Transportation Ticket Allocation System

Abstract

To assign use tickets of a destination proposal type such as a ticket by selling and the like in vehicles such as a railway in which a user can stop over on the way.SOLUTION: A vehicle use ticket assignment system 1 assigns a use ticket of a vehicle in combinations of outward trip flights and return trip flights, the vehicle including one or more fixed routes and fixed getting on / off possible places in the one or more fixed routes. The vehicle use ticket assignment system accepts an input of a departure place from a user, extracts all destination candidates about a predetermined number of destination candidates to which the user can go by each route from a departure place so that no common getting on / off possible place exists on routes to the destination candidates, selects one candidate on the basis of predetermined criteria from the combinations of outward trip flights and return trip flights by which the user can go to each of the predetermined number of destination candidates, and assigns the selected candidate to the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for allocating transportation tickets through sales or the like, and in particular to a technique that is effective when applied to a destination suggestion type transportation ticket sales system. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Japanese Patent No. 5982066 (Patent Document 1) describes an airline ticket sales system that realizes a destination suggestion type sales method in which, instead of a user directly specifying a destination and flight to reserve and purchase the ticket, the system extracts multiple destination candidates based on conditions such as the departure place, date and time, and number of people specified by the user, and automatically determines the final destination and flight from among them by lottery. This allows airline companies to promote sales of their inventory by preferentially extracting destinations of flights they want to sell as candidate destinations. In addition, users can purchase airline tickets at a low price and travel, and can feel a sense of surprise and anticipation about the trip because the final destination is not confirmed at the time of purchase. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5982066 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is conceivable to apply a destination-based sales technique similar to that of the conventional technology to the sale of train tickets for bullet trains, limited express trains, and other railways. In this case, however, unique issues arise due to the characteristics of the railway network.

[0005] In other words, since an airline does not allow stopovers once it departs until it arrives, if it is assumed that a destination is an airport that can be reached by a single airline flight excluding transfers, then once the destination airport is specified, there is no room for the user to go to an airport other than the destination. Therefore, if multiple different airports are extracted as destination candidates, the user will inevitably go to a different destination depending on which of those destinations is selected by lottery.

[0006] In contrast, when the means of transportation is rail, even if the system specifies the destination station, it is possible for the user to get off along the way, so it cannot be prevented that the user will get off along the way and go to an unintended station.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transportation ticket allocation system that allocates tickets such as passenger tickets through sales etc. in a destination suggestion type for transportation means (vehicles) such as trains where users can get off along the way.

[0008] The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] Among the inventions disclosed in this application, representative ones will be outlined below.

[0010] A vehicle ticket allocation system according to a representative embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle ticket allocation system that allocates vehicle tickets for a vehicle having one or more fixed routes and fixed boarding and disembarking points on the routes, by combining an outbound flight and a return flight. The system accepts input of a departure point from a user via an information processing terminal, and extracts a predetermined number of potential destinations that can be reached from the departure point by each of the routes, such that there are no common points of boarding and disembarking on the routes leading to each of the potential destinations. The system selects one of the combinations of outbound flights and return flights that can reach each of the predetermined number of extracted potential destinations based on predetermined criteria and assigns it to the user. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The effects obtained by the representative inventions among those disclosed in this application will be briefly described as follows.

[0012] In other words, according to a representative embodiment of the present invention, in a system for selling railway tickets using a destination suggestion method, it is possible to extract candidate destinations such that there are no intermediate stations that a user can definitively reach by getting off along the way. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of the configuration of a ticket sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram outlining an example of a screen that a ticket sales server displays on a user terminal in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 3] 1 is a diagram outlining an example of a screen that a ticket sales server displays on a user terminal in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram outlining an example of a screen that a ticket sales server displays on a user terminal in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 5]1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of a screen that a ticket sales server displays on a user terminal in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 1A and 1B are diagrams outlining an example of determining a destination in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart outlining an example of a flow of a ticket sales process in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 1A and 1B are diagrams outlining a specific example of a relevant train list in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of a relevant stop station list in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of adjusting a route (direction) in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of creating a candidate station list in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 1A and 1B are diagrams outlining a specific example of a candidate train list in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overview of a specific example of a candidate train list in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of a combination of trains for outbound and inbound journeys in a round-trip candidate train list in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outbound and inbound trains by a first method in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outbound and inbound trains by the second method in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of a plurality of round-trip trains within the same station according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outbound and inbound trains by the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] 13(a) and (b) are diagrams outlining an example of lottery probabilities when weights are set for each train using the first method in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 20] 13(a) to 13(d) are diagrams outlining examples of lottery probabilities when weights are set for each train according to the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] 13(a) and 13(b) are diagrams outlining an example of lottery probabilities when weights are set for each train using the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] 11 is a diagram outlining an example of a method for determining priority when the lottery probability for each round-trip train is determined in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 23] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outbound and inbound trains by the fourth method in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiment, the same parts are generally given the same reference numerals, and the repeated explanations will be omitted. On the other hand, a part that has been described with a reference numeral in a certain drawing may be referred to with the same reference numeral in the explanation of another drawing, although it will not be shown again.

[0015] <Summary> As described above, when attempting to apply a destination suggestion type sales method similar to the conventional technology described in Patent Document 1 to the sale of train tickets for the Shinkansen, limited express trains, and the like, even if the system specifies the destination station, it is not possible to prevent the user from getting off at an intermediate station and going to an unintended station, because the user can get off at an intermediate station.

[0016] In this case, for example, even if the Tohoku Shinkansen and Yamagata Shinkansen lines of JR East Japan (registered trademark, the same applies below) depart from Tokyo Station, they may overlap in part, even if they are different lines. In this case, even if the system extracts multiple different destinations (stations) as candidates, there may be cases where some sections of the lines to each destination overlap on all of the lines, and even if the system determines which destination to use by lottery, a situation may occur in which the user can definitely go to that station by getting off at a station included in the overlapping part.

[0017] This may lead to users using the service in order to go to a particular station using a discounted ticket, which could defeat the purpose of the destination-suggested sales method, which is to provide users with a sense of surprise and anticipation by not knowing the destination until just before departure, using a discounted ticket.

[0018] Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle ticket allocation system implements a mechanism for allocating tickets such as passenger tickets through sales, etc., in a destination suggestion type manner for means of transportation (vehicles) such as trains where users can get off at any intermediate station. Using the configuration and method described below, destination candidates are extracted so that there are no intermediate stops that can be reached with certainty by getting off at any intermediate station.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention described below, the transportation means (vehicles) are railways such as Shinkansen and limited express trains, and the sale of tickets for these trains will be described as an example; however, the transportation means (vehicles) is not limited to railways, and it is also possible to use route buses and water transport as long as the means has a fixed route and fixed boarding and alighting points on the route (stations, stops, etc.) (by contrast, this does not include vehicles that do not have fixed routes, such as taxis, or buses that have fixed routes but allow passengers to board and alight freely at any point along the way).

[0020] That is, the concept of "use" in the vehicle ticket allocation system of the present invention includes not only boarding a train or bus vehicle, but also boarding a ship. The concept of a "ticket" not only represents the right to travel by boarding the target vehicle, but also includes those representing additional conditions, such as reserved seats or availability of higher grade seats, and express tickets. Furthermore, it is not limited to physical tickets, but also includes those represented as application data on a smartphone. The concept of "allocation" includes not only sales, but also reservations prior to that.

[0021] <System configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of a transportation ticket allocating system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transportation ticket allocating system 1 according to this embodiment is an information processing system that realizes a destination suggestion type sales method in which the system automatically determines the final destination and train (such as a Shinkansen or limited express train) by lottery from multiple destination candidates extracted based on input conditions for a customer (user) who "wants to go somewhere." This makes it possible to promote sales of inventory by preferentially selecting a train desired by the seller (for example, a candidate destination where there is likely to be a lot of inventory (empty seats) remaining). On the other hand, this embodiment also makes it possible to provide the user with a sense of surprise and anticipation for the trip by keeping the automatically determined destination secret from the user until just before departure.

