Information processing device

Abstract

To calculate an appropriate fare that corresponds to the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at both boarding and alighting points in a service of transporting passengers by a vehicle.SOLUTION: A server device 30 acquires a request that includes the boarding and alighting points of a passenger, estimates the state of passenger demand and vehicle supply at the boarding and alighting points included in the acquired request, and identifies by different methods the effect of the passenger demand or vehicle supply at the boarding point exerted upon a fare and the effect of the passenger demand or vehicle supply at the alighting point exerted upon a fare, then calculating a fare. The demand and supply works in reverse to each other, as will be observed in example cases that an increase in demand at the boarding point and an increase in supply at the alighting point cause a fare to rise, and an increase in demand at the alighting point and an increase in supply at the boarding point cause a fare to fall.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for calculating a fare when transporting passengers by a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] The consideration for a service has an aspect that is determined according to the relationship between demand and supply. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that, in a vehicle in which a plurality of passengers share a ride, when generating an operation plan based on the boarding time and alighting time of each of the plurality of passengers, the boarding fare of the passenger is set based on demand information related to the demand of new passengers or supply information related to the supply of vehicles.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a service of transporting passengers by a vehicle, the influence on the fare may be different between the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at the boarding point and between the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at the alighting point.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to calculate an appropriate fare according to the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at both the boarding point and the alighting point in a service of transporting passengers by a vehicle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires a request including a passenger's boarding point and alighting point, and an estimation unit that estimates the state of passenger demand and vehicle supply at the boarding point and the alighting point included in the acquired request.An estimation unit that estimates the demand status of passengers at the boarding point and the alighting point based on the result of counting the number of accesses to a site that provides a passenger transportation service in units of wireless facilities through which the access is made, and estimates the vehicle supply number in the area including the boarding point as the vehicle supply status at the boarding point and the vehicle supply number in the area including the alighting point as the vehicle supply status at the alighting point based on the content in which the vehicle supply number in each area is stored and a calculation unit that calculates a fare corresponding to the request based on the estimated demand of the passenger and the supply state of the vehicle A calculation unit that calculates a high fare according to an increase in demand of passengers at the boarding point and an increase in supply of vehicles at the alighting point, and calculates a low fare according to an increase in supply of vehicles at the boarding point and an increase in demand of passengers at the alighting point provided with the above, and provides an information processing apparatus. The present invention provides an information processing apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a request including a boarding point and an alighting point of a passenger; an estimation unit that estimates the demand of passengers and the supply status of vehicles at the boarding point and the alighting point included in the acquired request, the estimation unit estimating the demand status of passengers at the boarding point and the alighting point based on the result of counting the number of accesses according to the access depth when a site that provides a passenger transportation service is accessed, and estimating the vehicle supply number in the area including the boarding point as the vehicle supply status at the boarding point and the vehicle supply number in the area including the alighting point as the vehicle supply status at the alighting point based on the content in which the vehicle supply number in each area is stored; and a calculation unit that calculates a fare corresponding to the request based on the estimated demand of passengers and the supply status of vehicles, the calculation unit calculating a high fare according to an increase in demand of passengers at the boarding point and an increase in supply of vehicles at the alighting point, and calculating a low fare according to an increase in supply of vehicles at the boarding point and an increase in demand of passengers at the alighting point The present invention provides an information processing apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a request including a passenger's boarding point and alighting point; an estimation unit that estimates the state of passenger demand and vehicle supply at the boarding point and the alighting point included in the acquired request, wherein the state of passenger demand at the boarding point and the alighting point is estimated based on the usage history of the passenger transportation service of a user who has accessed a site providing the passenger transportation service, and the number of vehicle supplies in the area including the boarding point is estimated as the state of vehicle supply at the boarding point, and the number of vehicle supplies in the area including the alighting point is estimated as the state of vehicle supply at the alighting point, based on the content in which the number of vehicle supplies in each area is stored; and a calculation unit that calculates a fare corresponding to the request based on the estimated state of passenger demand and vehicle supply, wherein a high fare is calculated according to an increase in passenger demand at the boarding point and an increase in vehicle supply at the alighting point, and a low fare is calculated according to an increase in vehicle supply at the boarding point and an increase in passenger demand at the alighting point.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, in a service for transporting passengers by vehicle, it becomes possible to calculate an appropriate fare according to the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at both the boarding point and the alighting point.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 10

Figure 11

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] [Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the vehicle management system 1 of the present embodiment. The vehicle management system 1 is a system for providing an on-demand passenger transportation service. The vehicle management system 1 includes a plurality of user terminals 10 each functioning as a communication terminal used by a passenger getting on and off a vehicle (that is, a user who is the target of the passenger transportation service), a plurality of in-vehicle terminals 20 each functioning as a communication terminal used by a driver in the vehicle, and a server device 30 functioning as an information processing device according to the present invention. The network 2 connects these user terminals 10, in-vehicle terminals 20, and server device 30 so as to be communicable with each other. The network 2 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network), or a combination thereof, and includes a wired section or a wireless section. The network 2 is desirably, for example, a network compliant with the fifth-generation mobile communication system, but is not necessarily limited thereto. In FIG. 1, one user terminal 10, one in-vehicle terminal 20, and one server device 30 are shown, but this is merely an example, and there may be a plurality of them.

