Fare calculation device, fare calculation method, and fare calculation program

Abstract

To provide a fare calculation device etc. which allows even an elderly person after returning his / her driver's license to use transportation means such as a taxi, a public bus or a community bus at a low cost without anxiety, and can enhance the convenience of the transportation means.SOLUTION: A fare calculation device includes a fare calculation unit 2 that acquires, for each user such as an elderly person and each visiting site, action history data indicating a visit history from a home, for example, for each visiting site of the user, and calculates a use fee of a taxi used by the user to visit the visiting site, as an amount for a prescribed fixed period on the basis of the acquired action history data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In recent years, there has been an increase in accidents involving vehicles driven by elderly people, which has become a social concern. Furthermore, in light of the risk of such accidents, an increasing number of elderly people are surrendering their driver's licenses. When such license surrenderers return to places they used to visit by car, possible modes of transportation include trains, buses, and taxis. Considering that they are elderly, it is likely that they will use taxis more often, as they do not need to go to the station or bus stop.

[0003] On the other hand, when using a taxi, a usage fee is incurred, but considering that people who have surrendered their driver's licenses will be using taxis frequently, it is preferable to be able to use taxis efficiently at as low a fare as possible. For example, Patent Document 1 below can be cited as a prior art document that discloses a conventional technology developed in consideration of such a request.

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

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

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

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

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

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 2 comprises an acquisition means for acquiring, for each user and each of the visited places, history information showing the visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places, and a calculation means for calculating, based on the acquired history information, the usage fee for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the visited places as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time.

[0010] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 7 is a fare calculation method executed in a fare calculation device equipped with an acquisition means and a calculation means, and includes an acquisition step of acquiring, by the acquisition means, historical information indicating a visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places, for each of the user and each of the visited places, and a calculation step of calculating, by the calculation means, the fare for the transportation means used by the user when visiting the visited places, as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time, based on the acquired historical information.

[0011] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 8 causes a computer to function as an acquisition means that acquires historical information indicating the visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places for each of the users and each of the visited places, and a calculation means that calculates the transportation fare for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the visited places as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the acquired historical information. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation device according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation system according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] These are block diagrams showing the detailed configuration of a user terminal and the like that constitutes the fee calculation system of the embodiment, where (a) is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the user terminal, and (b) is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of a server that constitutes the fee calculation system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of behavior history data according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a fee calculation process according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fee calculation device according to the embodiment.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the fee calculation device S of the embodiment is configured to include an acquisition unit 1 and a calculation unit 2.

[0015] In this configuration, the acquisition means 1 acquires, for each user and each of the visited places, history information indicating the visit history from a predetermined point for each of the visited places of the user.

[0016] Then, based on the history information acquired by the acquisition means 1, the calculation means 2 calculates the transportation fee for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the destination as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time.

[0017] As described above, according to the operation of the fare calculation device S of the embodiment, the fare for the transportation means used by the user when visiting the destinations is calculated as a fare for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the historical information for each of the user's destinations.

[0018] Therefore, by making it possible to use the transportation means more cheaply and safely in accordance with the history information, the convenience of the transportation means can be improved. [Example]

[0019] Next, specific examples corresponding to the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 2 to 5. Note that the example described below is an example in which the present application is applied to a fare calculation system that executes a fare calculation process to calculate, for example, a monthly fare for each elderly person who uses a taxi and for each place that the elderly person visits using the taxi when the elderly person has surrendered their driver's license. Note that in the following description, the elderly person who has surrendered their driver's license will be simply referred to as "elderly person."

[0020] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of the fee calculation system of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the user terminals and the like that make up the fee calculation system, Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the contents of the behavior history data of the embodiment, and Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the fee calculation process of the embodiment. In Fig. 3, the same component numbers as those of the component parts in the fee calculation device S of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 are used for the components of the embodiment that correspond to the components in the fee calculation device S.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment includes user terminals T1, T2, ..., Tn (where n is a natural number; the same applies below) that are used by elderly people and function as part of the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment; a server SV that functions as part of the fare calculation system SS; and taxi terminals TX1, ..., TXm (where m is a natural number; the same applies below) that are provided in taxis as an example of transportation in the embodiment and provide various information to the taxi drivers. The user terminals T1, T2, ..., Tn, the taxi terminals TX1, ..., TXm, and the server SV are connected to each other via a network NW such as the Internet so that they can exchange information or data with each other. In this case, the server SV may be provided, for example, in the taxi company to which the taxis used by elderly people belong, or in a company other than the taxi company that provides the fare calculation system of the embodiment. In the following description, when describing matters common to the user terminal T1, the user terminal T2, ..., and the user terminal Tn, these will be collectively referred to as the "user terminal T." Furthermore, when describing matters common to the taxi terminals TX1, ..., and the taxi terminal TXm, these will be collectively referred to as the "taxi terminal TX."