[0022] The vehicle ticket allocation system 1 of this embodiment includes a vehicle ticket allocation server 10, which is a server system implemented by, for example, a server device or a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, and a railway company system 20 operated by a railway company or the like to manage the vacant seat situation (stock) of each train and to process reservations by customers for vacant seats, and these are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) not shown. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, it is premised on an existing railway company system 20 owned by a railway company or the like, and the vehicle ticket allocation server 10 is separately provided in cooperation with this, but it is of course possible to construct these as an integrated information processing system.

[0023] In addition, the vehicle ticket allocation server 10 and the railway company system 20 are configured to be connectable to a user terminal 40, which may be an information processing terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer), tablet terminal, or smartphone owned by a user, via a network 30 such as the Internet.

[0024] The railway company system 20 is an existing information processing system owned by a railway company or the like, and has at least the function of accepting reservations for vacant seats for each train operated by the target railway company and holding and managing the reservations. In this embodiment, for example, it has a reservation processing unit 21 implemented as software that runs on middleware such as an OS (Operating System), a DBMS (DataBase Management System), and a Web server program (not shown). It also has various data stores such as an inventory database (DB) 22 and a purchase history DB 23 implemented as databases or the like.

[0025] The reservation processing unit 21 has an interface for accepting reservations for vacant seats, and when a reservation is made, updates the contents of the inventory DB 22 that manages vacant seat (inventory) information and the purchase history DB 23 that records the customer's purchase history (ride history) based on the reservation contents. The interface possessed by the reservation processing unit 21 may be, for example, a user interface that accepts reservation input from a user terminal 40 or the like via the network 30, or may be a programming interface or a data linkage interface that accepts instructions from the vehicle ticket allocation server 10 described later.

[0026] The transportation ticket allocation server 10 is a server system having a function of accepting input of conditions from a user, extracting destination candidates, and determining the final destination and train from among them by lottery, and has various units such as an inventory management unit 11, a destination candidate extraction unit 12, and an application management unit 13, which are implemented as software running on middleware such as an OS, DBMS, or Web server program (not shown).It also has various data stores such as an inventory DB 14, a purchase history DB 15, a user DB 16, and an application DB 17, which are implemented as databases, file tables, etc.

[0027] The inventory management unit 11 has a function of storing and managing information related to vacant seats (inventory) of trains that are the subject of sale in the inventory DB 14. Note that, unlike airline flights where basically all seats are reserved, trains also have unreserved seats and some trains are not managed from the perspective of vacant seats (inventory), but in this embodiment, trains with available unreserved seats are also treated as "inventory" in the sense of "trains available for sale."

[0028] In this embodiment, the inventory management unit 11 extracts necessary inventory information periodically or as needed from an inventory DB 22 that holds the latest inventory information in the railway company system 20, and constructs the inventory DB 14 by copying, replicating, etc. The vehicle ticket allocating server 10 may not have the inventory DB 14, and may directly refer to the inventory DB 22 on the railway company system 20. Furthermore, in addition to inventory information, information on the ticket purchase history (boarding history) of each user may be extracted from the purchase history DB 23 on the railway company system 20, and copied, replicated, etc. to construct the purchase history DB 15 on the vehicle ticket allocating server 10.

[0029] The destination candidate extraction unit 12 has a function of accepting input of conditions from a user via the user terminal 40, extracting a plurality of destination candidates based on inventory information in the inventory DB 14, past purchase (boarding) history information in the purchase history DB 15, user attribute information registered in the user DB 16, and the like, determining a final destination and train from among them by lottery, and presenting them to the user terminal 40. Details of the processing related to the extraction of destination candidates and the determination of the final destination will be described later.

[0030] The application management unit 13 has a function of accepting an input of a ticket purchase application from a user via the user terminal 40 and registering the input in the application DB 17. As described later, at the time of accepting the application, only destination candidates are presented to the user, and the contents of the application include the contents of these candidates. For example, after accepting the application, the application management unit 13 notifies the user of the final destination and round-trip trains at a predetermined timing between the date of departure of the outward journey and the date of acceptance of the application. When the final destination is determined, the reservation may be automatically established via the reservation processing unit 21 of the railway company system 20 based on the contents, or the user may access the reservation processing unit 21 via the user terminal 40 and manually establish the reservation.

[0031] <Screen transition example> 2 to 5 are diagrams outlining examples of screens that the transportation ticket allocating server 10 of this embodiment displays on the user terminal 40. When a user accesses the transportation ticket allocating server 10 using a Web browser or a dedicated application (not shown) on the user terminal 40, a condition input screen such as that shown in Fig. 2 is displayed first. Here, the user inputs desired dates for the outbound and return journeys, and specifies the departure time of the outbound journey and the arrival time of the return journey by time zone.

[0032] If the departure time of the outbound trip and the arrival time of the return trip could not be specified at all, the range of trains selected by the system would be too wide, and it would be difficult for users to use the system because they would not know when they would depart and when they would return. On the other hand, if the departure time of the outbound trip and the arrival time of the return trip could be specified in detail, the options of trains selected by the system would be too narrow, and it would be difficult to select a destination that is unexpected as a destination-suggested sales method. Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, the departure time or arrival time is specified by dividing it into time periods such as 5:00 to 9:00 as "early morning," 9:00 to 12:00 as "morning," 12:00 to 17:00 as "afternoon," 17:00 to 20:00 as "evening," and 20:00 to 24:00 as "late night."

[0033] In this embodiment, taking into consideration that the time required for travel varies depending on the destination, the arrival time zone is specified for the return journey to provide an indication of when the traveler can return to the departure point. However, this is not limited to this, and the departure time zone may also be specified for the return journey to allow the selection to be made with an emphasis on the amount of time that can be spent at the destination.

[0034] On the screen of Fig. 2, the boarding station of the departure point is further specified and the number of passengers is input. Of course, the arrival station of the destination cannot be specified. Although not considered in this embodiment, it may be possible to specify the purpose of the trip (for example, a hot spring trip or a golf trip) here.

[0035] When the user specifies and inputs the conditions and presses the "Search" button, a plurality of candidate locations (candidate stations) extracted by the destination candidate extraction unit 12 of the transportation ticket allocation server 10 using a method described below are displayed on a screen such as that shown in Fig. 3. Note that in this embodiment, four candidate locations are extracted and displayed, but the number of candidate locations displayed is not limited to this. Here, for example, if a user has registered in advance travel preferences, hopes, hobbies, and the like as attribute information in the user DB 16 of the transportation ticket allocation server 10, the display content may be personalized according to the contents of the registered information.

[0036] At this point, the final destination is not yet determined for the user, but if the user agrees that they can go to one of the candidate locations shown on the screen in Fig. 3, a screen for application and payment processing is displayed as shown in Fig. 4. By completing the payment here, the right to go to one of the four candidate locations is secured in advance, although the final destination is not yet determined. Note that, although the example in Fig. 4 shows a case where points from a point service are used as the payment method, the payment method is not particularly limited, and other payment methods such as credit card payment can be used as appropriate.

[0037] After application and payment, at a predetermined timing before the departure date of the outward journey, the user is notified that the final destination has been determined by a screen such as that shown in FIG. 5. In the example of FIG. 5, it is shown that the final destination has been determined to be Morioka Station. The notification is made, for example, via a dedicated application installed in the smartphone of the target user, or by sending the target user an e-mail containing a hyperlink to display the screen shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, such notification is made, for example, four days before the departure date of the outward journey. In other words, the final destination remains undetermined until four days before the departure date.

[0038] In this way, after application is made on the screen of Fig. 4, the final destination is decided and the user is notified on the screen of Fig. 5 just before the departure of the outbound journey, so that the optimal destination (with the most stock) can be decided according to the stock (seat availability) just before departure, and it becomes possible to deal with fluctuations in stock up until just before departure, sudden sell-outs, etc. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the seller, the railway company, etc., the sale of stock is not confirmed until just before departure, which makes it difficult to manage the stock up until that point.

