig. 9, since the number of vacant seats is constant regardless of the section, one numerical value is described. However, the vacant seat information is shown for each section in the travel route. For example, if it is planned to travel from stop #2 to stop #8 and there are 3 vacant seats, and if there is usage information that 3 people are planned to board at stop #2 and stop #3 is determined as the destination, it is possible to have the users corresponding to the usage information board the transport vehicle 7 planned to travel from stop #2 to stop #8. In this case, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the travel plan for the usage information so that the transport vehicle 7 planned to travel from stop #2 to stop #8 boards passengers from stop #2 to stop #3. Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 updates the vacant seat information corresponding to the travel plan in the vehicle allocation plan to information indicating that there are no vacant seats in the section from stop #2 to stop #3, and there are 3 vacant seats in the section from stop #3 to stop #8 and 3 at stop #8. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may create a vehicle allocation plan in which carpooling is performed in the transport vehicle 7 by managing the vacant seat information in this way.

[0040] Also, as described with reference to FIG. 6, when the congestion information and facility information include information for each store and the type of restaurant is specified as the purpose in the usage information, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 can determine an uncongested store from among the restaurants of the type that matches the purpose as the destination facility for the user. For example, when a ramen restaurant is specified as the type of restaurant in the usage information and the user's private vehicle is parked at the uphill facility 8, the vehicle allocation plan can be determined to transport the user to the bus stop corresponding to the vacant store among ramen restaurants 88-1 and 88-2. Also, when there is a ramen restaurant at the downhill facility 9 and both ramen restaurants 88-1 and 88-2 at the uphill facility 8 are congested and the ramen restaurant at the downhill facility 9 is vacant, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may create a vehicle allocation plan to transport the user to the bus stop corresponding to the ramen restaurant at the downhill facility 9.

[0041] Returning to the description of FIG. 1. The transport vehicle 7 includes a communication unit 71, a plan storage unit 72, a position acquisition unit 73, a vehicle control unit 74, and vehicle component parts 75. Here, an example where the transport vehicle 7 is an autonomous vehicle will be described, but the transport vehicle 7 may be a vehicle driven by a driver.

[0042] The communication unit 71 receives the driving schedule from the control system 1 and stores the received driving schedule in the plan storage unit 72. The vehicle component parts 75 are various devices mounted on the transport vehicle 7 such as an engine, brakes, and a transmission. The vehicle control unit 74 can control the vehicle component parts 75 without the need for human operation. That is, the vehicle control unit 74 performs control for autonomous driving. The vehicle control unit 74 controls the driving of the transport vehicle 7 based on the driving schedule stored in the plan storage unit 72. When the transport vehicle 7 is a vehicle driven by a driver, the control system 1 may transmit the driving plan to a portable terminal (not shown) for the driver, and the driving plan may be displayed on the screen of the portable terminal to give a driving instruction to the driver, or the driving plan may be displayed on a display unit (not shown) inside the transport vehicle 7 to give a driving instruction to the driver.

[0043] The position acquisition unit 73 acquires the current position of the transport vehicle 7 and outputs the acquired current position to the communication unit 71. The position acquisition unit 73 acquires the current position by using, for example, a GPS receiver or the like. The communication unit 71 transmits the current position to the control system 1. Further, the communication unit 71 may transmit the remaining amount of the storage battery of the transport vehicle 7, the remaining amount of fuel, the remaining travelable distance, etc. to the control system 1.

[0044] Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation in the vehicle allocation system of the present embodiment. In FIG. 10, an example in which the mobile terminal 3 is used as the user terminal is shown, but the same operation is performed when the vehicle-mounted terminal 4 or the stop terminal 5 is used as the user terminal. The user operates the mobile terminal 3 to make a reservation for the transport vehicle 7. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, the mobile terminal 3 receives an input from the user (step S1). Specifically, the input reception unit 32 receives an input from the user and outputs input information indicating the received input content to the usage information generation unit 34. The items to be input include, for example, the desired boarding position, the desired boarding time, the destination, and the number of people. As described above, the current time may be used instead of the desired boarding time without being input.

[0045] The mobile terminal 3 generates usage information (step S2) and transmits the generated usage information to the control system 1 (step S3). Specifically, the usage information generation unit 34 generates usage information using the input information received from the input reception unit 32 and outputs the generated usage information to the communication unit 31. The communication unit 31 transmits the usage information received from the usage information generation unit 34 to the control system 1.

[0046] On the other hand, the facility management system 6 transmits congestion information to the control system 1 at regular intervals or when there is a change in the congestion information (step S4). Specifically, the congestion management unit 62 acquires the congestion status in the rest facility and outputs congestion information indicating the acquired congestion status to the congestion information transmission unit 61. The congestion information transmission unit 61 transmits the congestion information to the control system 1.

[0047] In addition, each transport vehicle 7 transmits its current position to the control system 1 (step S5). Specifically, a position acquisition unit 73 periodically acquires, for example, the current position of the transport vehicle 7 and outputs the acquired current position to a communication unit 71. The communication unit 71 transmits the current position received from the position acquisition unit 73 to the control system 1.

[0048] When the control system 1 receives the usage information, it creates a vehicle allocation plan (step S6). The method for creating the vehicle allocation plan will be described later. The control system 1 transmits, as reservation results, the information to be notified to the user among the created vehicle allocation plans to the mobile terminal 3 (step S7). The reservation results are, for example, the scheduled boarding time, boarding position, scheduled arrival time, and destination of the planned route corresponding to the usage information received in step S3 among the created vehicle allocation plans.

[0049] Note that after determining the user's destination facility based on the usage information and congestion information, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 outputs the determination result (the user's destination facility) to the usage information acquisition unit 12 before creating a vehicle allocation plan that reflects the user's destination facility. The usage information acquisition unit 12 may request the user's approval by transmitting the determination result to the mobile terminal 3 that is the source of the usage information. The mobile terminal 3 displays the received determination result, and the user checks the displayed determination result and determines whether to approve the determined destination facility. The user inputs the determination result, that is, the determination result of whether to approve the determination result, into the mobile terminal 3, and the mobile terminal 3 transmits the determination result to the control system 1. When the received determination result indicates approval of the determination result, the control system 1 performs the process of creating a vehicle allocation plan. When the received determination result indicates non-approval of the determination result, the control system 1 excludes the said destination facility and determines the destination facility again, and transmits the determination result to the mobile terminal 3. The control system 1 repeats these processes until it receives a determination result indicating approval of the determination result from the mobile terminal 3. Alternatively, the control system 1 may select a plurality of candidates for the destination facility based on the congestion information and transmit the selected plurality of destination facilities to the mobile terminal 3. The user selects a destination facility from among the plurality of destination facilities and inputs the selection result into the mobile terminal 3, and the mobile terminal 3 transmits the selection result to the control system 1. The control system 1 creates a vehicle allocation plan using the destination facility selected by the user.

[0050] In addition, the control system 1 transmits the driving schedule of the transport vehicle 7 in the vehicle allocation plan to the transport vehicle 7 (step S8). Thereafter, the transport vehicle 7 travels according to the received driving schedule. By these operations, vehicle allocation according to the usage information is realized.

[0051] Next, the vehicle allocation plan creation process in the control system 1, that is, the process of step S6 in FIG. 10, will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the vehicle allocation plan creation process of the present embodiment. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines candidates for facilities to be used using the usage information (step S11). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines, as candidates for facilities to be used by the user, facilities that match the purpose using the purpose in the usage information received from the usage information acquisition unit 12. For example, when the rest facilities targeted for the creation of the vehicle allocation plan are the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 shown in FIG. 2, if the purpose in the usage information is a toilet, toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and 93-1 to 93-3 become candidates for facilities to be used. Also, when the purpose is a meal, the food and beverage streets 84 and 94 become candidates for facilities to be used. As described above, when the type of food and beverage store is also specified in the purpose, the candidates for facilities to be used are determined on a store-by-store basis.

[0052] Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines whether there is an uncongested facility among the candidates for facilities in the parking facility (step S12). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 extracts the congestion status of the facilities in the parking facility among the candidates for facilities determined in step S11 from the congestion information received from the congestion information acquisition unit 11, and determines whether there is an uncongested facility based on the extracted congestion status. The parking facility is a facility where the user corresponding to the usage information boards the transport vehicle 7. For example, when the rest facilities targeted for the creation of the vehicle allocation plan are the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 shown in FIG. 2, and the user parks a general vehicle at the uphill facility 8, the user will board the transport vehicle 7 from the uphill facility 8. In this case, the uphill facility 8 is the parking facility. Also, the rest facility on the opposite lane side of the parking facility is called the opposite lane side facility. When the uphill facility 8 is the parking facility, the opposite lane side facility is the downhill facility 9, and when the downhill facility 9 is the parking facility, the opposite lane side facility is the uphill facility 8.

[0053] If there is an uncongested facility among the facility candidates in the parking facility (Yes in step S12), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a destination within the parking facility (step S13). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a target facility, which is the facility to be used by the user, from among the uncongested facilities among the facility candidates in the parking facility (the facilities determined as facility candidates to be used), and determines a destination corresponding to the target facility. For example, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 uses the congestion information to determine the least congested facility among the facility candidates in the parking facility as the target facility. When there are a plurality of least congested facilities, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may, for example, determine the facility closest to the desired boarding position in the usage information as the target facility from among these, or may determine the target facility from among these according to a predetermined criterion such as round robin. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 refers to the facility information stored in the facility information storage unit 15 and determines the position corresponding to the determined target facility as the destination.

[0054] Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information, using the determined destination, the usage information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, and the current positions of the respective transport vehicles 7 (step S14).