[0010] In the vehicle management system 1, the user operates his / her user terminal 10 to request a ride from an arbitrary boarding point selected from a plurality of pre-prepared boarding and alighting point groups to an arbitrary alighting point. This ride request is transmitted from the user terminal 10 to the server device 30 via the network 2. A plurality of vehicles each equipped with an in-vehicle terminal 20 are traveling or waiting dispersedly, and the server device 30 selects a vehicle that matches the user's ride request from a group of vehicles in the vicinity of the boarding point in the above ride request or a group of vehicles scheduled to travel in the vicinity of the boarding point.

[0011] At this time, the server device 30 notifies the user terminal 10 of the user of information such as the fare as the consideration for transporting the user from the boarding point to the alighting point, and the arrival scheduled time when the vehicle is scheduled to arrive at the boarding point and the alighting point. The feature of this embodiment lies in the method of calculating this fare. Specifically, if other conditions are constant, an increase in the user's demand at the boarding point acts in the direction of increasing the fare. If other conditions are constant, an increase in the supply of vehicles at the alighting point acts in the direction of increasing the fare. If other conditions are constant, an increase in the user's demand at the alighting point acts in the direction of decreasing the fare. If other conditions are constant, an increase in the supply of vehicles at the boarding point acts in the direction of decreasing the fare. That is, at the boarding point and the alighting point, the user's demand or the supply of vehicles act in opposite directions to each other. The details will be described later.

[0012] The server device 30 identifies the route from the current location of the vehicle via the boarding point to the alighting point, and notifies the in-vehicle terminal 20 of the selected vehicle of information regarding that route. The driver of the vehicle equipped with this in-vehicle terminal 20 drives the vehicle according to the notified route. Also, the server device 30 notifies the user terminal 10 of the user of information regarding the vehicle that the user should board. The user walks or moves to the boarding point by other means by the arrival scheduled time of the notified vehicle, boards the vehicle at the boarding point, and alights at the alighting point. The payment of the fare by the user is made, for example, by cash payment or electronic payment.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the user terminal 10. The user terminal 10 is a computer such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or a personal computer. Physically, the user terminal 10 is configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, and a bus connecting these. In the following description, the term "device" can be read as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the user terminal 10 may be configured to include one or more of each device shown in the figure, or may be configured without including some devices.

[0014] Each function in the user terminal 10 is realized by causing the processor 1001 to read a predetermined software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, so that the processor 1001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 1004, and controls at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

[0015] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by operating an operating system, for example. The processor 1001 may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic device, a register, etc. Also, for example, a baseband signal processing unit, a call processing unit, etc. may be realized by the processor 1001.

[0016] Processor 1001 reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of storage 1003 and communication device 1004 into memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. As the program, a program for causing a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described later is used. The functional blocks of user terminal 10 may be stored in memory 1002 and realized by a control program operating in processor 1001. Various processes may be executed by one processor 1001, or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. Processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. Note that the program may be transmitted from network 2 to user terminal 10 via a telecommunication line.

[0017] Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be constituted by at least one of, for example, ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Memory 1002 may be referred to as a register, a cache, a main memory (main storage device), etc. Memory 1002 can store a program (program code), a software module, etc. executable for implementing the method according to this embodiment.

[0018] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be constituted by at least one of, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage device.

[0019] The communication device 1004 is hardware (a transceiver device) for performing communication between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may include, for example, a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. in order to implement at least one of frequency-division duplexing (FDD: Frequency Division Duplex) and time-division duplexing (TDD: Time Division Duplex). For example, a transceiver antenna, an amplifier section, a transceiver section, a transmission line interface, etc. may be implemented by the communication device 1004. The transceiver section may be physically or logically separated into a transmitter section and a receiver section.

[0020] The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a key, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, a GPS unit, etc.) that receives an external input. The output device 1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs an output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may have an integrated configuration (for example, a touch screen).

[0021] Each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus for communicating information. The bus may be configured using a single bus or may be configured using different buses for each device.

[0022] Further, the user terminal 10 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle terminal 20. The in-vehicle terminal 20 is a computer such as, for example, a car navigation device, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal, or a personal computer. The in-vehicle terminal 20 may be a terminal integrated or fixed to the vehicle, or a terminal that can be carried by the driver and brought into the vehicle. The hardware configuration of the in-vehicle terminal 20 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in FIG. 3, or may be configured without including some of the devices. Further, a plurality of devices with different housings may be communicatively connected to form the in-vehicle terminal 20.