[0039] On the other hand, it is also possible to configure the system so that when the application is accepted on the screen of Fig. 4, the final destination is also determined, and the reservation is registered via the railway company system 20 at that point, so that it is reflected in the inventory DB 22. In this case, since it is reflected in the inventory DB 22 at the time of application, it is possible to clarify and simplify subsequent inventory management. On the other hand, as a destination-suggested sales method for a user who "wants to go somewhere," there are cases in which the sense of surprise and expectation is reduced for a user who "doesn't know the destination until just before departure."

[0040] Therefore, in this embodiment, there is no limitation as to which method is adopted, and the final destination may be selected optimally depending on the number of stocks at that time just before departure, or may be determined when the application is accepted on the screen of FIG. 4 and the reservation is registered, but the final destination may not be notified to the user and kept secret until just before departure as in the above example. This makes it possible to clarify and simplify inventory management as necessary, and to realize surprise and heightened expectations for the user. In other words, the timing of determining the final destination and registering the actual reservation, and the timing of notifying the user can be appropriately set depending on which element is emphasized, such as optimal inventory sales, inventory management, or appeal to the user.

[0041] <Railway Considerations> When extracting and deciding on the destination candidates to be presented on the screen of Fig. 3, as described above, if the means of transportation is an airplane, once departure, there is no possibility of a stopover until arrival, so as long as the destination airport is specified, there is no room for the user to go to an airport other than the destination. Therefore, if multiple different airports are extracted as destination candidates, the user will inevitably go to a different destination depending on which of those destinations is selected by lottery.

[0042] In contrast, when the means of transportation is rail, even if the vehicle ticket allocation system 1 specifies the destination station, it is possible for the user to get off at an intermediate station, so it cannot be prevented that the user will get off at an intermediate station and go to an unintended other station.

[0043] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of destination determination in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6(a) shows four trains (Train 1 to Train 4) going to stations (●) related to the four determined destination candidates, starting from Station A (■), and the stations at which each train stops (○) and stations that the trains pass through (→). Here, all Trains 1 to 4 stop at Station C and Station E in common (×). In this case, no matter which of the four candidate stations is selected by the transportation ticket allocation system 1, the user can definitely go to Station C or Station E by getting off at the station.

[0044] In other words, when the four possible destinations are presented to the user, not only before the final destination is determined, but even before the user applies to purchase a ticket, the user knows for certain that they can go to stations C and E, and this could become a way (loophole) to get to these stations cheaply. As a result, the purpose of the destination-suggested sales method, which is to provide users with a trip with a sense of surprise and anticipation because the destination is not known until just before departure, with a discounted ticket, is lost, and the balance of the service is destroyed.

[0045] In the example of Figure 6(a), all trains also stop at Station X on the way, but there is no impact because the destinations of Trains 3 and 4 are Stations W and V, which are located before Station X. Even if all trains stop at stations such as Station C or Station E, which are common to all trains, stations such as Ueno Station or Omiya Station when departing from Tokyo Station on the Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokuriku, Yamagata, and Akita Shinkansen lines are close to the departure station and tickets are inexpensive, so these stations do not fit the purpose of the destination-suggested sales method of this service and there is no economic rationality in purchasing tickets using this service, so they do not pose a problem.

[0046] In order to avoid stations such as Station C and Station E in FIG. 6(a) that are common to all trains, in this embodiment, when such a stop occurs, for example as shown in FIG. 6(b), one of the four trains (Train 4 in the example in the figure) is replaced with another train (Train 5 in the example in the figure) that does not stop at the common intermediate stations (Stations C and E in the example in the figure). This makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of intermediate stations that can be reached definitively when four destinations are determined. A method for avoiding the occurrence of definite intermediate stops will be described later.

[0047] <Processing flow> 7 is a flow chart outlining an example of the flow of a ticket sales process in one embodiment of the present invention. First, the transportation ticket allocation server 10 accepts input of conditions related to the ticket sales from a user via a screen such as that shown in FIG. 2 (S10).

[0048] When the input of the conditions is accepted, the destination candidate extraction unit 12 of the transportation ticket allocation server 10 first extracts trains that meet the conditions input in step S10 from the inventory DB 14 as a preparation process (S20) and creates a corresponding train list (S21). Specifically, from the inventory registered in the inventory DB 14, trains that correspond to the dates and time slots of the outbound and return journeys specified in the input conditions and have a stock quantity greater than the specified number of passengers are extracted to create the corresponding train list. Note that the inventory DB 14 is assumed to have a list of all the stocks of all trains reflected and registered in advance by the inventory management unit 11. The stock quantity here is obtained by subtracting the number of sold seats from the number of seats available for sale from the departure station specified by the user for each train. The stock quantity may differ depending on the destination station even for the same train, in which case, for example, the minimum stock quantity may be applied, or the stock quantity may be held for each station.

[0049] FIG. 8 is a diagram outlining a specific example of a relevant train list in an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) respectively show examples of relevant train lists for outbound and return journeys that meet the conditions specified on the condition input screen of FIG. 2. In FIG. 8(a), trains departing from Tokyo Station in the early morning of September 28th and with an inventory of 4 or more are listed, and in FIG. 8(b), trains departing from Tokyo Station in the evening of September 29th and with an inventory of 4 or more are listed. Note that, as an additional condition other than the conditions specified by the user, for example, trains with a certain inventory level or less depending on the type of carriage and number of seats of each train may be treated as unsellable (or excluded from the list). In the example of FIG. 8, it is shown that each shaded train meets the additional condition and is treated as unsellable.

[0050] Returning to FIG. 7, next, based on the relevant train list created in step S21, a relevant stop station list is created (S22) consisting of each stop station of the trains included in the list. Specifically, a list of stops is extracted from the relevant train list for the outbound journey, and a list of stops is further extracted from the relevant train list for the return journey. Stop stations that are included in both the list of stops for the outbound journey and the list of stops for the return journey are then regarded as the relevant stop station list. Note that nearby stop stations that are within a specified range (distance, time, number of stations, etc.) from the departure station (for the outbound journey) may be excluded from the list, as this does not conform to the purpose of selling tickets in a destination suggestion style.

[0051] In this embodiment, as described above, the processing procedure is to extract the stop station list for the outbound journey and the return journey separately and extract the stop stations common to both, but the processing procedure is not particularly limited as long as it can obtain similar results. For example, as a processing corresponding to steps S21 and S22, a corresponding train list may be created for the outbound journey only to extract the stop station list, and then a corresponding train list may be created for the return journey only for trains whose stop stations are included in the stop station list for the outbound journey, and the stop stations included in the corresponding train list for the return journey may be included in the corresponding stop station list.

[0052] In this embodiment, since four candidate locations (stations) are presented as destination candidates as shown in Fig. 3, if the number of stop stations included in the relevant stop station list created in step S22 is three or less, a mechanism for selecting a destination from multiple candidate locations by lottery may not be established. Therefore, in step S22, it is checked whether the number of stop stations included in the relevant stop station list created is three or less, and if so, for example, a message such as "We are unable to provide the relevant train" may be displayed on the user terminal 40, and the process may be terminated.

[0053] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of a relevant stop station list in one embodiment of the present invention. The table in the upper part of the figure shows the stop stations (marked with a circle) and the passing stations (marked with a right arrow) for each relevant train (train 1 to train 3) on the outbound journey, and the table in the lower part shows the stop stations (marked with a circle) and the passing stations (marked with a left arrow) for each relevant train (train a to train c) on the inbound journey. The relevant stop station list is a list of stations where at least one train stops on each of the outbound and inbound journeys (stations A, C, E, V, W, X, and Z in the example of Fig. 9), that is, a list of stop stations where a combination of round-trip trains can be made with the relevant station as the destination.

[0054] In this case, as described above, stations that are close within a certain range from the departure station (on the outbound journey) may be excluded from the list because they are not in line with the purpose of selling tickets in a destination-suggested format, but conversely, stations that are farther away than a certain range will require a longer round-trip ride time, which will reduce the time spent at the destination. Therefore, for example, a minimum stay time at the destination may be set for each number of days of stay, which is a condition specified by the user, and if there is no combination of round-trip trains that can satisfy this, the station may be excluded from the list.