[0055] Specifically, the required time for the transport vehicle 7 to travel from the boarding desired position to the destination is calculated using the desired boarding position in the usage information and the determined destination. For example, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 previously determines the distances between each stop in the travel route of the transport vehicle 7, and calculates the required time using the distances between each stop and the average speed of the transport vehicle 7 determined in advance. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 calculates the scheduled arrival time at the destination using the desired boarding time and the required time in the usage information. Then, based on the vehicle allocation plan, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines that among the transport vehicles 7 whose travel schedule has already been determined, travel including the section from the desired boarding position corresponding to the usage information to the destination is scheduled, and the number of available seats in the section is less than or equal to the number of passengers in the usage information, and the difference between the scheduled arrival time at the desired boarding position and the desired boarding time in the usage information is less than or equal to the threshold value. If there is a transport vehicle 7, a vehicle allocation plan is created so that the user corresponding to the usage information boards the transport vehicle 7, that is, so that sharing is performed. Further, when there is no transport vehicle 7 that can be shared, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 extracts the transport vehicle 7 that has no scheduled travel between the desired boarding time and the scheduled arrival time based on the vehicle allocation plan and the transport vehicle information. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the transport vehicle 7 that can accommodate the number of passengers in the usage information among the extracted transport vehicles 7 using the transport vehicle information stored in the transport vehicle information storage unit 16 and the number of passengers in the usage information. When there are a plurality of determined transport vehicles 7, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information based on the current positions of these plurality of transport vehicles 7. For example, among the plurality of transport vehicles 7, the transport vehicle 7 with the current position closest to the desired boarding position is determined as the transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information. Also, for example, when the scheduled boarding time is a certain time or more ahead of the current time, based on the vehicle allocation plan, among the plurality of transport vehicles 7, the transport vehicle 7 with the current position closest to the desired boarding position is determined as the transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information.

[0056] Also, when there is no transport vehicle 7 without a planned trip between the desired boarding time and the estimated arrival time, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 updates the desired boarding time to a time that is a certain period later and performs the same process. If there is still no transport vehicle 7 without a planned trip even after updating the desired boarding time to a time that is a certain period later, the desired boarding time is further updated to a time that is a certain period later, and the same process is repeated. Note that if there is still no transport vehicle 7 without a planned trip even after delaying the desired boarding time by a predetermined time or more, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may determine that reservation for the transport vehicle 7 is not available and transmit a message indicating that reservation is not available to the user terminal that is the source of the usage information via the usage information acquisition unit 12.

[0057] Note that although the vehicle allocation plan shown in FIG. 9 shows the planned trips of each transport vehicle 7, the vehicle allocation plan may also show time periods when each transport vehicle 7 is not in use, that is, time periods without a plan. For example, in the vehicle allocation plan, for each transport vehicle 7, the schedule up to a certain time in the future may be shown so that the time periods with a planned trip and the free time periods can be distinguished. If the vehicle allocation plan does not show the free time of each transport vehicle 7, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 can identify the transport vehicle 7 without a planned trip by referring to the vehicle allocation plan and the transport vehicle information. Also, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may make a plan to have the transport vehicle 7 travel along a predetermined travel route according to a predetermined timetable in advance, and create a vehicle allocation plan to allocate users to a transport vehicle 7 with available seats in the corresponding section based on the usage information and the determined destination. In this case, based on the usage information, the number of trips may be increased when there are many users or decreased when there are few users. The method for creating the vehicle allocation plan described above is an example, and the method for creating the vehicle allocation plan is not limited to the example described above.

[0058] Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the scheduled route of the determined transport vehicle 7, updates the vehicle allocation plan using the determined scheduled route (step S15), and ends the process. In step S15, specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the boarding desired time, desired boarding location, scheduled arrival time, and destination obtained in the processes up to step S14 as the scheduled boarding time (scheduled departure time), boarding location (departure location), scheduled arrival time, and destination in the scheduled route of the transport vehicle 7 determined in step S14, respectively. Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 updates the vehicle allocation plan by adding the determined scheduled route to the vehicle allocation plan stored in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17, and stores the updated vehicle allocation plan in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17.

[0059] Also, when it is determined as No in step S12, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines whether there is an uncongested facility among the candidate facilities in the opposite lane side facility (step S16). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 extracts the congestion status of the facilities in the opposite lane side facility among the candidate facilities determined in step S11 from the congestion information received from the congestion information acquisition unit 11, and determines whether there is an uncongested facility based on the extracted congestion status.

[0060] When there is an uncongested facility among the candidate facilities in the opposite lane side facility (step S16 Yes), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the destination within the opposite lane side facility (step S17), and advances the process to step S14. In step S17, specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the target facility that is the facility used by the user from among the uncongested facilities among the candidate facilities in the opposite lane side facility (facilities determined as candidate facilities to be used) in the same manner as in step S13, and determines the destination corresponding to the target facility.

[0061] When it is determined as No in step S16, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 proceeds with the process to step S13. In step S13 in this case, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the target facility from among the candidates of the facilities to be used that are congested within the parking facility. When it becomes No in step S16, since the facility corresponding to the usage information is congested in both the parking facility and the opposite-side facility, it may be determined that the facility within the parking facility close to the user is the target facility, or it may be determined that the facility that is not congested compared to other facilities is the target facility.

[0062] As described above, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines candidates for the facilities to be used by the user using the purpose included in the usage information acquired by the usage information acquisition unit 12. Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 selects the target facility, which is the facility corresponding to the usage information, from the candidates for the facilities to be used using the congestion information, determines the destination of the transport vehicle 7 corresponding to the usage information based on the selected target facility, and determines the planned route of the transport vehicle 7 to be assigned to the usage information using the determined destination. Also, when there is a candidate that is not congested among the candidates within the parking facility, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 selects the candidate as the target facility, and when all the candidates within the parking facility are congested and there is a candidate that is not congested among the candidates for the facilities to be used on the opposite lane side facility, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 selects the candidate as the target facility. Further, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the transport vehicle 7 to be assigned to the usage information based on the number of passengers included in the usage information and the maximum number of passengers for each transport vehicle 7.

[0063] Note that when the control system 1 receives the remaining battery level from the transport vehicle 7, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may create a vehicle allocation plan in consideration of the remaining battery level of the transport vehicle 7. Also, in this case, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may also determine the charging schedule for the transport vehicle 7 using the remaining battery level and the planned route of the transport vehicle 7, and may also include the charging period in the vehicle allocation plan.

[0064] As described above, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines a destination corresponding to the purpose in the usage information according to the congestion situation. Thereby, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 can determine the vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 that transports the users of the rest facility so as to relieve the congestion in the rest facility. In addition, since users can be guided to a non-congested rest facility, the waiting time of the users in the rest facility can be reduced.

[0065] In particular, on toll roads, for example, during weekdays, the uphill lane is congested in the morning and the downhill lane is congested in the evening, and on holidays, the downhill lane is congested in the morning and the uphill lane is congested in the evening. There are cases where the congested time zones are different between the uphill lane and the downhill lane. Also, there are cases where the congested days are different between the uphill lane and the downhill lane, such as the downhill lane being congested in the first half of a long holiday and the uphill lane being congested in the second half. The congestion situation of the rest facilities corresponding to each of the uphill and downhill lanes depends on the congestion situation of each lane respectively. For this reason, there are time zones when one of the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 is congested and the other is not. During such time zones, congestion can be alleviated by transporting the users of the congested rest facility to the other rest facility.

[0066] In the examples described above, the congestion situation was managed in terms of the facilities of the rest facilities. However, the travel schedule of the transport vehicle 7 may be determined using the congestion situation and utilization information of the rest facilities, or the travel schedule of the transport vehicle 7 may be determined using only the congestion situation of the rest facilities without using the utilization information. In this case, the congestion information includes the congestion situations of the uphill facility 8 and the downhill facility 9 respectively. The congestion situation may be the congestion situation of the parking lot of each rest facility, or may be a congestion situation in which both the congestion situation of the parking lot and the congestion situation of each facility are considered. Generally, when the rest facility is vacant, users often park their general vehicles near facilities such as toilets and food streets. On the other hand, when the rest facility is crowded, the number of general vehicles parked at a position far from the facility increases, and the number of users who want to use the transport vehicle 7 for the movement to the facility increases. Also, when the uphill facility 8 is congested and the downhill facility 9 is vacant, if the transport vehicle 7 traveling from the uphill facility 8 to the downhill facility 9 is operated, users can be guided to the vacant downhill facility 9.

[0067] Therefore, for example, without using the utilization information, that is, without the need for a reservation, a vehicle allocation plan is created for the transport vehicle 7 according to the congestion situation of the rest facilities so that the more congested it is, the more operation trips increase. Then, it is possible to transport the users of the rest facilities so as to relieve the congestion in the rest facilities. In this case, steps S1, S2, S3, and S7 shown in FIG. 10 will not be implemented. For example, a vehicle allocation plan is created such that the number of operation trips in which the transport vehicle 7 circulates while stopping at each stop #1 to #8 on the travel route 300 shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 increases as the degree of congestion of the uphill facility 8 increases. For example, the degree of congestion may be shown in multiple levels as the congestion situation, and the time interval of the operation trips may be determined according to each level.

[0068] Also, when using usage information, it is not necessary to include the purpose in the usage information. Since the purpose of using a rest facility is generally any one of toilet, dining, and shopping, the control system 1 can assume that the user has any one of toilet, dining, and shopping as the purpose by receiving the usage information. Therefore, for example, the stops that are the destinations of the transport vehicle 7 are set at two locations near the buildings of the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9, and the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may determine either of these two locations as the destination. For example, when receiving usage information from a user who has parked a general vehicle at the upward facility 8, if the inside of the upward facility 8 is not congested, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 sets the stop at the upward facility 8 as the destination, and if the inside of the upward facility 8 is congested as a whole and the downward facility 9 is vacant, the destination corresponding to the usage information may be determined as the stop at the downward facility 9.

[0069] In addition, when either one of the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 is congested and the other is not, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may create a vehicle allocation plan to operate an operation service going from the congested one to the non-congested one. For example, when either one of the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 is congested and the other is not, a vehicle allocation plan may be created to operate a service that shuttles between stop #4 and stop #8 in FIG. 2. When either one of the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 is congested, for example, by displaying information indicating that the rest facility on the opposite lane is not congested and the location of the stop of the boarding area of the transport vehicle 7 to the opposite lane at the stop terminal 5 or the signage in the congested rest facility, the movement of users to the opposite lane may be promoted. When operating an operation service going from the congested one to the non-congested one, a route that circulates inside the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 may or may not be provided. That is, inside the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9, a plurality of stops may be provided, or one stop may be provided for one rest facility.

