Information processing device

Abstract

To provide an information processing device capable of improving the number of acceptances of a request for a ride.SOLUTION: An acquisition unit 32 acquires a request for a ride from a user to an on-demand vehicle. A holding unit 36 holds a plurality of vehicle getting-on / off location patterns as presentation candidates to users. A presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines a vehicle getting-on / off location pattern to be presented to the user from the plurality of vehicle getting-on / off location patterns as presentation candidates held in the holding unit 36 on the basis of a departure place and a destination contained in the acquired request for a ride of the user. A presentation unit 38 presents the determined vehicle getting-on / off location pattern to the user. An update unit 52 selects a predetermined number of vehicle getting-on / off locations with which the number of vehicle getting-on / off location patterns for which users are estimated to exist is less on the basis of the vehicle getting-on / off location pattern determined for the requests for a ride of a plurality of past users acquired, and updates the vehicle getting-on / off location patterns held in the holding unit 36.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to techniques for managing on-demand vehicle services. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a demand transportation operation system that receives passenger itinerary requests including desired departure times, desired arrival times, departure points, and destinations for ride-sharing demand transportation vehicles, and creates a dispatch plan for demand transportation vehicles based on the aggregated itinerary requests. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2019 / 106745 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In an on-demand bus service that can stop at multiple virtual bus stops, even if many users wish to use the same bus stop where they board, the number of accepted ride requests is likely to decrease because the bus stops where users disembark may be different, which may prevent an increase in ride-sharing.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that can increase the number of accepted boarding requests. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires a user's request to board an on-demand vehicle; a storage unit that stores a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented to the user; a presentation pattern determination unit that determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from among the plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit based on a departure point and a destination included in the acquired boarding request from the user; and a presentation unit that presents the determined boarding and alighting location pattern to the user. If the predetermined optimization start conditions are met, Based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the acquired past ride requests of multiple users, From among all combinations of a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected from the plurality of boarding and alighting locations in the plurality of boarding and alighting location patterns of presented candidates, The number of boarding and alighting location patterns where passengers are estimated to be present is Relatively Few stomach Select a number of boarding and alighting locations and A predetermined number Patterns of boarding and alighting locations where passengers are estimated to be present Leave the other Pick-up and drop-off location pattern Removed from the holding section and an update unit for updating the [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, the number of accepted boarding requests can be increased. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the information processing system of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining patterns of boarding and alighting locations presented to a user before optimization. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining patterns of boarding and alighting locations presented to a user after optimization. [Figure 5] 3 is a flowchart showing a process of determining whether or not a boarding request is accepted in the server device of FIG. 2; [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a process of updating a pattern of getting on and off locations in the server device of FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 provides an on-demand vehicle service to a predetermined community. The on-demand vehicle service can also be called an on-demand bus service. In this service, on-demand vehicles can stop at multiple predetermined virtual bus stops (hereinafter referred to as boarding and alighting locations) inside and outside the community. The bus stops can also be called bus stops. Based on a boarding request from a service user within the community, the boarding and alighting locations where the on-demand vehicle will stop, the departure time from the boarding and alighting locations, and the travel route are determined. Multiple users can share an on-demand vehicle, and each user may board at a different boarding and alighting location, and each user may also alight at a different boarding and alighting location.

[0010] The information processing system 1 includes a user terminal device 10, a community management device 12, a vehicle terminal device 14, a vehicle information management device 16, and a server device 18. The server device 18 can also be called an information processing device.

[0011] The user terminal device 10 is a mobile terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet, and is carried by a user of the service who belongs to the community. The user terminal device 10 does not have to be portable and may be a personal computer. The vehicle terminal device 14 may be mounted on the on-demand vehicle 2, or may be a mobile terminal device carried by the driver of the on-demand vehicle 2.

[0012] The user terminal device 10 and the vehicle terminal device 14 are connected to the network 4 by wireless communication via a wireless base station or a wireless access point. The wireless communication standard is not particularly limited, but may include, for example, 3G (third generation mobile communication system), 4G (fourth generation mobile communication system), or 5G (fifth generation mobile communication system).