[0055] Returning to Fig. 7, when the preparation process of step S20 is completed, four routes (directions, station series) are randomly selected from the routes related to each stop included in the corresponding stop station list and are set as candidate routes (S30). At this time, for example, if the route is configured to branch into multiple routes from the departure station, if four routes are selected randomly, there is a possibility that all four selected routes will be concentrated at one branch, and in this case, there is a high possibility that there will be intermediate stops common to all trains, such as Stations C and E in the example of Fig. 6(a).

[0056] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of adjusting lines (directions) in an embodiment of the present invention. In a line configuration as shown in the figure, if lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 are selected as four lines, station A becomes a common intermediate stop station for each line, and it is definitely known that station A can be reached no matter where the final destination is determined. Therefore, in this embodiment, at least one line is set to a direction different from the directions of the other lines, thereby avoiding all lines concentrating at one branch. The example of FIG. 10 shows that line 5, which does not pass through station A, is selected instead of line 4.

[0057] Specifically, in the case of Shinkansen trains departing from Tokyo Station and Ueno Station of JR East, by making sure that the four lines are not biased toward either the Utsunomiya direction (Tohoku (Hokkaido) Shinkansen, Akita Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen) beyond Omiya Station or the Takasaki direction (Joetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen), it is possible to eliminate intermediate stops that are common to all lines (Omiya Station is close to Tokyo Station and Ueno Station, so there is no economic rationality in using this system to purchase a ticket and get off there, and it is assumed that there is no impact). Note that this is not limited to the case where the starting station of each line is used as the departure station, such as Tokyo Station for the Shinkansen, and the bias of the branching of the lines from there is adjusted as the departure station. For example, if Nagoya Station on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen of JR Central (registered trademark, the same applies below) is used as the departure station, the up / down direction toward Tokyo and Shin-Osaka are considered to be different branches of the same line, and adjustments are made so that they are not biased toward either one.

[0058] When the route configuration is known, the above-mentioned adjustment of route bias can be performed by adjusting the bias when initially selecting the four routes, rather than selecting them randomly. Alternatively, after selecting four routes randomly, the bias can be checked, and if the routes are concentrated at one branch, one of the routes can be changed to another route (direction).

[0059] Depending on the configuration of the line, for example in the case of the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line, which starts from Tokyo Station, where the starting station is the starting station and the line is a single track, it may not be possible to adjust the line so that trains do not concentrate at one branch by switching to another line as described above. In such cases, the method described below will be used to adjust the line so that there are no definite stops along the way for round trip trains.

[0060] Returning to Fig. 7, next, for each of the four candidate lines selected in step S30, one station to be presented to the user as a candidate location is selected from the stop stations included in the corresponding stop station list created in step S22 to create a candidate station list (S40). Specifically, for example, for each of the four candidate lines, one station is selected from each of the stop stations included in the corresponding stop station list by random drawing based on a drawing probability set according to a score preset for each station.

[0061] The score is calculated by, for example, weighting each station by a predetermined parameter and multiplying each weight. The basic parameter is the number of stocks for a round trip between the departure station and each station, and the weight is set so that the station with a larger stock has a higher score, but weights based on other parameters can be reflected in this. For example, weights can be set as parameters for each station depending on whether the station is popular (a station with a large number of users or trains) or whether the station is a target station for a campaign held by a railway company or the like. The weight can be set to zero so that the station is not selected as a candidate station.

[0062] In addition, even for the same station, the weight may be varied depending on the month, day of the week, time period, or a combination of these. For example, it is possible to reflect circumstances such as a train departing from the same station having a higher demand on Friday evenings than trains departing from other times on weekdays, and therefore stock is more likely to be sold. Furthermore, as an individual weight for each user, for example, a weight may be set so that a destination that has been selected or determined by lottery using this service in the past, or a station that is the same as a destination that has been visited in the past, is less likely to be selected again. Note that the setting information on what value the weight should be when each parameter corresponds to a certain condition may be registered in advance in, for example, a setting file or table (not shown) and made external, so that it can be changed as necessary.

[0063] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of creating a candidate station list in one embodiment of the present invention. Here, for each stop station included in the relevant stop station list of a certain line as shown in the example of FIG. 9, weights are set for each parameter by station, month, day of the week, and individual as described above, and the results of multiplying each weight are shown at the bottom. Then, a lottery is held based on the lottery probability set according to the magnitude of this value, and a candidate station on the line is selected. In the example of FIG. 11, the lottery probability of W station is set to be the highest.

[0064] As described above, in this embodiment, when selecting four candidate stations for the destination, four candidate lines are selected by lottery, and the candidate stations are selected by lottery from the corresponding stops on each candidate line. At this time, since the lottery probability is set based on the weight of each parameter, when the same user performs multiple searches at close time intervals, a specific station may be more likely to be selected as a candidate station unless the stock quantity has changed significantly, but the contents of the candidate stations presented each time a search is performed may change. At this time, if the user is allowed to repeat searches many times until a good combination of candidate stations appears, an excessive load will be placed on the system.

[0065] In this embodiment, the conditions input by the user and the contents of the candidate stations in the search results are recorded in a cookie, and when the same conditions are input again, the same candidate stations as the first output candidate stations are output as long as there is stock. When the initial candidate station in the search results cannot be selected, for example, when there is a shortage of stock due to a change in stock, the response is "not applicable." This makes it possible to suppress repeated searches by the user. When the same conditions are specified, instead of always using the initial search results, it is possible to set a limit on the number of times and allow the search process to be repeated a certain number of times. In addition, it is also possible to reset the search after a certain period of time, such as several days, and to perform a new search again.

[0066] Returning to Fig. 7, once the four candidate stations have been determined, a series of processes are then carried out to determine the trains and destination stations to be actually sold to users from among the round-trip train combinations between the departure station and each candidate station (S50). Here, a weight is set according to the number of trains in stock, and each train is scored, and the final round-trip train is determined by lottery based on the lottery probability according to the score.

[0067] In this embodiment, as described above, the final destination and round-trip train, the timing of registering the actual reservation, etc. can be flexibly set. Depending on the settings, a situation may arise where the stock of the target train is already sold out and the ticket cannot be sold when the actual reservation is registered in the railway company system 20.

[0068] In this embodiment, in order to avoid the above-mentioned risks, when the final round-trip train is determined by lottery, the order of the other round-trip trains other than the one determined round-trip train is also determined in advance by lottery and a priority list is created. This allows a reservation to be quickly registered for the next candidate train even if there is no stock for the target train when registering a reservation. If there is no stock for the next candidate train, the reservation can be registered for the next candidate train, and so on, by extracting alternative candidate trains from the priority list and attempting to make a reservation until a reservation can be registered.

[0069] In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, even if a reservation is registered, the final destination and round-trip train information can be withheld from the user until just before departure, so the process of deciding the round-trip train as described above can be kept secret from the user. Note that the priority order may be determined for all candidate round-trip trains, or it may be made more efficient by determining the priority order only from the top to a certain rank and omitting the rest.

[0070] In the series of processes in step S50, first, a candidate train list is created (S51) consisting of trains going round trip between the departure station specified in step S10 and the four candidate stations included in the candidate station list created in step S40. Specifically, for each candidate station, trains that stop at the target candidate station are extracted from the corresponding train list for the outbound journey created in step S21, and a candidate train list for the outbound journey is created. Similarly, trains that stop at the target candidate station are extracted from the corresponding train list for the return journey created in step S21, and a candidate train list for the return journey is created. Then, based on the candidate train lists for the outbound journey and the return journey, a round trip candidate train list is created consisting of all combinations that can be used for round trips between the target candidate station and the candidate station.