[0024] The in-vehicle terminal 20 is physically configured as a computer device including a processor 2001, a memory 2002, a storage 2003, a communication device 2004, an input device 2005, an output device 2006, and a bus connecting these, similar to the user terminal 10. Each function in the in-vehicle terminal 20 is realized by having the processor 2001 load a predetermined software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 2001 and the memory 2002, so that the processor 2001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 2004, and controls at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 2002 and the storage 2003. The processor 2001, the memory 2002, the storage 2003, the communication device 2004, the input device 2005, the output device 2006, and the bus connecting these are the same as the processor 1001, the memory 1002, the storage 1003, the communication device 1004, the input device 1005, the output device 1006, and the bus connecting these described for the user terminal 10 in terms of hardware, so the description thereof is omitted.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server device 30. The hardware configuration of the server device 30 may be configured to include one or more of each device shown in FIG. 4, or may be configured without including some of the devices. Also, a server device 30 may be configured by communicatively connecting a plurality of devices with different enclosures.

[0026] The server device 30 is physically configured as a computer device including a processor 3001, a memory 3002, a storage 3003, a communication device 3004, and a bus connecting these components. Each function in the server device 30 is realized by causing the processor 3001 to perform calculations and control communication by the communication device 3004, or by controlling at least one of reading and writing data in the memory 3002 and the storage 3003, by loading a predetermined software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 3001 and the memory 3002. The processor 3001, the memory 3002, the storage 3003, the communication device 3004, and the bus connecting these components are the same as the processor 1001, the memory 1002, the storage 1003, the communication device 1004, and the bus connecting these components described for the user terminal 10 in terms of hardware, so the description thereof is omitted. However, the communication device 3004 does not necessarily need to be hardware for performing communication according to a wireless communication standard, and may be hardware (a transceiver device) for performing communication between computers via the network 2 according to an arbitrary wired communication standard.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the vehicle management system 1. As shown in FIG. 5, in the server device 30, functions such as an acquisition unit 31, an estimation unit 32, a calculation unit 33, a vehicle allocation management unit 34, a storage unit 35, and an output unit 36 are realized.

[0028] As described above, when the user operates the user terminal 10 to request a ride from an arbitrary boarding point to an arbitrary alighting point that the user desires, in addition to information regarding these boarding and alighting points, a ride request including a user ID for identifying the user is transmitted from the user terminal 10 to the server device 30 via the network 2. In the server device 30, the acquisition unit 31 acquires this ride request from the user terminal 10 via the network 2. Further, the acquisition unit 31 acquires the position information of the in-vehicle terminal 20 (that is, the position information of the vehicle) that is periodically transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 20 via the network 2.

[0029] The estimation unit 32 estimates the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle at each of the boarding point and the alighting point included in the ride request acquired by the acquisition unit 31.

[0030] Here, FIG. 6 shows information stored in the storage unit 35 for estimating the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle. As illustrated in FIG. 6, for each area to which an area ID is assigned as an identifier of each area, the number of users who desired to use the area as a boarding point in the past predetermined period (for example, the past one hour) (the number of boarding desires) and the number of vehicles parked or traveling in the area at the current time or in the past predetermined period (for example, the past five minutes) (the number of vehicle supplies) are associated with each other. The criterion for dividing each area may be any one, for example, each area may be divided in mesh units of a predetermined size and a predetermined shape, or each area may be divided based on administrative divisions such as municipalities. The estimation unit 32 determines which area the boarding point included in each ride request acquired by the acquisition unit 31 in the past predetermined period is included in, counts the number of boarding desires in units of the area including the boarding point, and stores it in the storage unit 35. Further, the estimation unit 32 determines which area the position information of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition unit 31 at the current time or in the past predetermined period is included in, counts the number of vehicle supplies in units of the area including the position information, and stores it in the storage unit 35.

[0031] Then, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of boarding desires in the area including the boarding point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand state of the user at the boarding point, and estimates the number of vehicle supplies in the area including the boarding point included in the newly acquired ride request as the supply state of the vehicle at the boarding point. Further, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of boarding desires in the area including the alighting point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand state of the user at the alighting point, and estimates the number of vehicle supplies in the area including the alighting point included in the newly acquired ride request as the supply state of the vehicle at the alighting point.

[0032] In the example of FIG. 6, for example, when a boarding location related to a new ride request is included in the area with area ID "A001", the demand state of the user at the boarding location is expressed as a value of "25", and the supply state of the vehicle at the boarding location is expressed as a value of "20". Also, in the example of FIG. 6, for example, when a drop-off location related to a new ride request is included in the area with area ID "A003", the demand state of the user at the drop-off location is expressed as a value of "5", and the supply state of the vehicle at the drop-off location is expressed as a value of "10".

[0033] Note that the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle may be expressed as real numbers of the number of ride requests and the number of vehicle supplies as illustrated in FIG. 6, or these number of ride requests and number of vehicle supplies may be expressed by dividing them into multiple stages or levels, or may be expressed by values obtained by dividing the number of ride requests in each area by the total number of ride requests in all areas and values obtained by dividing the number of vehicle supplies in each area by the total number of vehicle supplies in all areas.