[0013] A server device 18, a community management device 12, and a vehicle information management device 16 are connected to the network 4, and the server device 18 communicates with the user terminal device 10, the vehicle terminal device 14, the community management device 12, and the vehicle information management device 16 via the network 4.

[0014] The community management device 12 is managed by the community. The vehicle information management device 16 is managed by the operator of the on-demand vehicle 2. The server device 18 is managed by the service provider of the on-demand vehicle service. The operator may be the service provider.

[0015] 1 shows one user terminal device 10, one vehicle terminal device 14, and one on-demand vehicle 2, but the on-demand vehicle service is operated by multiple users and multiple on-demand vehicles 2. Therefore, the information processing system 1 includes multiple user terminal devices 10, multiple on-demand vehicles 2, and multiple vehicle terminal devices 14.

[0016] Fig. 2 shows functional blocks of the information processing system 1 in Fig. 1. The server device 18 includes a boarding and alighting place management unit 30, an acquisition unit 32, a presentation pattern determination unit 33, an operation schedule determination unit 34, a storage unit 36, a presentation unit 38, and an optimization unit 40.

[0017] The configuration of the server device 18 can be realized in hardware terms by the CPU, memory, and other LSI of any computer, and in software terms by programs loaded into memory, but here we depict functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms using only hardware, only software, or a combination of both.

[0018] When a community and a service provider enter into a service contract, a person in charge of the community registers a predetermined number of desired boarding and alighting locations in the community management device 12. The community management device 12 transmits information about the registered desired boarding and alighting locations to the server device 18.

[0019] The boarding and alighting place management unit 30 determines multiple boarding and alighting places based on information on multiple desired boarding and alighting places transmitted from the community management device 12, and manages the determined multiple boarding and alighting places. The boarding and alighting place management unit 30 extracts permutations of two boarding and alighting places from the determined multiple boarding and alighting places, and outputs boarding and alighting place patterns of the two boarding and alighting places in each permutation to the storage unit 36. Each boarding and alighting place pattern represents a combination of a boarding boarding place and alighting place. This processing is performed once when the service contract is made.

[0020] The storage unit 36 stores the multiple boarding and alighting location patterns output from the boarding and alighting location management unit 30 as multiple boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented to users. The multiple boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented cover all permutations of two boarding and alighting locations among all boarding and alighting locations until optimization is performed, but as will be described later, when optimization is performed after multiple users have used the service, the number of the multiple boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented is reduced.

[0021] The vehicle information management device 16 manages information such as the number of on-demand vehicles 2 available in the community, the number of passengers that can ride in the on-demand vehicles 2, and business hours, and transmits this information to the server device 18.

[0022] A user wishing to use the service launches the app on the user terminal device 10 and inputs the departure point, destination, boarding date, and departure or arrival time into the user terminal device 10. The departure point and destination can be any point, and the boarding or alighting location cannot be selected at this point. Instead of the departure or arrival time, the departure time zone or arrival time zone may be input. The user terminal device 10 transmits a boarding request including the user ID, departure point, destination, departure date, and departure or arrival time to the server device 18. The boarding request can also be considered reservation information.

[0023] The acquisition unit 32 acquires boarding requests from the user terminal devices 10 during a predetermined request acceptance period before departure, and outputs the acquired boarding requests to the presentation pattern determination unit 33. The presentation pattern determination unit 33 outputs the supplied boarding requests to the operation schedule determination unit 34. The request acceptance period is, for example, a period from one week before departure to one hour before departure, and can be determined appropriately through experiments or simulations.

[0024] The presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines one or more boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented to the user from among a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit 36, based on the departure point and destination included in the user's boarding request acquired by the acquisition unit 32, and outputs the determined boarding and alighting location patterns to the presentation unit 38. The user ID is attached to the output boarding and alighting location patterns.

[0025] The presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines a boarding and alighting location pattern of a boarding and alighting location closest to the departure point and a boarding and alighting location closest to the destination. The presentation pattern determination unit 33 may determine a plurality of boarding and alighting location patterns of a plurality of boarding and alighting locations within a predetermined distance from the departure point and a plurality of boarding and alighting locations within a predetermined distance from the destination. The predetermined distance can be determined appropriately through experiments or simulations. The presentation pattern determination unit 33 outputs the determined boarding and alighting location patterns of a boarding and alighting location closest to the departure point and a boarding and alighting location closest to the destination to the storage unit 36. The storage unit 36 stores the provided boarding and alighting location patterns as a database.