[0070] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the process for creating a vehicle allocation plan in the present embodiment when utilization information is not used. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 performs the process shown in FIG. 12, for example, at a fixed cycle, that is, every time a fixed period of time has elapsed. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines whether or not the upstream facility 8 is congested (step S21). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines whether or not the upstream facility 8 is congested using congestion information. If the upstream facility 8 is congested (step S21 Yes), it is determined whether or not the downstream facility 9 is congested (step S22). If the downstream facility 9 is congested (step S22 Yes), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 ends the process.

[0071] If the downstream facility 9 is not congested (step S22 No), that is, if the upstream facility 8 is congested and the downstream facility 9 is not congested, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the transport vehicle 7 to be driven using the vehicle allocation plan and the current position of the transport vehicle 7 (step S23). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 refers to the vehicle allocation plan stored in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17, and determines, from among the transport vehicles 7 that have no driving schedule within a certain period of time, the transport vehicle 7 whose current position is close to a predetermined departure location as the transport vehicle 7 to be driven. The predetermined departure location is a predetermined stop at the congested rest facility. When the answer is Yes in step S21 and No in step S22, the congested rest facility is the upstream facility 8, for example, stop #4 at the upstream facility 8. Also, when the answer is No in step S21 and Yes in step S25, which will be described later, step S23 is also performed. In this case, the congested rest facility is the downstream facility 9. In this case, the predetermined departure location is a predetermined stop within the downstream facility 9, for example, stop #8.

[0072] Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the planned travel of the determined transport vehicle 7, updates the vehicle allocation plan using the determined planned travel (step S24), and ends the process. Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines the boarding scheduled time (departure scheduled time) from the current position of the determined transport vehicle 7, and determines the arrival scheduled time using the boarding scheduled time and the required time. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 sets, for example, the time obtained by adding the estimated value of the time required from the current position of the determined transport vehicle 7 to the departure place to the current time, and further adding a fixed time for the user to board, as the boarding scheduled time. The destination is the designated stop of the rest facility that is not congested. For example, when the result in step S21 is Yes and the result in step S22 is No, since the non-congested rest facility is the descending facility 9, the destination is the designated stop of the descending facility 9. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 updates the vehicle allocation plan by adding the determined planned travel to the vehicle allocation plan stored in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17, and stores the updated vehicle allocation plan in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17.

[0073] If the result in step S21 is No, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 determines whether the descending facility 9 is congested (step S25). If the descending facility 9 is congested (step S25 Yes), that is, if the ascending facility 8 is not congested and the descending facility 9 is congested, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 proceeds with the process to step S23. If the descending facility 9 is not congested (step S25 No), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 ends the process.

[0074] By performing the process shown in FIG. 12 at a determined cycle, the control system 1 can determine a vehicle allocation plan to operate the train services traveling from the congested facility to the non-congested facility at a determined cycle interval when either the upward facility 8 or the downward facility 9 is congested and the other is not. Further, when neither the upward facility 8 nor the downward facility 9 is congested and when both the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 are congested, the control system 1 can efficiently operate the transport vehicle 7 by not running the transport vehicle 7. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the running of the route around the inside of the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9 is not considered. However, separately from the route running between the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9, a train running a route around the inside of the congested rest facility may be regularly operated. Also, even when not congested, a train running a route around the inside of the rest facility may be operated, and the running interval may be determined according to the degree of congestion of the rest facility. For example, the running interval may be shortened as the degree of congestion is higher, that is, as it is more congested.

[0075] Also, in the example described above, the transport vehicle 7 moved between the upward facility 8 and the downward facility 9. However, the transport vehicle 7 may be operated within one rest facility. For example, when the rest facility is large and there are a plurality of food and beverage streets, or when there is a common rest facility for both the up and down lines, the transport vehicle 7 may be operated within one rest facility.

[0076] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the uphill facility 8 where a plurality of buildings according to the present embodiment are provided. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the transport vehicle 7 travels along the travel route 302 indicated by the broken line, and seven stops corresponding to each of the stop terminals 5-1 to 5-7 are provided. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the uphill facility 8 is provided with three toilets 83-1 to 83-3 and two food and beverage streets 84-1 and 84-2. In this case, the control system 1 uses the congestion information to determine, according to the congestion status of each facility in the uphill facility 8, an uncongested facility among the facilities corresponding to the purpose in the usage information as the target facility, and determines the destination corresponding to the target facility. Then, similar to the example shown in FIG. 11, the control system 1 can determine the vehicle allocation plan by performing steps S14 and S15. In this way, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 may use the congestion information to determine the facility used by the user who boards the vehicle parked at the rest facility, and determine a vehicle allocation plan including a travel schedule for the transport vehicle 7 to transport the user to the alighting position corresponding to the determined facility.

[0077] Next, the hardware configuration of the control system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The control system 1 according to the present embodiment is a computer program in which the processing in the control system 1 is described on a computer system, and when the program is executed, the computer system functions as the control system 1. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a computer system that realizes the control system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, this computer system includes a control unit 101, an input unit 102, a storage unit 103, a display unit 104, a communication unit 105, and an output unit 106, which are connected via a system bus 107.

[0078] In FIG. 14, the control unit 101 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes a program in which the processing in the control system 1 of the present embodiment is described. Note that a part of the control unit 101 may be realized by dedicated hardware such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The input unit 102 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and is used by the user of the computer system to input various information. The storage unit 103 includes various memories such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores the program to be executed by the control unit 101, necessary data obtained during the processing, etc. Further, the storage unit 103 is also used as a temporary storage area for the program. The display unit 104 is composed of a display, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display Panel), etc., and displays various screens for the user of the computer system. The communication unit 105 is a receiver and a transmitter that perform communication processing. The output unit 106 is a printer or the like. Note that FIG. 14 is an example, and the configuration of the computer system is not limited to the example of FIG. 14.

[0079] Here, an operation example of the computer system until the program of the present embodiment becomes executable will be described. In a computer system having the above-described configuration, for example, a computer program is installed in the storage unit 103 from a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM set in a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM drive or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM drive (not shown). Then, when the program is executed, the program read from the storage unit 103 is stored in the main storage area of the storage unit 103. In this state, the control unit 101 executes the processing as the control system 1 of the present embodiment according to the program stored in the storage unit 103.

[0080] In the above description, a program that describes the processing in the control system 1 is provided using a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM as a recording medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and depending on the configuration of the computer system, the capacity of the program to be provided, etc., for example, a program provided by a transmission medium such as the Internet via the communication unit 105 may be used.

[0081] The computer program according to the present embodiment causes a computer to execute, for example, a step of acquiring congestion information indicating the congestion status of two rest facilities respectively provided in the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road, and a step of determining a vehicle allocation plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle 7 capable of transporting users boarding a vehicle parked at a parking facility, which is one of the two rest facilities, from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities, using the congestion information.

[0082] The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the computer program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 being executed by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 shown in FIG. 1. The facility information storage unit 15 and the transport vehicle information storage unit 16 shown in FIG. 1 are part of the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14. The congestion information acquisition unit 11, the usage information acquisition unit 12, and the vehicle communication unit 14 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. The control unit 101 is also used for the realization of the congestion information acquisition unit 11, the usage information acquisition unit 12, and the vehicle communication unit 14. Further, the control system 1 may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the control system 1 may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0083] The mobile terminal 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 4, and the bus stop terminal 5 are similarly realized by, for example, a computer system having the configuration shown in FIG. 14. The usage information generation units 34, 44, 53 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the control unit 101. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the usage information generation units 34, 44, 53. The communication units 31, 41, 51 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. The control unit 101 is also used for the realization of the communication units 31, 41, 51. The input reception units 32, 42, 52 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the input unit 102 shown in FIG. 14. The information display units 35, 45, 54 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the display unit 104 shown in FIG. 14. The position acquisition units 33, 43 are realized by, for example, a GPS receiver (not shown) and the control unit 101.

[0084] The facility management system 6 is similarly realized by, for example, a computer system having the configuration shown in FIG. 14. The congestion management unit 62 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the communication unit 105 and the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the congestion management unit 62. The congestion information transmission unit 61 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. The control unit 101 is also used for the realization of the congestion information transmission unit 61. The facility management system 6 may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the facility management system 6 may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0085] As described above, the control system 1 of the present embodiment creates a vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 that transports users who park general vehicles at the rest facility to use the rest facility, based on the congestion information of the rest facility on the toll road. Therefore, the control system 1 of the present embodiment can determine the vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 so as to relieve the congestion at the rest facility on the toll road. In addition, it is possible to suppress the waiting time of users at the rest facility due to congestion and improve the convenience of users.

[0086] Embodiment 2. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the vehicle allocation system according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. 15, the vehicle allocation system 2a in this embodiment is the same as the vehicle allocation system 2 shown in FIG. 1, except that it includes a control system 1a instead of the control system 1. Components having the same functions as those in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Hereinafter, differences from Embodiment 1 will be mainly described.

[0087] The control system 1a is the same as the control system 1 in Embodiment 1, except that it includes a vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a instead of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 in Embodiment 1, and a priority information storage unit 18 is added. However, in this embodiment, the facility information stored in the facility information storage unit 15 includes additional information, and the vehicle information stored in the transport vehicle information storage unit 16 includes the additional information of each transport vehicle 7. The additional information is information indicating whether it has a function corresponding to the user's attributes, such as wheelchair accessible and diaper changing space available. In this embodiment, the control system 1a determines the destination facility according to the purpose and the user's attributes in the usage information, and allocates a transport vehicle 7 corresponding to the attributes to the user. Also, the control system 1a may hold the correspondence between the user's identification information and the attribute information, and include the user's identification information in the usage information so that the control system 1a can grasp the user's attribute information. Further, the control system 1a further determines the priority of vehicle allocation based on the user's attribute information, and creates a vehicle allocation plan using the determined priority. The attribute information indicating the user's attributes may be included in the usage information, for example. FIG. 15 shows a configuration example when creating a vehicle allocation plan based on the priority. However, when allocating the facility and the transport vehicle 7 corresponding to the attributes without considering the priority, the priority information storage unit 18 shown in FIG. 15 may not be provided.