[0034] Returning to the description of FIG. 5, the calculation unit 33 calculates the fare corresponding to the ride request acquired by the acquisition unit 31 based on the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle at the boarding location and the drop-off location estimated by the estimation unit 32. Specifically, the calculation unit 33 applies the number of ride requests at the boarding location (referred to as Ron), the number of ride requests at the drop-off location (referred to as Roff), the number of vehicle supplies at the boarding location (referred to as Son), and the number of vehicle supplies at the drop-off location (referred to as Soff) as illustrated in FIG. 6 to the following mathematical formula to calculate the fare F.

[0035] Fare F = Fare coefficient K × (Boarding location coefficient Kon × Number of ride requests at boarding location Ron / Number of vehicle supplies at boarding location Son) × (Drop-off location coefficient Koff × Number of vehicle supplies at drop-off location Soff / Number of ride requests at drop-off location Roff)

[0036] Note that the fare coefficient K, the boarding location coefficient Kon, and the drop-off location coefficient Koff are predetermined coefficients for deriving the fare (unit: yen) from real numbers of the number of ride requests and the number of vehicle supplies, and all take positive values.

[0037] According to this formula, since the number of boarding requests Ron at the boarding point and the number of vehicle supplies Soff at the alighting point correspond to the numerator of the right formula, assuming that the number of vehicle supplies Son at the boarding point and the number of boarding requests Roff at the alighting point are constant, the increase in user demand at the boarding point and the increase in vehicle supply at the alighting point act in the direction of increasing the fare. On the other hand, since the number of vehicle supplies Son at the boarding point and the number of boarding requests Roff at the alighting point correspond to the denominator of the right formula, assuming that the number of boarding requests Ron at the boarding point and the number of vehicle supplies Soff at the alighting point are constant, the increase in vehicle supply at the boarding point and the increase in user demand at the alighting point act in the direction of decreasing the fare. Note that this formula is merely an example, and any formula can be used as long as the increase in user demand at the boarding point and the increase in vehicle supply at the alighting point act in the direction of increasing the fare, and the increase in vehicle supply at the boarding point and the increase in user demand at the alighting point act in the direction of decreasing the fare.

[0038] Here, the design that the increase in user demand at the boarding point acts in the direction of increasing the fare follows the general concept of increasing the price of a service when the demand for the service is high. Similarly, the design that the increase in vehicle supply at the boarding point acts in the direction of decreasing the fare follows the general concept of decreasing the price of a service when the supply of the service is high.

[0039] On the other hand, the design that the decrease in vehicle supply at the alighting point acts in the direction of increasing the fare is based on the following concept. When a user who is on a vehicle alights at the alighting point, if the location where the vehicle is located is a location with a low supply of vehicles, the possibility that the vehicle can pick up the next user in the vicinity of that location increases. Such a state can be said to be advantageous for the provider of the passenger transportation service, so it acts in the direction of decreasing the fare.

[0040] In addition, the design that the decrease in the user's demand at the alighting point works in the direction of increasing the fare is based on the following concept. When a user who is riding in a vehicle alights at the alighting point, if the location where the vehicle is located is a location with low user demand, the possibility that the vehicle can pick up the next user in the vicinity of that location decreases. Such a state can be said to be disadvantageous to the provider of the passenger transportation service, so it is designed to work in the direction of increasing the fare.

[0041] In this way, the calculation unit 33 identifies the influence of the user's demand or vehicle supply at the boarding point on the fare and the influence of the user's demand or vehicle supply at the alighting point on the fare in different ways, and calculates the fare.

[0042] The vehicle allocation management unit 34 performs processing related to the allocation and operation of vehicles. More specifically, the vehicle allocation management unit 34 selects a vehicle that matches the user's boarding request from a group of vehicles in the vicinity of the boarding point included in the above boarding request or a group of vehicles scheduled to travel in the vicinity of the boarding point. The vehicle allocation management unit 34 calculates a route from the current location of the selected vehicle via the boarding point to the alighting point. This route is a concept that includes information such as at which position and when the vehicle passes.

[0043] As described above, in this embodiment, the locations where the user can board and alight from the vehicle, that is, the positions of the boarding and alighting points for the vehicle are determined in advance. Therefore, the boarding point where the user boards the vehicle is designated from among the predetermined boarding and alighting points, and the alighting point where the user alights from the vehicle is also designated from among the predetermined boarding and alighting points. Therefore, the storage unit 35 stores boarding and alighting point information regarding these multiple boarding and alighting points. This boarding and alighting point information includes information regarding the position of the boarding and alighting points and their available conditions (for example, information regarding the date and time when the boarding and alighting points can be used, specifically, the date or time and information indicating whether each boarding and alighting point is available at that date or time), etc.

