Operations assistance device, terminal device, mobile body, operations assistance system, operations assistance method, and program

Abstract

An operations assistance device (1) according to the present disclosure assists with operations of a vehicle (4) for which a standard operation plan is established and which is dispatched according to a reservation. The operations assistance device (1) comprises: a modification information generation unit (12) that, when the operation plan for the vehicle (4) is modified from the standard operation plan or from a current operation plan, which is an operation plan modified from the standard operation plan, extracts a modification-affected reservation, which is a reservation affected by the modification of the operation plan, and generates modification information pertaining to modification of the modification-affected reservation; and a transmission / reception unit (11) that transmits the modification information to a terminal device corresponding to the modification-affected reservation.

Description

Operation support device, terminal device, mobile body, operation support system, operation support method and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an operation support device, a terminal device, a mobile body, an operation support system, an operation support method, and a program that support the operation of a mobile body.

[0002] Generally, the operating hours and routes of route buses, community buses, water buses, airplanes, etc. are determined in advance by a timetable. When the operating hours and routes are determined in advance by a timetable, it is assumed that there may be no passengers actually boarding or alighting at stops with few users, and in such cases, excessive operation of vehicles such as cars, water buses, and airplanes occurs. On the other hand, demand-based mobile systems in which vehicle operation plans are determined according to user requests are also in operation.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle operation support device that re-determines operation plans for vehicles that operate on fixed routes with predetermined routes and operating times by skipping stops, increasing or decreasing the number of services, adjusting operation intervals, etc., depending on the user's reservation status.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-139633

[0005] When an operation plan is changed, users who made reservations based on the operation plan before the change are affected, but the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 does not disclose how to notify users of such changes to the operation plan, which can be inconvenient for users who have reserved a vehicle and are unaware of the change to the operation plan.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide an operation support device that can improve user convenience.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the operations support device disclosed herein is an operations support device that supports the operation of a mobile body for which a standard operation plan is set and which is arranged according to reservations, and is equipped with a change information generation unit that extracts change-affected reservations, which are reservations that will be affected by the change in the operation plan when the operation plan of the mobile body is changed from the standard operation plan or a current operation plan that is an operation plan changed from the standard operation plan, and generates change information regarding the changes to the change-affected reservations, and a transmission unit that transmits the change information to a terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations.

[0008] The operation support device according to the present disclosure has the effect of improving user convenience.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an operation support system including an operation support device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when reservation information is received in the operation support device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for reviewing an operation plan according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a route in which some sections are skipped according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an example of a display screen for information; FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration of an operation support system according to the first embodiment when a manually driven vehicle is used; FIG. 3 shows an example of a configuration of a computer system that realizes the operation support device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 shows an example of a reservation reception screen according to the second embodiment;

[0010] Hereinafter, an operation support device, a terminal device, a mobile object, an operation support system, an operation support method, and a program according to embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] First Embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation support system including an operation support device according to a first embodiment. The operation support system 100 of this embodiment includes an operation support device 1 that supports the operation of a mobile object whose operation plan can be changed, and a bus stop terminal 2 installed at a bus stop where the mobile object boards and disembarks. In this embodiment, a vehicle 4 is used as an example of a mobile object arranged in response to a reservation. However, the mobile object is not limited to a vehicle 4 as long as it is capable of carrying a user and may be, for example, a ship such as a water bus, an airplane, or a flying car. The mobile object whose operation is supported by the operation support device 1 may be, for example, a mobile object with a predetermined route and operating hours, such as a route bus, a community bus, a water bus, or a taxi with a designated boarding point and dispatch time period.

[0012] In this embodiment, a user using vehicle 4 can make a reservation for vehicle 4 using at least one of the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3, which is a terminal device that the user can operate. In other words, the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3 are terminal devices that can accept reservations for vehicle 4. Hereinafter, the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3 that can accept reservations for vehicle 4 will also be referred to as reservation terminals. Note that while FIG. 1 shows an example in which the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3 are used as reservation terminals, this is not limiting, and the reservation terminal may be only one of the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3. Note that the operation support system 100 may include at least one of the vehicle 4 and the user terminal 3.

[0013] Although one vehicle 4 is illustrated in FIG. 1 , the number of vehicles 4 may be one or more, and is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 1 . The vehicle 4 may be, for example, a bus, a passenger car, a cart, a PMV (Personal Mobility Vehicle), or a mixture of these. Similarly, the number of bus stop terminals 2 and the number of user terminals 3 are not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 1 , and may be more than one. As described above, one of the bus stop terminals 2 and the user terminals 3 may not be used.

[0014] In this embodiment, the operations support device 1 determines an operation plan for the vehicle 4 in response to a reservation. However, the operation plan can be changed in response to the reservation. For example, the operations support device 1 may increase the number of vehicles when a large number of users use the vehicle 4 based on reservations, or may decrease the number of vehicles when a small number of users use the vehicle 4. For example, changes to the operation plan are not limited to changes based on the number of users, but may also be changes due to a breakdown of the vehicle 4, traffic congestion, or the like. Furthermore, changes to the type of vehicle 4 may also be made when multiple types of vehicles 4 are mixed. The type of vehicle 4 is not limited to types such as buses and PMVs, but may also be treated as different types when the number of passengers differs, such as a four-seater and a ten-seater. For example, the type of vehicle 4 may be changed from a shared taxi to a bus, or from a four-seater to a ten-seater, or may be other than these. When the operation plan is changed, users who have already reserved the vehicle 4 will be affected. If users are not aware of this change, problems such as boarding the wrong vehicle 4 or missing the vehicle 4 because the boarding time after the change is earlier than the original boarding time may occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, when an operation plan is changed, the operation support device 1 extracts reservations that will be affected by the change and transmits change information indicating the details of the change to the terminal device corresponding to the extracted reservation, thereby improving user convenience.

[0015] The vehicle 4 includes an in-vehicle terminal device 41, a control device 42, and a self-location identification unit 43. The vehicle 4 is, for example, but is not limited to, an autonomous vehicle. Fig. 1 shows an example in which the vehicle 4 is an autonomous vehicle.