[0026] The presentation unit 38 presents the boarding and alighting location pattern output from the presentation pattern determination unit 33 to the user via the user terminal device 10. Specifically, the presentation unit 38 outputs the boarding and alighting location pattern to the user terminal device 10 identified by the user ID attached to the supplied boarding and alighting location pattern. The user terminal device 10 displays the received boarding and alighting location pattern. This presentation process is executed immediately after the user inputs a boarding request.

[0027] The user selects one of the displayed boarding and alighting location patterns and inputs the selection result to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 transmits the selection result together with the user ID to the server device 18.

[0028] The acquisition unit 32 acquires the selection result of the getting on and off location pattern from the user terminal device 10, and outputs the acquired selection result to the operation schedule determination unit .

[0029] The operation schedule determination unit 34 determines whether or not to accept the boarding request based on the user's boarding request, the selection result of the boarding and alighting location pattern, information on multiple boarding and alighting locations acquired from the boarding and alighting location management unit 30, the operation schedule of on-demand vehicles 2 that have already been determined during the same request acceptance period, and information acquired from the vehicle information management device 16, and if the boarding request can be accepted, determines the operation schedule of the on-demand vehicle 2. This process is performed each time a boarding request and selection result are acquired.

[0030] In addition, when the request acceptance period has elapsed, the operation schedule determination unit 34 may simultaneously determine whether to accept the boarding request and determine the operation schedule based on the boarding requests and selection results of multiple users accepted during the request acceptance period.

[0031] The operation schedule can be determined using various known methods, for example, by optimizing the order in which the boarding and disembarking locations are visited to minimize travel costs while satisfying constraints such as the boarding and disembarking locations of the boarding and disembarking location pattern, departure time, arrival time, and the number of on-demand vehicles 2.

[0032] Since the number of on-demand vehicles 2 is predetermined, it may not be possible to accept all ride requests depending on the number of users wishing to ride, the departure point, destination, departure time, and arrival time.

[0033] The operation schedule determination unit 34 derives reservation results including information indicating whether the reservation is acceptable, the scheduled boarding time if the reservation is acceptable, the travel route, and vehicle information based on the determined operation schedule, and supplies the derived reservation results together with the user ID to the presentation unit 38. The travel route includes information on boarding locations and alighting locations, i.e., boarding and alighting location patterns.

[0034] The presentation unit 38 presents the supplied reservation result to the user via the user terminal device 10. Specifically, the presentation unit 38 outputs the reservation result to the user terminal device 10. The user terminal device 10 displays the received reservation result. The user who checks the reservation result can understand whether or not the reservation was accepted.

[0035] The operation schedule is determined for each dispatched on-demand vehicle 2, and includes information such as the operation date, travel route, boarding and alighting locations where the vehicle will stop, arrival time at each boarding and alighting location, and user IDs of users getting on or off at each location. When the request acceptance period has elapsed, the operation schedule determination unit 34 attaches the vehicle ID to the operation schedule and supplies it to the presentation unit 38.

[0036] The presentation unit 38 presents the supplied operation schedule to the driver of the on-demand vehicle 2 via the vehicle terminal device 14. Specifically, the presentation unit 38 outputs the operation schedule to the vehicle terminal device 14 identified by the vehicle ID attached to the supplied operation schedule. The vehicle terminal device 14 displays the received operation schedule. The driver of the on-demand vehicle 2 drives the on-demand vehicle 2 in accordance with the operation schedule displayed on the vehicle terminal device 14. The on-demand vehicle 2 may be an autonomous vehicle, in which case an autonomous driving control device (not shown) of the on-demand vehicle 2 may control autonomous driving in accordance with the operation schedule output from the vehicle terminal device 14.

[0037] The operation schedule determination unit 34 outputs the determined operation schedule and the boarding request to the storage unit 36. The storage unit 36 stores information on the operation schedule and the boarding request as a database.