[0044] Furthermore, the memory unit 35 stores map data and traffic data within all passenger transportation service areas. The map data includes the positions of each road within all passenger transportation service areas, the directions and number of lanes that can be traveled on each road, and information regarding signals and the like on each road. The traffic data includes information regarding traffic jams, accidents, and the like on each road within all passenger transportation service areas. Also, the traffic data may include information regarding traffic volume sensed by a predetermined sensing device in each region, and statistical information from a macro perspective regarding how vehicle groups on the road move according to conditions such as date and time. These map data and traffic data are used to identify the route of the vehicle and the time required for the vehicle to travel along that route.

[0045] Also, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the memory unit 35 stores information regarding the routes of each vehicle calculated by the vehicle allocation management unit 34, such as which vehicle passes through which position at what time, and which user boards or alights from which boarding / alighting point at what time in which vehicle.

[0046] The output unit 36 outputs various types of information to the user terminal 10 or the in-vehicle terminal 20 via the network 2. For example, the output unit 36 outputs information regarding the route of the vehicle to the in-vehicle terminal 20 of that vehicle. The driver of the vehicle equipped with this in-vehicle terminal 20 drives the vehicle according to the notified route. Also, the output unit 36 outputs information regarding the fare that the user who requested a ride should pay as the consideration for the passenger transportation service, and information regarding the vehicle that the user should board, etc., to the user terminal 10 of the user who requested the ride.

[0047] [Operation] Next, the operation of the server device 30 will be described. The procedure of each process shown in FIG. 8 is described in a program stored in the server device 30. In FIG. 8, first, the acquisition unit 31 acquires a ride request transmitted from the user terminal 10 via the network 2 (step S11). This ride request includes the user ID of the user who wishes to ride and information regarding the boarding point and the alighting point specified by the user. Further, the acquisition unit 31 acquires the position information of the in-vehicle terminal 20 (that is, the position information of the vehicle) periodically transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 20 via the network 2.

[0048] Next, based on the content exemplified in FIG. 6, the estimation unit 32 estimates the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle at each of the boarding point and the alighting point included in the ride request acquired by the acquisition unit 31 (step S12).

[0049] Next, based on the demand of the user and the supply state of the vehicle at the boarding point and the alighting point estimated by the estimation unit 32, the calculation unit 33 calculates the fare according to the above-described formula (step S13).

[0050] Next, the output unit 36 outputs to the user terminal 10 of the user who requested the ride the fare calculated by the calculation unit 33 and the boarding conditions regarding the scheduled arrival times of the boarding point and the alighting point of the vehicle on which the user should ride (step S14). These boarding conditions are displayed on the user terminal 10 and presented to the user.

[0051] When the user views these boarding conditions and performs an operation indicating acceptance of the ride under these boarding conditions without canceling the ride request (step S15; NO), the vehicle allocation management unit 34 determines that the user's ride is confirmed (step S16; YES).

[0052] And then, the vehicle allocation management unit 34 performs vehicle allocation processing (step S17). Specifically, the vehicle allocation management unit 34 selects a vehicle that matches the user's boarding request from a group of vehicles near the boarding location in the boarding request or a group of vehicles scheduled to travel near the boarding location, and calculates a route from the current location of the selected vehicle via the boarding location to the alighting location. Then, the output unit 36 outputs information about the calculated route and the like to the in-vehicle terminal 20. The driver of the vehicle starts moving the vehicle to the user's boarding location according to the route notified by the vehicle allocation management unit 34. Also, the output unit 36 outputs information about the vehicle that the user of the user terminal 10 should board, the scheduled arrival time when the vehicle arrives at the boarding location and the alighting location, and the like to the user terminal 10. Note that the processing related to such vehicle selection and route calculation may be performed before step S15 described above.

[0053] According to the embodiment described above, in the service of transporting passengers by vehicle, it is possible to calculate an appropriate fare according to the demand of passengers and the supply of vehicles at both the boarding location and the alighting location.

[0054] [Modification Example] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The above-described embodiment may be modified as follows. Also, two or more of the following modification examples may be combined and implemented.

[0055] [Modification Example 1] It is expected that the user's current location and the pick-up point desired by the user are close in distance. Therefore, the estimation unit 32 may estimate the demand status of users in each area as follows. For example, the estimation unit 32 estimates the demand of users at the pick-up point and the drop-off point based on the result of counting the number of times the site providing the passenger transportation service is accessed in units of radio facilities through which the access is made. The site providing the passenger transportation service is a website on the web that accepts ride requests from users. In addition to users who actually wish to board the vehicle, this site can also be accessed by users who are interested in the passenger transportation service, users who want to check the outline before actually using the passenger transportation service, etc. The acquisition unit 31 acquires the identifier of the radio facility (for example, a radio base station or an exchange station) through which the access is made when the user terminal 10 accesses this site. The estimation unit 3 counts the number of accesses for each area including the location of the radio facility of the acquired identifier. Then, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of accesses in the area including the pick-up point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand status of users at the pick-up point. In addition, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of accesses in the area including the drop-off point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand status of users at the drop-off point. Thereby, it is possible to estimate that an area with many users interested in the passenger transportation service has a large demand from users, and an area with few users interested in the passenger transportation service has a small demand from users.