[0022] In the above configuration, as part of the function of the fee calculation system SS, each user terminal T transmits behavioral data indicating the movement of an elderly person using the user terminal T to the server SV via the network NW for each movement. The behavioral data transmitted at this time includes, for example, location data indicating the location of each user terminal T, time data indicating the time when the location indicated by the location data was detected, and terminal identification data for identifying the user terminal T that transmitted the behavioral data from other user terminals T. Here, the terminal identification data is typically user identification data for identifying the elderly person using the user terminal T. The server SV then associates the location data and time data transmitted from each user terminal T with the terminal identification data transmitted at the same time, and non-volatilely records them for each elderly person as behavioral history data in this embodiment. In the following description, the elderly person using the user terminal T will be referred to as the "terminal user" of that user terminal T.

[0023] Meanwhile, for example, when a terminal user makes a reservation on the user terminal T, data indicating the details of the reservation is distributed to each taxi terminal TX via the server SV or another reservation server (not shown). This data indicating the details of the reservation includes information indicating the name of the elderly user, the reservation location (i.e., the location where the elderly person plans to board the taxi), and the reservation time. As a result, the server SV searches for an available taxi traveling near the reservation location in response to the reservation, and transmits data indicating the reservation to the taxi terminal TX equipped in the searched available taxi. As a result, the driver of the taxi equipped with the taxi terminal TX (the available taxi) dispatches the taxi to the reservation location at the reservation time, picks up the elderly person who made the reservation, and drives the taxi to the destination.

[0024] Next, the detailed configurations and operations of the user terminal T and server SV that constitute the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0025] As shown in Figure 3(a), each user terminal T in the embodiment is composed of a processing unit 20 consisting of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., a non-volatile recording unit 21 consisting of an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), etc., an operation unit 22 consisting of operation buttons, etc., a microphone 23, a camera 24 consisting of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) imaging element, etc., a sensor unit 25 that constitutes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) or an autonomous navigation system, etc., a display 26 consisting of an LCD display, etc., a speaker 27, and an interface 28.

[0026] In the above configuration, the recording unit 21 non-volatilely records programs, data, etc. necessary for the user terminal T to perform functions that should be performed as part of the functions of the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment, and the programs, data, etc. are read out by the processing unit 20 as needed. Furthermore, under the control of the processing unit 20, the microphone 23 collects the sound of the terminal user's speech and outputs sound data corresponding to the collected sound to the processing unit 20. Furthermore, under the control of the processing unit 20, the camera 24 outputs image data corresponding to the captured image of the surroundings of the user terminal T to the processing unit 20. Furthermore, under the control of the processing unit 20, the sensor unit 25 detects the current position, moving speed, traveling direction, etc. of the user terminal T using the GNSS, etc., and generates detection data indicating the detection results and outputs the detection data to the processing unit 20.

[0027] On the other hand, the display 26 displays images, maps, etc. required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T under the control of the processing unit 20. The speaker 27 also emits sounds, etc. required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T under the control of the processing unit 20. Furthermore, the interface 28 controls the exchange of information or data required for the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T with the server SV via the network NW under the control of the processing unit 20. Furthermore, when an instruction operation is performed on the user terminal T by the user of the terminal, the operation unit 22 generates an operation signal corresponding to the instruction operation and outputs it to the processing unit 20. As a result, the processing unit 20 controls each component constituting the user terminal T, such as the sensor unit 25 and the interface 28, based on the operation signal, and controls the performance of the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T.

[0028] Here, the above functions to be performed by the user terminal T will be described using an example in which the terminal user takes a taxi from home to a desired destination and then returns home. In this case, the processing unit 20 of each user terminal T first acquires, from the sensor unit 25, location data indicating the location of the movement start point of the user terminal T (in other words, the home of the terminal user) and time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T left home, triggered, for example, by an operation for taxi dispatch reservation processing being executed on the operation unit 22. Thereafter, the processing unit 20 associates the acquired location data and time data with user identification data (terminal identification data) for distinguishing the terminal user from other elderly people, and transmits the associated data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW. Next, when the terminal user arrives at the destination, the processing unit 20 acquires from the sensor unit 25 location data indicating the location of the user terminal T at the time of arrival (i.e., the location of the destination) and time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T arrived at the destination, and associates the acquired location data and time data with destination identification data for distinguishing the destination visited by the terminal user from other destinations and the above-mentioned user identification data, and transmits them to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW.

[0029] Next, when the terminal user leaves the visited place and returns home, the processing unit 20 acquires time data indicating the time when the terminal user of the user terminal T left the visited place from the sensor unit 25, associates the acquired time data with the user identification data, and transmits the data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW. Finally, when the terminal user returns home, the processing unit 20 acquires time data indicating the return home time from the sensor unit 25, associates the acquired time data with the user identification data, and transmits the data to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW.