[0016] The on-board terminal device 41 is an example of a mobile-body on-board terminal device mounted on a mobile body. The on-board terminal device 41 includes a receiving unit 411 and a display unit 412. The receiving unit 411 receives information from the operation support device 1 by communicating with the operation support device 1 and outputs the received information to the display unit 412. For example, the receiving unit 411 receives an operation plan from the operation support device 1. The receiving unit 411 may receive at least one of a reservation result and change information from the operation support device 1. The display unit 412 displays the information received from the receiving unit 411. Note that while FIG. 1 shows an example in which the vehicle 4 includes the on-board terminal device 41, the on-board terminal device 41 need not be provided.

[0017] The control device 42 includes a transmitter / receiver 421 and a driving control unit 422. The transmitter / receiver 421 communicates with the operation support device 1 to transmit and receive information to and from the operation support device 1. For example, the transmitter / receiver 421 receives an operation plan from the operation support device 1 and outputs the received operation plan to the driving control unit 422. The transmitter / receiver 421 may also receive control information for controlling the driving of the vehicle 4 from the operation support device 1 and output the received control information to the driving control unit 422. The transmitter / receiver 421 may also transmit location information received from the self-location identification unit 43 to the operation support device 1. The location information is information indicating the location of the vehicle 4, as will be described later.

[0018] The self-location identifying unit 43 identifies the location of the vehicle 4 and outputs location information indicating the identified location to the control device 42. As the self-location identifying unit 43, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver that performs GPS positioning or the like can be used, but is not limited to this.

[0019] The driving control unit 422 controls the driving of the vehicle 4 by autonomous driving using the position information received from the self-location identification unit 43 and the operation plan received from the transmission / reception unit 421. For example, the driving control unit 422 controls a driving mechanism (not shown) based on information acquired by sensors (not shown), such as a camera for detecting obstacles, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and a millimeter-wave sensor, the position information received from the self-location identification unit 43, and map information (not shown). The driving mechanism is a mechanism for driving the vehicle 4, and includes, for example, a plurality of mechanisms for driving the vehicle 4, such as an accelerator operation device such as an accelerator pedal, a steering device, and a brake, but the configuration of the driving mechanism is not limited to these. Furthermore, the configuration of the driving mechanism may differ depending on the type of vehicle 4.

[0020] The operations support device 1 includes a transmission / reception unit 11, a change information generation unit 12, an operation plan determination unit 13, and an information storage unit 14. The transmission / reception unit 11 functions as both a transmission unit and a reception unit, and communicates with other devices. For example, the transmission / reception unit 11 receives reservation information from a reservation terminal and outputs the received reservation information to the operation plan determination unit 13. The reservation information is information indicating a request for a reservation of a vehicle 4. The reservation information is generated by the reservation terminal based on, for example, a user's input and transmitted to the operations support device 1. The reservation information includes, for example, a boarding stop where the user wishes to board, a desired boarding time where the user wishes to board, a disembarking stop where the user wishes to disembark, and user information that is the user's identification information. However, the reservation information is not limited to this as long as it includes at least the boarding stop and the disembarking stop. Details of the reservation information will be described later.

[0021] The transmission / reception unit 11 also transmits the operation plan determined by the operation plan determination unit 13 to the vehicle 4 and the bus stop terminal 2. The transmission / reception unit 11 may also transmit the operation plan determined by the operation plan determination unit 13 to the user terminal 3. The transmission / reception unit 11 also transmits the reservation results determined by the reservation processing described later by the operation plan determination unit 13 to the reservation terminal that is the sender of the reservation information corresponding to the reservation results. The transmission / reception unit 11 also transmits change information described later that is generated by the change information generation unit 12 to the terminal device specified by the change information generation unit 12. Details of the change information will be described later.

[0022] The operation plan determination unit 13 performs reservation processing based on the reservation information received from the transmission / reception unit 11 and the current operation plan stored in the information storage unit 14, stores the reservation result in the information storage unit 14, and outputs it to the transmission / reception unit 11. Note that seats may or may not be designated. The operation plan includes, for example, information identifying the operation, such as the operation name, departure times for each stop, and identification information for the assigned vehicle 4. If there are multiple routes for which an operation plan is to be created, the operation plan may also include route information (information identifying the route). That is, the operation route and operation time may be defined as the operation plan. Note that the information identifying the operation is, for example, the operation name and operation number, but is not limited thereto. The operation plan may also identify the operation by the departure time for each stop and the vehicle identification number of the assigned vehicle 4, and the operation name, operation number, etc. may not necessarily be included in the operation plan. Note that the operation plan may also include information indicating the type of vehicle 4, such as a bus or PMV. Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the identification information for the vehicle 4 is the vehicle identification number, but the identification information for the vehicle 4 is not limited thereto. Furthermore, if the operation plan needs to be changed as a result of the reservation process, the operation plan determination unit 13 changes the operation plan, stores the changed (updated) operation plan in the information storage unit 14, and outputs the changed operation plan to the transmission / reception unit 11. Furthermore, if the operation plan determination unit 13 changes the operation plan, it notifies the change information generation unit 12 of information regarding the content of the change. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 notifies the change information generation unit 12 of information indicating the flights that will be affected by the change in the operation plan.

[0023] For example, when the operation plan determination unit 13 starts the process of determining an operation plan, it sets the reference operation plan, which is stored in the information storage unit 14 and corresponds to the initial operation plan, as the current operation plan, and performs reservation processing based on the reference operation plan and reservation information. Note that a reference operation plan is determined for the vehicle 4, but the reference operation plan is changeable. Therefore, the operation of the vehicle 4 is performed based on the reference operation plan or an operation plan changed from the reference operation plan. Note that the reference operation plan is input, for example, by an administrator or the like via an input means (not shown). The reference operation plan may be a fixed-time, fixed-route operation plan, or may be determined by the administrator on an ad hoc basis instead of a fixed-time, fixed-route operation plan. The administrator determines the operation routes and operation times in the operation plan based on, for example, the presence or absence of facilities and housing, long-term past usage patterns, etc. However, the method of determining the reference operation plan is not limited to this, and any method may be used.

