Vehicle allocation processing device, vehicle allocation processing method, and vehicle allocation processing system

Abstract

To propose a carpooling even when a route traveled by a user by a transportation means does not include a starting point or a destination point of another user. [Solution] A vehicle dispatch processing device 2 that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, and is equipped with a memory unit 22 that stores the maximum allowable detour time required for a vehicle to move between multiple boarding locations where multiple users board, a reception unit 231 that receives inputs of boarding locations from multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle, a selection unit 232 that selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and a transmission control unit 235 that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit 232 can board the vehicle.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle dispatch processing device, a vehicle dispatch processing method, and a vehicle dispatch processing system for selecting users to ride together in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] The introduction of transportation means in which users share a ride is progressing. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a method in which a user proposes a ride-sharing to other users when the starting point and destination of another user are included in a route traveled by a transportation means. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-190541 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The method described in Patent Document 1 had a problem in that if the route the user was taking by public transportation did not include the starting point or destination of another user, it was not possible to suggest a ride-sharing.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a vehicle dispatch processing device and a vehicle dispatch processing method that can suggest a carpool when the route a user is traveling by public transportation does not include the starting point or destination of another user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle dispatch processing device of one aspect of the present invention is a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, and includes a memory unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to move between multiple boarding locations where the multiple users board, a reception unit that accepts inputs of boarding locations from multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle, a selection unit that selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit can board the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, an effect of suggesting a ride-sharing is achieved even when the route traveled by a user by a means of transportation does not include the starting point or destination point of another user. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle dispatch processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle dispatch processing device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of user data stored in a storage unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of maximum detour time data stored in a storage unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for calculating a detour time. [Figure 7] 11 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining a scheduled departure time by a determination unit. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a crew terminal. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a business operator device. [Figure 10] 4 shows a procedure for processing a vehicle reservation by the vehicle dispatch processing system. [Figure 11] 4 shows the processing procedure of the vehicle dispatch processing device when a vehicle dispatch reservation is made. [Figure 12] An example of the user selection process of FIG. 11 is shown. [Figure 13] Here is an example of early arrival time: [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of early arrival allowable time data stored in a storage unit. [Figure 15] An example of late arrival time is shown below. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing allowable late arrival time data stored in a storage unit. [Figure 17] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing condition data stored in a storage unit. [Figure 18] 12 shows another example of the user selection process of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] [Outline of the vehicle dispatch processing system S] <First embodiment> 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle dispatch processing system S according to this embodiment. The vehicle dispatch processing system S is a system for dispatching a vehicle V selected from a plurality of vehicles V in response to a request from a user U. The vehicle V is, for example, a ride-sharing vehicle in which a plurality of users U can ride together. The vehicle dispatch processing system S includes a plurality of user terminals 1, a vehicle dispatch processing device 2, a driver terminal 3, and a business operator device 4.

[0010] The user terminal 1 is, for example, a smartphone. The user terminal 1 communicates with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via a network. The user terminal 1 accepts, for example, an operation of a user U requesting dispatch of a vehicle V. The user terminal 1 transmits a dispatch request to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 to request dispatch of the vehicle V based on the accepted operation of the user U. The dispatch request includes, for example, information indicating a boarding location where the user U wishes to board the vehicle V. The dispatch request may further include a desired boarding time at which the user U wishes to board the vehicle V. When dispatch of the vehicle V is reserved, the user terminal 1 receives a dispatch notification indicating that dispatch of the vehicle V has been reserved from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2.

[0011] The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 is, for example, a server managed by a taxi company that manages the operation of the vehicle V or a business providing a vehicle dispatch service. The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 communicates with the user terminal 1, the driver terminal 3, and the business device 4 via a network.

[0012] The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 accepts a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 1. When the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 accepts the vehicle dispatch request, the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 specifies a boarding location where the user U desires to board the vehicle V and a desired boarding time at which the user U desires to board the vehicle V based on the vehicle dispatch request.

[0013] The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 transmits a vehicle dispatch request, which requests that the vehicle V head to the specified boarding location by the desired boarding time, to the crew terminal 3 mounted on the vehicle V. After transmitting the vehicle dispatch request to the crew terminal 3, when the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 receives a vehicle dispatch acceptance from the crew terminal 3 that accepts the vehicle dispatch request, it transmits a vehicle dispatch notification to the user terminal 1 indicating that the vehicle dispatch reservation has been completed.

[0014] The crew terminal 3 is an information terminal mounted on the vehicle V and used by the driver of the vehicle V. The crew terminal 3 can transmit and receive data to and from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via a wireless communication line and a network.

[0015] The business operator device 4 is, for example, a computer used by an administrator belonging to an organization (e.g., a corporation). The business operator device 4 communicates with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via a network. For example, the business operator device 4 accepts an operation by the administrator to set conditions when multiple users U belonging to this organization reserve a vehicle V. The business operator device 4 transmits setting data indicating the accepted conditions to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The business operator device 4 receives notification data from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 indicating that a vehicle dispatch reservation for user U belonging to this corporation has been completed.

[0016] In the vehicle dispatch processing system described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, if the route on which the user travels by transportation does not include the boarding location of another user, it is not possible to propose a ride-sharing. In contrast, the vehicle dispatch processing system S can propose a ride-sharing to a user regardless of whether the boarding location of another user is included on the route of the vehicle V when the user travels by individual travel in the vehicle V.

[0017] At this time, the vehicle dispatch processing system S selects users who board the vehicle V so that the detour time required for the vehicle to move between the multiple boarding locations where the multiple users U board does not exceed the first maximum detour time. Therefore, the vehicle dispatch processing system S can prevent the time taken by the users U to board the vehicle from becoming excessive due to users U with different boarding locations sharing the same vehicle.

[0018] [User terminal 1 configuration] 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal 1. The user terminal 1 is owned, for example, by a plurality of user candidates who wish to board a vehicle V. The user terminal 1 includes an operation unit 11, a communication unit 12, a display unit 13, a storage unit 14, and a control unit 15. The control unit 15 includes an operation reception unit 151, a communication control unit 152, and a display control unit 153.

[0019] The operation unit 11 is, for example, a touch panel. The operation unit 11 accepts operations by a user U. The operation unit 11 inputs information indicating the content of the accepted user operation to the control unit 15. The communication unit 12 is a wireless communication module for communicating with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The display unit 13 is a display that displays various information. The display unit 13 is, for example, provided superimposed on a touch panel.

[0020] The storage unit 14 includes a storage medium such as a read only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM), etc. The storage unit 14 stores a program that the control unit 15 executes.

[0021] The control unit 15 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 15 executes a program stored in the storage unit 14, thereby functioning as an operation reception unit 151, a communication control unit 152, and a display control unit 153.

[0022] The operation acceptance unit 151 accepts an operation by a user candidate. For example, the operation acceptance unit 151 accepts an input of a boarding location from a user candidate who owns a user terminal 1. The operation acceptance unit 151 may accept a location such as a taxi stand in front of the west exit of Station A as the boarding location, or may accept an area such as within a radius of 50 meters from Station B as the boarding location. The larger this area is, the cheaper the fare for boarding the vehicle V may be. On the other hand, the smaller this area is, the more expensive the fare for boarding the vehicle V may be. The operation acceptance unit 151 accepts an input of information on a dispatch request to request the dispatch of the vehicle V. The operation acceptance unit 151 outputs the dispatch request including the accepted boarding location to the communication control unit 152.

[0023] The communication control unit 152 communicates with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via the communication unit 12. For example, the communication control unit 152 transmits information indicating the boarding location accepted by the operation acceptance unit 151 to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The communication control unit 152 receives a vehicle dispatch notification from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 indicating that the dispatch of the vehicle V has been reserved.

[0024] [Configuration of vehicle dispatch processing device 2] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 determines a plurality of users who will ride together in a vehicle V. The vehicle dispatch processing device 2 has a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit 23. The control unit 23 includes a reception unit 231, a selection unit 232, an identification unit 233, a determination unit 234, and a communication control unit 235.

[0025] The communication unit 21 is a communication interface for transmitting and receiving various data between the user terminal 1, the crew terminal 3, and the business operator device 4. The communication unit 21 receives a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 1, for example, and transmits a vehicle dispatch notification to the user terminal 1. The communication unit 21 also transmits a vehicle dispatch request to the crew terminal 3 and receives a vehicle dispatch acceptance from the crew terminal 3. Furthermore, the communication unit 21 receives setting data from the business operator device 4 and transmits notification data to the business operator device 4.

[0026] The storage unit 22 has a storage medium such as a ROM, a RAM, or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 22 stores a program executed by the control unit 23. The storage unit 22 also stores data for the control unit 23 to execute various processes related to vehicle dispatch. The storage unit 22 stores, for example, a destination and a desired arrival time. As an example, a destination common to all users U registered in advance and a desired arrival time common to all users U are stored in the storage unit 22. All users U registered in advance are, for example, employees belonging to a specified corporation.

[0027] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user data stored in the storage unit 22. In the user data shown in Fig. 4, a user ID, an organization ID (corresponding to organization identification information), a desired boarding date, a boarding location, a destination, and a dispatched vehicle ID are associated with each other.