[0056] In addition, the user terminal 10 measures the position of its own terminal according to the user's operation or periodically by means of a GPS unit or so-called base station positioning. Then, the access to the above-mentioned site is made to include the position information indicating the position of the measured user terminal 10. The estimation unit 3 counts the number of accesses from the user terminal 10 for each area including the position indicated by this position information. Then, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of accesses in the area including the boarding point included in the newly acquired ride request as the state of the user's demand at the boarding point. In addition, the estimation unit 32 estimates the number of accesses in the area including the alighting point included in the newly acquired ride request as the state of the user's demand at the alighting point. Thereby, it is possible to estimate that the areas where there are many users interested in the passenger transportation service have a large user demand, and the areas where there are few users interested in the passenger transportation service have a small user demand.

[0057] [Modification Example 2] The estimation unit 32 may estimate the state of the user's demand using the depth of access from the user terminal 10 to the above site. Regarding the depth of access, it is evaluated by utilizing the fact that the site has a hierarchical structure. For example, in a hierarchical structure, access to the top-level WEB page corresponding to the top page of the site is evaluated as having a shallow depth, and access to the bottom-level WEB page is evaluated as having a deep depth. That is, the higher the position in the hierarchical structure, the shallower the depth of access, and the lower the position, the deeper the depth of access. The estimation unit 32 estimates the user's demand at the boarding point and the alighting point based on the result of counting the number of accesses according to the depth of access when the site providing the passenger transportation service is accessed. For example, if the user terminal 10 accesses the top page of the top layer on the site and the user views that page, the access is counted as 0.1, and if the user views the page on the second layer, the access is counted as 0.3. In this way, a larger value may be counted as the depth of access becomes deeper.

[0058] Furthermore, the presence or absence of user operations and inputs on a web page may also be considered as the depth of access. For example, if a user only views the top page on the site, the access is counted as 0.1, if the user specifies a boarding point on the second-level page, the access is counted as 0.5, and if the user specifies both a boarding point and a disembarking point on the second-level page, the access is counted as 0.8. In this way, the greater the number of user operations and inputs, the larger the value should be counted. Thus, it is possible to estimate that the positions where there are many users with strong interest in the passenger transportation service have high user demand, and the positions where there are few users with strong interest in the passenger transportation service have low user demand.

[0059] [Modification Example 3] The estimation unit 32 may estimate the state of user demand at the boarding point and the disembarking point based on the past usage history of the passenger transportation service of the users who accessed the site providing the passenger transportation service. For this purpose, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the storage unit 35 stores the usage history of the passenger transportation service of each user in association with the user ID of each user. When a user with a usage history such as always requesting a ride when accessing the top page or a user who has used the passenger transportation service more than a threshold number of times in a past predetermined period accesses the above site, the estimation unit 32 counts a number of 1 or more for each of the above-mentioned regions based on the position where the access occurred (the position specified by each of the above-described modification examples). On the other hand, when a user who does not request a ride just by viewing the site or a user with a usage history of using the passenger transportation service less than a threshold number of times in a past predetermined period accesses the above site, a number less than 1 is counted for each of the above-mentioned regions. That is, the estimation unit 32 evaluates the access from each user by assigning a weight according to the user's usage history.

[0060] Then, the estimation unit 32 estimates the count of the area including the boarding point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand state of the user at the boarding point. Further, the estimation unit 32 estimates the count of the area including the alighting point included in the newly acquired ride request as the demand state of the user at the alighting point. Thereby, it is possible to estimate that the position where there are many users highly likely to use the passenger transportation service has a large demand of users, and the position where there are many users less likely to use the passenger transportation service has a small demand of users.

[0061] [Modification Example 4] The above-described embodiments and modification examples are merely illustrative. The calculation unit 33 may calculate the fare for the user by specifying the influence of the user's demand or vehicle supply at the boarding point on the fare and the influence of the user's demand or vehicle supply at the alighting point on the fare in different ways.

[0062] [Modification Example 5] In the present invention, for example, a demographic system called Mobile Space Statistics (registered trademark) of NTT DOCOMO, INC. may be used to utilize the distribution of each user. This demographic system is a system that can calculate the distribution of the positions of mobile terminals (such as mobile phones and smartphones, etc.) in a predetermined mesh unit for each user attribute (such as gender, age, location history, movement history, etc.) through, for example, anonymization processing, aggregation processing, and anonymization processing. The calculation unit 33 of the server device 30 may calculate the fare using the user attributes of the users who wish to board and the distribution of users for each user attribute specified from such a demographic system. For this purpose, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the storage unit 35 stores the user attributes of each user in association with the user ID of the user. In this case, in the server device 30, the acquisition unit 31 acquires information (for example, in Area A, there are ○○ males and ×× females, etc.) in which the number of mobile terminals in each area is classified for each user attribute from the demographic system. The calculation unit 33 specifies the user attributes of the users related to the boarding request from the stored content illustrated in FIG. 10, and calculates the fare based on the user attributes and the distribution of the attributes of the user group existing at the boarding point or the alighting point. For example, when there are few females at the boarding point desired by a certain user, the calculation unit 33 calculates a discounted fare compared to normal when the user is female, or when there are many users in their 60s at the boarding point desired by a certain user, the calculation unit 33 calculates a discounted fare compared to normal when the user is in their 20s. As a result, it becomes possible to calculate a fare according to the user attributes of the users who wish to board and the distribution of users for each user attribute.