[0038] Here, the desired boarding and alighting locations registered by the community representative when signing up for the service can be selected based on, for example, a preliminary survey, etc., to minimize the travel distance required for the user to get there. In this case, convenience is improved in terms of the user's travel distance, but the travel needs between the user's departure and destination are not reflected in the boarding and alighting locations. Therefore, as mentioned above, even if many users request the same boarding location, the number of accepted ride requests is likely to decrease because the users' alighting locations are different, which may prevent an increase in carpooling.

[0039] Therefore, in an embodiment, as described below, the number of presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns is reduced based on the departure points and destinations of multiple past boarding and alighting requests, i.e., past travel demand, and the boarding and alighting location patterns are optimized. As a result, the number of presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns is reduced compared to before optimization, and the number of boarding and alighting location patterns selected by users is reduced, making it easier for more users to travel using the same boarding and alighting location pattern and to share a ride. Because the presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns are based on past travel demand, the same boarding and alighting location pattern is likely to be presented to multiple users. This can increase the number of accepted boarding and alighting requests.

[0040] The optimization unit 40 optimizes the boarding and alighting location patterns at a predetermined timing, such as several months after the start of service provision. The predetermined timing can be determined as appropriate through experiments or simulations. The optimization unit 40 may optimize the boarding and alighting location patterns when a predetermined number of boarding requests are acquired. The predetermined timing and the predetermined number are set so that optimization is performed after each of all boarding and alighting locations has been presented to users at least once. The optimization may be performed repeatedly.

[0041] The optimization unit 40 has a derivation unit 50 and an update unit 52. The derivation unit 50 acquires from the storage unit 36 the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the multiple past boarding requests of users acquired by the acquisition unit 32. The acquired boarding and alighting location pattern is a boarding and alighting location pattern of the boarding and alighting location closest to the departure point of the boarding request and the boarding and alighting location closest to the destination.

[0042] The derivation unit 50 derives the number of users who wish to use each of the plurality of boarding and alighting place patterns of the presented candidates held in the holding unit 36, based on the plurality of acquired boarding and alighting place patterns.

[0043] The derivation unit 50 selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations from a plurality of boarding and alighting locations multiple times. The combination of the predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected is different each time, and all combinations are covered. The predetermined number is smaller than the number of boarding and alighting locations managed by the boarding and alighting location management unit 30. The predetermined number can be determined appropriately by simulation or the like, and is set in advance by the service provider.

[0044] For a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected each time, the derivation unit 50 adds the number of users wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including an unselected boarding and alighting location to the number of users wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including two selected boarding and alighting locations that is closest to that boarding and alighting location pattern. In other words, it is assumed that all users of a boarding and alighting location pattern including an unselected boarding and alighting location travel by walking or the like between the unselected boarding and alighting location and the nearest selected boarding and alighting location.

[0045] The derivation unit 50 identifies, for a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected each time, boarding and alighting location patterns in which the number of users wishing to use is one or more as boarding and alighting location patterns in which users are estimated to be present, and derives the number of boarding and alighting location patterns in which users are estimated to be present.

[0046] The update unit 52 selects, from all combinations of the predetermined number of getting on and off locations, a predetermined number of getting on and off locations that minimizes the number of getting on and off location patterns where it is estimated that users will be present, and updates the presented candidate getting on and off location patterns stored in the storage unit 36 with the getting on and off location patterns where it is estimated that users will be present at the selected predetermined number of getting on and off locations. In other words, the update unit 52 leaves the getting on and off location patterns where it is estimated that users will be present at the selected predetermined number of getting on and off locations, and deletes the other getting on and off location patterns from the storage unit 36.

[0047] Alternatively, the update unit 52 may determine a number of boarding and alighting location patterns close to the minimum number of boarding and alighting location patterns by an approximation solution, etc. In other words, the update unit 52 may select a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that reduces the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where passengers are estimated to be present, by an approximation solution, etc.

[0048] As an example, the process of the optimization unit 40 will be described in the case where the predetermined number is set to 10 and 10 boarding and alighting locations are selected from 100 boarding and alighting locations.