[0028] The user ID is information for identifying each of multiple users who use the services provided by the vehicle dispatch processing device 2, and is, for example, the user's name or the user's membership number. The organization ID is information for identifying an organization to which multiple users U who use the services provided by the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 belong. The multiple users U may belong to a common organization, or to different organizations. The organization ID includes, for example, a character string assigned by an administrator of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2.

[0029] The desired boarding date is the date and time input by the user U when making a vehicle dispatch request on the user terminal 1. The boarding location is input by the user when making a vehicle dispatch request on the user terminal 1. The destination is the location where the user U gets off the vehicle V. In the example of the first embodiment, the destination is common to all users U. The destination may be different for each organization to which the user U belongs. The dispatched vehicle ID is information for identifying the crew terminal 3 that has sent a vehicle dispatch acceptance in response to the dispatch request being sent by the vehicle dispatch processing device 2.

[0030] The storage unit 22 stores a first maximum detour time that is an allowable detour time required for a vehicle V to move between a plurality of boarding locations where a plurality of users U board. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of first maximum detour time data stored in the storage unit 22. In the first maximum detour time data shown in Fig. 5, an organization ID is associated with the first maximum detour time. The first row from the top of Fig. 5 shows that the first maximum detour time corresponding to a user U who belongs to an organization with an organization ID "G0001" is 30 minutes.

[0031] The first maximum detour time data is referred to when the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V. The first maximum detour time data stored in the storage unit 22 is generated, for example, by the reception unit 231 receiving, from a plurality of business operator devices 4, an input of an organization ID for identifying an organization that owns each of the business operator devices 4 and a first maximum detour time corresponding to the organization. At this time, the reception unit 231 generates first maximum detour time data by associating the received organization IDs corresponding to the plurality of business operator devices 4 with the first maximum detour time, and stores the generated first maximum detour time data in the storage unit 22.

[0032] 3 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 23 executes a program stored in the storage unit 22 to function as a reception unit 231, a selection unit 232, an identification unit 233, a determination unit 234, and a communication control unit 235.

[0033] The reception unit 231 communicates with the user terminal 1 via the communication unit 21. For example, the reception unit 231 receives input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle V. The reception unit 231 further receives input of information indicating the organization to which each of the user candidates belongs from the multiple user candidates. The information indicating the organization to which the user candidate belongs is, for example, an organization ID (corresponding to organization identification information) for identifying the organization to which the user candidate belongs. The organization ID may be the name of the organization, or may be a character string including numbers or letters assigned to the organization.

[0034] The reception unit 231 may receive an input of a user ID for identifying a user instead of the organization ID. The reception unit 231 may specify the organization ID associated with the user ID by referring to the user data shown in FIG. The reception unit 231 outputs the received boarding location and organization ID to the selection unit 232.

[0035] [Selection of passenger] The selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users to share a vehicle V. The selection unit 232 may select boarding users such that only multiple user candidates belonging to the same business operator share the same vehicle V, or may select boarding users even if the user candidates belong to different businesses to share the same vehicle V. In the example of the first embodiment, the selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates such that the detour time required for the vehicle V to move between the multiple boarding locations where the multiple boarding users board does not exceed a first maximum detour time.

[0036] 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating a detour time. The selection unit 232 specifies user candidates U1, U2, and U3 as provisional boarding users among a plurality of user candidates. Double circles in FIG. 6 indicate boarding locations of the user candidates U1, U2, and U3. As shown by solid arrows in FIG. 6, if the user candidates U1, U2, and U3 are selected as boarding users, the vehicle V moves to the common destination G after boarding the user candidates U1 to U3 via the boarding locations of the user candidates U1 to U3, respectively.

[0037] The dashed arrow in Fig. 6 indicates the travel route of the vehicle V when it is assumed that the vehicle V travels to destination G with only the user candidate U1 on board. As indicated by the solid and dashed arrows in Fig. 6, when the vehicle V travels to destination G with only the user candidate U1 on board, the travel route is longer than when the vehicle V travels to destination G with multiple user candidates U1 to U3 on board, and therefore the time that the user candidate U1 spends on the vehicle V is longer.

[0038] The selection unit 232 calculates the difference between the travel time when the vehicle V moves to the destination G with the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 on board and the travel time when the vehicle V moves to the destination G with only the user candidate U1 on board (hereinafter also referred to as individual delivery time) as the detour time for the user candidate U1 when the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 are selected as provisional boarding users. The detour time may include the time required to board the vehicle V or the waiting time.

[0039] The selection unit 232 reads out the first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22. The first maximum detour time is determined for each organization to which the user belongs, but may be the same value for all users U. For example, the selection unit 232 may read out first maximum detour time data in which an organization ID is associated with the first maximum detour time from the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 may refer to the read out first maximum detour time data and identify the first maximum detour times stored in the storage unit 22 in association with the organization IDs corresponding to each of the multiple user candidates whose vehicle dispatch requests are accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The first maximum detour time may be determined for each user.

[0040] When a first maximum detour time is determined for each organization to which a user belongs, the selection unit 232 selects a plurality of boarding users from a plurality of user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed each of the first maximum detour times associated with the organization ID corresponding to each of the selected boarding users and stored in the storage unit 22. To achieve this, the selection unit 232 first selects a plurality of user candidates U1 to U3 to be boarded, and determines whether or not the detour time corresponding to each of the plurality of user candidates U1 to U3 when the selected plurality of user candidates U1 to U3 are boarded exceeds a predetermined first maximum detour time.

[0041] When the selection unit 232 determines that the detouring time corresponding to any one of the selected multiple user candidates is equal to or shorter than the first maximum detouring time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 as riding users who will ride in the vehicle V.

[0042] On the other hand, when the selection unit 232 determines that the detour time of any one or more of the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 exceeds the first maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates that form another combination whose dispatch request has been accepted by the acceptance unit 231 as provisional boarding users.

[0043] For example, the selection unit 232 replaces only the user candidate who caused the detour time of any one or more of the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 to exceed the first maximum detour time with another user, or replaces only the user candidate who caused the detour time of any one or more of the multiple user candidates U1 to U3 to exceed the first maximum detour time, thereby identifying multiple user candidates that form another combination as provisional users. The selection unit 232 determines whether or not the detour time exceeds the predetermined first maximum detour time for each of the multiple user candidates that form another combination identified as provisional riding users.

[0044] When the selection unit 232 determines that the detouring time of each of the multiple user candidates forming the identified different combination is equal to or less than a predetermined first maximum detouring time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates as riding users. When the selection unit 232 determines that the detouring time of one or more of the multiple user candidates forming the different combination identified as tentative users exceeds the first maximum detouring time, the selection unit 232 further specifies multiple user candidates forming the different combination as tentative users and repeats the same determination.

[0045] [Specifying individual delivery time] The identification unit 233 identifies an individual delivery time required to transport one of the selected multiple boarding users from the corresponding boarding location to the destination, assuming that the user is individually transported to the destination, based on the boarding location accepted from the multiple users selected by the selection unit 232. The identification unit 233 identifies the individual delivery time for each of the selected multiple users. The identification unit 233 outputs information indicating the identified individual delivery time to the determination unit 234.

[0046] [Determining scheduled departure time] The determination unit 234 determines a scheduled departure time for boarding the vehicle V at the boarding location corresponding to each of the selected users, based on the detour time calculated by the selection unit 232, the individual delivery time identified by the identification unit 233, and the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining the scheduled departure time by the determination unit 234.

[0047] The horizontal axis in Fig. 7 indicates time. Fig. 7 shows an example in which user U1, user U2, and user U3 are selected as boarding users by the selection unit 232. The desired arrival time at destination G for user U1, user U2, and user U3 is 3:00 p.m. The detour times for user U1, user U2, and user U3 calculated by the selection unit 232 are 30 minutes, 20 minutes, and 0 minutes, respectively. The individual delivery times for user U1, user U2, and user U3 identified by the identification unit 233 are 60 minutes, 40 minutes, and 35 minutes, respectively.

[0048] In the example of FIG. 7, the determination unit 234 determines the scheduled departure time "13:30" of the user U1 by calculating a time earlier than the desired arrival time "15:00" by adding the individual delivery time "60 minutes" of the user U1 and the detour time "30 minutes". The determination unit 234 determines the scheduled departure time "14:00" of the user U2 by calculating a time earlier than the desired arrival time "15:00" by adding the individual delivery time "40 minutes" of the user U2 and the detour time "20 minutes". The determination unit 234 determines the scheduled departure time "14:25" of the user U3 by calculating a time earlier than the desired arrival time "15:00" by adding the individual delivery time "35 minutes" of the user U3 and the detour time "0 minutes". The determination unit 234 outputs information indicating the determined scheduled departure time to the communication control unit 235.

[0049] [Communication of various information] The communication control unit 235 communicates with the user terminal 1, the crew terminal 3, and the business operator device 4 via the communication unit 21. The communication control unit 235 transmits information indicating that the boarding users can board the vehicle V to the user terminals 1 of the multiple boarding users selected by the selection unit 232. The communication control unit 235 further transmits information indicating the planned departure time of the boarding users determined by the determination unit 234 to the user terminals 1 of the boarding users.