[0088] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of usage information of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16, the usage information of the present embodiment includes request information, attribute information, and a user ID (Identifier) which is identification information of the user (user identification information). The request information includes the same information as the usage information shown in FIG. 3 and a parking planned facility which is a rest facility that the user wishes to use. In the present embodiment, since the user makes a reservation before arriving at the rest facility, there may be a case where the desired rest facility cannot be specified from the current position of the user. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the parking planned facility may be included in the request information. The user ID may be determined at the time of user registration for making a reservation for the transport vehicle 7, or may be determined at the time of user registration for using a comprehensive service related to a toll road including a reservation for the transport vehicle 7. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the usage information includes both the user ID and the attribute information, but the usage information may not include either the user ID or the attribute information.

[0089] In the example shown in FIG. 16, as the attribute information, the presence or absence of wheelchair use, the presence or absence of elderly people boarding, the presence or absence of pets boarding, and the presence or absence of infants boarding are described. Further, when using a wheelchair, the number of wheelchairs may be included in the attribute information. The attribute information shown in FIG. 16 is an example, at least one of the items shown in FIG. 16 may be used, and items other than those shown in FIG. 16 may be used as the attribute information.

[0090] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of transport vehicle information of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, the transport vehicle information of the present embodiment has additional information added to the transport vehicle information of Embodiment 1. In the example shown in FIG. 17, in the additional information, the availability of boarding in a wheelchair, the availability of pets boarding, and the presence or absence of a child restraint seat are shown.

[0091] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the facility information of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 18, the facility information of the present embodiment has additional information added to the facility information of Embodiment 1. In the example shown in FIG. 18, in the additional information, it is shown that Toilet #1 and Toilet #3 in the up facility 8 and Toilet #1 and Toilet #3 in the down facility 9 are wheelchair-accessible. The additional information is not limited to this, and may include information indicating that other additional facilities such as a diaper-changing space are provided.

[0092] Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The overall operation of the vehicle allocation system 2a in the present embodiment is the same as the operation shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 10, except that the content of the vehicle allocation plan creation process in step S6 is slightly different.

[0093] FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the vehicle allocation plan creation process of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines candidates for facilities to be used using the request information, the attribute information, and the facility additional information (step S31). The request information and the attribute information are included in the usage information, for example, as described above. The facility additional information is the additional information of each facility in the facility information. Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a selects a facility that matches the user's attribute information with reference to the additional information from among the facilities included in the facility information. For example, when it is shown in the attribute information that a wheelchair is used, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a extracts a facility corresponding to a wheelchair from among the facilities that match the purpose in the request information, and sets the extracted facility as a candidate for the facility to be used. In this way, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines candidates for facilities to be used using the purpose, the additional information indicating whether each facility has additional facilities corresponding to the attribute, and the attribute information.

[0094] Steps S12, S13, S16, and S17 are the same as those in the first embodiment. When the destination is determined in step S13, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines a transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information, using the determined destination, the request information, the attribute information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, and the current position of each transport vehicle 7 (step S32). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a refers to the attached information of the transport vehicle information and extracts the transport vehicle 7 that matches the attribute information. Then, from the extracted transport vehicles 7, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines a transport vehicle 7 according to the usage information in the same manner as step S14 of the first embodiment, using the determined destination, the request information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, and the current position of each transport vehicle 7. Step S15 after step S32 is the same as that in the first embodiment. By the process shown in FIG. 19, the control system 1a can allocate a destination and a transport vehicle 7 according to the attributes of the user.

[0095] Furthermore, the control system 1a may create a vehicle allocation plan according to the priority of the user based on the attribute information. When creating a vehicle allocation plan according to the priority, priority information defining a policy regarding the priority is stored in advance in the priority information storage unit 18. The policy may be a policy for determining the priority based on the attribute information included in the usage information such as wheelchair use or elderly people, or a policy for giving priority to users with a specific contract, or a policy for giving priority to users who frequently use rest facilities or toll roads, or a combination of these policies. A specific contract is, for example, a contract for preferentially allocating a transport vehicle 7 by paying a fee.

[0096] When determining the priority based on a specific contract (hereinafter referred to as a specific contract), correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the user ID and the information indicating the presence or absence of the specific contract is stored in the priority information storage unit 18. Also, when determining the priority based on the number of times of using a rest facility or a toll road, the number of times of use for each user ID is stored in the priority information storage unit 18. The information indicating the presence or absence of a specific contract and the number of times of use are also examples of attribute information.

[0097] In addition, the control system 1a may, for example, subdivide the inside of the same store or facility, and the congestion situation may be included in the subdivided units. For example, the congestion information includes the congestion situation in units such as for each toilet facility, by gender, multi-functional toilets, group seats in restaurants, etc., and the control system 1a may determine the destination using the congestion situation according to the attribute information.

[0098] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence information stored in the priority information storage unit 18 of the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 20, the correspondence information includes a user ID, the presence or absence of a specific contract, and the number of uses. When the number of uses of a rest facility is used as the number of uses, for example, a terminal for detecting the use of a user is provided at each rest facility, and when the user starts the application software of the mobile terminal 3 and touches the mobile terminal 3 to the terminal, the mobile terminal 3 may detect the use of the rest facility and acquire the user ID from the mobile terminal 3. Alternatively, when the user starts the application software for reserving the transport vehicle 7, the application software may detect the use of the rest facility by detecting the position of the mobile terminal 3, and information indicating that the rest facility has been used from the mobile terminal 3 may be transmitted to the control system 1a. Each time the control system 1a detects the use of a rest facility by a user by acquiring the user ID of the user who has used the rest facility from the above terminal or the mobile terminal 3, the number of uses of the attribute information is increased by 1. In addition, when determining the priority based on the number of uses of a toll road, the control system 1a may obtain the number of uses by acquiring the usage history from a toll collection system such as ETC (registered trademark) (Electronic Toll Collection System). Although FIG. 20 includes both the presence or absence of a specific contract and the number of uses as attribute information, if either one is not used for calculating the priority, the item not used for calculating the priority may not be included in the attribute information.

[0099] FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of priority information according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 21, the priority is shown in three levels. In the example shown in FIG. 21, for a user who rides, when the user includes a person using a wheelchair and when the user includes an elderly person, the priority is set to "1", when the user includes an infant, the priority is set to "2", and in other cases, the priority is set to "3". Here, it is assumed that the smaller the numerical value of the priority, the higher the priority. Note that the priority is not limited to three levels and may be set in any number of levels. Also, FIG. 21 is an example, and the correspondence between the priority and the attribute is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 21.

[0100] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing another example of priority information according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 22, the priority is shown in two levels. In the example shown in FIG. 22, when the user who rides is a user with a specific contract, the priority is set to "1", and in other cases, the priority is set to "2".

[0101] FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an example of the process for creating a vehicle allocation plan according to the present embodiment when using priority. FIG. 19 shows the process when one piece of usage information is received. However, when using priority, the allocation process of the transport vehicle 7 is collectively performed for one or more pieces of usage information received within a certain period of time. As shown in FIG. 23, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines candidates for facilities to be used for each piece of usage information using the request information, the attribute information, and the facility attached information (step S34). The request information is included in the usage information as described above. The attribute information includes both the information included in the usage information and the information stored in the priority information storage unit 18. The attribute information used in step S34 is the attribute information for determining the destination facility, and for example, the same attribute information as that shown in FIG. 19 is used. Also, for example, when there is a facility that can only be used by users who meet specific conditions, such as having a specific contract with a food and beverage street, this facility may be selected as a candidate for the facility to be used for users who meet the specific conditions. That is, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a may determine candidates for facilities to be used using the above-described correspondence information, the attribute information obtained from the user ID in the usage information, and the facility attached information.

[0102] Steps S12, S13, S16, and S17 are the same as those in Embodiment 1. When the destination is determined in step S13, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines a transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information by using the determined destination, the request information, the attribute information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, the current position of each transport vehicle 7, and the priority information (step S35). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a refers to the attached information of the transport vehicle information and extracts the transport vehicle 7 that matches the attribute information. Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a uses the priority information to sequentially determine, from among the extracted transport vehicles 7, the transport vehicle 7 according to the usage information in the same manner as in step S14 of Embodiment 1 by using the determined destination, the request information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, and the current position of each transport vehicle 7. Thereby, it is possible to allocate the transport vehicle 7 with priority to the usage information corresponding to the high-priority user. Thus, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a may determine the priority in the allocation of the transport vehicle 7 based on the attribute information. Step S15 after step S35 is the same as that in Embodiment 1.

[0103] In addition, when the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a determines that the distance to the building of the parking facility, which is a rest facility on the same side as the parking position, is long, the user is shown to be an elderly person or a user with a disability in the attribute information in the usage information, and there is no driving route provided to the building of the rest facility on the same side, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a may create a vehicle allocation plan in which the destination is set to the facility on the opposite side regardless of whether the rest facility on the same side as the parking position is congested. That is, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a may create a vehicle allocation plan including a planned route for the transport vehicle 7 to travel from the parking facility, which is a rest facility on the same side as the parking position, to the facility on the opposite lane side based on the attribute information indicating the attributes of the user. Further, for example, when the first distance, which is the distance from the parking position to the facility within the parking facility, is longer than the second distance, which is the distance from the parking position to the stop within the parking facility, and the difference between the first distance and the second distance is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a may create a vehicle allocation plan including a planned route for the transport vehicle 7 to travel from the parking facility, which is a rest facility on the same side as the parking position, to the facility on the opposite lane side based on the attribute information indicating the attributes of the user regardless of the congestion status of the parking facility. In a normal rest facility, when it is necessary to park at a location far from the rest facility due to congestion in the parking lot or the like, the walking distance from the parking position to the rest facility may become long, which may impair the convenience of the user. However, in this embodiment, by creating a vehicle allocation plan including a planned route for the transport vehicle 7 to travel from the parking facility, which is a rest facility on the same side as the parking position, to the facility on the opposite lane side based on the attribute information indicating the attributes of the user, the convenience of the user can be improved.