[0049] (Step 1) The derivation unit 50 selects 10 boarding and alighting locations and leaves the remaining 90 boarding and alighting locations unselected. The derivation unit 50 adds the number of people who wish to use a boarding and alighting location pattern that includes the unselected boarding and alighting location to the number of people who wish to use a boarding and alighting location pattern that includes the two selected boarding and alighting locations that are closest to the selected boarding and alighting location pattern.

[0050] For example, assume that first through tenth boarding and alighting locations have been selected. The unselected eleventh boarding and alighting location is closest to the first boarding and alighting location among the selected boarding and alighting locations, and the unselected twelfth boarding and alighting location is closest to the second boarding and alighting location. In this case, the number of passengers wishing to use the boarding and alighting location pattern in which the eleventh boarding and alighting location is the boarding location and the twelfth boarding and alighting location is the disembarking location is added to the number of passengers wishing to use the boarding and alighting location pattern in which the first boarding and alighting location is the boarding location and the twelfth boarding and alighting location is the disembarking location. In addition, the number of passengers wishing to use the boarding and alighting location pattern in which the first boarding and alighting location is the boarding location and the twelfth boarding and alighting location is added to the number of passengers wishing to use the boarding and alighting location pattern in which the first boarding and alighting location is the boarding location and the second boarding and alighting location is the disembarking location.

[0051] (Step 2) From the result of step 1, the deriving unit 50 calculates the number of patterns of getting on and off locations where it is estimated that there are users at the 10 getting on and off locations.

[0052] (Step 3) The deriving unit 50 repeats the processing of step 1 and step 2 for all combinations of 10 getting on and off locations among the 100 getting on and off locations.

[0053] (Step 4) After step 3, based on the result of step 2, the update unit 52 selects, from among multiple combinations of the 10 boarding and alighting locations, 10 boarding and alighting locations that result in the smallest number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, and updates the presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit 36 with these boarding and alighting location patterns.

[0054] If there are multiple combinations of 10 boarding and alighting locations that result in the smallest number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, the update unit 52 determines the boarding and alighting location pattern at the 10 boarding and alighting locations that results in the smallest sum of the products of the distances traveled by users when they are assumed to travel between an unselected boarding and alighting location and a selected boarding and alighting location and the number of users who will make this movement, i.e., the number of users wishing to use the vehicle. This improves convenience for users.

[0055] In addition, the optimization unit 40 may optimize the boarding and alighting location patterns while changing the predetermined number, simulate the number of acceptances using the obtained boarding and alighting location patterns and past boarding requests, and determine the optimal predetermined number that will increase the number of acceptances.

[0056] As a result of the optimization described above, the boarding and alighting location patterns presented to the user are selected from the reduced number of boarding and alighting location patterns. Therefore, even if the same departure and destination are specified, boarding and alighting location patterns that were presented before optimization may not be presented after optimization.

[0057] 3 is a diagram illustrating boarding and alighting location patterns presented to users before optimization. Before optimization, there are first to fourth boarding and alighting locations 70a to 70d, and there is a first boarding and alighting location pattern including the first boarding and alighting location 70a, which is a boarding location, and the second boarding and alighting location 70b, which is a disembarking location, and a second boarding and alighting location pattern including the third boarding and alighting location 70c, which is a boarding location, and the second boarding and alighting location 70b, which is a disembarking location. Description of the other boarding and alighting location patterns will be omitted.

[0058] Assume that a first user 80a and a second user 80b have entered ride requests for approximately the same departure time.

[0059] The first user 80a is presented with a first boarding and alighting location pattern including a first boarding and alighting location 70a closest to the departure location 82a and a second boarding and alighting location 70b closest to the destination (not shown), and this pattern is selected by the first user 80a.

[0060] The second user 80b is presented with a second boarding and alighting location pattern including a third boarding and alighting location 70c closest to the departure location 82b and a second boarding and alighting location 70b closest to the destination (not shown), and this pattern is selected by the second user 80b.

[0061] When these ride requests and selection results are accepted, the first user 80a travels in an on-demand vehicle 2a, and the second user 80b travels in another on-demand vehicle 2b.