[0071] 12 and 13 are diagrams showing an outline of a specific example of a candidate train list in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12(a) and (b) show examples of candidate train lists for outbound and inbound journeys, which are obtained by extracting trains that stop at each station for four candidate stations (Sendai Station, Morioka Station, Niigata Station, and Nagano Station in the example shown in the figure) included in the candidate station list selected in step S40 from the corresponding train lists for outbound and inbound journeys shown in FIG. 8(a) and (b) above. FIG. 13 shows an example of a round-trip candidate train list that combines all of the candidate train lists for outbound and inbound journeys shown in FIG. 12(a) and (b) as trains that go round trip at the candidate stations. For convenience, each candidate station is enclosed in a thick frame in the figure.

[0072] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of train combinations for outbound and return journeys in a round-trip candidate train list in one embodiment of the present invention. Here, the combination status in the round-trip candidate train list shown in FIG. 13 is illustrated. In the diagram, the upper part shows the candidate station, train name, and stock quantity for each train included in the outbound candidate train list, and the lower part shows the candidate station, train name, and stock quantity for each train included in the return journey candidate train list. In addition, as possible round-trip train combinations, solid lines show all combinations of trains where the candidate station for the outbound journey is the same as the candidate station for the return journey. In other words, each solid line connecting trains for the outbound journey and the return journey corresponds to each row in the round-trip candidate train list shown in FIG. 13.

[0073] Returning to Fig. 7, next, a process is performed to determine the priority order of each combination of round-trip trains in the round-trip candidate train list created in step S51 based on a predetermined condition (S52). Various methods for determining the priority order are conceivable, and any method can be appropriately adopted.

[0074] For example, the simplest and most commonly conceivable method is to randomly sort and rank each round-trip train combination in the round-trip candidate train list shown in Fig. 13 (this method is referred to as "method 0"). That is, one train is randomly selected from the outbound trains in the upper row in the example of Fig. 14, and one train is randomly selected from the return trains in the lower row that are paired with the selected outbound train, and this is set as the first-ranked round-trip train. Then, the same process as above is performed on the remaining round-trip train combinations to select the next-ranked round-trip train, and this process is repeated in sequence until there are no more round-trip train combinations (the order of selection of the outbound and return trains may be reversed).

[0075] Adopting the 0th method as described above has the advantage that the logic for creating a priority list for round-trip trains is simple and easy to implement. On the other hand, efficiency may decrease in terms of selling inventory. Since the 0th method does not take into account the amount of inventory of each train, even lines and trains with low inventory may be sold first, and the seller's desire to efficiently sell lines and trains with high inventory cannot be met. In addition, even lines and trains with low inventory may be randomly selected and sold, which may result in many trains that are unavailable for sale (sold out), and it may even be impossible to select four candidate destination stations.

[0076] In response to this, in order to give priority to trains with larger stocks, rather than ranking them by completely random sorting like Method 0, it would be possible to weight each train according to the amount of stock it has, so that trains with larger stocks are more likely to be selected / drawn for tickets (this method is referred to as "Method 1").

[0077] Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of trains on the outbound and return journeys by the first method in one embodiment of the present invention. In the example of Fig. 15, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that the stock numbers of each train on the outbound and return journeys are as shown in the figure, unlike the stock numbers in the example of the combination of trains on the outbound and return journeys shown in Fig. 14.

[0078] In the first method, as in the 0th method, first, one of the outbound trains in the upper row of the figure is selected as the target outbound train, taking into consideration the weight set according to the number of seats in stock for each train. In the example of Fig. 15, the bold frame shows that "No. 601" was selected by lottery from among the trains that stop at Sendai Station, which have a larger number of seats in stock than the other outbound trains, with 100 seats in each train. Next, one of the return trains in the lower row that are paired with the selected outbound train is selected as the first-priority round-trip train, taking into consideration the weight set according to the number of seats in stock. In the example of Fig. 15, the bold frame shows that "No. 114" was selected by lottery from among the return trains that stop at Sendai Station, each of which has a number of seats in stock of 10 seats in each train. Then, the same process as above is performed for the remaining combinations of round-trip trains to select the next-priority round-trip train, and this process is repeated in sequence until there are no more combinations of round-trip trains.

[0079] In the case of the first method described above, although the amount of stock can be taken into consideration by the weight, for example, if there is a large imbalance in the amount of stock between outbound trains and inbound trains, or between each outbound train and each inbound train, it may be impossible to properly evaluate the amount of stock, resulting in inefficient sales. For example, at Sendai Station in the example of FIG. 15, the total number of stocks (vacant seats) of the three outbound trains is 300 seats, which is a large amount, but the total number of stocks of the three inbound trains is only 30 seats, which is a large imbalance. In this case, the maximum number of people who can travel to and from Sendai Station using these trains is only 30. In other words, the transportable capacity in terms of travel to and from Sendai Station is 30 seats.

[0080] In contrast, Nagano Station in the example of Figure 15 has 30 seats in stock for one outbound train, which is much less than Sendai Station, but has 30 seats in stock for one return train, so its transport capacity is the same as Sendai Station's 30 seats. In this way, even though the transport capacity for a round trip is the same, Sendai Station, which has a larger number of outbound trains in stock, is overwhelmingly more likely to be selected during the lottery for outbound trains, which can result in inefficient sales. As in the above example, there may be a large imbalance in the number of seats in stock at some stations, such as weekday daytime trains having relatively many vacant seats, while Friday evening trains are usually almost full.

[0081] Therefore, in order to eliminate the inefficiency caused by the imbalance in the stock numbers of outbound and return trains for each candidate station, it is possible to set weights taking into account the stock numbers for round-trip trains (this method is called the "second method"). That is, for each combination of round-trip trains in the candidate train list as shown in the example of Figure 13, the smaller of the stock numbers for the outbound and return trains is set as the stock number for the round-trip train (round-trip stock number), and the priority is determined by lottery after weighting each round-trip train with the round-trip stock number as a weight.

[0082] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outward and return trains by the second method in one embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 16, it is assumed that the stock quantity is the same as the stock quantity in the example of the combination of outward and return trains shown in FIG. 14. In the figure, the round-trip stock quantity for each round-trip train between Sendai Station and Nagano Station is shown. In this way, a weight based on the round-trip stock quantity is set for each round-trip train, so that inefficiency due to the imbalance in the stock quantity between the outward and return journeys can be eliminated, and the combination with a larger stock quantity as a round-trip train (a combination with a larger round-trip stock quantity) is more likely to be given a higher priority in the lottery, making it easier to sell the stock efficiently until the end.

[0083] In the example of FIG. 16, it is shown that the total round-trip stock quantity of all round-trip trains (9 patterns) between Sendai Station is 140, and the total round-trip stock quantity of all round-trip trains (1 pattern) between Nagano Station is 10. That is, a weight of 140 is set for all round-trip trains in total for Sendai Station, and a weight of 10 is set for all round-trip trains in total for Nagano Station. Therefore, in the lottery for determining the ranking of each round-trip train in the second method, the probability that one of the round-trip trains between Sendai Station is selected is 14 times the probability that a round-trip train between Nagano Station is selected, and the probability that Sendai Station is selected as the final destination is 14 times the probability that Nagano Station is selected.

[0084] However, when considering the transport capacity for each station as mentioned above, Sendai Station has a total of 30+20+10=60 seats, while Nagano Station has only 10 seats, making the ratio of transport capacity for the station only 6:1. In other words, the more combinations of round-trip trains there are, such as Sendai Station, the higher the weight is set as a station compared to the bias in transport capacity, making it more likely to be selected as a final destination.

[0085] Therefore, the second method is effective in cases where you want to give priority to selling round-trip trains between stations with many round-trip train combinations (i.e., stations with many trains departing and arriving, or stations with many passengers).Even in stations with many round-trip train combinations, as the number of trains with fewer stock (sold out) increases, the number of round-trip train combinations will also decrease, so the situation in which a large weight is set for the station as a whole (i.e., the stock is easily sold) will be alleviated.