[0030] As a result, the server SV records the location data and time data transmitted from the user terminal T as described above, respectively, at the time of leaving home, arriving at a visited location, departing from a visited location, and returning home, for each terminal user, each visit date, and each movement (visit), as behavior history data AH of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, in a mutually identifiable and non-volatile manner in the recording unit 11 of the server SV, which will be described later. At this time, the processing unit 10 of the server SV, which will be described later, records stay time data indicating the stay time at the visited location, in association with the user identification data, based on the time data at the time of arrival at the visited location and the time data at the time of departure from the visited location. In addition, the processing unit 10 records distance data indicating the travel distance during the visit (either the round-trip distance or the one-way distance), in association with the user identification data, based on each location data.

[0031] Each user terminal T also transmits request information to the server SV via the interface 28 and the network NW, requesting calculation of the monthly taxi usage fee using the fare calculation process of the embodiment described below. This request information includes the terminal identification data (the user identification data) and visited place data indicating the visited places that are the subject of the monthly usage fee.

[0032] Next, the detailed configuration and functions of the server SV of the above embodiment will be explained using Figures 3(b) to 5. As shown in Figure 3(b), the server SV of the embodiment is composed of a processing unit 10 consisting of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., a non-volatile recording unit 11 consisting of an HDD or SSD, etc., an operation unit 12 consisting of a keyboard, mouse, etc., a display 13 consisting of a liquid crystal display, etc., and an interface 1.

[0033] The processing unit 10 is also configured to include a fee calculation unit 2. In this case, the fee calculation unit 2 may be realized by a hardware logic circuit constituting the processing unit 10, or may be realized in software by the processing unit 10 reading out from the recording unit 11 and executing a program corresponding to a flowchart showing the fee calculation process of the embodiment. The interface 1 corresponds to an example of an acquisition means 1 in the embodiment, and the fee calculation unit 2 corresponds to an example of a calculation means 2 in the embodiment.

[0034] In the above configuration, the behavior history data AH illustrated in Fig. 4 is non-volatilely recorded in the recording unit 11. At this time, the behavior history data AH is generated and recorded by the processing unit 10 using the location data, the time data, the user identification information, etc. received from any one of the user terminals T via the interface 1, as described above.

[0035] In addition, the recording unit 11 non-volatilely records the above programs, data, etc. necessary for the server SV to perform the functions that should be performed as part of the functions of the fee calculation system SS of the embodiment, and these are read out by the processing unit 10 as needed. Also, the administrator of the server SV inputs instructions, etc. necessary for the fee calculation processing of the embodiment as the server SV described above, using the operation unit 12. In response, the operation unit 12 generates instruction signals corresponding to the instructions, etc., and outputs them to the processing unit 10. In this way, the processing unit 10 (fee calculation unit 2) comprehensively controls the processing as the server SV based on the instruction signals. At this time, information, etc. to be presented to the administrator is presented to the administrator by, for example, displaying an image on the display 13.

[0036] Next, a specific description will be given of the fare calculation process of the embodiment, which is executed mainly by the processing unit 10. The fare calculation process of the embodiment is a process in which a taxi company to which the elderly person belongs calculates a fixed monthly usage fee for each destination for the elderly person, and is started, for example, at predetermined time intervals. In the following description, the fixed monthly usage fee for each destination will be simply referred to as the "monthly usage fee."

[0037] When the fare calculation process of the embodiment is started, the processing unit 10 monitors whether the request information requesting calculation of a monthly taxi fare using the fare calculation process of the embodiment has been transmitted from any of the user terminals T used by the terminal users (elderly people) in association with the terminal identification data (step S1). If the request information has not been transmitted in the monitoring of step S1 (step S1: NO), the processing unit 10 proceeds to step S4 (described later). On the other hand, if the request information has been transmitted from any of the user terminals T in the monitoring of step S1 (step S1: YES), the fare calculation unit 2 of the processing unit 10 calculates a fixed fare for the next month or each subsequent month for each elderly person and each visited place based on the terminal identification data (in other words, user identification data for distinguishing the elderly person using the user terminal T from other elderly people) and visited place data included in the transmitted request information, as well as the behavior history data AH recorded in the recording unit 11 for the elderly person at that time (step S2). The processing unit 10 then uses the terminal identification data to transmit monthly usage fee data indicating the calculated monthly usage fee for each location visited to the user terminal T that transmitted the request information (step S3). The processing unit 10 then determines whether to terminate the fee calculation process of the embodiment, for example, because the instruction signal from the operation unit 12 of the server SV indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should be terminated (step S4). If the determination in step S4 indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should be terminated (step S4: YES), the processing unit 10 terminates the fee calculation process of the embodiment. On the other hand, if the determination in step S4 indicates that the fee calculation process of the embodiment should not be terminated (step S4: NO), the processing unit 10 returns to step S1 and continues the above-described series of fee calculation processes for the new request information. The calculated monthly usage fee is preferably billed monthly or every multiple months by credit card payment.