[0062] 4 is a diagram illustrating the boarding and alighting location patterns presented to users after optimization. It is assumed that, as a result of optimization, the second boarding and alighting locations 70b to 70d in FIG. 3 remain, the first boarding and alighting location 70a is deleted, the second boarding and alighting location pattern remains, and the first boarding and alighting location pattern is deleted.

[0063] Assume that a first user 80a and a second user 80b have entered the same ride requests as in FIG. 3 with approximately the same departure time.

[0064] Because there is no first boarding / alighting location pattern that includes the first boarding / alighting location 70a, the first user 80a is presented with a second boarding / alighting location pattern that includes the third boarding / alighting location 70c that is closest to the departure point 82a, and this pattern is selected by the first user 80a. As a result, the travel distance to the boarding location of the first user 80a becomes longer than in the case of FIG. 3.

[0065] A second pattern of getting on and off locations including a third getting on and off location 70c closest to the departure point 82b is also presented to the second user 80b, and this pattern is selected by the second user 80b.

[0066] When these ride requests and selection results are accepted, the first user 80a and the second user 80b travel together in a single on-demand vehicle 2b.

[0067] This reduces the number of on-demand vehicles 2 required to respond to ride requests from two users. The on-demand vehicle 2a required in the case of FIG. 3 can be used to respond to ride requests from other users (not shown). This increases the number of accepted ride requests.

[0068] When multiple boarding and alighting location patterns are determined by the presentation pattern determination unit 33, the presentation unit 38 may present the multiple boarding and alighting location patterns to the user in order of the boarding and alighting location pattern with the highest probability of increasing the number of accepted ride requests. It is assumed that for a certain boarding and alighting location pattern, the greater the number of past users who have requested use, the higher the probability of increasing the number of accepted ride requests. This is because the greater the number of past users who have requested use, the higher the probability of being able to share a ride. This allows users to recognize boarding and alighting location patterns with a high probability of acceptance, improving convenience.

[0069] The storage unit 36 may store a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for presentation for each situation. The situation indicates the time period or day of the week that includes the departure time of the boarding request, the weather on the boarding date of the boarding request, traffic conditions such as whether there is congestion or an accident on the roads in the service area, and the like.

[0070] The presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from among a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns related to the situation corresponding to the boarding request.

[0071] When performing optimization, the update unit 52 selects, for each situation, a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that minimize the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the past boarding requests of multiple users.

[0072] This allows different boarding and alighting location patterns to be presented depending on the situation, even if the user specifies the same departure and destination, thereby improving the number of accepted boarding requests depending on the situation.

[0073] Furthermore, when the storage unit 36 stores multiple candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for presentation for each time period, the presentation pattern determination unit 33 may further determine boarding and alighting location patterns for time periods before and after the time period that includes the departure time of the boarding request. Different boarding and alighting location patterns may be stored in the storage unit 36 for time periods different from the time period of the departure time, and different boarding and alighting location patterns may be determined. Therefore, boarding and alighting locations closer to the departure point or destination may be presented. Therefore, the user may be able to understand that a nearby boarding and alighting location can be used by shifting the departure time, thereby improving convenience.

[0074] The storage unit 36 may store multiple candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for presentation based on user attributes. Attributes include premium members, frequent users, new members, and members predicted to be likely to cancel their membership. Premium members are, for example, users who pay more system usage fees than other users. Members predicted to be likely to cancel their membership include users whose ride requests have been rejected many times, users who travel long distances from the departure point to the boarding location or from the drop-off point to the destination, and users whose number of ride requests has decreased.

[0075] The presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines a boarding and alighting place pattern to be presented to the user from among a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting place patterns related to the attributes of the user.

[0076] The update unit 52 selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that minimize the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the past boarding requests of multiple users, for each attribute of the user.

[0077] This allows premium members, frequent users, new members, members predicted to be likely to cancel their membership, etc. to be presented with boarding and alighting location patterns that are close to the past departure points and destinations of users with each attribute, compared to when user attributes are not taken into consideration. This can increase the number of accepted ride requests from these members.

[0078] In addition, if the boarding and alighting location pattern determined by the presentation pattern determination unit 33 includes a boarding and alighting location pattern for which a reservation has been confirmed during the same request acceptance period, the presentation unit 38 may also present information indicating that this boarding and alighting location pattern has been confirmed as a reservation.