[0104] The control system 1a of this embodiment is also realized by a computer system in the same manner as the control system 1 of Embodiment 1. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a shown in FIG. 15 is realized by the computer program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 being executed by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. To realize the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13a shown in FIG. 15, the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used. The priority information storage unit 18 shown in FIG. 15 is a part of the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14. Also, the control system 1a may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the control system 1a may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0105] As described above, the control system 1a of this embodiment creates a vehicle allocation plan for the transport vehicle 7 that transports users who park general vehicles at the rest facility to use the rest facility, based on the congestion information of the rest facility on the toll road and the attribute information of the users. For this reason, the control system 1a of this embodiment has the same effects as those of Embodiment 1 and can perform vehicle allocation according to the attributes of the users.

[0106] Embodiment 3. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the vehicle allocation system according to Embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. 24, the vehicle allocation system 2b in this embodiment is the same as the vehicle allocation system 2 shown in FIG. 1, except that it includes a control system 1b instead of the control system 1. Components having the same functions as those in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Hereinafter, the differences from Embodiment 1 will be mainly described.

[0107] The control system 1b of the present embodiment acquires road information from the road information system 400. The road information is information that affects driving on toll roads, such as traffic congestion information and weather information on toll roads, and includes, for example, at least one of traffic congestion information, construction information, regulation information, probe information, and weather information on toll roads. The probe information, also called probe traffic information, is road traffic information generated based on information obtained from vehicles in motion. The control system 1b of the present embodiment accepts reservations for the transport vehicle 7 even before the user arrives at the rest facility. When reserving the transport vehicle 7 before the user arrives at the rest facility, in order to determine the desired boarding time of the transport vehicle 7, the estimated arrival time at the rest facility is required. Here, it is assumed that the usage information includes information indicating the current position of a general vehicle instead of the desired boarding time described in the first embodiment, and the control system 1b obtains the estimated arrival time based on the current position and uses the estimated arrival time as the desired boarding time. That is, when the control system 1b accepts a reservation before the user arrives at the rest facility, it estimates the arrival time of the user's general vehicle using the road information in the usage information and creates a vehicle allocation plan using the estimated arrival time. Here, an example in which the control system 1b obtains the estimated arrival time is described, but the control system 1b may use the estimated arrival time obtained by acquiring the estimated arrival time obtained by the car navigation system in the user's general vehicle from the vehicle-mounted terminal 4. Alternatively, based on the estimated arrival time obtained by the car navigation system, the user may input the estimated arrival time as usage information.

[0108] In addition, when the road information changes after the reservation is confirmed and the expected arrival time of the user changes by more than a certain time from the reservation time, the control system 1b of the present embodiment re-creates the vehicle allocation plan. Further, the control system 1b may create a vehicle allocation plan in consideration of congestion on the travel route of the transport vehicle 7. The transport vehicle 7 mainly travels within a rest facility or on a dedicated route between the rest facilities on the up and down lines. However, if the rest facility is congested, the number of general vehicles, users, etc. will increase, and it will take time for the transport vehicle 7 to travel. Also, in bad weather, it will take time for the transport vehicle 7 to travel. For this reason, the control system 1b may change the expected moving speed of the transport vehicle 7 when creating the vehicle allocation plan according to the congestion status of the rest facility, weather information, etc. Also, when the transport vehicle 7 passes through a general road when moving between the rest facilities on the up and down lines, the expected moving speed of the transport vehicle 7 may be changed using the traffic jam information of the general road.

[0109] The control system 1b of the present embodiment includes a vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b instead of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 of the first embodiment, and is the same as the control system 1 of the first embodiment except that a road information acquisition unit 19, an arrival time prediction unit 20, a congestion information storage unit 21, and a congestion prediction unit 22 are added.

[0110] The road information acquisition unit 19 acquires road information by receiving road information from the road information system 400 via a network, and outputs the acquired road information to the arrival time prediction unit 20. In the present embodiment, the usage information acquisition unit 12 outputs usage information to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b and the arrival time prediction unit 20. Also, in the present embodiment, before the user arrives at the rest facility, the transport vehicle 7 can be reserved. When the transport vehicle 7 is reserved before the user arrives at the rest facility, in order to determine the desired boarding time of the transport vehicle 7, the expected arrival time at the rest facility is required. Here, it is assumed that the usage information includes information indicating the current position of a general vehicle instead of the desired boarding time described in the first embodiment, and the control system 1b obtains the expected arrival time based on the current position and uses the expected arrival time as the desired boarding time.

[0111] The arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the predicted arrival time of the general vehicle corresponding to the usage information at the rest facility using the current position included in the usage information received from the usage information acquisition unit 12 and the road information received from the road information acquisition unit 19. Any method may be used as the method for calculating the predicted arrival time based on the road information. The arrival time prediction unit 20 outputs the calculated predicted arrival time to the congestion prediction unit 22 and the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b. Further, the arrival time prediction unit 20 receives a notice of equipment candidates from the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b and outputs the equipment candidates to the congestion prediction unit 22. Note that the equipment candidates are the equipment corresponding to the purpose described in the first embodiment and are the candidates for the equipment to be used. Note that the equipment candidates may be directly notified from the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b to the congestion prediction unit 22.

[0112] In this embodiment, the congestion information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired congestion information to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b and stores it in the congestion information storage unit 21. The congestion prediction unit 22 predicts the congestion status of the candidates for the facilities of the rest facility at the predicted arrival time received from the arrival time prediction unit 20 using the congestion information stored in the congestion information storage unit 21. The congestion prediction unit 22 outputs the predicted value of the congestion status to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b. For example, the congestion status in the congestion information is represented by a numerical value, and the average value of the congestion status for each time period of one day of past congestion information is calculated separately for weekdays and holidays. Then, the congestion information acquisition unit 11 may use the average value of the time period corresponding to the predicted arrival time as the predicted value of the congestion status, or multiply the latest congestion status on the day by the ratio of the average value of the time period corresponding to the predicted arrival time to the average value of the time period corresponding to the time when the congestion status was acquired as the predicted value of the congestion status. Further, the congestion prediction unit 22 may calculate the average value of the congestion status for each time period of one day of past congestion information not only by weekdays and holidays but also by weather. Also, using the past congestion status as correct data, a machine learning model is generated using the input information such as whether it is a weekday or a holiday corresponding to the congestion status, weather, time period, etc. and the correct data, and the input information such as whether it is a weekday or a holiday of the date and time to be predicted, weather, time period, etc. is input into the machine learning model to calculate the congestion status. The method for predicting the congestion status may be any method and is not limited to the above-described examples.

[0113] The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b creates a vehicle allocation plan in the same manner as in the first embodiment. For the congestion status, using the predicted value of the congestion status received from the congestion prediction unit 22 and using the predicted arrival time calculated by the arrival time prediction unit 20 as the scheduled boarding time, a vehicle allocation plan is created.

[0114] In addition, when accepting reservations for the transport vehicle 7 even before the user arrives at the rest facility, since the user has not parked a general vehicle at the rest facility, there is no designated parking area for general vehicles. Therefore, for the desired boarding position, the user determines it based on, for example, the approximate position where they plan to park. Or, the control system 1b may present the occupancy status of the parking lot to the user, and the user may check the occupancy status and determine the approximate position of the parking area where they will park. For example, the congestion information acquisition unit 11 of the control system 1b may acquire the vacancy information of the parking lot at the rest facility from the facility management system 6 and output it to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b, and the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b may transmit the vacancy information of the parking lot at the rest facility to the user terminal via the usage information acquisition unit 12.

[0115] FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the vacancy information of the parking lot at the rest facility according to the present embodiment. In the example of the display screen shown in FIG. 25, the parking lot is divided into areas A to F, the positions of each area are shown on the map, and the vacancy status of the parking sections in each area is shown. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b, for example, displays information for displaying a screen as shown in FIG. 25 as the vacancy information on the user terminal, and the user terminal displays the display screen illustrated in FIG. 25. Also, as shown in FIG. 25, by adding information indicating the bus stops corresponding to the vacant areas to the vacancy information, the user can select the area where they plan to park and grasp the corresponding bus stops.

[0116] FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an example of the process for creating a vehicle allocation plan according to the present embodiment. Step S11 is the same as in Embodiment 1. After step S11, however, it is assumed that the current position is stored in the usage information instead of the desired boarding time. Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b notifies the congestion prediction unit 22 of the facility candidates (candidates for the facility to be used).

[0117] The arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the predicted arrival time of the user using road information and usage information (step S41). The arrival time prediction unit 20 outputs the predicted arrival time to the congestion prediction unit 22 and the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b. Next, the congestion prediction unit 22 predicts the congestion status of the candidate facilities at the predicted arrival time (step S42). The congestion prediction unit 22 outputs the predicted value of the congestion status of the candidate facilities to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b. Steps S12, S13, S16, and S17 are the same as those in the first embodiment, but the predicted value of the congestion status is used as the congestion status in steps S12, S13, S16, and S17. After step S13, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b uses the determined destination, usage information, transport vehicle information, vehicle allocation plan, current position of each transport vehicle 7, and predicted arrival time (predicted arrival time of general vehicles) to determine a transport vehicle 7 that performs transport according to the usage information (step S43). Step S43 is the same as step S14 of the first embodiment except that the predicted arrival time is used instead of the desired boarding time in the first embodiment, that is, the predicted arrival time is used as the desired boarding time. Step S15 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

[0118] In the present embodiment, when usage information is acquired before the user arrives at the parking facility, the arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the predicted arrival time at the parking facility using road information and the current position. The congestion prediction unit 22 predicts the congestion status of the facility at the predicted arrival time, and the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle 7 assigned to the usage information using the predicted arrival time and the congestion status predicted by the congestion prediction unit 22. Further, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b may predict the travel time required for the transport vehicle 7 to move to the departure place in the travel corresponding to the usage information based on the current position of the transport vehicle 7 and the congestion status in the rest facility, and determine the travel schedule of the transport vehicle 7 using the predicted travel time.