[0050] The communication control unit 235 may transmit information indicating the fare for riding in the vehicle V to the user terminal 1 of the corresponding riding user. At this time, the communication control unit 235 may increase the fare for the riding user to ride in the vehicle V as the individual delivery time becomes longer. When a first maximum detour time is set for each organization to which the riding user belongs, the communication control unit 235 may decrease the fare for the riding user to ride in the vehicle V as the first maximum detour time becomes longer.

[0051] When the communication control unit 235 receives information from the user terminal 1 of a boarding user specifying a predetermined area, such as within a 50-meter radius of Station B, as the boarding location, it transmits information notifying the user terminal 1 of any position within the received area as the final boarding location. For example, when the area received as the boarding location from the user terminal 1 of a boarding user overlaps with an area received as the boarding location from the user terminal 1 of another boarding user, the communication control unit 235 may transmit information to the user terminals 1 of both boarding users notifying the user terminals 1 of any position within the overlapping range of the two areas as the final boarding location.

[0052] After the selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users, the communication control unit 235 transmits a vehicle dispatch request to the crew terminal 3 mounted on the vehicle V, requesting that the vehicle V head to the boarding location where the boarding users board by the desired boarding time. After transmitting the vehicle dispatch request to the crew terminal 3, the communication control unit 235 receives from the crew terminal 3 a vehicle dispatch acceptance that accepts the vehicle dispatch request, or a vehicle dispatch refusal that indicates that the vehicle dispatch request is not accepted. If the communication control unit 235 does not receive a vehicle dispatch acceptance within a predetermined time, it may treat it as having received a vehicle dispatch refusal. The predetermined time is, for example, several minutes.

[0053] The communication control unit 235 receives setting data indicating the conditions for the user U to reserve a vehicle V from the business operator device 4 installed in the corporation to which the user U belongs. The communication control unit 235 transmits notification data indicating that the vehicle dispatch reservation for the user U has been completed to the business operator device 4 of the corporation to which the user U belongs.

[0054] [Configuration of crew terminal 3] 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the crew terminal 3. The crew terminal 3 includes an operation unit 31, a communication unit 32, a display unit 33, a storage unit , and a control unit .

[0055] The operation unit 31 is, for example, a touch panel provided on top of the display unit 33. The operation unit 31 accepts operations by a driver of the vehicle V. The operation unit 31 inputs information indicating the content of the accepted driver's operation to the control unit 35.

[0056] The communication unit 32 is a wireless communication module for communicating with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The display unit 33 is a display that displays various information.

[0057] The storage unit 34 includes a storage medium such as a ROM, a RAM, or an SSD. The storage unit 34 stores a program that the control unit 35 executes.

[0058] The control unit 35 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 35 executes various functions by executing programs stored in the storage unit 34. The control unit 35 communicates with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via the communication unit 21. For example, the control unit 35 receives a vehicle dispatch request from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2, which requests that the vehicle V head to the boarding location by the desired boarding time.

[0059] After receiving a vehicle dispatch request, the control unit 35 accepts the driver's operation to input whether or not to accept the received vehicle dispatch request via the operation unit 31. When the control unit 35 accepts the driver's operation to accept the received vehicle dispatch request, it transmits a vehicle dispatch acceptance to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. When the control unit 35 accepts the driver's operation to not accept the received vehicle dispatch request, it transmits a vehicle dispatch refusal to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2, indicating that the vehicle dispatch request is not accepted.

[0060] [Configuration of business operator device 4] 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the business operator device 4. The business operator device 4 includes an operation unit 41, a communication unit 42, a display unit 43, a storage unit 44, and a control unit 45.

[0061] The operation unit 41 is, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The operation unit 41 receives operations by the crew. The operation unit 41 inputs information indicating the contents of the received operations by the crew to the control unit 45.

[0062] The communication unit 42 is a communication interface for communicating with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The display unit 43 is a display that displays various information.

[0063] The storage unit 44 includes a storage medium such as a ROM, a RAM, an SSD, etc. The storage unit 44 stores a program that the control unit 45 executes.

[0064] The control unit 45 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 45 executes various functions by executing programs stored in the storage unit 44. The control unit 45 accepts an operation of an administrator belonging to a corporation via the operation unit 41. For example, the control unit 45 accepts an operation of the administrator who sets conditions when a user U belonging to this corporation reserves a vehicle V.

[0065] The control unit 45 communicates with the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 via the communication unit 42. The control unit 45 transmits setting data indicating the conditions for the user U to reserve a vehicle V to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The control unit 45 receives notification data from the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 indicating that a vehicle dispatch reservation for the user U who belongs to this corporation has been completed.

[0066] [Vehicle reservation processing step 1] 10 shows a processing procedure for vehicle dispatch reservation by the vehicle dispatch processing system S. This processing procedure is started, for example, during operation of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. First, when the operation reception unit 151 receives an input of a boarding location where the user U wishes to board the vehicle V, the communication control unit 152 of the multiple user terminals 1 owned by the multiple user candidates transmits a vehicle dispatch request including this boarding location to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The selection unit 232 selects a boarding user who will board the vehicle V from the multiple user candidates based on the boarding location included in the vehicle dispatch request received by the reception unit 231 (S101).

[0067] The communication control unit 235 of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 transmits a vehicle dispatch request requesting that the vehicle V head to the boarding location by the desired boarding time to the crew terminal 3. When the control unit 35 of the crew terminal 3 receives a driver's operation to accept the received vehicle dispatch request, it transmits a vehicle dispatch acceptance to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2, which accepts the vehicle dispatch request.

[0068] The communication control unit 235 of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 transmits a dispatch notification indicating that dispatch of the vehicle V has been reserved to the user terminal 1 of the user selected as the riding user. The communication control unit 235 transmits notification data indicating that dispatch of the vehicle V has been reserved to the business operator device 4, and ends the process.

[0069] [Vehicle reservation processing procedure] FIG. 11 shows the processing procedure of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 when making a vehicle dispatch reservation. This processing procedure starts, for example, while the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 is communicating with multiple user terminals 1 owned by multiple user candidates. First, the reception unit 231 receives input of boarding locations from the user terminals 1 of multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle V (S201). The selection unit 232 executes a user selection process to select a boarding user who will board the vehicle V (S202). The user selection process will be described in detail later. The identification unit 233 identifies the individual delivery time required to transport each boarding user from the corresponding boarding location to the destination, assuming that each of the multiple boarding users selected by the selection unit 232 is transported individually to the destination (S203).

[0070] The determination unit 234 determines the scheduled departure times at which the selected multiple boarding users will board the vehicle V at the corresponding boarding locations (S204). The communication control unit 235 transmits information notifying the boarding users that they can board the vehicle V and information notifying the scheduled departure times determined by the determination unit 234 to the user terminals 1 of the boarding users (S205), and ends the process.

[0071] Fig. 12 shows an example of the user selection process (S202) in Fig. 11. First, the selection unit 232 selects a user candidate whose boarding location is farthest from the destination from among a plurality of user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231 as a boarding user who will board the vehicle V (S301). The selection unit 232 identifies the next user candidate corresponding to a boarding location closest to the boarding location of the selected boarding user (S302).

[0072] The selection unit 232 calculates a detour time required for the vehicle V to move between the multiple boarding locations where the selected multiple boarding users board, assuming that the identified next user candidate is selected as a boarding user (S303). The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time (S304). When the selection unit 232 determines that the selected detour time is equal to or less than the first maximum detour time (NO in S304), it selects the identified next user candidate as a boarding user (S305).

[0073] The selection unit 232 determines whether the number of passengers, which is the number of selected riding users, is the same as the maximum number of passengers (S306). The maximum number of passengers is the number of riding users that can be accommodated in the vehicle V. When the selection unit 232 determines that the number of passengers, which is the number of selected riding users, is the same as the maximum number of passengers (YES in S306), the processing ends.

[0074] When the selection unit 232 determines in the determination of S304 that the calculated detouring time exceeds the first maximum detouring time (YES in S304), the process ends. When the selection unit 232 determines in the determination of S306 that the number of passengers, which is the number of the riding users selected, is smaller than the maximum number of passengers (NO in S306), the process returns to S302.

[0075] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the first embodiment] In the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the first embodiment, the communication control unit 235 can propose a ride-sharing for users, regardless of whether or not the boarding location of another user is included on the route traveled by the vehicle V when the users individually board the vehicle V and travel. At this time, the selection unit 232 selects a user who boards the vehicle V such that the detour time required for the vehicle to travel between the boarding locations where the multiple users U board does not exceed the first maximum detour time. For this reason, the selection unit 232 can suppress the time taken by the user U to board the vehicle from becoming excessive due to the users U having different boarding locations riding in the same vehicle. In particular, since the destination of all users is the same, the selection unit 232 does not need to consider the detour time when the users get off the vehicle V, and can set the detour time to a relatively small value.

[0076] [Modification of the method for determining the validity of a provisional riding user when the first maximum detour times corresponding to multiple user candidates are all the same] In cases where a first maximum detour time is set for each organization and only users U belonging to the same organization ride together, it is known in advance that the first maximum detour times corresponding to multiple user candidates are all the same. For this reason, when the first maximum detour times corresponding to multiple user candidates identified as tentative boarding users are all the same, the selection unit 232 may determine whether or not the corresponding detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time only for the user candidate who inputs the boarding location farthest from the destination.