[0063] [Modification Example 6] A vehicle has various facilities or functions, which may vary depending on the vehicle. Therefore, the calculation unit 33 may calculate the fare based on the attributes or wishes of the user related to the ride request and the facilities or functions provided by the vehicle to be ridden. For this purpose, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the storage unit 35 stores, in association with the vehicle ID of each vehicle, the facilities or functions provided by that vehicle (for example, the number of passengers that can be carried, the maximum load capacity of luggage, the presence or absence of AV equipment or gaming equipment, the presence or absence of power outlets, etc.). In this case, for example, for a request with a large number of desired passengers or a large amount of luggage to be carried, a vehicle that can accommodate a large number of people or large luggage may not offer a discount from the normal fare, or a vehicle equipped with gaming equipment may offer a discount from the normal fare when the user is a child, and so on.

[0064] [Modification Example 7] Although the server device 30 has been exemplified as an example of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the present invention is applicable to any computer that realizes the functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0065] [Other Modification Examples] Note that the block diagrams used in the description of the above embodiments show blocks in terms of functions. These functional blocks (constituent parts) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Also, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one physically or logically combined device, or two or more physically or logically separated devices may be directly or indirectly (for example, using wired, wireless, etc.) connected and realized using these multiple devices. The functional block may be realized by combining software with the above one device or the above multiple devices.

[0066] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision-making, determination, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, solution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, assumption, notification (broadcasting), notification (notifying), communication (communicating), forwarding, configuration (configuring), reconfiguration (reconfiguring), allocation (allocating, mapping), assignment (assigning), etc. For example, a functional block (component) that enables transmission is called a transmitting unit or a transmitter. In any case, as described above, the implementation method is not particularly limited.

[0067] The notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in this disclosure, and other methods may be used. For example, the notification of information may be implemented by physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling, notification information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (System Information Block))), other signals, or combinations thereof. Also, RRC signaling may be called an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC connection setup (RRC Connection Setup) message, an RRC connection reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message, etc.

[0068] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to at least one of systems using LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G (4th generation mobile communication system), 5G (5th generation mobile communication system), FRA (Future Radio Access), NR (new Radio), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and other appropriate systems, and next-generation systems extended based on these. Also, multiple systems may be combined (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A and 5G, etc.) and applied.

[0069] The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be rearranged as long as there is no contradiction. For example, for the methods described in the present disclosure, the elements of various steps are presented using an exemplary order and are not limited to the specific order presented.

[0070] Information, etc. may be output from a higher layer (or lower layer) to a lower layer (or higher layer). It may be input and output via a plurality of network nodes.

[0071] The input and output information, etc. may be stored in a specific location (for example, a memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information, etc. may be overwritten, updated, or appended. The output information, etc. may be deleted. The input information, etc. may be transmitted to other devices.

[0072] The determination may be made based on a value represented by 1 bit (either 0 or 1), a Boolean value (Boolean: true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0073] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched and used during execution. Also, the notification of predetermined information (e.g., the notification of "being X") is not limited to being explicitly performed, and may be performed implicitly (e.g., not performing the notification of the predetermined information). As described above in detail about the present disclosure, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described in the present disclosure. The present disclosure can be implemented as modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is for illustrative purposes and has no restrictive meaning for the present disclosure.

[0074] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc., whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, a hardware description language, or by any other name. Also, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, when software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technologies (such as coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, twisted pairs, digital subscriber lines (DSL)) and wireless technologies (such as infrared rays, microwaves), at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included within the definition of the transmission medium.

[0075] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof. In addition, with respect to the terms described in this disclosure and the terms necessary for understanding this disclosure, they may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of a channel and a symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Also, a component carrier (CC) may be referred to as a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

[0076] The terms "system" and "network" used in this disclosure are used interchangeably.

[0077] Also, the information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using absolute values, relative values from a predetermined value, or corresponding other information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index. The names used for the above-described parameters are not limiting names in any way. Furthermore, mathematical formulas, etc. using these parameters may be different from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. Since various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements can be identified by any suitable names, the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting names in any way.

[0078] In this disclosure, terms such as "mobile station (MS)", "user terminal", "user equipment (UE)", "terminal", etc. may be used interchangeably. A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term.