[0024] When a change to the operation plan is necessary based on the reservation information, the operation plan determination unit 13 creates an operation plan modified from the reference operation plan, stores the created operation plan in the information storage unit 14, and outputs the created operation plan to the transmission / reception unit 11. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 may determine that a change to the operation plan is necessary when there are no available flights within a certain time range from the desired boarding time in the boarding section corresponding to the reservation information. The method of determining an operation plan based on reservation information is not limited to this example. When an operation plan is changed from the reference operation plan, the current operation plan becomes the operation plan stored in the information storage unit 14. Therefore, after the operation plan is changed from the reference operation plan, the operation plan determination unit 13 sets the operation plan stored in the information storage unit 14 as the current operation plan and performs reservation processing based on the current operation plan and the reservation information. Then, when a change to the operation plan is necessary as a result of the reservation processing, the operation plan determination unit 13 creates a modified operation plan, updates the operation plan by updating the operation plan stored in the information storage unit 14 with the created operation plan, and outputs the updated operation plan to the transmission / reception unit 11. Note that, although an example will be described here in which a standard operation plan is input and stored in the information storage unit 14, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 may create a standard operation plan so that the vehicle 4 operates in accordance with a reservation and store the standard operation plan in the information storage unit 14. In this case as well, if a change to the current operation plan is required, the operation plan determination unit 13 changes the current operation plan.

[0025] A change to the operation plan may be, for example, a change to the departure time of a bus from a bus stop without changing the buses or the route; a change to the number of buses by increasing or decreasing the number of buses without changing the route; a change to the route; or a combination of two or more of these. Furthermore, when a reduction in the number of buses is performed, the operation plan determination unit 13 may reduce the number of buses by thinning out the number of buses, or may reduce the number of buses by extending the interval between buses within a certain period of time. Similarly, when an increase in the number of buses is performed, the operation plan determination unit 13 may increase the number of buses by adding a bus between one bus and the next, or may increase the number of buses by shortening the interval between buses within a certain period of time. The change to the operation plan is not limited to the above examples and may be any change.

[0026] For example, when there is a flight whose occupancy rate is equal to or greater than a first threshold based on the reservation results and newly received reservation information, the operation plan determination unit 13 may increase the number of flights on the route corresponding to the flight in the time period corresponding to the flight. In this way, the determined operation plan may be changed in accordance with the reservation.

[0027] Furthermore, the operation plan determination unit 13 may, for example, determine whether to change the operation plan at a predetermined review timing, i.e., when a review condition for the operation plan is met, and may change the operation plan when it is determined that the operation plan should be changed. The operation plan may be reviewed periodically. That is, for example, a predetermined operation plan review period may be set, and the review condition for the operation plan may be a condition that a time corresponding to one period has elapsed since the review. The review condition for the operation plan may also be a condition that an administrator has input an instruction to review the operation plan. For example, when reducing the number of services when the occupancy rate is low, the review condition for the operation plan may be a condition that a certain time has passed before the start of operation of each service. In this case, for example, the operation plan determination unit 13 may, based on the reservation results, reduce the number of services in the time slot corresponding to the service if there is a service whose occupancy rate is equal to or lower than a second threshold. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 may set the review condition for the operation plan as a condition that a certain time has passed before the start of operation of each service, and change the route of a service that has a section where the occupancy rate is equal to or lower than a third threshold to a route that skips the section. The method of changing the operation plan in response to a reservation is not limited to the above example, and any method may be used.

[0028] The operation plan determination unit 13 may also change (update) the operation plan based on, for example, operation impact information indicating whether or not an event that may affect the operation of the vehicle 4 has occurred. In this case, the condition for reviewing the operation plan is that operation impact information has been received. The operation impact information includes, for example, at least one of equipment information indicating an occurrence of a vehicle 4 malfunction or insufficient charge, traffic information indicating a road congestion or road closure, and weather information indicating weather. Note that, for example, insufficient charge of the vehicle 4 indicates that the remaining charge of the battery mounted on the vehicle 4 is below a threshold value when the vehicle 4 is a vehicle powered by electricity stored in a storage battery. The operation impact information may be input by an administrator or transmitted from another device. When the operation impact information is transmitted from another device, the operation plan determination unit 13 acquires the operation impact information by receiving the operation impact information from the other device via the transmission / reception unit 11.

[0029] The operation impact information may be input or transmitted to the operation plan determination unit 13 by an administrator, for example, when an event affecting operation occurs. For example, when a breakdown occurs in a vehicle 4, the administrator may input identification information (vehicle number) of the vehicle 4 and equipment information indicating the breakdown in the vehicle 4. Furthermore, when a delay occurs due to congestion or a speed limit is imposed, information indicating the section where the delay or speed limit occurs, the degree of the delay, the speed limit (for example, information indicating the number of minutes of delay until arrival at the bus stop) may be input as traffic information. Alternatively, the operation impact information may be transmitted periodically. For example, the equipment information may be transmitted from the vehicle 4. For example, information indicating the remaining battery charge of each vehicle 4 may be transmitted periodically as the equipment information. The traffic information may be transmitted, for example, from a device that provides traffic information (not shown). The weather information may be transmitted, for example, from a device that provides weather information (not shown). The operation support device 1 that receives the weather information may predict the congestion situation based on the weather information and predetermined rules. For example, if the amount of precipitation is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the operation support device 1 may determine that a traffic jam has occurred because it is expected that many vehicles will slow down. As described above, the operation plan may be changed in response to at least one of the occurrence of a breakdown in the vehicle 4 and the occurrence of a shortage of charge in the vehicle 4, or may be changed in response to the traffic congestion situation on the road on which the vehicle 4 is traveling.

[0030] When the operation plan for the vehicle 4 is changed from a reference operation plan or a current operation plan, which is an operation plan changed from the reference operation plan, the change information generation unit 12 extracts change-affected reservations, which are reservations affected by the change in the operation plan, and generates change information regarding the change in the change-affected reservations. For example, the change information generation unit 12 extracts change-affected reservations affected by the change using the content of the change (content of the change in the operation plan) notified from the operation plan determination unit 13 and the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14, and determines the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation as the destination of change information indicating that the change-affected reservation has been changed. The terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is, for example, the reservation terminal used to make the change-affected reservation, but is not limited to this as long as it is a terminal device that can present change information to the user corresponding to the change-affected reservation. Examples of terminal devices corresponding to change-affected reservations will be described later. The change information generation unit 12 generates change information using the content of the change notified from the operation plan determination unit 13 and the reservation result corresponding to the extracted reservation, outputs the generated change information to the transmission / reception unit 11, and notifies the transmission destination of the change information to the transmission / reception unit 11. The change information includes, for example, at least one of a change in boarding time, a change in disembarking time, a change in the route on which the reserved vehicle 4 will travel, a change in flight, a change in the type of the reserved vehicle 4, a change in the reserved vehicle 4 (vehicle identification information), and a change in seat.