[0079] When the presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines only the boarding and alighting location pattern including the boarding and alighting location closest to the user's departure point and the boarding and alighting location closest to the user's destination, the presentation pattern determination unit 33 may further determine, from among boarding and alighting location patterns for which reservations have been confirmed during the same request acceptance period, boarding and alighting location patterns including boarding locations within a predetermined distance from the user's departure point and alighting locations within a predetermined distance from the user's destination. The presentation unit 38 further presents the determined boarding and alighting location patterns for which reservations have been confirmed to the user. If a boarding and alighting location pattern for which a reservation has been confirmed is selected, the request is almost certain to be accepted. Therefore, if a user desires a more certain acceptance, the user can select a boarding and alighting location pattern for which a reservation has been confirmed, rather than a boarding and alighting location pattern closest to the departure point and destination. This can increase the number of acceptances.

[0080] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the reception / determination process of a boarding request in the server device 18 of Fig. 2. This process is executed every time a boarding request is transmitted from the user terminal device 10.

[0081] The acquisition unit 32 acquires a boarding request from the user terminal device 10 (S10), the presentation pattern determination unit 33 determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented based on the boarding request (S12), and the presentation unit 38 presents the determined boarding and alighting location pattern to the user (S14).

[0082] The acquisition unit 32 acquires the selection result of the boarding and alighting location pattern from the user terminal device 10 (S16), and if the boarding request can be accepted for the selected boarding and alighting location pattern (Y in S18), the presentation unit 38 presents the acceptance of the boarding request to the user (S20) and ends the process. If the boarding request cannot be accepted (N in S18), the presentation unit 38 presents the non-acceptance of the boarding request to the user (S22) and ends the process.

[0083] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the process of updating the boarding and alighting location patterns in the server device 18 of Fig. 2. The derivation unit 50 acquires boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of a plurality of past boarding requests from users (S30). The update unit 52 optimizes the presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns based on the acquired boarding and alighting location patterns (S32), and updates the presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit 36 (S34).

[0084] The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of each component and each treatment process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0085] For example, the acquisition unit 32 may further acquire future travel demand information. The future travel demand information may be derived, for example, by a prediction model that predicts use by multiple new users who have not previously made a ride request. Alternatively, the future travel demand information may be information on ride requests from a future request period beyond the current request acceptance period that the user has input into the user terminal device 10. In other words, in addition to inputting the departure point and destination into the user terminal device 10 each time the user uses the system, if the user has a place to commute to or a place that they frequently visit, the user may also be able to input the departure point, destination, and frequency of use into the user terminal device 10 as a future ride request. Since users can make reservations for future use, it is possible to eliminate the hassle of making reservations and increase convenience.

[0086] When the acquisition unit 32 further acquires future travel demand information, the update unit 52 selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that minimizes the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the past boarding requests of multiple users and the acquired future travel demand information. This makes it possible to optimize the boarding and alighting location patterns while also reflecting future travel demand.

[0087] Furthermore, the update unit 52 may cause the boarding and alighting location management unit 30 to delete boarding and alighting locations other than the selected predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations from among the multiple boarding and alighting locations managed by the boarding and alighting location management unit 30. If the system usage fee is determined according to the number of boarding and alighting locations managed by the boarding and alighting location management unit 30, the usage fee can be reduced.