[0077] The farthest boarding location is, for example, the boarding location with the longest straight-line distance from this boarding location to the destination. The farthest boarding location may also be the boarding location with the longest travel distance of the vehicle V from this boarding location to the destination. The user candidate with the boarding location farthest from the destination is considered to be the first to board, and is considered to have a longer detour time than other user candidates who board later. Therefore, the selection unit 232 may omit determining whether the corresponding detour time for the remaining user candidates identified as tentative boarding users exceeds the first maximum detour time.

[0078] When the detour time of the user candidate who inputs the boarding location farthest from the destination among the multiple user candidates identified as provisional boarding users exceeds the first maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates of another combination whose dispatch request is accepted by the acceptance unit 231 as provisional boarding users, and repeats the same determination. On the other hand, when the detour time of the user candidate who inputs the boarding location farthest from the destination is equal to or less than the first maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates identified as provisional boarding users as boarding users.

[0079] [A modified example in which the order in which user candidates are picked up is changed and the detour time is recalculated] In addition, when the selection unit 232 determines that the detour time of any one or more of the multiple user candidates exceeds the first maximum detour time, it may perform a process of changing the order in which the user candidates are picked up and recalculating the detour time before changing the combination of user candidates, and only when it determines that the detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time even after changing the order in which the user candidates are picked up, may it identify multiple user candidates that make up another combination whose ride request has been accepted by the acceptance unit 231 as provisional boarding users.

[0080] [Modification to add a passenger] When the number of user candidates not included in the multiple boarding users already selected among the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests are accepted by the acceptance unit 231 is equal to or less than a threshold, the selection unit 232 may determine whether or not to select these user candidates as additional boarding users of the same vehicle V as the selected boarding user. As one example, the threshold is a value obtained by subtracting the number of already selected boarding users from the maximum number of boarding users who can board this vehicle V.

[0081] More specifically, the selection unit 232 calculates an excess detour time that exceeds the first maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates who have not yet been selected move between the boarding locations accepted from the user candidates. If the calculated excess detour time is less than a reference value, the selection unit 232 may further select these user candidates as boarding users who will share the vehicle V.

[0082] The reference value is, for example, a value determined according to the number of already selected passenger users. As an example, the more passenger users already selected by the selection unit 232, the smaller the reference value. On the other hand, when the calculated excess detour time is equal to or greater than the reference value, the selection unit 232 does not select these user candidates as passenger users who will ride together in the vehicle V. The selection unit 232 outputs information indicating the selected passenger users to the identification unit 233 and the communication control unit 235. By the selection unit 232 operating in this manner, even if the detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time, it is possible to allow as many users U as possible to board when the excess time is within an allowable range.

[0083] [Variation that does not display charges to users] The communication control unit 235 is not limited to an example in which it transmits information indicating the fare for riding in the vehicle V to the user terminal 1 of the corresponding riding user. For example, if the specification is such that the organization to which the user belongs pays the fare for riding in the vehicle V, the communication control unit 235 does not need to display the fare to the user. In this case, the communication control unit 235 does not need to transmit information indicating the fare for riding in the vehicle V to the user terminal 1 of the corresponding riding user.

[0084] <Second embodiment> In the second embodiment, an example will be described in which the selection unit 232 selects a plurality of riding users from a plurality of user candidates based on an early arrival time at which the vehicle V arrives at the destination earlier than a predetermined desired arrival time. The vehicle V may arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time due to factors that are difficult to predict in advance, such as the number of times the vehicle stops at signals or railroad crossings.

[0085] When a boarding user boards vehicle V from a boarding location relatively far from the destination, the time required for vehicle V to travel from the boarding location to the destination is longer than when the boarding user boards vehicle V only from boarding locations relatively close to the destination. Therefore, when a boarding user boards vehicle V from a boarding location relatively far from the destination, the possible values ​​of the early arrival time vary more than when the boarding user boards vehicle V only from boarding locations relatively close to the destination.

[0086] Therefore, the selection unit 232 estimates the maximum possible value of the early arrival time when it is assumed that multiple user candidates board the vehicle V. The selection unit 232 selects multiple user candidates whose maximum value does not exceed a predetermined early arrival allowable time as boarding users.

[0087] FIG. 13 shows an example of an early arrival time. In the example of FIG. 13, the users riding in the vehicle V are user U1, user U2, and user U3. User U1, user U2, and user U3 have the same desired arrival time, the same destination, and ride in the same vehicle V. For example, when user U1, user U2, and user U3 head to an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, a large commercial facility, etc., the destinations of user U1, user U2, and user U3 are the same. Assume that user U1 rides in the vehicle V at 13:30 and arrives at the destination at 14:45. In this case, the early arrival time for arriving at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time (15:00) is 15 minutes. User U2 and user U3 ride in the same vehicle V as user U1 and have the same desired arrival time as user U1, so the early arrival time is also the same as user U1, 15 minutes.

[0088] The storage unit 22 stores a destination and a desired arrival time, as in the first embodiment. The storage unit 22 stores an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time at which it is allowable to arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of allowable early arrival time data stored in the storage unit 22. In the allowable early arrival time data shown in FIG. 14, an organization ID is associated with an allowable early arrival time. The first row from the top of FIG. 14 shows that the allowable early arrival time corresponding to a user belonging to an organization with organization ID "G0001" is 30 minutes. The allowable early arrival time data is referred to when the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V.

[0089] The early arrival allowable time data is generated, for example, by the reception unit 231 associating the organization ID received from multiple business device 4 with the received early arrival allowable time, and the generated early arrival allowable time data is stored in the memory unit 22.

[0090] The storage unit 22 stores early arrival time history data that associates a travel distance traveled by the vehicle V with a maximum value of an early arrival time that occurred in the past when the vehicle V traveled this travel distance. The early arrival time history data is referenced by the selection unit 232 to estimate a maximum value of an early arrival time that the vehicle V will arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time when multiple users are aboard.

[0091] The selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates such that the early arrival time by which the vehicle V arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowed early arrival time. First, the selection unit 232 specifies, as provisional boarding users, user candidates whose number is equal to or less than the maximum number of boarding users that can be accommodated in the vehicle V, among the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The selection unit 232 estimates the maximum early arrival time when the user candidates specified as provisional boarding users board the vehicle V and travel to the destination.

[0092] For example, the selection unit 232 reads out from the storage unit 22 early arrival time history data that associates a travel distance traveled by the vehicle V with a maximum early arrival time when the vehicle V travels this travel distance. The selection unit 232 refers to the read early arrival time history data and estimates the maximum early arrival time associated with the travel distance traveled by the vehicle V when the identified user candidate gets in the vehicle V and travels to the destination, as the maximum early arrival time when the identified user candidate gets in the vehicle V.

[0093] The selection unit 232 determines whether the maximum value of the estimated early arrival time exceeds the early arrival allowable time stored in the storage unit 22. The early arrival allowable time is determined for each organization to which the user belongs, but may be the same value for all users. For example, the selection unit 232 reads out early arrival allowable time data that associates an organization ID with an early arrival allowable time from the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 may refer to the read out early arrival allowable time data and identify each of the early arrival allowable times stored in the storage unit 22 in association with the organization ID corresponding to each of the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests are accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The early arrival allowable time may be determined for each user.

[0094] When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the estimated early arrival times is equal to or less than the allowable early arrival time, it selects the user candidates identified as provisional boarding users as boarding users who will board the vehicle V. When the allowable early arrival time is determined for each organization to which the user belongs, it identifies the smallest allowable early arrival time among the allowable early arrival times corresponding to the multiple user candidates identified as provisional users. When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the estimated early arrival times is equal to or less than the smallest allowable early arrival time, it selects the multiple user candidates identified as provisional boarding users as boarding users who will board the vehicle V.

[0095] On the other hand, when the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum estimated early arrival time exceeds the early arrival allowable time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates who will be another combination as provisional boarding users. The selection unit 232 determines whether the maximum early arrival time of the multiple user candidates who will be another combination identified as provisional boarding users when they ride the vehicle V to the destination exceeds the early arrival allowable time.

[0096] When the maximum value of the early arrival time when the multiple user candidates identified as the provisional boarding users, which is another combination, ride in the vehicle V to the destination, is equal to or less than the early arrival allowable time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates identified as the provisional boarding users as boarding users. When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the early arrival time when the multiple user candidates identified as the provisional boarding users, which is another combination, ride in the vehicle V to the destination, exceeds the early arrival allowable time, the selection unit 232 further identifies multiple user candidates, which is another combination, as provisional boarding users and repeats the same determination.

[0097] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the second embodiment] In the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the second embodiment, the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V so that the maximum value of the early arrival time does not exceed the early arrival allowable time. Therefore, the selection unit 232 can prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too early due to the users U who board from different boarding locations sharing the same vehicle. When the destinations of multiple users U are the same, the selection unit 232 can more effectively prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too early because it is relatively easy to adjust the time at which the vehicle V arrives at the destination.

[0098] <Third embodiment> In the third embodiment, an example will be described in which the selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users from multiple user candidates based on the late arrival time by which the vehicle V arrives at the destination later than a predetermined desired arrival time. As in the second embodiment, the selection unit 232 estimates the maximum possible value of the late arrival time when it is assumed that the multiple user candidates board the vehicle V, and selects multiple user candidates whose maximum value does not exceed a predetermined allowable late arrival time as boarding users.