[0031] The information storage unit 14 stores the reference operation plan, the operation plan, the reservation result, and user information. The reservation result includes the details of the reservation, such as reservation identification information such as a reservation number for identifying the reservation, the flight (information for identifying the flight, such as the flight name or flight number), the boarding stop, and the disembarking stop. The reservation result may further include at least one of the identification information of the vehicle 4, the boarding time, the disembarking time, the number of passengers, and reservation terminal information. The reservation identification information may be assigned by the operation support device 1 or the reservation terminal. For example, the reservation identification information may be assigned by the operation plan determination unit 13, the transceiver unit 11, or another component (not shown). While an example in which a reservation number is used as the reservation identification information is described below, the reservation identification information may be a number represented by a number or a combination of a number and characters such as alphabets, hiragana, katakana, or kanji. In the operation plan, the route and the departure time from the reference stop may be used as information for identifying the flight, instead of the flight name or flight number.

[0032] The user information may be a user ID (identifier) ​​for identifying the user, an email address (an email address), a telephone number (the telephone number of the user terminal 3, which is a mobile terminal), identification information (identification number) of an IC card such as a transportation IC (Integrated Circuit) card, or biometric authentication information used for biometric authentication. The user information may be set, for example, when registering the vehicle 4 for use, or when making a reservation. The user information may also be included in the user's reservation results, or may be added to the reservation results and stored in the information storage unit 14 as information integrated with the reservation results. Details of the reservation results and user information will be described later.

[0033] The bus stop terminal 2 is a terminal device installed at a bus stop, and is an example of a boarding and alighting location terminal installed at a boarding and alighting location of a moving object. The bus stop terminal 2 includes a transceiver 21, a reception unit 22, and an output unit 23.

[0034] The transmitter / receiver 21 is both a transmitter and a receiver, and communicates with the operation support device 1 to transmit and receive information to and from the operation support device 1. For example, the transmitter / receiver 21 transmits reservation information received from the reception unit 22 to the operation support device 1. The transmitter / receiver 21 also receives an operation plan from the operation support device 1 and outputs the received operation plan to the output unit 23. The transmitter / receiver 21 also receives a reservation result from the operation support device 1 and outputs the received reservation result to the output unit 23.

[0035] The reception unit 22 receives reservation information input from a user who wishes to use the vehicle 4. The reception unit 22 may also include at least one of a reading device that reads a two-dimensional code and a card reader that reads information stored on an IC card. The reception unit 22 outputs the received information to the transmission / reception unit 21 as reservation information. The information received by the reception unit 22 includes, for example, the boarding stop, the disembarking stop, the desired boarding time, and the number of passengers. Note that the information received by the reception unit 22 only needs to include information indicating at least the disembarking stop, and other information may be automatically set by the bus stop terminal 2. The automatic setting of the other information may be performed by the reception unit 22 or by a setting unit (not shown) within the bus stop terminal 2. When the automatic setting of the other information is performed by the reception unit 22, the reception unit 22 generates reservation information by automatically adding the other information to the input information and outputs the generated reservation information to the transmission / reception unit 21. When the automatic setting of other information is performed by the setting unit, the reception unit 22 outputs the input information to the setting unit, and the setting unit generates reservation information by automatically adding other information to the input information, and outputs the generated reservation information to the transmission / reception unit 21.

[0036] For example, the bus stop terminal 2 may set the boarding stop to the bus stop where the bus stop terminal 2 is installed, the desired boarding time to the current time (i.e., the time when the input is accepted), and the number of passengers to one. If the number of passengers is fixed to one, reservation-related input is performed for each passenger. The bus stop terminal 2 may also display a prompt to select either a method of specifying only the alighting stop (where the boarding stop, desired boarding time, and number of passengers are fixed) or a method of specifying all of the boarding stop, alighting stop, desired boarding time, and number of passengers. The reception unit 22 may then display a corresponding selection screen based on the selection result, allowing the user to select the input method. When accepting the boarding stop, alighting stop, desired boarding time, and number of passengers, the bus stop terminal 2 may display the bus stop where the bus stop terminal 2 is installed, the current time, and one as default values ​​for the boarding stop, desired boarding time, and number of passengers, respectively, and may make the displayed default values ​​changeable so that changed input can be accepted.

[0037] The output unit 23 outputs information received from the transmission / reception unit 21. For example, the output unit 23 may output the information received from the transmission / reception unit 21 by displaying, printing, or outputting the information by sound such as voice. The output unit 23 may be a combination of two or more of a display device for displaying, a device for printing, and a speaker for outputting sound. For example, the output unit 23 displays the operation plan received from the transmission / reception unit 21. The output unit 23 also displays the reservation result received from the transmission / reception unit 21. The output unit 23 may also notify the user of the change information by outputting the change information received from the transmission / reception unit 21. In other words, the output unit 23 is a notification unit that notifies the user of the change information. In addition, in FIG. 3 , the bus stop terminal 2 includes the output unit 23, but an output device that functions as the output unit 23 may be provided separately from the bus stop terminal 2. In addition, a display device may be provided separately from the output unit 23 included in the bus stop terminal 2, and the operation plan may be displayed on the display device, and the reservation result may be displayed on the output unit 23.