[0119] Any method can be used to calculate the expected arrival time of the user's general vehicle. For example, it can be calculated based on the current time and the expected travel time, and the expected travel time can be calculated based on the road type, traffic congestion status, distance, etc. to the destination. For example, the correspondence between the road type and status (road status) and the average speed is determined by a table as follows. The arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the expected travel time based on the distance from the current position of the user's general vehicle to the rest facility and the road type and status from the current position to the rest facility. Road type Status Average speed [km / h] Highway Normal 80 Highway Congested 40 Highway Jammed 20 Arterial road Normal 40 Arterial road Congested 30 Arterial road Jammed 10

[0120] For example, assume that the distance from the current position of the general vehicle to the rest facility is 55 km, the breakdown of the route from the current position to the rest facility is 15 km of arterial road and 40 km of highway, the arterial road is in a congested state, and the highway is in a normal state. In this case, for example, the expected travel time can be calculated by the following formula (1). Note that the table can be fixed or variable, and the way of classifying the road type and status is not limited to the above example. Also, the prediction method in the arrival time prediction unit 20 is not limited to this example. 15 [km] / 30 [km / h] + 40 [km] / 80 [km / h] = 1.0 [h] ···(1)

[0121] Also, in this embodiment, when the road information changes after the driving plan corresponding to the usage information is determined once, that is, after the reservation is confirmed, by the process shown in FIG. 26, the arrival prediction time is recalculated. If the difference between the recalculated arrival prediction time and the arrival prediction time when the reservation is confirmed is more than a certain time, a vehicle allocation plan is created.

[0122] FIG. 27 is a flowchart regarding the recreation of the vehicle allocation plan of the present embodiment. The arrival time prediction unit 20 holds the predicted arrival time calculated in step S41, the road information used for the calculation of the predicted arrival time, and the usage information, and for the usage information that has changed between the road information received from the road information acquisition unit 19 and the held road information, the process shown in FIG. 27 is performed.

[0123] As shown in FIG. 27, the arrival time prediction unit 20 determines whether the predicted arrival time of the user's vehicle (general vehicle) has changed by a certain time or more from the predicted arrival time at the time of creating the vehicle allocation plan (step S44). Specifically, the arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the predicted arrival time using the current position in the usage information and the road information received from the road information acquisition unit 19 for the usage information that has changed between the road information received from the road information acquisition unit 19 and the held road information. The arrival time prediction unit 20 determines whether the calculated predicted arrival time has changed by a certain time or more from the held predicted arrival time, that is, the predicted arrival time at the time of creating the vehicle allocation plan.

[0124] If the predicted arrival time of the user's vehicle has changed by a certain time or more from the predicted arrival time at the time of creating the vehicle allocation plan (step S44 Yes), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b recreates the vehicle allocation plan (step S45). Specifically, if the predicted arrival time of the user's vehicle has changed by a certain time or more from the predicted arrival time at the time of creating the vehicle allocation plan, the arrival time prediction unit 20 outputs the calculated predicted arrival time and the corresponding usage information to the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b and the congestion prediction unit 22, and instructs them to recalculate. As a result, the processes after step S41 shown in FIG. 26 are performed again, and the vehicle allocation plan is recreated. In addition, when the transport vehicle 7 corresponding to a user whose predicted arrival time has changed by a certain time or more is also assigned to other users, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b assigns another transport vehicle 7 to the user whose predicted arrival time has changed by a certain time or more.

[0125] Based on the recreated vehicle allocation plan, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b notifies each transport vehicle 7 of the planned driving route (step S46). Specifically, it notifies each transport vehicle 7 of the corresponding planned driving route via the usage information acquisition unit 12. If there has been no change for a certain period or more from the expected arrival time at the time of creating the vehicle allocation plan (step S44 No), the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b ends the process.

[0126] In this way, after the driving plan based on the usage information is determined, the arrival time prediction unit 20 calculates the expected arrival time using the road information, and determines whether the difference between the calculated expected arrival time and the expected arrival time at the time when the driving plan was determined is equal to or greater than a certain value. When the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b determines that the above difference is equal to or greater than a certain value by the arrival time prediction unit 20, it re-determines the driving plan corresponding to the usage information.

[0127] In the example described above, the expected arrival time of general vehicles was calculated. However, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b may create a vehicle allocation plan in consideration of congestion on the driving route of the transport vehicle 7. For example, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b may calculate the time for the transport vehicle 7 to arrive at the departure location in consideration of the congestion situation in the rest facility. Also, when the time for the transport vehicle 7 to arrive at the departure location has changed by a certain amount from the reservation time, the vehicle allocation plan may be recreated.

[0128] Alternatively, at least a part of the parking lot of the rest facility may be reservation-based, and the control system 1b may receive and manage the reservations for the parking lot. In this case, the desired boarding position can be determined based on the reservation result of the parking lot. Or, at least a part of the parking lot of the rest facility may be reservation-based, and the control system 1b may obtain the reservation result of the parking lot from a parking lot reservation management system (not shown) and determine the desired boarding position based on the obtained reservation result.

[0129] The control system 1b of the present embodiment is also realized by a computer system in the same manner as the control system 1 of the first embodiment. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b, the arrival time prediction unit 20, and the congestion prediction unit 22 shown in FIG. 24 are realized by executing a computer program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13b, the arrival time prediction unit 20, and the congestion prediction unit 22 shown in FIG. 24. The congestion information storage unit 21 shown in FIG. 24 is a part of the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14. The road information acquisition unit 19 shown in FIG. 24 is realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. Further, the control system 1b may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the control system 1b may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0130] As described above, the control system 1b of the present embodiment accepts a reservation for the transport vehicle 7 even before the user arrives at the rest facility. When the user reserves the transport vehicle 7 before arriving at the rest facility, the predicted arrival time is calculated, the predicted arrival time is set as the desired boarding time, and a vehicle allocation plan is created in consideration of the congestion situation at the predicted arrival time. Therefore, the control system 1b of the present embodiment has the same effect as that of the first embodiment, and since the user can reserve the transport vehicle 7 before arriving at the rest facility, the user can promptly use the transport vehicle 7 when arriving at the rest facility. Further, when the predicted arrival time changes by a certain time, by re-creating the vehicle allocation plan, it is possible to appropriately allocate vehicles when the situation of the toll road changes. For example, if the vehicle allocation plan is not changed when the predicted arrival time is delayed from the reservation time, the transport vehicle 7 has to wait until the user arrives and a waiting time occurs, but by updating the predicted arrival time and re-creating the vehicle allocation plan, the transport vehicle 7 can be effectively utilized.

[0131] Note that when combining the second embodiment and the present embodiment and considering the attribute information as in the second embodiment, it is also possible to accept a reservation for the transport vehicle 7 before the user arrives at the rest facility, calculate the predicted arrival time, and create a vehicle allocation plan.

[0132] Embodiment 4 FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the vehicle allocation system according to Embodiment 4. As shown in FIG. 28, the vehicle allocation system 2c in the present embodiment is the same as the vehicle allocation system 2 shown in FIG. 1, except that it includes a control system 1c instead of the control system 1. Components having the same functions as those in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Hereinafter, differences from Embodiment 1 will be mainly described.

[0133] The control system 1c of the present embodiment creates a vehicle allocation plan not only for the first movement, which is the movement to the destination, but also for the movement from the destination (the second movement) when the user reserves the transport vehicle 7. In addition, the control system 1c of the present embodiment can consider not only the rest facility users who drive on toll roads and use rest facilities, but also the crew members of the transport vehicle 7, each store in the rest facility, and in this case, the facility employees such as employees in the office as users of the transport vehicle 7. The crew members of the transport vehicle 7 and the employees of the rest facility are hereinafter also referred to as facility employees. When the user of the transport vehicle 7 is a facility employee, the control system 1c acquires a work schedule and a crew schedule from an external information providing system 401 that manages the work schedule, the crew schedule, etc., and when the user is a crew member or an employee, creates a vehicle allocation plan for the second movement based on the work schedule and the crew schedule.

[0134] The control system 1c of the present embodiment is the same as the control system 1 of Embodiment 1, except that it includes a vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c instead of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13 of Embodiment 1, and an external information acquisition unit 23, an external information storage unit 24, and a vehicle allocation rule storage unit 25 are added.

[0135] The external information acquisition unit 23 receives a work schedule and a vehicle operation schedule from the external information providing system 401, thereby acquiring the work schedule and the vehicle operation schedule, and stores the acquired work schedule and vehicle operation schedule in the external information storage unit 24 as external information. The vehicle allocation rule storage unit 25 stores vehicle allocation rules that are the vehicle allocation rules for the second movement for each type of user. The type of user is, for example, a type indicating whether the user is a rest facility user or a facility employee. The rest facility users may be divided into users who arrive at the rest facility by boarding a bus such as a sightseeing bus or a regular bus, drivers of transport vehicles such as trucks, and general users who are other users. When receiving the usage information, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c creates a vehicle allocation plan for the first movement in the same manner as in the first embodiment, determines the destination of the second movement, which is the movement from the destination of the first movement, and creates a vehicle allocation plan for the second movement.

[0136] FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the vehicle allocation rules of the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 29, the rest facility users are divided into users who arrive at the rest facility by boarding a bus such as a sightseeing bus or a regular bus (described as "sightseeing bus, regular bus" in FIG. 29), drivers of transport vehicles used for logistics, and general users who are other users, and vehicle allocation rules are determined. When creating a vehicle allocation plan by distinguishing users who arrive at the rest facility by boarding a bus, a movement plan including the scheduled departure time, which is the scheduled time for the bus to depart from the rest facility, is acquired in advance from a bus management system or a facility management system 6 (not shown). Also, regarding the drivers of transport vehicles, when creating a vehicle allocation plan by distinguishing general users, the control system 1c acquires, for example, the work schedule (vehicle operation schedule) of the drivers of transport vehicles from a logistics management system (not shown). Note that the usage information corresponding to the reservation for the first movement is not limited to the example transmitted from the mobile terminal 3, the in-vehicle terminal 4, the bus stop terminal 5, etc., and may be transmitted from, for example, a bus management system, a logistics management system, or other external systems.