[0079] User terminal 10 or in-vehicle terminal 20 may also be referred to as a transmitting device, receiving device, communication device, etc.

[0080] The terms "determining" may encompass a wide variety of operations. "Determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up / searching / inquiring (e.g., looking up in a table, database, or another data structure), and considering something as having "determined" what has been ascertained. Also, "determining" may include considering something as having "determined" what has been received (e.g., receiving information), transmitted (e.g., transmitting information), input, output, accessed (e.g., accessing data in memory), etc. Further, "determining" may include considering something as having "determined" what has been resolved, selected, chosen, established, compared, etc. That is, "determining" may include considering that some operation has been "determined". Also, "determining" may be read as "assuming", "expecting", "considering", etc.

[0081] As used herein, the terms “connected” and “coupled” and any variations thereof mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and can include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” to each other. The coupling or connection between elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connected” may be read as “accessed”. As used in this disclosure, two elements can be considered to be “connected” or “coupled” to each other via at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as, by way of some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, microwave region, and optical (both visible and invisible) region.

[0082] As used in this disclosure, the recitation “based on” does not mean “based only on” unless otherwise specified. In other words, the recitation “based on” means both “based only on” and “based at least in part on”.

[0083] The “means” in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with “section”, “circuit”, “device”, etc.

[0084] In this disclosure, when the terms “include”, “including” and their variations are used, these terms are intended to be inclusive in the same manner as the term “comprising”. Further, the term “or” as used in this disclosure is not intended to be exclusive.

[0085] In this disclosure, for example, when articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0086] In the present disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean that "A and B are different from each other". Note that the term may also mean that "A and B are each different from C". Terms such as "separate" and "coupled" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different".

Explanation of Signs

[0087] 1... Vehicle management system, 2... Network, 10... User terminal, 1001... Processor, 1002... Memory, 1003... Storage, 1004... Communication device, 1005... Input device, 1006... Output device, 20... In-vehicle terminal, 2001... Processor, 2002... Memory, 2003... Storage, 2004... Communication device, 2005... Input device, 2006... Output device, 30... Server device, 31... Acquisition unit, 32... Estimation unit, 33... Calculation unit, 34... Vehicle allocation management unit, 35... Storage unit, 36... Output unit, 3001... Processor, 3002... Memory, 3003... Storage, 3004... Communication device.

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires a request including a boarding point and an alighting point of a passenger; an estimation unit that estimates passenger demand and vehicle supply status at the boarding point and the disembarking point included in the acquired request, estimating the state of passenger demand at the boarding point and the disembarking point based on the result of counting the number of times a site providing passenger transportation services has been accessed per wireless equipment through which the access passed, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the boarding point as the state of vehicle supply at the boarding point based on the stored content of the number of vehicles supplied in each area, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the disembarking point as the state of vehicle supply at the disembarking point; a calculation unit that calculates a fare according to the request based on the estimated passenger demand and the supply state of the vehicles, the calculation unit calculating a high fare according to an increase in passenger demand at the boarding point and an increase in supply of the vehicles at the disembarking point, and a low fare according to an increase in supply of the vehicles at the boarding point and an increase in passenger demand at the disembarking point; An information processing device comprising:

2. An acquisition unit that acquires a request including a passenger's boarding point and alighting point; an estimation unit that estimates passenger demand and vehicle supply status at the boarding point and the disembarking point included in the acquired request, estimating the state of passenger demand at the boarding point and the disembarking point based on a result of counting the number of accesses according to the access depth when a site providing passenger transportation services is accessed, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the boarding point as the state of vehicle supply at the boarding point based on the stored content of the number of vehicles supplied in each area, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the disembarking point as the state of vehicle supply at the disembarking point; a calculation unit that calculates a fare according to the request based on the estimated passenger demand and the supply state of the vehicles, the calculation unit calculating a high fare according to an increase in passenger demand at the boarding point and an increase in supply of the vehicles at the disembarking point, and a low fare according to an increase in supply of the vehicles at the boarding point and an increase in passenger demand at the disembarking point; An information processing device comprising:

3. An acquisition unit that acquires a request including a passenger's boarding point and alighting point; an estimation unit that estimates passenger demand and vehicle supply status at the boarding point and the disembarking point included in the acquired request, the estimation unit estimating the state of passenger demand at the boarding point and the disembarking point based on a usage history of the passenger transportation service of a user who accessed a site providing the passenger transportation service, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the boarding point as the state of vehicle supply at the boarding point based on the stored content of the number of vehicles supplied in each area, and estimating the number of vehicles supplied in the area including the disembarking point as the state of vehicle supply at the disembarking point; a calculation unit that calculates a fare according to the request based on the estimated passenger demand and the supply state of the vehicles, the calculation unit calculating a high fare according to an increase in passenger demand at the boarding point and an increase in supply of the vehicles at the disembarking point, and a low fare according to an increase in supply of the vehicles at the boarding point and an increase in passenger demand at the disembarking point; An information processing device comprising:

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