[0038] Furthermore, when accepting a reservation, the bus stop terminal 2 may accept input of user information and transmit the accepted user information to the operation support device 1. The user information may be information for identifying the user who made the reservation, or information for notifying the user of change information. The user information for identifying the user who made the reservation may be, for example, a user ID set at the time of initial user registration or set in advance. For example, a two-dimensional code indicating the user ID may be distributed to the user in advance on printed paper or as electronic data. The two-dimensional code may be, for example, a QR (registered trademark) code, but is not limited to this. In this case, for example, the reception unit 22 of the bus stop terminal 2 may be equipped with a reading device that reads the two-dimensional code, and the bus stop terminal 2 may include the user ID read by the reading device in the reservation information or transmit the user ID together with the reservation information to the operation support device 1. Furthermore, when IC card identification information is used as user information for identifying the user who made the reservation, the reception unit 22 of the bus stop terminal 2 includes a reading device such as a card reader that reads IC card information, and the bus stop terminal 2 includes the IC card identification information read by the reading device in the reservation information or transmits the reservation information together with the reservation information to the operations support device 1. Furthermore, when biometric authentication information is used as user information for identifying the user who made the reservation, the reception unit 22 of the bus stop terminal 2 includes a reading device that acquires biometric authentication information, and the bus stop terminal 2 includes the biometric authentication information acquired by the reading device in the reservation information or transmits the reservation information together with the reservation information to the operations support device 1.

[0039] The user information for notifying the user of the change information is, for example, an email address, a telephone number, etc., but is not limited to these, and may also be information for notifying the user of the change information via a social networking service (SNS). For example, the reception unit 22 receives input of user information such as an email address and a telephone number, and the transmission / reception unit 21 transmits the user information to the operations support device 1. The bus stop terminal 2 may transmit this user information to the operations support device 1 together with the reservation information, or may transmit the user information to the operations support device 1 separately from the reservation information.

[0040] The user terminal 3 is a terminal device that can be operated by a user, and is, for example, but not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal computer, etc. The user terminal 3 includes a transmitter / receiver 31, a receiver 32, and a display 33.

[0041] The transmitter / receiver 31 is both a transmitter and a receiver, and communicates with the operation support device 1 to transmit and receive information to and from the operation support device 1. For example, the transmitter / receiver 31 transmits reservation information received from the reception unit 32 to the operation support device 1. The transmitter / receiver 31 also receives reservation results from the operation support device 1 and outputs the received reservation results to the display unit 33. The transmitter / receiver 31 also receives change information from the operation support device 1 and outputs the received change information to the display unit 33. The transmitter / receiver 31 may also receive an operation plan from the operation support device 1 and output the received operation plan to the display unit 33.

[0042] Similar to the reception unit 22 of the bus stop terminal 2, the reception unit 32 receives input of reservation-related information from a user who wishes to use the vehicle 4, and outputs the received information as reservation information to the transmission / reception unit 31. The information received by the reception unit 32 needs to include at least information indicating the disembarkation stop, and similar to the bus stop terminal 2, other information may be automatically set by the user terminal 3.

[0043] The display unit 33 displays information received from the transmission / reception unit 31. For example, the display unit 33 displays the reservation result received from the transmission / reception unit 31. The display unit 33 may also display the operation plan received from the transmission / reception unit 31. Furthermore, for example, the user terminal 3 displays change information received from the transmission / reception unit 31. The display unit 33 is a notification unit that notifies the user of the change information by displaying the change information. Note that, when the user terminal 3 receives change information, the user terminal 3 may output the change information by voice using a speaker (not shown). Furthermore, when the user terminal 3 receives change information, the user terminal 3 may display the change information and notify the user that the change information has been received by sounding an alarm. Furthermore, when the user terminal 3 has a vibration function that vibrates the user terminal 3, when the user terminal 3 receives change information, the user terminal 3 may display the change information and notify the user that the change information has been received by vibration.

[0044] The user terminal 3 may be installed with application software (hereinafter also referred to as an app) for using the vehicle 4, and the app may perform the operations related to receiving the reservation and change information described above. In this case, for example, a user ID may be determined when registering to use the vehicle 4 using the app, and the change information may be notified to the user via the app. Alternatively, the operations support device 1 or another web server (not shown) may transmit information about a website for making reservations to the user terminal 3, and the user may make a reservation on the website. In this case, for example, a user ID may be determined when registering to use the vehicle 4 on the website. The user terminal 3 may also accept input of user information for notifying the user of change information during registration or for each reservation, and transmit the accepted user information to the operations support device 1. The user information for notifying the user of change information may be an email address, a telephone number, an SNS, etc., as in the example of the bus stop terminal 2. Even when a reservation is made using the app, the user terminal 3 may also accept input of user information for notifying the user of change information during registration or for each reservation, and transmit the accepted user information to the operations support device 1.

[0045] Next, the operation of the operations support device 1 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when reservation information is received in the operations support device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the operations support device 1 receives reservation information including a boarding stop and a disembarking stop (step S1). Specifically, the transmitter / receiver 11 receives the reservation information from the reservation terminal and outputs the received reservation information to the operation plan determination unit 13. As described above, the reservation terminal may be the bus stop terminal 2 or the user terminal 3. The reservation information includes, for example, a boarding stop, a desired boarding time, a disembarking stop, and user information, but is not limited thereto and may include at least a boarding stop and a disembarking stop. The reservation information may also include the number of passengers. If the desired boarding time is not included in the reservation information, for example, the operations support device 1 performs reservation processing by interpreting this as meaning that the user wishes to make a reservation as early as possible from the time the reservation was made.

[0046] Next, the operations support device 1 determines an operation plan based on the current operation plan and the reservation information (step S2). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 uses the current operation plan, reservation information, and reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14 to determine that the operation plan should be the current operation plan if a reservation corresponding to the reservation information can be made using the current operation plan. The current operation plan is the current operation plan, and as described above, is, for example, the reference operation plan or the latest operation plan that has already been changed from the reference operation plan. Furthermore, if a reservation corresponding to the reservation information cannot be made using the current operation plan, the operation plan determination unit 13 changes the operation plan, for example, to increase the number of trains, and stores the changed operation plan in the information storage unit 14.

[0047] Next, the operations support device 1 executes reservation processing based on the determined operation plan and reservation information (step S3). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 executes reservation processing based on the operation plan determined in step S2 and the reservation information. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 extracts a flight with available seats for the boarding section and desired boarding time corresponding to the reservation information based on the determined operation plan and the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14, and assigns the extracted flight to the reservation corresponding to the reservation information. If there is no flight with available seats for the boarding section and desired boarding time corresponding to the reservation information, the operation support device 13 assigns the flight with available seats for the boarding section that is closest to the desired boarding time to the reservation corresponding to the reservation information. This determines the flight to be assigned to the user corresponding to the reservation information, and the reservation result is determined based on the operation plan corresponding to the flight. Note that the reservation processing may be performed by any method and is not limited to this example.