[0099] Fig. 15 shows an example of a late arrival time. In the example of Fig. 15, the users aboard vehicle V are user U1 and user U2. User U1 boards vehicle V at 14:10 and arrives at the destination at 15:20. In this case, the late arrival time for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time (15:00) is 20 minutes. User U2 boards the same vehicle V as user U1 and has the same desired arrival time as user U1, so the late arrival time is also the same as user U1, 20 minutes.

[0100] The storage unit 22 stores a desired arrival time, as in the first and second embodiments. The storage unit 22 stores an allowable late arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time that is allowable for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time. Fig. 16 is a diagram showing allowable late arrival time data stored in the storage unit 22. In the allowable late arrival time data shown in Fig. 16, an organization ID is associated with an allowable late arrival time.

[0101] 16 shows that the allowable late arrival time corresponding to a user who belongs to an organization with organization ID "G0001" is 30 minutes. The allowable late arrival time data is referred to when the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who will ride in the vehicle V. The allowable late arrival time data stored in the memory unit 22 is generated, for example, by associating the organization IDs corresponding to the multiple business operator devices 4 received by the reception unit 231 from the multiple business operator devices 4 with the received allowable late arrival time.

[0102] The memory unit 22 stores delay time history data that associates a travel distance traveled by the vehicle V with a maximum delay time when the vehicle V travels this travel distance. The delay time history data is referenced by the selection unit 232 to estimate a maximum delay time by which the vehicle V will arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time when multiple users are aboard.

[0103] The selection unit 232 selects multiple boarding users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates such that the delay time by which the vehicle V arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time. First, the selection unit 232 identifies user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231, the number of user candidates being equal to or less than the maximum number of boarding users that can be accommodated in the vehicle V. The selection unit 232 estimates the maximum delay time when the vehicle V with the identified user candidates boarding moves to the destination.

[0104] The selection unit 232 determines whether the maximum estimated late arrival time exceeds the allowable late arrival time stored in the storage unit 22. The allowable late arrival time is determined for each organization to which the user belongs, but may be the same value for all users or may be determined for each user. The selection unit 232 reads out allowable late arrival time data that associates the organization ID with the allowable late arrival time from the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 may refer to the read out allowable late arrival time data and identify each allowable late arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 in association with the organization ID corresponding to each of the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests are accepted by the acceptance unit 231.

[0105] When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the estimated late arrival times is equal to or less than the allowable late arrival time, the selection unit 232 selects the identified multiple user candidates as boarding users who will board the vehicle V. When the allowable late arrival time is determined for each organization to which the user belongs, the selection unit 232 determines the minimum allowable late arrival time among the allowable late arrival times corresponding to the identified multiple user candidates. When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the estimated late arrival times is equal to or less than the minimum allowable late arrival time, the selection unit 232 selects the identified multiple user candidates as boarding users who will board the vehicle V. On the other hand, when the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum value of the estimated late arrival times exceeds the allowable late arrival time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates that make up another combination and repeats the same determination.

[0106] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the third embodiment] In the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the third embodiment, the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V so that the maximum late arrival time does not exceed the allowable late arrival time. Therefore, the selection unit 232 can prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too late due to the users U who board from different boarding locations sharing the same vehicle. When the destinations of the multiple users U are the same, the selection unit 232 can more effectively prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too late because it is relatively easy to adjust the time at which the vehicle V arrives at the common destination.

[0107] <Fourth embodiment> In the fourth embodiment, an example will be described in which the selection unit 232 selects user candidates based on two or more conditions of a detour time, an early arrival time, and a late arrival time. Fig. 17 is a diagram showing condition data stored in the storage unit 22.

[0108] In the condition data shown in FIG. 17, an organization ID is associated with an allowable early arrival time, an allowable late arrival time, and a first maximum detour time. The top row of FIG. 17 shows that the allowable early arrival time corresponding to a user belonging to an organization with an organization ID "G0001" is 30 minutes, the allowable late arrival time is 45 minutes, and the first maximum detour time is 60 minutes. The condition data is referred to when the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V. The fare for riding in the vehicle V may be lower as the first maximum detour time, the allowable late arrival time, or the allowable early arrival time is larger. On the other hand, the fare for riding in the vehicle V may be higher as the first maximum detour time, the allowable late arrival time, or the multiple allowable early arrival times are smaller.

[0109] The condition data stored in the storage unit 22 is generated by the reception unit 231 receiving input of a plurality of conditions, such as a maximum detour time and an early arrival time for boarding the vehicle V, from the user terminals 1 or the business operator devices 4 of a plurality of user candidates. At this time, the reception unit 231 may further receive input of a priority corresponding to each of the plurality of conditions in association with these conditions. For example, the reception unit 231 may receive input of a first priority in association with a first condition (e.g., an allowable early arrival time), and may receive input of a second priority lower than the first priority in association with a second condition (e.g., an allowable late arrival time).

[0110] The reception unit 231 may receive a plurality of first maximum detour times, a plurality of allowable late arrival times, or a plurality of allowable early arrival times from the same carrier device 4. For example, the reception unit 231 may receive a first late arrival delay time having a relatively large time range in association with a first priority, and may receive a second late arrival delay time having a relatively small time range in association with a second priority lower than the first priority.

[0111] [Selecting passengers based on multiple conditions] The selection unit 232 selects user candidates based on two or more conditions of the detour time, the early arrival time, and the late arrival time. For example, the selection unit 232 selects a plurality of users from the plurality of user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the first maximum detour time and the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the early arrival allowable time.

[0112] First, the selection unit 232 identifies, as provisional boarding users, user candidates whose number is equal to or less than the maximum number of boarding users that can be accommodated in the vehicle V, among the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The selection unit 232 estimates a detour time when the user candidates identified as provisional boarding users board the vehicle V and travel to the destination. Similarly, the selection unit 232 estimates a maximum value of an early arrival time when the user candidates identified as provisional boarding users board the vehicle V and travel to the destination.

[0113] The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated detour time exceeds a first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 determines whether the maximum value of the estimated early arrival time exceeds an allowable early arrival time stored in the storage unit 22. The first maximum detour time and the allowable early arrival time are determined for each organization to which the user belongs, but may be the same value for all users.

[0114] For example, the selection unit 232 reads out condition data ( FIG. 17 ) in which an organization ID is associated with an allowable early arrival time, an allowable late arrival time, and a first maximum detour time from the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 may refer to the read out condition data and identify the allowable early arrival time and the first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22 in association with the organization ID corresponding to each of a plurality of user candidates whose dispatch requests are accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The first maximum detour time and the allowable early arrival time may be determined for each user.

[0115] The selection unit 232 specifies the user candidate specified as the provisional boarding user as a boarding user when the calculated detour time is equal to or less than the first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22 and the maximum value of the estimated early arrival time is equal to or less than the early arrival allowable time stored in the storage unit 22. When the calculated detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22 or when the maximum value of the estimated early arrival time exceeds the early arrival allowable time stored in the storage unit 22, the selection unit 232 specifies a different combination of multiple user candidates from the multiple user candidates for which the reception unit 231 has received a dispatch request as provisional boarding users, and repeats the same determination.

[0116] [Selection of passengers based on priority] When priorities are associated with multiple conditions such as an early arrival allowable time in the condition data stored in the storage unit 22, the selection unit 232 may select, as a boarding user, a user candidate who satisfies a relatively high priority condition but does not satisfy a relatively low priority condition. For example, the selection unit 232 selects, from among the multiple user candidates, one or more user candidates whose detour time does not exceed the first maximum detour time and who satisfy the first condition and the second condition as part of the multiple boarding users. The priority corresponding to the second condition is lower than the priority corresponding to the first condition and lower than the priority corresponding to the first maximum detour time.

[0117] The selection unit 232 selects additional riding users when the number of the selected riding users is less than a predetermined number. The predetermined number is equal to or less than the number of riding users who can ride in the vehicle V. The selection unit 232 may select, as another part of the multiple users, one or more user candidates from among the multiple user candidates whose detouring time does not exceed a first maximum detouring time and who satisfy a first condition corresponding to a relatively high priority but do not satisfy a second condition corresponding to a relatively low priority. On the other hand, the selection unit 232 does not select additional riding users when the number of the selected riding users is equal to or greater than a predetermined number.

[0118] As an example, it is assumed that the first maximum detour time corresponding to a relatively high priority in the condition data stored in the storage unit 22 is 30 minutes, the early arrival allowable time corresponding to a relatively high priority is 20 minutes, and the late arrival allowable time corresponding to a relatively low priority is 20 minutes. The predetermined number of people is three. When the number of boarding users selected from among the multiple user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the first maximum detour time (30 minutes), the maximum estimated early arrival time does not exceed the early arrival allowable time (20 minutes), and the maximum estimated late arrival time does not exceed the late arrival allowable time (20 minutes) is two, the selection unit 232 determines whether the number of selected boarding users is less than the predetermined number (three).