[0038] Next, the calculation process of the monthly usage fee in step S2 will be specifically described. That is, in this calculation process, the monthly usage fee is calculated based on the terminal identification data, the visited place data, and the behavior history data AH, for example, according to the following rules (I) to (III). (I) For a single destination, the more times a destination is visited in a predetermined month, the lower the monthly usage fee. In this case, if the number of visits in a month is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the destination is preferably exempt from the monthly usage fee in the embodiment. (II) For a single destination, the shorter the distance traveled by taxi during the visit (round-trip distance or one-way distance), the lower the monthly usage fee. (III) For one destination, the monthly usage fee is set higher, for example, during the rainy season (in other words, during the season when it is expected that there will be more opportunities to use a taxi).

[0039] The monthly usage fee may be calculated using each of the above rules individually, or two or more rules may be combined (or weighted and combined) to calculate the monthly usage fee. Furthermore, when calculating the monthly usage fee over multiple preset months, the monthly fees for the multiple months may be the same (flat monthly fee), or may be calculated differently for each month. Alternatively, an annual fee system may be used, with a fixed fee for the entire year.

[0040] As described above, according to the fare calculation process in the fare calculation system SS of the embodiment, the fare for a taxi used by an elderly terminal user when visiting a destination is calculated as a fee for a predetermined period of time (for example, a monthly fee) based on the behavioral history data AH for each destination visited by the terminal user.This makes it possible to use taxis more cheaply and safely in accordance with the behavioral history data AH, thereby improving the convenience of taxis themselves and increasing their usage.

[0041] Furthermore, since the visit history indicated by the behavioral history data AH is a visit history that indicates the distance traveled from home or past visit dates for each location visited by the user, usage fees can be appropriately calculated for each terminal user and each location visited.

[0042] Furthermore, if the monthly usage fee is calculated as the same amount for multiple months, it becomes possible to use a taxi more cheaply from the viewpoint of the terminal user. On the other hand, if the monthly usage fee is calculated by month, it is possible to calculate the usage fee more appropriately according to the visit history.

[0043] In the above-described embodiment, the case where the departure point when the terminal user travels by taxi is the home has been described, but the embodiment can also be applied to fare calculation when using a taxi to travel between points other than the home. In this case, it is preferable to configure the system to newly record, in addition to the behavior history data AH, behavior history data having a point other than the home as the departure point and a point other than the home as the visited point for each departure point and / or the visited point.

[0044] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment has been described as a case where a taxi fare is calculated, the fare calculation process of the embodiment can also be applied to other cases, such as when calculating fares for shared buses or local community buses.

[0045] Furthermore, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 may be recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk or a hard disk, or may be obtained via a network such as the Internet, and then read out and executed by a general-purpose microcomputer or the like, thereby causing the microcomputer or the like to function as the processing unit 10 according to the embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1 Acquisition method (interface) 2. Calculation method (fee calculation section) 10, 20 Processing section SS fare calculation system AH Behavioral history data T, T1, T2, Tn user terminals TX1, TXm taxi terminal

Claims

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

2. an acquisition means for acquiring history information indicating a visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places, for each of the user and each of the visited places; a calculation means for calculating a transportation fee for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the place of interest as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the acquired history information; A fee calculation device comprising:

3. The fee calculation device according to claim 2, the predetermined location is the user's home, The fee calculation device is characterized in that the visit history is a behavior history indicating the distance traveled from the user's home or the date of past visits for each of the places visited by the user.

4. The fee calculation device according to claim 2 or 3, The fee calculation device is characterized in that the calculation means calculates the usage fees for the plurality of fixed periods as the same amount.

5. The fee calculation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, The fee calculation device is characterized in that the calculation means calculates the amount of the usage fee for each fixed period.

6. The fee calculation device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, A fare calculation device characterized in that the means of transportation is a taxi.

7. A fee calculation method executed in a fee calculation device including an acquisition means and a calculation means, an acquisition step of acquiring, by the acquisition means, history information indicating a visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places, for each of the user and each of the visited places; a calculation step of calculating, by the calculation means, a fee for the means of transportation used by the user when visiting the place of interest as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the acquired history information; A fee calculation method comprising:

8. Computer, An acquisition means for acquiring history information indicating a visit history from a predetermined point for each of the user's visited places, for each of the user and each of the visited places; a calculation means for calculating a fee for a transportation means to be used by the user when visiting the place to be visited as an amount for a predetermined fixed period of time based on the acquired history information; A fee calculation program characterized by functioning as:

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