[0048] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation result according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the reservation result includes a reservation number, a service (service name or number), a vehicle identification number, a boarding stop, a boarding time, a disembarking stop, a disembarking time, the number of passengers, reservation terminal information, and user information. The boarding stop, a disembarking stop, and the number of passengers are information included in the reservation information. As described above, the reservation number may be assigned by the operation plan determination unit 13 or by the reservation terminal. The service, vehicle identification number, boarding time, and disembarking time are determined by the reservation process. The reservation terminal information is identification information of the reservation terminal that transmitted the reservation information. The reservation result may include route information indicating the route or information indicating the type of vehicle 4. The reservation terminal information may include, but is not limited to, the network address of the reservation terminal. For example, if the reservation terminal is a bus stop terminal 2, the reservation terminal information may be identification information of the bus stop terminal 2 previously assigned to each bus stop terminal 2, or information indicating the bus stop where the bus stop terminal 2 is installed. 3 may be transmitted from the reservation terminal as part of the reservation information, or may be transmitted from the reservation terminal at the time of reservation separately from the reservation information. As described above, the user information may be stored in the information storage unit 14 separately from the reservation result. In this case, for example, the user information is stored in the information storage unit 14 in association with the reservation number.

[0049] 3 is an example, and the reservation result is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3 as long as it includes the boarding stop and disembarking stop, information for identifying the bus, and at least one of the reservation number and user information. The information for identifying the bus may be the bus name, bus number, etc., or may be the vehicle identification number, boarding stop, and boarding time. Note that the reservation terminal identification information is used to send change information, which will be described later, but if only user information is used to send the change information, it does not need to be stored as the reservation result.

[0050] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2 , the operations support device 1 stores the reservation results (step S4). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 stores the reservation results in the information storage unit 14. The operations support device 1 also transmits the reservation results to the reservation terminal (step S5). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 outputs the reservation results to the transmission / reception unit 11 and instructs the transmission / reception unit 11 to transmit the reservation results to the reservation terminal that transmitted the corresponding reservation information, and the transmission / reception unit 11 transmits the reservation results to the reservation terminal.

[0051] Next, the operations support device 1 determines whether there is a change in the operation plan (step S6). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 determines whether the operation plan was changed in step S2. If there is no change in the operation plan (step S6: No), the operations support device 1 ends the processing. If there is a change in the operation plan (step S6: Yes), the operations support device 1 identifies flights affected by the change (step S7). Specifically, if the operation plan determination unit 13 determines that there is a change in the operation plan, it identifies flights affected by the change and notifies the change information generation unit 12 of information indicating the identified flights.

[0052] For example, when the operation plan determination unit 13 increases the number of buses, the operation plan determination unit 13 notifies the change information generation unit 12 of information indicating buses whose operation times or operation routes have been changed due to the change in the operation plan. For example, suppose that buses departing from a certain stop between 10:00 and 11:00 are planned to operate at 15-minute intervals, and the departure times from the stop are 10:00, 10:15, 10:30, 10:45, and 11:00. In this case, suppose that the intervals between buses departing from a certain stop between 10:00 and 11:00 are changed from 15-minute intervals to 10-minute intervals, and the departure times are changed to 10:00, 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, 10:40, 10:50, and 11:00. In this case, the buses departing from the bus stop at 10:15, 10:30, and 10:45 are identified as the buses affected by the change. The identified buses may be indicated by the bus name, bus number, etc., or, as described above, may be identified by a combination of the bus stop, the departure time from the stop, and the vehicle identification number.

[0053] The operations support device 1 extracts reservations (change-affected reservations) affected by the change (change in the operation plan) and determines the terminal device corresponding to the reservation (terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation) (step S8). Specifically, the change information generation unit 12 extracts reservations affected by the change from the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14 based on information (information indicating the flights affected by the change) notified from the operation plan determination unit 13. For example, the change information generation unit 12 extracts reservation numbers of reservations assigned to flights affected by the change using the flights (flight names and flight numbers) in the reservation results. Then, based on the reservation terminal information or user information corresponding to the extracted reservation numbers, the change information generation unit 12 determines the terminal device corresponding to the extracted reservation numbers as the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations. Furthermore, the change information generation unit 12 changes the contents of the extracted reservations based on the changed operation plan and updates the reservation results in the information storage unit 14 with the changed contents. For example, as described above, if the interval between buses departing from a certain bus stop between 10:00 and 11:00 is changed from 15 minutes to 10 minutes, and a reservation is made for a bus departing at 10:30 with that bus stop as the boarding stop, in this case, since there is no bus departing at 10:30, the reservation is changed to, for example, a reservation for the bus departing at 10:20 or 10:30, which is closest to the 10:30 departure. Note that the reservation change method may be performed in any manner and is not limited to this example.

[0054] The terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is the terminal device to which change information is sent, for example, the reservation terminal where the reservation was made. For example, if a user makes a reservation from a user terminal 3 using a user ID, this user terminal 3 is the terminal device to which change information is sent. For example, if a reservation is made using an app installed on the user terminal 3, the user ID registered in the app is acquired by the operations support device 1 at the time of reservation. This user ID is stored as user information together with the reservation result or in association with the reservation number in the information storage unit 14. The operations support device 1 can identify the user terminal 3 logged in with this user ID as the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation.

[0055] Also, for example, when a user makes a reservation from a bus stop terminal 2, that bus stop terminal 2 becomes the reservation terminal corresponding to the reservation. Therefore, the change information generation unit 12 can identify the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation by referring to the reservation terminal information in the reservation result. In this case, the bus stop terminal 2 may display the change information as is, but there may be a user other than the user corresponding to the change information near the bus stop terminal 2.