[0119] In this example, the selection unit 232 determines that the number of selected boarding users (2 people) is less than a predetermined number (3 people). At this time, the selection unit 232 additionally selects user candidates whose detour time does not exceed the first maximum detour time, whose estimated maximum early arrival time does not exceed the early arrival allowable time, and whose estimated maximum late arrival time exceeds the late arrival allowable time, as a part of the other boarding users. In this way, the selection unit 232 prevents the number of boarding users from becoming too small, thereby improving the efficiency of operation of the vehicle V.

[0120] Fig. 18 shows another example of the user selection process (S202) in Fig. 11. First, the selection unit 232 selects a user candidate whose boarding location is farthest from the destination from among a plurality of user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231 as a boarding user who will board the vehicle V (S401). The selection unit 232 identifies the next user candidate corresponding to a boarding location closest to the boarding location of the selected boarding user (S402).

[0121] The selection unit 232, assuming that the identified next user candidate is selected as a boarding user, calculates a detour time required for the vehicle V to move between a plurality of boarding locations where the selected boarding users board (S403). The selection unit 232, assuming that the identified next user candidate is selected as a boarding user, calculates a maximum early arrival time when the selected boarding user boards the vehicle V and moves to the destination (S404).

[0122] The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time (S405). When the selection unit 232 determines that the selected detour time is equal to or less than the first maximum detour time (NO in S405), the selection unit 232 determines whether the maximum estimated early arrival time exceeds the early arrival allowable time (S406). When the selection unit 232 determines that the maximum estimated early arrival time is equal to or less than the early arrival allowable time (NO in S406), the selection unit 232 selects the next user candidate as the boarding user.

[0123] The selection unit 232 determines whether the number of passengers, which is the number of selected riding users, is the same as the maximum number of passengers (S408). The maximum number of passengers is the maximum number of riding users that can be accommodated in the vehicle V. When the selection unit 232 determines that the number of passengers, which is the number of selected riding users, is the same as the maximum number of passengers (YES in S408), the processing ends.

[0124] The selection unit 232 ends the process when it determines in the determination of S405 that the calculated detouring time exceeds the first maximum detouring time (YES in S405). The selection unit 232 ends the process when it determines in the determination of S406 that the maximum estimated early arrival time exceeds the early arrival allowable time (YES in S406). The selection unit 232 returns to the process of S402 when it determines in the determination of S408 that the number of passengers, which is the number of selected riding users, is smaller than the maximum number of passengers (NO in S408).

[0125] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 of the fourth embodiment] According to the fourth embodiment, the selection unit 232 selects a boarding user based on two or more conditions of the detour time, the early arrival time, and the late arrival time, so that the boarding user can be selected so as to satisfy a plurality of conditions desired by the boarding user. In this way, the communication control unit 235 can suppress the loss of convenience of the vehicle V when the boarding users share a ride, compared to the case of sending the boarding users individually.

[0126] [Variation 1] In the first to fourth embodiments, an example in which the destination of all users is the same has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the destination may be different for each user. In this modified example 1, the boarding place of all users is the same. For example, when returning home from an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, or a large commercial facility, the boarding place of all users is the same. In this modified example 1, the operation reception unit 151 of the user terminal 1 owned by multiple user candidates receives an input of the destination. The communication control unit 152 of the user terminal 1 transmits information indicating the destination received by the operation reception unit 151 to the vehicle dispatch processing device 2. The reception unit 231 of the vehicle dispatch processing device 2 receives an input of the destination where each user candidate gets off from the user terminal 1 of multiple user candidates who wish to board a vehicle.

[0127] The reception unit 231 may receive as a destination a location such as a taxi stand in front of the central exit of Station C, or may receive as a destination an area such as within a 30 meter radius of Station D. The larger this area is, the cheaper the fare for riding in vehicle V may be. On the other hand, the smaller this area is, the more expensive the fare for riding in vehicle V may be.

[0128] The selection unit 232 selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231, based on multiple destinations corresponding to the multiple user candidates, such that the detour time does not exceed the second maximum detour time. The second maximum detour time is a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle V to move between multiple destinations where the multiple users U get off. The second maximum detour time is stored in the storage unit 22.

[0129] First, the selection unit 232 identifies, as provisional boarding users, user candidates whose number is less than the maximum number of passengers that can be accommodated in the vehicle V, from among the multiple user candidates whose dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231. The selection unit 232 calculates, for each user candidate, a detour time required for the vehicle V to travel between multiple destinations where the multiple user candidates get off, assuming that the user candidates identified as provisional boarding users travel in the vehicle V from a boarding location to a common destination. The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated detour time exceeds a second maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22.

[0130] When the selection unit 232 determines that all of the calculated detour times are equal to or less than the second maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates identified as provisional boarding users as boarding users. When the selection unit 232 determines that any of the calculated detour times exceeds the second maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates that are another combination for which the reception unit 231 has received a vehicle dispatch request as provisional boarding users, and repeats the same determination.

[0131] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the modified example 1] In the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the first modification, the selection unit 232 selects a user who boards the vehicle V such that the detour time required for the vehicle V to move between the multiple destinations where the multiple users U get off does not exceed the second maximum detour time. Therefore, the selection unit 232 can prevent the time taken by the user U to board the vehicle from becoming excessive due to users U with different destinations sharing the same vehicle V. In particular, since the boarding location of all users is the same, the selection unit 232 does not need to consider the detour time when the users board the vehicle V, and can set the detour time to a relatively small value.

[0132] [Variation 2] In this modified example 2, an example will be described in which both the boarding place and the destination are different for each user. In this modified example 2, the reception unit 231 receives input of the boarding place where each of the user candidates boards the vehicle and the destination where each of the user candidates gets off the vehicle from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle.

[0133] The selection unit 232 selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates whose vehicle dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231, based on multiple boarding locations and multiple destinations corresponding to the multiple user candidates. First, the selection unit 232 specifies, from the multiple user candidates whose vehicle dispatch requests have been accepted by the acceptance unit 231, user candidates whose number is less than the maximum number of passengers that can be accommodated in the vehicle V, as provisional boarding users.

[0134] The selection unit 232 calculates, for each user candidate, a first detour time required for the vehicle V to move between a plurality of boarding locations where the plurality of user candidates get off, and a second detour time required for the vehicle V to move between a plurality of destinations where the plurality of user candidates get off, assuming that the user candidate identified as a tentative boarding user moves in the vehicle V from the boarding location to the destination. The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated first detour time exceeds a first maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22. The selection unit 232 determines whether the calculated second detour time exceeds a second maximum detour time stored in the storage unit 22.

[0135] When the selection unit 232 determines that the calculated first detour time is equal to or less than the first maximum detour time and the calculated second detour time is equal to or less than the second maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 selects the multiple user candidates identified as provisional boarding users as boarding users. When the selection unit 232 determines that the calculated first detour time exceeds the first maximum detour time or the second detour time exceeds the second maximum detour time, the selection unit 232 identifies multiple user candidates that are another combination for which the reception unit 231 has received a vehicle dispatch request as provisional boarding users, and repeats the same determination.

[0136] [Effects of the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the modified example 2] In the vehicle dispatch processing system S of the second modification, the selection unit 232 selects a riding user who rides in the vehicle V such that a first detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of boarding locations where a plurality of users U board does not exceed a first maximum detour time, and a second detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of destinations where a plurality of users U disembark does not exceed a second maximum detour time. For this reason, the selection unit 232 can prevent the time taken by the user U to ride in the vehicle from becoming excessive due to users U having different boarding locations and destinations sharing the same vehicle.

[0137] [Variation 3] When both the boarding place and the destination are different for each user, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the allowable early arrival time. In this case, due to the boarding place, destination, and desired arrival time being different for each user, it may happen that the vehicle V arrives at the destination at the desired arrival time from the viewpoint of one user, but the early arrival time is greater than the allowable early arrival time from the viewpoint of another user.

[0138] Keeping in mind that the early arrival time varies for each user, the selection unit 232 can select multiple users from multiple user candidates using a procedure similar to that of the second embodiment described above, so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the memory unit 22 by more than the allowable early arrival time.

[0139] [Variation 4] When the boarding location of all users is the same but the destination is different for each user, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the allowable early arrival time. At this time, the desired boarding time at which the users wish to board the vehicle V may be the same for all users. For example, when multiple users U are returning home from an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, a large commercial facility, etc., the boarding location of all users will be the same.

[0140] When all users have the same boarding location and the same destination, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the allowable early arrival time. At this time, the desired boarding time at which the users wish to board the vehicle V may be the same. For example, when multiple users U move from an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, a large commercial facility, or the like to another venue, the boarding location and destination of all users will be the same.

[0141] In this way, the selection unit 232 can prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too early due to multiple users U sharing the same vehicle. When the boarding locations of multiple users U are the same, the selection unit 232 can easily adjust the times at which the users board the vehicle V, and can therefore more effectively prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too early.

[0142] [Variation 5] Furthermore, when both the boarding place and the destination are different for each user, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the delay time by which the vehicle V arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time. If it is noted that the delay time increases or decreases for each user, the selection unit 232 can select multiple users from multiple user candidates by a procedure similar to that of the third embodiment described above so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by exceeding the allowable delay time.