[0088] One aspect of the present invention is as follows. [Item 1] an acquisition unit that acquires a user's request to ride in an on-demand vehicle; a storage unit that stores a plurality of boarding and alighting location patterns that are candidates to be presented to the user; a presentation pattern determination unit that determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from among a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit, based on the departure point and destination included in the acquired boarding request of the user; a presentation unit that presents the determined boarding and alighting location pattern to the user; an update unit that selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that reduce the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the acquired past boarding requests of a plurality of users, and updates the boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit with the boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present at the selected boarding and alighting locations; An information processing device comprising: [Item 2] a derivation unit that derives the number of users who wish to use each of the plurality of presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the plurality of acquired past boarding requests from users; The lead-out portion is selecting a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations from a plurality of boarding and alighting locations a plurality of times; For a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected each time, the number of passengers wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including an unselected boarding and alighting location is added to the number of passengers wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including two selected boarding and alighting locations that are closest to the selected boarding and alighting location pattern, thereby deriving the number of boarding and alighting location patterns that are estimated to have passengers; 2. The information processing device according to item 1, [Item 3] the update unit selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that minimizes the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present. 3. The information processing device according to item 1 or 2. [Item 4] the storage unit stores a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for presentation for each situation; the presentation pattern determination unit determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from among a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns related to the situation corresponding to the acquired boarding request; the update unit selects, for each situation, a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that reduce the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the past boarding requests of a plurality of users. 4. The information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 3. [Item 5] the storage unit stores a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for each user attribute; the presentation pattern determination unit determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns related to the user's attributes; the update unit selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that reduce the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the past boarding requests of a plurality of users, for each attribute of the users; 5. The information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 4. [Item 6] The acquisition unit further acquires future travel demand information, the update unit selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations that reduce the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the acquired past boarding requests of the multiple users and the acquired future travel demand information; 6. The information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 5, [Item 7] the presentation unit presents to the user a plurality of boarding and alighting location patterns in descending order of probability of increasing the number of boarding and alighting request acceptances; 7. The information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 6, [Item 8] the presentation unit further presents to the user the boarding and alighting location patterns for which reservations have been confirmed. 8. The information processing device according to any one of items 1 to 7, [Explanation of symbols]

[0089] 1...information processing system, 2...on-demand vehicle, 10...user terminal device, 12...community management device, 14...vehicle terminal device, 16...vehicle information management device, 18...server device, 30...boarding and alighting location management unit, 32...acquisition unit, 33...presentation pattern determination unit, 34...operation schedule determination unit, 36...storage unit, 38...presentation unit, 40...optimization unit, 50...derivation unit, 52...update unit.

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires a user's request to ride in an on-demand vehicle; a storage unit that stores a plurality of boarding and alighting location patterns that are candidates to be presented to the user; a presentation pattern determination unit that determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from among a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns stored in the storage unit, based on the departure point and destination included in the acquired boarding request of the user; a presentation unit that presents the determined boarding and alighting location pattern to the user; an update unit that, when a predetermined optimization start condition is satisfied, selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations with a relatively small number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present from all combinations of a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected from a plurality of boarding and alighting locations in a plurality of presented candidate boarding and alighting location patterns based on boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of a plurality of acquired past boarding and alighting requests from users, and deletes the other boarding and alighting location patterns from the storage unit while leaving only the boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present at the selected predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations; An information processing device comprising:

2. The system further comprises a derivation unit that derives the number of users who wish to use each of the plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns based on the boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of the plurality of past boarding and alighting requests of users that have been acquired, The lead-out portion is selecting a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations multiple times from the multiple boarding and alighting locations in the multiple boarding and alighting location patterns of the presented candidates; For a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations selected each time, the number of people wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including an unselected boarding and alighting location is added to the number of people wishing to use a boarding and alighting location pattern including two selected boarding and alighting locations that are closest to the selected boarding and alighting location pattern, and boarding and alighting location patterns having one or more people wishing to use the boarding and alighting location pattern are identified as boarding and alighting location patterns that are estimated to have users, and the number of boarding and alighting location patterns that are estimated to have users is derived.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

3. The update unit selects a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations from all combinations of the predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations, which minimizes the number of boarding and alighting location patterns where passengers are estimated to be present.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is a computer.

4. The storage unit stores a plurality of candidate boarding and alighting location patterns for each user attribute, the presentation pattern determination unit determines a boarding and alighting location pattern to be presented to the user from a plurality of presentation candidate boarding and alighting location patterns related to the attributes of the user corresponding to the boarding request acquired by the acquisition unit; the update unit selects, for each user attribute, from all combinations of a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations based on boarding and alighting location patterns determined for each of a plurality of past boarding requests of users, a predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations with a relatively small number of boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present, and deletes the other boarding and alighting location patterns from the storage unit while leaving only the boarding and alighting location patterns where users are estimated to be present at the selected predetermined number of boarding and alighting locations; 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is a computer.

Images