[0056] Note that the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is not limited to the reservation terminal. For example, when a reservation is made using the bus stop terminal 2, the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation may be the user terminal 3 of the user who made the reservation. In this case, the reservation terminal acquires the email address and telephone number as user information of the user corresponding to the user terminal 3 and stores them in the information storage unit 14. In this case, the terminal device corresponding to the user information is the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation. For example, if the user information is an email address, the user terminal 3 that can receive email addressed to that email address is the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation. Also, if the user information is a telephone number, the user terminal 3, which is a mobile terminal assigned that telephone number, is the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation. As described above, this user information may be stored in association with the reservation number separately from the reservation result, or may be stored integrated with the reservation result. By referencing the user information stored in the information storage unit 14, the change information generation unit 12 can identify the user terminal 3 corresponding to the user, even if the user made the reservation using the bus stop terminal 2.

[0057] The operations support device 1 transmits change information regarding the change to the corresponding terminal device (step S9), and terminates the processing. In detail, the change information generation unit 12 generates change information indicating the changes to be made to the reservations affected by the change, outputs the generated change information to the transmission / reception unit 11, and instructs the transmission / reception unit 11 to transmit the change information to the terminal device determined in step S8 as the destination, and the transmission / reception unit 11 transmits the change information in accordance with the instruction. As described above, the change information includes, for example, at least one of a change in boarding time, a change in disembarking time, a change in the route taken by the reserved vehicle 4, a change in the flight, and a change in the type of the reserved vehicle 4.

[0058] In the example shown in FIG. 3 , an example in which an operation plan is changed by receiving reservation information has been described. However, as described above, the timing at which the operation plan is changed is not limited to this, and it may be determined whether to change the operation plan when an operation plan review condition is satisfied. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation plan review process of this embodiment. For example, the process shown in FIG. 4 may be performed in addition to the process shown in FIG. 2 . Alternatively, the process shown in FIG. 4 may be performed without performing the processes of steps S6 to S9 shown in FIG. 2 . In this case, steps S1 to S5 are performed in the process when reservation information is received.

[0059] 4 , the operations support device 1 determines whether the review condition for the operation plan is satisfied (step S11). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 determines whether the review condition for the operation plan is satisfied. The review condition for the operation plan may be, for example, as described above, a condition that operation impact information has been received, a condition that one period has elapsed, a condition that an administrator has input an instruction for review, a condition that a certain time has passed before the start of operation of each flight, a condition that operation impact information has been acquired, or other conditions.

[0060] If the operation plan review condition is not satisfied (step S11: No), the operation support device 1 repeats step S11. If the operation plan review condition is satisfied (step S11: Yes), the operation support device 1 determines whether there is a change to the operation plan (step S12). In detail, the operation plan determination unit 13, for example, calculates the occupancy rate of each flight based on the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14 and changes the operation plan by increasing or decreasing the number of flights based on the occupancy rate. Alternatively, the operation plan determination unit 13 may change the route of the vehicle 4 to a route that skips some sections based on the occupancy rate. Alternatively, the operation plan determination unit 13 may change the operation plan, change the operation time, or reduce or increase the number of flights based on the above-mentioned operation impact information. Alternatively, the operation plan determination unit 13 may change the operation plan based on input from the manager indicating the content of the change to the operation plan. The method of changing the operation plan is not limited to the above example and may be any method. When the operation plan is changed, the operation plan determination unit 13 determines that there is a change to the operation plan.

[0061] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a route that skips some sections in this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 5, five bus stops, 200-1 to 200-5, are provided with corresponding bus stop terminals 2-1 to 2-5. Each of the bus stop terminals 2-1 to 2-5 is the bus stop terminal 2 shown in FIG. 1. In the example shown in FIG. 5, vehicles 4-1 to 4-6, each of which is the vehicle 4 shown in FIG. 1, are illustrated. Vehicles 4-1 to 4-4 are in operation, and vehicles 4-5 and 4-6 are waiting at a train depot 201, which is a waiting location for vehicle 4. Note that FIG. 5 is a schematic example, and the number of vehicles 4 and the number of stops used are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 5. Furthermore, there may be multiple train depots 201. Furthermore, the operating route is not limited to the circular route shown in FIG. 5, and the starting stop and the ending stop may be different routes.

[0062] The first route 202 shown by a solid line is the route in the operation plan before the change, and the second route 203 shown by a dashed line is an alternative route that does not include some of the stops that the first route 202 passes through, i.e., skips some of the stops. As shown in FIG. 5 , the first route 202 is a route that, upon departing from the vehicle depot 201, stops at stop 200-1, stop 200-2, stop 200-3, stop 200-4, stop 200-5, and stop 200-1 in that order. In the example shown in FIG. 5 , because the first route 202 is a loop, vehicle 4 can stop at stop 200-1 after stop 200-5 and then travel on the first route 202 again. Note that vehicle 4 can also head to the vehicle depot 201 after stop 200-5 without heading to stop 200-1. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the train also travels along a route that is reverse to the first route 202.

[0063] Furthermore, the second route 203 indicated by the dashed line is a route that stops at stop 200-1, stop 200-2, stop 200-3, stop 200-5, and stop 200-1 in that order, but does not stop at stop 200-4. As shown in FIG. 5 , the second route 203 is a shorter route than the first route 202, which does not pass through stop 200-4, and is different from the first route 202 from stop 200-3. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 refers to the reservation results, and if there are no users planning to get on or off at stop 200-4, the operation plan is changed to change the operation route of vehicle 4 from the first route 202 to a different route, second route 203. This reduces the operating load on vehicle 4 and the energy consumed by vehicle 4. Furthermore, shortening the operation route can be expected to have the effect of avoiding or recovering from operation delays due to traffic congestion, etc.

[0064] Returning to the description of Fig. 4, if there is no change in the operation plan (No in step S12), the operation support device 1 ends the processing. If there is a change in the operation plan (Yes in step S12), steps S7 to S9 are performed in the same manner as in the example shown in Fig. 2.

[0065] Next, a specific example of a method for notifying a user of change information according to this embodiment will be described. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a first example of a method for notifying a user of change information according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, user terminal #1, which is user terminal 3, transmits reservation information (step S21). In detail, user terminal #1 accepts input of reservation information from a first user who wishes to use vehicle 4, generates reservation information based on the accepted information, and transmits the generated reservation information to operation support device 1.

[0066] When the operation support device 1 receives the reservation information, it determines an operation plan (step S22), similar to step S2 in Fig. 2. Note that it is assumed that the operation plan has not been changed in step S22. The operation support device 1 transmits the reservation result to user terminal #1 (step S23). In detail, the operation support device 1 transmits the reservation result to user terminal #1 by performing steps S3 to S5 shown in Fig. 2.