[0086] On the other hand, in addition to the bias in the stock number for each station, it is desirable to also consider the bias in the stock number of each round-trip train within a station. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of a plurality of round-trip trains within the same station in one embodiment of the present invention. For example, consider a case where the outbound train candidates for a certain station are the three trains shown in the upper diagram, and the return train candidates are the three trains shown in the lower diagram, and a target round-trip train is selected by lottery from the round-trip trains consisting of these combinations. In this case, in the above-mentioned second method, the round-trip stock number of each round-trip train is corrected to 10, which is the one with the smaller stock number. Therefore, the weight set for each round-trip train based on the round-trip stock number, that is, the lottery probability when determining the priority order, is an equal value.

[0087] However, in the example of Figure 17, only the return trip "No. 111" has 80 seats in stock (vacant seats), unlike the 10 seats of the other trains, and it is considered that the lottery probability of "No. 111" being selected as the return trip when determining the priority order should be 8 times higher than other trains, which is more realistic. In other words, in the second method, when the stock numbers of all outbound trains (or return trains) for a certain station are generally low and the stock numbers of return trains (or outbound trains) are generally high, as in the example of Figure 17, the distribution or bias of the stock numbers of return trains (or outbound trains) will not be reflected in the weight when determining the round-trip train.

[0088] Therefore, it is possible to set weights by considering the distribution and bias of the stock of outbound and return trains at each station while avoiding setting a large weight for stations with a large number of round-trip train combinations (this method is called the "third method"). That is, for each combination of round-trip trains in the candidate train list as shown in the example of Figure 13, the stock of the outbound and return trains is multiplied, and the resulting value is used as the weight per round-trip train within the station. In addition, the total stock of each outbound train and the total stock of each return train are calculated for each station, and the smaller of these (i.e., the transport capacity of each station) is used as the weight per station. Then, the calculated weight per round-trip train within the station and the weight per station are multiplied for each round-trip train to calculate the weight per round-trip train, and a lottery and selection are performed based on this weight per round-trip to determine the priority of each round-trip train.

[0089] Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from a combination of outward and return trains using the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. In the example of Fig. 18, it is assumed that the inventory quantity is the same as the inventory quantity in the example of the combination of outward and return trains shown in Fig. 14. The figure shows the in-station round-trip weights calculated for each round-trip train for Sendai Station. Also, for each station, the total inventory quantity of each train for the outward and return journeys is shown, and the smaller of these is used as the station weight.

[0090] The following describes how the lottery probability for determining the priority order of each round-trip train is calculated when weights are set using the above-mentioned third method. For comparison, FIG. 19 is a diagram outlining an example of the lottery probability when weights are set for each train using the above-mentioned first method. FIGS. 19(a) and 19(b) show the case where the lottery probability is calculated using the inventory quantity for each train on one way as a weight for the outbound journey (FIG. 19(a)) and the return journey (FIG. 19(b)), when the round-trip candidate train list created in step S51 of FIG. 7 is the example shown in FIG. 13 (and FIG. 14).

[0091] Here, for both the outbound and return journeys, the lottery probability is calculated by simply dividing the 100% lottery probability of the total stock of all candidate trains at all candidate stations (outbound journey = 195, return journey = 170) by the stock of each train. In the first method, the priority order of round-trip trains is determined by the combination of outbound and return trains that are drawn in sequence based on this lottery probability.

[0092] Fig. 20 is a diagram outlining an example of the lottery probability when weights are set for each train by the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 20(a)-(d) each show an example in which the round-trip weights are calculated by multiplying the above-mentioned in-station round-trip weights and station-specific weights for each of four candidate stations (Sendai Station, Morioka Station, Niigata Station, and Nagano Station) when the round-trip candidate train list created in step S51 in Fig. 7 is the example shown in Fig. 13 (and Fig. 14).

[0093] In each of (a) to (d), the first term on the left side shows the weight per round trip within the station, which is the result of multiplying the matrix consisting of all combinations of outbound and inbound trains at the target station by the respective stock numbers. In each cell, the upper row shows the value multiplied by the stock number, and the lower row shows the value as a percentage as a proportion of the target station as a whole (the percentage value in the lower row will be used in the following calculations).

[0094] The second term on the left side of the equation shows the weights of each station shown in Figure 18 (in the example of Figure 18, Sendai Station is 60, Morioka Station is 40, Niigata Station is 45, and Nagano Station is 10) as a percentage of the total for all stations (60+40+45+10=155). The right side of the equation shows the weights for each round trip obtained as a result of the calculation on the left side in a matrix consisting of combinations of outbound and inbound trains. The total of the weights for each round trip for all round trip trains at each station shown in Figures 20(a) to (d) is 100%. In the third method, the priority order of round trip trains is determined by drawing lots in sequence using the weights for each round trip as a lottery probability.

[0095] In the third method, by allocating the lottery probability for each station according to the station weight (i.e., the transport capacity described above), even if there is a station with a large inventory and many round-trip train combinations, it is possible to sell more appropriately according to the inventory for each station compared to the second method. In other words, trains that stop at stations with many round-trip train combinations are not given priority in sales, and if the round-trip inventory for each station (transport capacity) is the same, it is possible to ensure that the priority (lottery probability) is not affected by the number of round-trip train combinations.

[0096] In addition, by allocating the lottery probability according to the weight per round trip within the same station multiplied by the number of tickets in stock per round trip, trains with surplus tickets (large number of tickets in stock) are more likely to be sold, and the stock can be sold efficiently until the end. In addition, the lottery probability is allocated according to the ratio of the number of tickets in stock for the outbound and return trips, allowing the stock to be sold more appropriately.

[0097] In addition, because the third method uses the weight for each round trip within the station obtained by multiplying the number of stocks for each round trip, it is essentially equivalent to combining the outbound and inbound trips by drawing and selecting them separately, as in the first method described above. Therefore, either method may be used, but in the case of the latter method in which the outbound and inbound trips are combined by drawing and selecting them separately, although it is not necessary to calculate the weight for each round trip within the station, when ranking all combinations, it is necessary to carry out a cancellation process that takes the combinations into consideration, which can be an inefficient process.

[0098] Fig. 21 is a diagram outlining an example of the lottery probability when weights are set for each train using the third method in one embodiment of the present invention. Figs. 21(a) and (b) show the lottery probability (weights for each round trip on the right side) for each round trip train shown in Fig. 20, tabulated for each train, divided into the outbound journey (Fig. 21(a)) and the inbound journey (Fig. 21(b)). As described above, the third method is equivalent to drawing and selecting trains for the outbound journey and the inbound journey individually using the lottery probability as shown in Fig. 21, and combining these to determine the round trip trains.

[0099] When comparing the lottery probability determined by the third method shown in FIG. 21 with the lottery probability determined by the first method shown in FIG. 19, in the example of FIG. 21, it can be seen that the lottery probability is corrected based on the balance of the inventory between stations and the balance of the inventory in each of the outbound and return trips. For example, in the example of FIG. 21(a), even for the 30 outbound trains with the same inventory, the lottery probability is adjusted according to the inventory of the return trains for each station between "Train No. 101 arriving at Sendai Station" and "Train No. 101 arriving at Morioka Station", and the lottery probability of the former is higher.

[0100] In this embodiment, elements selected by lottery from a plurality of trains with different lottery probabilities (or weights) are sequentially taken out and ranked (ranked), but the method is not particularly limited, and any method can be adopted including known methods.

[0101] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an outline of an example of a method for determining the priority order when the lottery probability for each round-trip train in an embodiment of the present invention is determined. For example, when ranking three elements A, B, and C, assuming that their respective lottery probabilities are W = 1, 2, and 3, as shown in the left figure, the winning range HA of element A is 0 < HA ≦ 1, the winning range HB of element B is 1 < HB ≦ 3, and the winning range HC of element C is 3 < HC ≦ 6. Note that the order of arrangement of the winning ranges H is not limited to this and can be arbitrary.

[0102] Thereafter, a random number value P is generated in the range of 0 < P ≦ 6, and it is assumed that the element corresponding to the winning range H to which P belongs is the winner. In the example of FIG. 22, it shows that element B is the winner. Thereafter, the winning element B is added to the end of the ranking list, and the winning range HB is removed. As shown in the right figure, after filling the gap in the winning range HB part and reconstructing the winning range, the next lottery is conducted. At this time, the range of the random number value P generated in the next lottery is 0 < P ≦ 4. In this way, by sequentially removing the winning ranges H of the winning elements and repeating the lottery until all the winning ranges H disappear, a ranking list of the results of ranking all the elements can be obtained.