[0137] In the example shown in FIG. 29, the departure points in the second movement are all the destinations of the first movement. Also, for the general user, the departure time in the second movement is "the scheduled arrival time or the arrival time of the first movement + the expected usage time of the facility", and the destination in the second movement is the boarding position of the first movement. Also, when the facility usage completion time is specified by the user, the departure time in the second movement in the vehicle allocation rule for the general user is a certain time after the facility usage completion time. The facility usage completion time is, for example, the notification time of charging completion when the user's general vehicle is an electric vehicle and is being charged, or the end time of using the restaurant when the user uses a restaurant. The control system 1c is notified of the charging completion time from, for example, the facility management system 6 that manages the charging facilities in the rest facility. Also, regarding the end time of using the restaurant, for example, at the settlement time, or in the case of pre-settlement, the restaurant notifies the control system 1c from the facility management system 6 after a certain time has elapsed from that time. Note that the method for obtaining the facility usage completion time is not limited to these examples. Also, for the user who boards the bus and arrives at the rest facility, the departure time in the second movement is a certain time before the scheduled departure time of the facility according to the bus movement plan, and the destination in the second movement is the boarding position of the first movement or the scheduled departure position of the bus. Also, for the transport vehicle driver, the departure time in the second movement is a certain time before the scheduled departure time of the transport vehicle for the scheduled duty (boarding) according to the work (boarding) plan, and the destination in the second movement is the boarding position of the first movement or the scheduled departure position of the transport vehicle for the scheduled duty. Also, for the facility employee, the departure time in the second movement is a certain time before the scheduled start time of work according to the work plan, and the destination in the second movement is the scheduled work location. The rules shown in FIG. 29 are examples, and for the facility employee, the rest facility manager or the like decides how to consider various situations to determine the vehicle allocation plan for the second movement, and the vehicle allocation rule may be determined according to the determined content.

[0138] FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing an example of the process for creating a vehicle allocation plan according to the present embodiment. Steps S11, S12, S13, S16, and S17 are the same as those in the first embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, for the users who board the bus, the administrator who acts on behalf creates usage information and includes information indicating that the user is a user who boards the bus in the usage information. Similarly, when a transport vehicle driver or a facility employee makes a reservation, the usage information includes information indicating that the user is a transport vehicle driver or a facility employee.

[0139] After step S13, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c determines the transport vehicle 7 for the first movement in the same manner as in step S14 (step S51). That is, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c uses the determined destination, the usage information, the transport vehicle information, the vehicle allocation plan, and the current position of each transport vehicle 7 to determine the transport vehicle 7 that performs the transport for the first movement according to the usage information. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c determines the scheduled travel of the transport vehicle 7 to be used for the first movement in the same manner as in step S15 of the first embodiment (step S52).

[0140] Next, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c determines a transport vehicle 7 that performs the transport of the second movement using the information regarding the first movement and the vehicle allocation rules (step S53). Note that the creation of the vehicle allocation plan for the second movement may be performed following the creation of the vehicle allocation plan for the first movement, or may not be performed immediately and may be performed after the time for the second movement approaches. In step S53, specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c determines the destination and the scheduled arrival time of the second movement using the destination and the scheduled arrival time of the first movement and the vehicle allocation rules stored in the vehicle allocation rule storage unit 25, and using the determined results, determines a transport vehicle 7 to be assigned to the second movement using the transport vehicle information and the vehicle allocation plan. For example, when the usage information is usage information corresponding to a specific user who is a driver of a transport vehicle and a facility employee, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c determines the destination of the second movement and the scheduled arrival time of the second movement using the work schedule of the specific user. Next, the scheduled travel of the transport vehicle 7 to be used for the second movement is determined (step S54). Then, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c updates the vehicle allocation plan using the scheduled travel of the first movement and the scheduled travel of the second movement (step S55). The scheduled travel of the first movement and the scheduled travel of the second movement are transmitted to the corresponding transport vehicle 7, respectively.

[0141] The control system 1c of the present embodiment is also realized by a computer system in the same manner as the control system 1 of the first embodiment. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c shown in FIG. 28 is realized by a computer program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 being executed by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13c shown in FIG. 28. The external information storage unit 24 and the vehicle allocation rule storage unit 25 shown in FIG. 28 are part of the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14. The external information acquisition unit 23 shown in FIG. 28 is realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. Further, the control system 1c may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the control system 1c may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0142] As described above, the control system 1c of the present embodiment creates a vehicle dispatching plan not only for the first movement in which the user travels toward the destination but also for the second movement which is the movement from the destination of the first movement. For this reason, the control system 1c of the present embodiment has the same effect as that of the first embodiment, can save the trouble of the user making a reservation for the second movement, improves the convenience of the user, and can efficiently create a vehicle dispatching plan.

[0143] Note that when combining the second embodiment and the present embodiment and considering the attribute information as in the second embodiment, a vehicle dispatching plan for the second movement may be created. When combining the third embodiment and the present embodiment and the user makes a reservation before arrival as in the third embodiment, a vehicle dispatching plan for the second movement may be created. The second embodiment and the third embodiment may be combined with the present embodiment.

[0144] Embodiment 5. FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle dispatching system according to Embodiment 5. As shown in FIG. 31, the vehicle dispatching system 2d in the present embodiment is the same as the vehicle dispatching system 2 shown in FIG. 1 except that it includes a control system 1d instead of the control system 1. Components having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

[0145] The control system 1d of the present embodiment determines the scheduled travel of the transport vehicle 7 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and also determines the standby location of the transport vehicle 7 during a time period without a travel schedule.

[0146] As shown in FIG. 31, the control system 1d includes a vehicle dispatching plan determination unit 13d instead of the vehicle dispatching plan determination unit 13, and is the same as the control system 1 of the first embodiment except that a road information acquisition unit 19 similar to that of the second embodiment is added. The road information acquisition unit 19 acquires road information from the road information system 400 similar to that of the second embodiment, and outputs the acquired road information to the vehicle dispatching plan determination unit 13d.

[0147] The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d determines the transport vehicle 7 corresponding to the usage information and determines the planned travel route of the transport vehicle 7 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Further, based on the road information, when it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used at at least one of the uphill or downhill rest facilities, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d determines the waiting location of the transport vehicle 7 without a planned travel route at a frequently used stop or near the stop, and instructs the transport vehicle 7. Also, when the inside of the rest facility is congested, the waiting location of the transport vehicle 7 without a planned travel route may be determined at a frequently used stop or near the stop, and the transport vehicle 7 may be instructed. Alternatively, instead of designating one waiting location, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d may designate a circular route that circulates while stopping at frequently used stops. The frequently used stops may be determined in advance, or for example, they are stops that have been frequently designated as the departure and destination in the past usage information. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d may store the previously designated departure location and the determined destination, and determine the frequently used stops based on the past performance. That is, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d may determine the waiting location of the transport vehicle 7 that is not used within a certain time using the road information and the usage information acquired in the past.

[0148] Figure 32 is a flowchart showing an example of the waiting location determination process of the present embodiment. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d performs the process shown in Figure 32, for example, when it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used using the road information. Cases where it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used are when the toll road is congested, when it is rainy, snowy, stormy, etc. For example, the conditions for determining that it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used are determined in advance, and when the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d determines that this condition is satisfied using the road information, it determines that it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used. Also, using the congestion information or the congestion status of the parking lot, when the inside of the rest facility is congested, it may be determined that it is predicted that the transport vehicle 7 will be frequently used.

[0149] As shown in FIG. 32, it is determined whether there is a transport vehicle 7 that has not been used for a certain period of time (step S61). Specifically, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d refers to the vehicle allocation plan stored in the vehicle allocation plan storage unit 17 to determine whether there is a transport vehicle 7 that has not been used for a certain period of time from the current time.

[0150] If there is a transport vehicle 7 that has not been used for a certain period of time (step S61 Yes), the waiting location of the transport vehicle 7 that has not been used for a certain period of time is determined (step S62), and the determination process of the waiting location ends. Specifically, for example, when the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d determines that the upstream lane is congested with reference to the road information, the waiting location of at least a part of the transport vehicles 7 that have not been used for a certain period of time is determined to be a frequently used stop in the upstream facility 8 or a waiting location near the stop. Similarly, when the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d determines that the downstream lane is congested, the waiting location of at least a part of the transport vehicles 7 that have not been used for a certain period of time is determined to be a frequently used stop in the downstream facility 9 or a waiting location near the stop. Also, in step S62, the transport vehicle 7 to be determined for the waiting location may be all the transport vehicles 7 that have not been used for a certain period of time, or an upper limit value of the number of transport vehicles 7 to be determined for the waiting location may be set in advance. When the number of all transport vehicles 7 that have not been used for a certain period of time exceeds the upper limit value, the waiting locations of the number of transport vehicles 7 up to the upper limit value are determined. When there are a plurality of transport vehicles 7 to be determined for the waiting location, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d may make them wait at a plurality of waiting locations. For example, when there are a plurality of frequently used stops, the transport vehicles 7 may be dispersed and made to wait at these stops. Also, as described above, the waiting location may be a loop route including a frequently used stop.

[0151] After the determination process of the waiting location, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d updates the vehicle allocation plan by reflecting the determined waiting location, and transmits the waiting location corresponding to the transport vehicle 7 to which the waiting location is designated via the vehicle communication unit 14.

[0152] In the above-described example, when it is predicted that the use of the transport vehicle 7 is frequent with reference to road information, the process shown in FIG. 32 is carried out. However, the process shown in FIG. 32 may be carried out regularly without depending on road information or the like, that is, without depending on the congestion situation, weather information, etc.

[0153] Further, using the past road information and the desired boarding position in the past usage information, the correlation between the road information and the desired boarding position is obtained by statistical processing or machine learning, etc., and using the obtained correlation and the current road information, the waiting location may be determined. Thereby, a location where it is highly likely to be designated as the desired boarding position according to the road information can be set as the waiting location.