[0143] [Variation 6] When the boarding location of all users is the same but the destination is different for each user, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the allowable delay time. At this time, the desired boarding time at which the users wish to board the vehicle V may be the same. For example, when multiple users U are returning home from an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, a large commercial facility, etc., the boarding location of all users will be the same.

[0144] When all users have the same boarding location and the same destination, the selection unit 232 may select multiple users from multiple user candidates so that the vehicle V does not arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time stored in the storage unit 22 by more than the allowable delay time. At this time, the desired boarding time at which the users wish to board the vehicle V may be the same. For example, when multiple users U move from an airport, a concert venue, an event venue, a sports facility such as a gymnasium, a large commercial facility, or the like to another venue, the boarding location and destination of all users will be the same.

[0145] In this way, the selection unit 232 can prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too late due to multiple users U sharing the same vehicle. When the boarding locations of multiple users U are the same, the selection unit 232 can easily adjust the times at which the users board the vehicle V, and can therefore more effectively prevent the user U from arriving at the destination too late.

[0146] <Summary> [General-purpose subject] One of the objectives of the present invention is to prevent the convenience of the vehicle V from being impaired when passengers share the vehicle compared to when passengers are transported individually.

[0147] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 1] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 1] The information processing device of this embodiment is a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, and includes a memory unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to travel between multiple boarding locations where the multiple users board, a reception unit that accepts inputs of boarding locations from multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle, a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit can board the vehicle. According to the vehicle dispatch processing device, it is possible to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to share the same vehicle, while preventing the users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0148] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 2] One of the objects of the present invention is to enable the setting of a different maximum detour time for each organization to which a candidate user belongs. [Appendix 2] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 1, wherein the memory unit stores organization identification information for identifying an organization in association with a maximum detour time, and stores the organization identification information corresponding to the organization to which each of the multiple users belongs, and the selection unit selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed each of the maximum detour times stored in the memory unit in association with the organization identification information corresponding to each of the selected multiple users. This makes it possible to set a maximum detour time that meets the needs of the organization to which the candidate user belongs.

[0149] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 3] One of the objects of the present invention is to accept input of information about the organization to which a candidate user belongs from the candidate user. [Appendix 3] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 2, wherein the reception unit further receives input of organization identification information for identifying the organization that owns each of the plurality of business operator devices and a maximum detour time corresponding to the organization, and the memory unit stores the organization identification information received by the reception unit in association with the received maximum detour time. This makes it possible for the organization identification information received by the reception unit to be managed in association with the received maximum detour time.

[0150] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 4] One object of the present invention is to notify selected users of the scheduled departure time for a vehicle ride-pool. [Appendix 4] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the memory unit stores a destination and a desired arrival time, and further comprises an identification unit that identifies an individual transportation time required to transport one of the selected users from the boarding location corresponding to the user to the destination based on the boarding location accepted from the selected users, assuming that the user is individually transported to the destination, and a determination unit that determines a scheduled departure time from the boarding location corresponding to each of the selected users based on the detour time, the individual transportation time, and the desired arrival time, and the transmission control unit further transmits information indicating the scheduled departure time to the user corresponding to the scheduled departure time. This enables the vehicle dispatch processing device to notify the selected user of the scheduled departure time for sharing the vehicle.

[0151] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 5] One object of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too early when passengers share a ride compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 5] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the memory unit further stores a destination, a desired arrival time, and an allowable early arrival time which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time at which it is allowable to arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time, and the selection unit selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time and so that the vehicle does not arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time stored in the memory unit by more than the allowable early arrival time. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing device to further prevent vehicles from arriving at the destination too early when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are sent individually.

[0152] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 6] One object of the present invention is to prioritize vehicle ride sharing requirements. [Appendix 6] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the reception unit receives input of a first condition for boarding the vehicle and a second condition having a lower priority than the first condition from the multiple user candidates or the business operator device, and the selection unit selects, from the multiple user candidates, one or more user candidates whose detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time and who satisfy the first condition and the second condition as part of the multiple users, and when the number of the multiple selected users is less than a predetermined number, selects, from the multiple user candidates, one or more user candidates whose detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, who satisfy the first condition, and who do not satisfy the second condition as other part of the multiple users. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing device to flexibly apply conditions for selecting a user according to priority.

[0153] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 7] One of the objects of the present invention is to prevent an under-representation in the number of people sharing a vehicle. [Appendix 7] The vehicle dispatch processing device described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the selection unit further selects the user candidate as a user to share the vehicle if the number of user candidates among the multiple user candidates that are not included in the selected multiple users is equal to or less than a threshold value, and if the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when assuming that each of the boarding locations accepted from the user candidate is moved is less than a reference value. This enables the vehicle dispatch processing device to prevent an insufficient number of people sharing a vehicle.

[0154] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 8] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 8] A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, comprising: a memory unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to travel between multiple destinations where the multiple users will get off; a reception unit that accepts input of the destinations from multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple destinations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information to the multiple users selected by the selection unit indicating that they can ride in the vehicle. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing device to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to share the same vehicle, while preventing users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0155] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 9] One object of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too early when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 9] A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, comprising: a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time at which the vehicle is allowed to arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time; a reception unit that accepts input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates; a selection unit that selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the early arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable early arrival time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are able to board the vehicle. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing device to further prevent vehicles from arriving at the destination too early when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are sent individually.

[0156] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 10] One of the objects of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too late when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 10] A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle, comprising: a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable delay time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest allowable time for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time; a reception unit that accepts input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates; a selection unit that selects multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the delay time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit are able to board the vehicle. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing device to further prevent vehicles from arriving at the destination too late when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are sent individually.

[0157] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 11] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 11] A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising: a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle; and user terminals owned by multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, wherein the user terminal has an operation reception unit that receives input of a boarding location from the multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location received by the operation reception unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device, and the vehicle dispatch processing device has: a memory unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time as a detour time required for the vehicle to move between multiple boarding locations where the multiple users board; a reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding locations from the user terminals owned by the multiple user candidates; a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit can ride in the vehicle. This enables the vehicle dispatch processing system to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to ride in the same vehicle, while preventing users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0158] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 12] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 12] A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising: a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle; and user terminals owned by multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, wherein the user terminal has an operation reception unit that receives input of destinations from the multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the destinations received by the operation reception unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device, and the vehicle dispatch processing device has: a memory unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time as the detour time required for the vehicle to travel between multiple destinations where the multiple users will get off; a reception unit that receives information indicating the destinations from the multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle from the user terminal; a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple destinations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the multiple users selected by the selection unit can ride in the vehicle. This enables the vehicle dispatch processing system to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to ride in the same vehicle, while preventing users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0159] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 13] One object of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too early when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 13] A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising: a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle; and user terminals owned by multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, wherein the user terminal has an operation reception unit that receives input of a boarding location from the multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location received by the operation reception unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device, and comprises: a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time that is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time at which it is allowable to arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time; a reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding location from the user terminals of the multiple user candidates; a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the early arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable early arrival time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit can ride in the vehicle. This allows the vehicle dispatch processing system to further prevent vehicles from arriving at the destination too early when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are sent individually.

[0160] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 14] One of the objects of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too late when passengers share a ride, compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 14] A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising: a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines multiple users to share a vehicle; and user terminals owned by multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, wherein the user terminal has an operation reception unit that receives input of a boarding location from the multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location received by the operation reception unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device, and comprises: a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable late arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time at which it is allowable to arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time; a reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding location from the user terminals of the multiple user candidates; a selection unit that selects the multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the late arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable late arrival time; and a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit can ride in the vehicle. This makes it possible to prevent the vehicle from arriving at the destination too early when users share a ride, compared to when each user is transported individually.

[0161] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 15] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 15] A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining multiple users to share a vehicle, comprising the steps of: accepting input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; referring to a memory unit that stores a maximum detour time that is acceptable as the detour time required for the vehicle to travel between multiple boarding locations where the multiple users board, and selecting multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time; and notifying the multiple selected users that they are able to board the vehicle. According to the above-mentioned vehicle dispatch processing method, it is possible to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to share the same vehicle, while preventing the users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0162] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 16] One object of the present invention is to prevent a passenger from spending a longer time in a vehicle when sharing a ride than when each passenger is transported individually. [Appendix 16] A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining multiple users to share a vehicle, the vehicle dispatch processing method comprising the steps of: accepting input of destinations from multiple user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle; referring to a memory unit that stores a maximum detour time that is acceptable as the detour time required for the vehicle to travel between the multiple destinations where the multiple users will get off, and selecting multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on the multiple destinations corresponding to the multiple user candidates so that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time; and notifying the multiple selected users that they can ride in the vehicle. According to the above-mentioned vehicle dispatch processing method, it is possible to enable multiple users with different boarding locations to share the same vehicle, while preventing the users from spending excessive time in the vehicle.

[0163] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 17] One object of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too early when passengers share a ride compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 17] A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer to determine multiple users to share a vehicle, the vehicle dispatch processing method comprising the steps of: accepting input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates; referring to a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time at which the vehicle is allowed to arrive at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time, and selecting multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates such that the early arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable early arrival time; and notifying the multiple selected users that they are able to board the vehicle. This makes it possible to further prevent the vehicle from arriving at the destination too early when users share a ride, compared to when each user is transported individually.