[0103] In the above-mentioned first to third methods, the priority is determined for all candidate train lists at the four candidate stations as shown in the example of FIG. 13 (it may be up to a predetermined number of top candidates). Then, in the application process described later, the destination and round-trip train are determined in descending order of priority, starting from the top one. When this method is used, there is a high probability that candidate trains that stop at candidate stations with high weights are concentrated in the top of the priority list, and there is a possibility that the station (line) that is ultimately determined as the destination is likely to be biased toward a specific station. In addition, a specific train (forward or return) is often included in the round-trip trains listed at the top of the priority list, and if that train becomes unavailable due to being fully booked, it is likely that all the round-trip trains with high priority, including that train, will become unavailable.

[0104] Therefore, in order to reduce such bias, one possible approach would be to extract the round-trip train with the highest priority from each of the four candidate stations (lines) and create a list of top candidate trains, and then for each round-trip train related to the four candidate stations included in this top candidate train list, determine a priority based on the lottery probability weighted by a weight, and then determine the destination and round-trip train in order from the top one (this method will be referred to as the "fourth method").

[0105] According to the fourth method, the four round-trip trains included in the top candidate train list correspond to four candidate stations, respectively, so that the final destination determined from among them can be prevented from being biased toward a specific station. In the present embodiment, the following description will be given assuming that the fourth method is adopted. That is, after the priority of each round-trip train is determined in step S52 of Fig. 7, a top candidate train list is created by extracting and collecting the round-trip trains with the highest priority for each candidate station based on the priority (S53).

[0106] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of determining the order of round-trip trains from combinations of outward and return trains using the fourth method in one embodiment of the present invention. The left side of the figure shows that priorities are determined for combinations of outward and return candidate trains for four candidate stations (V Station, W Station, X Station, and Y Station in the example in the figure). The right side of the figure shows a list of top candidate trains, which are collected by extracting the trains with the highest priority from the candidate train list for each candidate station. The four round-trip trains included in this top candidate train list are further prioritized based on their respective weights (priorities), and are determined as destinations and round-trip trains in order of priority, starting from the top one.

[0107] The method of creating the candidate train list for each candidate station shown on the left side of the figure is not particularly limited, but for example, in step S52 of Figure 7, the overall priority of the candidate train list for all four candidate stations is determined using the above-mentioned first to third methods, and then the candidate train list can be separated for each candidate station while maintaining the priority and created as a list. Alternatively, the candidate train list including round-trip trains to all candidate stations as shown in the example of Figure 13 may first be separated for each candidate station to create individual candidate train lists, and the priority of the candidate train list for each candidate station may be determined using the above-mentioned first or second method.

[0108] In the case of the fourth method described above, the top candidate train list that is used to determine the final destination contains one round-trip train for each of the four candidate stations. However, if, for example, all four candidate stations are on the same line (for example, the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line with Tokyo Station as the departure station), there is a possibility that each round-trip train in the top candidate train list will have definite intermediate stops.

[0109] Therefore, in the fourth method, each round-trip train in the top candidate train list, i.e., a total of eight trains, four outbound and four return, related to each candidate station, is checked to see if there are any definite common stops. If all eight trains, four outbound and four return, have a common stop, this is of course not allowed, but it is desirable to check whether all four outbound or all four return trains have a common stop. This makes it possible to prevent a usage method in which a normal ticket is purchased for a one-way trip that does not have a common stop, and a cheaper ticket is used for the other one-way trip to go to the station in question definitely. There are no particular restrictions on how to handle a case in which all four trains have a common stop on either the outbound or return trip, and this can be determined appropriately depending on the content of the service.

[0110] For the four candidate trains relating to the four candidate stations, if there are stations that are common to all of them on at least one of the outbound or inbound journeys, and this is deemed NG, one of the four candidate trains with the common station is replaced with another round-trip train and checked again to find a combination of candidate trains that does not have any common stations.

[0111] For example, for each of the four candidate trains in the top candidate train list (table on the right side of Figure 23), the next-highest-ranked train is extracted from the candidate train list for the target candidate station (table on the left side of Figure 23) and replaced, and then it is checked whether there are no more common stops; if there are no more common stops, the next-highest-ranked train is replaced, and this process is repeated until there are no more common stops. If there are no more common stops, the difference in priority between the original candidate train and the replaced round-trip train (how much the priority has dropped due to the swap) is calculated. Then, of the four candidate trains, the pattern with the smallest difference in priority when there are no more common stops due to the swap is adopted. This makes it possible to eliminate stations that will definitely stop while maintaining the sum of priorities as large as possible.

[0112] Instead of the above-mentioned method of creating a top candidate train list, then checking whether there are any common stops and replacing one candidate train if there are, for example, when creating the top candidate train list, all combinations can be created based on the candidate train list for each candidate station regardless of priority, and each combination can be checked to see whether there are any common stops, and the combination with the highest sum of the priorities of each round-trip train can be selected as the top candidate train list from among the combinations with no common stops.

[0113] Even if such switching of candidate trains is performed, there may be cases where it is impossible to avoid the existence of common stops, depending on the route configuration, the stops of each train, inventory, etc. Therefore, in creating the above-mentioned top candidate train list (step S53 in FIG. 7), a check is made as to whether or not a combination in which all round-trip trains have no common stops can be created (S54 in FIG. 7). If there are definite stops common to all round-trip trains (No in step S54), the process returns to step S40 and is repeated from creating the candidate station list again.

[0114] At this time, instead of reselecting all the candidate stations, one station is replaced with another station among the stations for each candidate line included in the candidate station list already created in step S40. It is also possible to check whether there are no common stops for all combinations of stops included in the corresponding stop station list created in step S22, but this is not desirable because it would result in a huge amount of calculation. In addition, the four candidate stations included in the candidate station list created in step S40 were selected based on weights that took into account circumstances such as inventory levels and campaigns, and if this were reset and candidate stations were selected so that there were no common stops from a zero-base, the aims and effects of inventory reduction and campaigns would not be fully achieved.

[0115] In this embodiment, when adjusting by replacing one of the candidate stations included in the candidate station list with another station in step S40, a stop station that is closer to the departure station than the stop station closest to the departure station among the stops common to all the candidate trains related to the four candidate stations is set as the new candidate station. For example, on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen with Tokyo Station as the departure station, if the four candidate stations are Osaka Station, Kyoto Station, Gifu-Hashima Station, and Nagoya Station, Nagoya Station will definitely be the common stop station regardless of the candidate trains related to each candidate station. In this case, even if one of the candidate stations is replaced with a station farther away from Tokyo Station than Nagoya Station, Nagoya Station will still definitely be the common stop station, and it will be meaningless.

[0116] In response to this, by replacing one of the candidate stations with a station earlier than Nagoya Station (for example, Shizuoka Station), it is possible to avoid stations that are definitely common. Even on the same Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen line, the stopping patterns differ depending on the train, so it is possible to select a station that does not definitely stop, such as Shizuoka Station. In this case, regarding which of the four candidate stations to replace, for example, by preferentially selecting the station with the smallest weight set for each candidate station, such as the station-by-station weight in the above-mentioned third method, replacement can be performed taking into account the inventory level at each station, the presence or absence of campaigns, etc.

[0117] Since the number of stations is finite, instead of the method of selecting four candidate stations as described above and then replacing one if the candidate trains have a common stop station, for example, combinations of candidate stations that do not have any definitely common stops can be calculated in advance and stored as data, and a selection can be made from among these combinations when creating the candidate station list in step S40.

[0118] Returning to FIG. 7, if it is determined in step S54 that there are no stops common to all round-trip trains (Yes in step S54), information on the four candidate stations included in the top candidate train list created in step S53 is displayed on the user terminal 40 using a screen such as that shown in FIG. 3 above (S55).