[0154] The control system 1d of the present embodiment is also realized by a computer system in the same manner as the control system 1 of the first embodiment. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d shown in FIG. 31 is realized by the computer program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 being executed by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 14. The storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 14 is also used for the realization of the vehicle allocation plan determination unit 13d shown in FIG. 31. The road information acquisition unit 19 shown in FIG. 31 is realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 14. Further, the control system 1d may be realized by a plurality of computer systems. For example, the control system 1d may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0155] As described above, the control system 1d of the present embodiment creates a vehicle allocation plan in the same manner as the first embodiment, and with reference to road information, determines the waiting location of the transport vehicle 7 that is not used for a certain period of time to a location where the use of the transport vehicle 7 is expected to be frequent. Therefore, the control system 1d of the present embodiment has the same effect as the first embodiment, and when the user arrives at the rest facility and reserves the transport vehicle 7, the probability that the time for the transport vehicle 7 to move to the desired boarding position is shortened can be increased, so that the average value of the waiting time of the user can be reduced.

[0156] Note that any one or more of Embodiment 2, Embodiment 3, and Embodiment 4 may be combined with this embodiment.

[0157] The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and it is possible to combine them with other known technologies, combine the embodiments with each other, or omit or change a part of the configuration without departing from the gist.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0158] 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d control system, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d vehicle allocation system, 3 mobile terminal, 4 vehicle-mounted terminal, 5, 5-1 to 5-8 stop terminal, 6 facility management system, 7 transport vehicle, 8 uphill facility, 9 downhill facility, 11 congestion information acquisition unit, 12 usage information acquisition unit, 13, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d vehicle allocation plan determination unit, 14 vehicle communication unit, 15 facility information storage unit, 16 transport vehicle information storage unit, 17 vehicle allocation plan storage unit, 18 priority information storage unit, 19 road information acquisition unit, 20 arrival time prediction unit, 21 congestion information storage unit, 22 congestion prediction unit, 23 external information acquisition unit, 24 external information storage unit, 25 vehicle allocation rule storage unit, 31, 41, 51, 71 communication unit, 32, 42, 52 input reception unit, 33, 43, 73 position acquisition unit, 34, 44, 53 usage information generation unit, 35, 45, 54 information display unit, 61 congestion information transmission unit, 62 congestion management unit, 72 plan storage unit, 74 vehicle control unit, 75 vehicle component, 81, 91 parking lot, 83-1 to 83-3, 93-1 to 93-3 toilet, 84, 84-1, 84-2, 94 food and beverage street, 85, 86, 95, 96, 861, 862 parking section, 87-1, 87-2 entrance / exit, 88-1, 88-2 ramen shop, 300, 301, 302 driving route, 400 road information system, 401 external information providing system.

Claims

1. A congestion information acquisition unit that acquires congestion information indicating the congestion status of two rest facilities respectively provided on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road; A vehicle allocation plan determination unit that determines a vehicle allocation plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle capable of transporting users boarding a vehicle parked at a parking facility, which is one of the two rest facilities, from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities, using the acquired congestion information; A control system, characterized by comprising the above.

2. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle so as to drive the transport vehicle from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility when it is determined that the parking facility is congested using the congestion information. The control system according to Claim 1, characterized by this.

3. Each of the two rest facilities is provided with a plurality of facilities. The congestion information includes information indicating the congestion status of each facility. A usage information acquisition unit that acquires usage information including the purpose for which the user uses the rest facility from a user terminal operable by the user. Comprising The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines a candidate for the facility to be used by the user using the purpose included in the usage information acquired by the usage information acquisition unit, selects a target facility that is the facility corresponding to the usage information from the candidates using the congestion information, determines the destination of the transport vehicle corresponding to the usage information based on the selected target facility, and determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle assigned to the usage information using the determined destination. The control system according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized by this.

4. When there is a candidate among the candidates in the parking facility that is not congested, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit selects the candidate as the target facility, and when all the candidates in the parking facility are congested and there is a candidate among the candidates in the opposite lane side facility that is not congested, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit selects the candidate as the target facility. The control system according to Claim 3, characterized by this.

5. The usage information includes the number of passengers boarding the transport vehicle. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the transport vehicle assigned to the usage information based on the number of passengers included in the usage information and the maximum number of passengers for each transport vehicle. The control system according to Claim 3 or 4, characterized by this.

6. The equipment includes a toilet and a food court street, The objective is the control system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that it is either the use of the toilet or a meal.

7. The usage information includes attribute information indicating the attributes of the user, The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the candidate using the objective, additional information indicating whether the equipment for each facility has additional facilities corresponding to the attribute, and the attribute information. The control system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that it does so.

8. The usage information includes user identification information which is the identification information of the user, The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the candidate using the objective, correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the user identification information and the attribute information indicating the attributes of the user, and additional information indicating whether the equipment for each facility has additional facilities corresponding to the attribute. The control system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that it does so.

9. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the priority in the allocation of the transport vehicle based on the attribute information. The control system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that it does so.

10. The usage information includes the current location of the user, The control system includes: A road information acquisition unit that acquires road information including at least one of traffic jam information and weather information of the toll road; An arrival time prediction unit that calculates the predicted arrival time at the parking facility using the road information and the current location when the usage information is acquired before the user arrives at the parking facility; A congestion prediction unit that predicts the congestion status of the facility at the predicted arrival time; Including, The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle assigned to the usage information using the predicted arrival time and the congestion status predicted by the congestion prediction unit. The control system according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that it does so.

11. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit predicts the travel time required for the transport vehicle to move to the departure place in the travel corresponding to the usage information based on the current location of the transport vehicle and the congestion status in the rest facility, and determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle using the predicted travel time. The control system according to claim 10, characterized in that it does so.

12. After the driving plan based on the usage information is determined, the arrival time prediction unit calculates the predicted arrival time using the road information, and determines whether the difference between the calculated predicted arrival time and the predicted arrival time at the time when the driving plan was determined is equal to or greater than a certain value. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit re-determines the driving plan corresponding to the usage information when it is determined that the difference is equal to or greater than a certain value. The control system according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that.

13. The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the conveyance vehicle to be assigned to the second movement, which is the movement from the destination of the first movement, as the first movement to the destination, and determines the driving plan of the conveyance vehicle in the second movement. The control system according to any one of claims 3 to 12, characterized in that.

14. The conveyance vehicle can convey specific users who are drivers of transport vehicles and employees of the rest facility. When the usage information is usage information corresponding to the specific user, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the destination of the second movement and the predicted arrival time of the second movement using the work plan of the specific user. The control system according to claim 13, characterized in that.

15. A road information acquisition unit that acquires road information including at least one of traffic jam information, construction information, regulation information, probe information, and weather information of a toll road. Comprising The vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines a standby location of the conveyance vehicle that has not been used within a certain period of time using the road information and the usage information acquired in the past. The control system according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that.

16. A congestion information acquisition unit that acquires congestion information indicating the congestion status of facilities in a rest facility on a toll road. Using the acquired congestion information, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the facilities used by the users who get on the vehicles parked at the rest facility, and determines a vehicle allocation plan including a driving plan for driving the conveyance vehicle to convey the users to the alighting position corresponding to the determined facilities. A control system characterized by comprising.

17. Based on the attribute information indicating the attributes of users who board a vehicle parked at a parking facility, which is one of two rest facilities provided respectively on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road, a vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines an allocation plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle capable of transporting the user from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities. A control system characterized by comprising the above.

18. When a first distance, which is the distance from the parking position to the facility within the parking facility, is longer than a second distance, which is the distance from the parking position to the stop of the transport vehicle within the parking facility, and the difference between the first distance and the second distance is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the vehicle allocation plan determination unit determines the allocation plan including the travel schedule for driving the transport vehicle from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility based on the attribute information. The control system according to claim 17, characterized in that.

19. A facility management system that manages congestion information indicating the congestion status of two rest facilities provided respectively on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same location on a toll road, A control system that acquires the congestion information from the facility management system and determines an allocation plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle capable of transporting a user who boards a vehicle parked at a parking facility, which is one of the two rest facilities, from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility, which is the other of the two rest facilities, using the congestion information. A vehicle allocation system characterized by comprising the above.

20. A plurality of the above transport vehicles Comprising The control system according to claim 19, characterized in that the control system transmits the travel schedule to the corresponding transport vehicle.

21. A user terminal operable by the user Comprising Each of the two rest facilities is provided with a plurality of facilities. The user terminal transmits usage information including the purpose of using the rest facility to the control system. The control system determines candidates for the facilities to be used by the user using the purpose included in the usage information, selects the target facility corresponding to the usage information from the candidates using the congestion information, determines the destination of the transport vehicle corresponding to the usage information based on the selected target facility, and determines the travel schedule of the transport vehicle to be assigned to the usage information using the determined destination. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that

22. The user terminal is provided at a stop where the transport vehicle stops within the rest facility. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 21, characterized in that

23. A vehicle, capable of transporting a user who boards a general vehicle parked at a parking facility which is one of two rest facilities respectively provided on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same point on a toll road, A vehicle, characterized in that it receives the travel schedule of the vehicle from a control system that determines a vehicle dispatching plan including a travel schedule for driving the vehicle from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility which is the other of the two rest facilities using congestion information indicating the congestion status of the two rest facilities.

24. A method for creating a vehicle dispatching plan in a control system, the step of obtaining congestion information indicating the congestion status of two rest facilities respectively provided on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same point on a toll road; the step of determining a vehicle dispatching plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle capable of transporting a user who boards a vehicle parked at a parking facility which is one of the two rest facilities from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility which is the other of the two rest facilities using the congestion information; A vehicle dispatching plan creation method, characterized by including

25. On a computer, the step of obtaining congestion information indicating the congestion status of two rest facilities respectively provided on the uphill lane and the downhill lane corresponding to the same point on a toll road; the step of determining a vehicle dispatching plan including a travel schedule for driving a transport vehicle capable of transporting a user who boards a vehicle parked at a parking facility which is one of the two rest facilities from the parking facility to the opposite lane side facility which is the other of the two rest facilities using the congestion information; A computer program, characterized by causing the steps to be executed

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