[0164] [Issues corresponding to Appendix 18] One of the objects of the present invention is to prevent a vehicle from arriving at a destination too late when passengers share a ride compared to when passengers are transported individually. [Appendix 18] A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer to determine multiple users to share a vehicle, the vehicle dispatch processing method comprising the steps of: accepting input of boarding locations from multiple user candidates; referring to a memory unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable delay time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time at which the vehicle is allowed to arrive at the destination later than the desired arrival time, and selecting multiple users from the multiple user candidates based on multiple boarding locations corresponding to the multiple user candidates such that the delay time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time; and notifying the multiple selected users that they are able to board the vehicle. This makes it possible to further prevent the vehicle from arriving at the destination too late when users share a ride, compared to when each user is transported individually.

[0165] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by distributing or integrating functionally or physically in any unit. In addition, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment resulting from the combination combines the effect of the original embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0166] 1 User terminal 2. Vehicle dispatch processing device 3. Crew terminal 4 Operator equipment 11 Control section 12 Communications Department 13 Display section 14 Storage section 15 Control section 21 Communications Department 22 Memory section 23 Control Unit 31 Operation section 32 Communications Department 33 Display section 34 Storage section 35 Control section 41 Operation section 42 Communications Department 43 Display section 44 Memory section 45 Control section 151 Operation reception section 152 Communication control section 153 Display control section 231 Reception 232 Selection section 233 Specific part 234 Decision Section 235 Communication Control Unit S Vehicle dispatch processing system V Vehicle

Claims

1. A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time that arrival at the destination is allowed earlier than the desired arrival time; A reception unit that receives input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that an early arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the early arrival allowable time; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing device comprising:

2. A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable late arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time that is allowable for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time; A reception unit that receives input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that a delay time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing device comprising:

3. A vehicle dispatch processing device for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, a reception unit that receives an input of a first condition for riding in a vehicle from any one of a plurality of user candidates for sharing a vehicle or from a business operator device, and a second condition having a lower priority than the first condition; a selection unit that selects, from among a plurality of user candidates, one or more user candidates that satisfy the first condition and the second condition as a part of the plurality of users, and, when the number of the selected plurality of user candidates is less than a predetermined number, selects, from among the selected plurality of user candidates, one or more user candidates that satisfy the first condition and do not satisfy the second condition as a part of the remaining plurality of users; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing device comprising:

4. A vehicle dispatch processing device for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, A storage unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of boarding locations where the plurality of users board; and A reception unit that receives input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selects the user candidates as users sharing the vehicle when the number of the user candidates not included in the selected users among the user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move between the boarding locations accepted from the user candidates is less than a reference value; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing device comprising:

5. the storage unit stores organization identification information for identifying an organization in association with a maximum detour time, and stores the organization identification information corresponding to an organization to which each of the plurality of users belongs; the selection unit selects the plurality of users from the plurality of user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed each of the maximum detour times stored in the storage unit in association with the organization identification information corresponding to each of the selected users. The vehicle dispatch processing device according to claim 4.

6. The reception unit further receives, from a plurality of business operator devices, input of organization identification information for identifying an organization that owns each of the business operator devices and a maximum detouring time corresponding to the organization; the storage unit stores the organization identification information received by the reception unit in association with the received maximum detour time. The vehicle dispatch processing device according to claim 5.

7. The storage unit stores a destination and a desired arrival time, A determination unit that determines an individual transport time required to transport one of the selected users from the boarding location corresponding to the user to the destination, based on the boarding location received from the selected users, when the user is individually transported to the destination; and A determination unit that determines a scheduled departure time of the boarding point corresponding to each of the selected users based on the detour time, the individual delivery time, and the desired arrival time, The transmission control unit further transmits information indicating the scheduled departure time to the user corresponding to the scheduled departure time. The vehicle dispatch processing device according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

8. A vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, a storage unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of destinations at which the plurality of users get off; a reception unit that receives input of the destination from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the destinations corresponding to the user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selects the user candidates as users sharing the vehicle when the number of the user candidates not included in the selected users among the user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move to each of the destinations accepted from the user candidates is less than a reference value; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing device comprising:

9. A vehicle dispatch processing system including a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, and user terminals owned by a plurality of user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, The user terminal, an operation receiving unit that receives input of a boarding location from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location received by the operation receiving unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device; having a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time that arrival at the destination is allowed earlier than the desired arrival time; A reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding location from the user terminals of a plurality of user candidates; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that an early arrival time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time does not exceed the early arrival allowable time; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising:

10. A vehicle dispatch processing system including a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, and user terminals owned by a plurality of user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, The user terminal, an operation receiving unit that receives input of a boarding location from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location received by the operation receiving unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device; having a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable late arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time that is allowable for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time; A reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding location from the user terminals of a plurality of user candidates; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that a delay time by which the vehicle arrives at the destination later than the desired arrival time does not exceed the allowable delay time; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing system comprising:

11. A vehicle dispatch processing system including a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, and user terminals owned by a plurality of user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, The user terminal, an operation receiving unit that receives input of a boarding location from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the boarding location accepted by the operation accepting unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device; having The vehicle dispatch processing device includes: A storage unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of boarding locations where the plurality of users board; and a reception unit that receives information indicating the boarding location from the user terminals of the plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the boarding locations corresponding to the user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selects the user candidates as users sharing the vehicle when the number of the user candidates not included in the selected users among the user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move between the boarding locations accepted from the user candidates is less than a reference value; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing system having the above-mentioned features.

12. A vehicle dispatch processing system including a vehicle dispatch processing device that determines a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, and user terminals owned by a plurality of user candidates who wish to ride in the vehicle, The user terminal, an operation receiving unit that receives input of a destination from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating the destination accepted by the operation accepting unit to the vehicle dispatch processing device; having The vehicle dispatch processing device includes: a storage unit that stores a maximum allowable detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of destinations at which the plurality of users get off; a reception unit that receives information indicating the destination from the user terminals of a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a selection unit that selects the users from the user candidates based on the destinations corresponding to the user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selects the user candidates as users sharing the vehicle when the number of the user candidates not included in the selected users among the user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move to each of the destinations accepted from the user candidates is less than a reference value; a transmission control unit that transmits information indicating that the users selected by the selection unit are allowed to ride in the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing system having the above-mentioned features.

13. A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, comprising the steps of: A step of accepting input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates; a step of selecting a plurality of users from the plurality of user candidates based on a plurality of boarding locations corresponding to the plurality of user candidates, by referring to a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable early arrival time, which is the difference between the desired arrival time and the earliest time that is allowable for arriving at the destination earlier than the desired arrival time; and notifying the selected users that they are available to board the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing method comprising:

14. A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, comprising the steps of: A step of accepting input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates; a step of selecting a plurality of users from the plurality of user candidates based on a plurality of boarding locations corresponding to the plurality of user candidates, by referring to a storage unit that stores a desired arrival time and an allowable delay time, which is a difference between the desired arrival time and the latest time that is allowable for arriving at the destination later than the desired arrival time; and notifying the selected users that they are available to board the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing method comprising:

15. A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining a plurality of users to share a vehicle, comprising: receiving an input of a first condition for riding in a vehicle from any one of a plurality of user candidates for sharing a vehicle or from a business operator device, and a second condition having a lower priority than the first condition; selecting one or more user candidates who satisfy the first condition and the second condition from among a plurality of user candidates sharing a vehicle as a part of the plurality of users, and when the number of the selected plurality of user candidates is less than a predetermined number, selecting one or more user candidates who satisfy the first condition and do not satisfy the second condition from among the selected plurality of user candidates as a part of the remaining plurality of users; transmitting information to the selected users indicating that the vehicle is available for boarding; A vehicle dispatch processing method comprising:

16. A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, comprising the steps of: receiving input of boarding locations from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a step of referring to a storage unit that stores a maximum detour time that is allowable as a detour time required for the vehicle to move between a plurality of boarding locations where the plurality of users board, and selecting the plurality of users from the plurality of user candidates based on the plurality of boarding locations corresponding to the plurality of user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selecting the user candidate as a user who will share the vehicle in a case where the number of the user candidates not included in the plurality of selected users among the plurality of user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move between the boarding locations accepted from the respective user candidates is less than a reference value; transmitting information to the selected users indicating that the vehicle is available for boarding; A vehicle dispatch processing method comprising:

17. A vehicle dispatch processing method executed by a computer for determining a plurality of users who will share a vehicle, comprising the steps of: receiving input of a destination from a plurality of user candidates who wish to board the vehicle; a step of referring to a storage unit that stores a maximum detour time that is allowable as a detour time required for the vehicle to move between the destinations at which the users get off, and selecting the users from the user candidates based on the destinations corresponding to the user candidates such that the detour time does not exceed the maximum detour time, and further selecting the user candidates as users sharing the vehicle when the number of the user candidates not included in the selected users among the user candidates is equal to or less than a threshold value and the time by which the detour time exceeds the maximum detour time when it is assumed that the user candidates move to each of the destinations accepted from the user candidates is less than a reference value; notifying the selected users that they are available to board the vehicle; A vehicle dispatch processing method comprising:

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