[0119] Thereafter, the user decides whether or not to apply for the trip, but if the user does not apply (transitions to another screen, closes the application, etc.), the search conditions entered in step S10 and the information on the candidate station list created in step S40 may be stored using a cookie or the like, as described above. On the other hand, if the user does apply, an application request is accepted from the user terminal 40 via a screen such as that shown in Fig. 4 above, application processing is performed (S60), and the series of processes ends.

[0120] In the application process, for example, information such as the candidate station list created in step S40, the round-trip train priority list determined in step S52, and the top candidate train list created in step S53 are recorded in the application DB 17, etc., and in this embodiment, the round-trip train recorded at the top of the top candidate train list is actually processed for reservation via the reservation processing unit 21 of the railway company system 20, and the number of trains in stock is subtracted (or the number of trains already sold is added). As described above, if there is a shortage of stock when actually registering a reservation in the railway company system 20, the round-trip train recorded at the next highest priority in the top candidate train list is used instead and the reservation process is performed. In this embodiment, information on the actually reserved round-trip train is notified to the user four days before the departure date via a screen such as that shown in FIG. 5.

[0121] In this embodiment, as shown in the screen examples of Figures 3 and 4, four candidate stations are presented to the user, but the details of the candidate trains for each candidate station are not presented. Therefore, unless there are stops common to all trains that stop at each candidate station, there are no stops that are definitively common to the user in a formal sense.

[0122] On the other hand, in the case where almost all trains stop at a certain station, but some trains with rare stop patterns do not stop at the station, even if only one such rare train is included in the candidate train list for the station, the station is not technically a definite common stop. However, if the user does not know about the existence of such a rare train, it will appear to the user as if there is a definite common stop, and since most trains stop at the station, it will practically be a definite common stop, and the user will not be able to avoid using this service in order to definitely get off at the station.

[0123] However, even in the above case, in this embodiment, because the common stop stations are excluded, the four candidate trains in the top candidate train list will include trains with rare stop patterns, and as a result, there will be cases where the stop stations related to the train are ultimately selected as the destination. In this case, users who recognized that there were definite stop stations will be deceived, and by spreading such cases on the Internet, it will be possible to check and deter actions that target definite common intermediate stop stations.

[0124] In addition, in this embodiment, only four candidate stations are presented to the user, but it is also possible to present the round-trip trains corresponding to each of the candidate stations together. In this case, the user can see that the combination does not include any definite intermediate stops by referring to a publicly available timetable, for example, and this can fully contribute to the purpose of preventing behavior that targets this combination.

[0125] As described above, the transportation ticket allocation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention can realize a destination suggestion type sales method in which the system automatically determines the final destination and round-trip train by lottery from multiple destination candidates extracted based on the conditions input by the user. In this case, the seller can prioritize the candidate destinations desired by the seller to promote the sales of the stock, and it is possible to provide the user with a sense of surprise and anticipation for the trip by solving the problem that there may be common stops along the way due to the unique characteristic of railways that allows disembarking along the way.

[0126] When selecting multiple candidate locations (candidate stations) and deciding on the final destination station and round-trip train, weights can be set based on various parameters including the inventory numbers for outbound and return trains and the inventory numbers at each station, and tickets can be sold starting with the highest priority, making it possible to efficiently and effectively promote sales of inventory.

[0127] As described above, unlike airlines where all seats are basically reserved, trains also have unreserved seats and there are cases where stock is not / cannot be taken into account when selling tickets, so stock may not be taken into account as a parameter for determining priority. Also, from the viewpoint of preventing multiple destination candidates from having definitively common intermediate stops, it is not essential to set priorities for the list of extracted candidate trains.

[0128] The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described above based on the embodiment, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the invention. Furthermore, the above embodiment has been described in detail to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to having all of the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the above embodiment with other configurations.

[0129] Specifically, for example, in the above embodiment, an example is given of a case where an outbound train and a return train between a departure station and an arrival station that is the destination are combined and sold as a round-trip train, but the present invention is not limited to this pattern and can be applied to other patterns as appropriate. For example, if there is a station close to the destination, it is also possible to combine them in a so-called open jaw format, where the arrival station of the outbound train is different from the departure station of the return train (for example, Yamagata Station and Tendo Station). The same applies when the departure station of the outbound train is different from the arrival station of the return train. Also, in the above embodiment, the Shinkansen has been described as a specific example of a railway line, but it goes without saying that limited express trains and conventional trains may also be included.

[0130] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as the program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0131] In addition, in each of the above figures, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the actual implementation. In reality, it can be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other. [Industrial Applicability]

[0132] The present invention can be used in a destination suggestion type transportation ticket allocation system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0133] 1...Vehicle ticket allocation system, 10... transportation ticket allocation server, 11... inventory management unit, 12... destination candidate extraction unit, 13... application management unit, 14... inventory DB, 15... purchase history DB, 16... user DB, 17... application DB, 20...Railway company system, 21...Reservation processing unit, 22...Inventory DB, 23...Purchase history DB, 30…Network, 40...User terminal

Claims

1. A vehicle ticket allocation system that allocates tickets for a vehicle having one or more fixed routes and fixed boarding and disembarking points on the routes by a combination of an outbound flight and a return flight, comprising: A vehicle ticket allocation system that accepts input of a departure point from a user via an information processing terminal, extracts a predetermined number of potential destinations that can be reached from the departure point by each of the routes, such that there are no common boarding and disembarking points on the routes leading to each of the potential destinations, and selects one combination of outbound and return flights that can reach each of the predetermined number of extracted potential destinations based on predetermined criteria and assigns it to the user.

2. A transportation ticket allocation system for allocating transportation tickets by a combination of an outbound flight and a return flight, an inventory recorder for maintaining information about the vehicles available for allocation; a destination candidate extraction unit which accepts input of conditions other than the destination from a user via an information processing terminal, obtains information on a corresponding outbound flight and a corresponding return flight that meet the conditions from the inventory recording unit, obtains common boarding and disembarking locations between the corresponding outbound flight and the corresponding return flight as the corresponding boarding and disembarking locations, selects a predetermined number of routes related to each of the corresponding boarding and disembarking locations as candidate routes, selects one candidate boarding and disembarking location included in the corresponding boarding and disembarking locations from each of the candidate routes, selects and collects one candidate round-trip flight for each of the candidate routes based on a predetermined criterion as a top candidate round-trip flight, selects one of the top candidate round-trip flights based on a predetermined criterion as an assigned round-trip flight, and sets the candidate boarding and disembarking location corresponding to the assigned round-trip flight as a destination, A vehicle ticket allocation system in which, when there is a definite common boarding and disembarking point that is common to all outbound flights and / or all return flights included in the top candidate round-trip flights, the destination candidate extraction unit replaces one of the top candidate round-trip flights with another candidate round-trip flight related to the corresponding candidate boarding and disembarking point.

3. 3. The transportation ticket allocation system according to claim 2, In a transportation ticket allocation system, when all of the candidate routes are biased toward the same branch in a route branching from a departure point, the destination candidate extraction unit replaces one of the candidate routes with another branch.

4. 3. The transportation ticket allocation system according to claim 2, A vehicle ticket allocation system in which, when there is a definite common boarding and alighting point for the top candidate round-trip flight, and the definite common boarding and alighting point remains even if one of the top candidate round-trip flights is replaced with another candidate round-trip flight related to the corresponding candidate boarding and alighting point, the destination candidate extraction unit replaces one of the candidate boarding and alighting points with the other corresponding boarding and alighting point on the corresponding candidate route.

5. 5. The transportation ticket allocation system according to claim 4, A vehicle ticket allocation system in which the destination candidate extraction unit replaces one of the candidate boarding and alighting locations with the corresponding boarding and alighting location that is closer to the departure point specified by the user than the definite common boarding and alighting location that is closest to the departure point specified by the user.

6. 3. The transportation ticket allocation system according to claim 2, The destination candidate extraction unit excludes from the corresponding possible boarding and alighting locations those within a predetermined range from a departure point designated by a user.

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