[0067] User terminal #1 displays the reservation result (step S24), allowing the first user of user terminal #1 to recognize the reservation result.

[0068] User terminal #2 or bus stop terminal 2, which is a user terminal 3 different from user terminal #1, transmits reservation information (step S25). In detail, user terminal #2 or bus stop terminal 2 accepts input of reservation-related information from a second user who wishes to use vehicle 4, generates reservation information based on the accepted information, and transmits the generated reservation information to operation support device 1. Note that, although step S25 is performed after step S24 in Fig. 6, processing related to reservations of other users may be performed between steps S24 and S25.

[0069] When the operation support device 1 receives the reservation information, it determines an operation plan (step S26) in the same manner as step S2 in Fig. 2. In step S26, it is assumed that the operation plan has been changed based on the reservation information transmitted from user terminal #2.

[0070] The operations support device 1 transmits the reservation result to the user terminal #2 (step S27). Specifically, the operations support device 1 performs steps S3 to S5 shown in Fig. 2 to transmit the reservation result to the user terminal #2 or the bus stop terminal 2 that transmitted the reservation information. The user terminal #2 displays the reservation result (step S28).

[0071] The operations support device 1 extracts reservations (change-affected reservations) affected by the change (change in the operation plan) and determines the terminal device corresponding to the reservation (step S29). Specifically, because the operation plan was changed in step S26, the operations support device 1 determines Yes in step S6 shown in FIG. 2 , and steps S7 and S8 are performed. In this example, the extracted reservations are made using user terminal #1. For example, if the reservations are made through an app, the operations support device 1 identifies the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations using the user ID registered in the app as user information. Alternatively, if the user's email address, phone number, information for notifying change information via SNS, etc. are registered in the app or on a website, the operations support device 1 may identify the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations using the email address, email, information for notifying change information via SNS, etc. as user information.

[0072] The operations support device 1 transmits the change information to the user terminal #1 (step S30). Specifically, the change information is transmitted to the user terminal #1 by performing step S9 shown in FIG. 2. Upon receiving the change information, the user terminal #1 displays the change information (step S31). This allows the first users corresponding to the reservations affected by the change in the operation plan to recognize that their reservations have been changed.

[0073] For example, if the first user makes a reservation using an app, the change information may be displayed by the app. The change information may also be sent to user terminal #1 by email, as a message such as SMS (Short Message Service) based on the phone number, or as a voice message based on the phone number. If the change information is sent as a voice message based on the phone number, the change information is output as a voice message in step S31. The change information may also be displayed by an SNS app.

[0074] 7 is a sequence diagram showing a second example of a method for notifying a user of change information according to this embodiment. FIG. 7 shows an example in which a first user, who is a user of user terminal #1, makes a reservation using bus stop terminal 2. Bus stop terminal 2 transmits user information to operation support device 1 (step S41). This user information is information that enables user terminal #1 to receive change information when the reservation is changed, and includes, for example, an email address, a telephone number, and a user ID. However, when a user ID is transmitted in step S41, the user ID is assumed to be the user ID used in the app for reserving vehicle 4.

[0075] From this point on, the reservation terminal is changed from user terminal #1 to bus stop terminal 2, but steps S21 to S29 are performed as in the example shown in FIG. 6 . In the example shown in FIG. 7 , for example, when reserving vehicle 4, the user first enters user information and then makes the reservation. Note that in FIG. 7 , the user information is transmitted after the reservation information is transmitted, but this is not limited to this. The bus stop terminal 2 may also transmit the user information included in the reservation information. Alternatively, the user may input the user information after inputting the reservation information, and step S41 may be performed after step S21. The reservation information may also include a user ID for user identification, and the bus stop terminal 2 may acquire user information such as an email address and phone number from the user in addition to the user ID for notification of change information. That is, two or more types of user information may be acquired by the reservation terminal. For example, a two-dimensional code indicating a user ID may be issued when registering for a reservation of vehicle 4, and the user may make a reservation by having the bus stop terminal 2 read the two-dimensional code and input user information such as an email address and phone number into the bus stop terminal 2.

[0076] 7, in step S29, the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is determined to be user terminal #1 based on the user information corresponding to the extracted reservation. When an email address is used as the user information, user terminal #1 is not directly identified, but specifying the email address corresponds to identifying a terminal device that can receive the information as the destination. Whether the destination of the change information is the reservation terminal or the user terminal 3 indicated in the user information may be specified by the user at the time of reservation, or may be determined by the change information generation unit 12 according to predetermined criteria, for example.

[0077] For example, in the determination criteria, if the reservation terminal is the user terminal 3, the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation may be set as the user terminal 3, and if the reservation terminal is the bus stop terminal 2, the destination of the change information may be determined to be either the reservation terminal or the user terminal 3 indicated in the user information, depending on what information is stored as user information. For example, if the reservation terminal is the bus stop terminal 2 and information that can send change information to the user terminal 3, such as an email address or a phone number, is stored as user information in the information storage unit 14, the determination criteria may be set so that the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is set as the user terminal 3. Also, if the reservation terminal is the bus stop terminal 2 and information that can send change information to the user terminal 3 is not stored as user information in the information storage unit 14, the determination criteria may be set so that the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation is set as the reservation terminal. In addition, if the user information is a user ID, and the user ID is a user ID used in an app for reserving a vehicle 4, the change information generation unit 12 may consider the user ID to be information for which change information can be sent to the user terminal 3, and if the user ID is a user ID not used in the app for reserving a vehicle 4, the change information generation unit 12 may consider the user ID to be information for which change information can be sent to the user terminal 3.

[0078] After step S29, steps S30 and S31 are carried out in the same manner as in the example shown in Fig. 6. In the example shown in Fig. 7, in step S41, information that allows the change information to be transmitted to user terminal 3 (user terminal #1 in this example) is entered, so the destination of the change information is user terminal #1, not the reservation terminal.

[0079] Note that the transmission of user information in step S41 is not limited to when reserving a vehicle 4, but may also be performed when registering for use of the vehicle 4. For example, a user may use the user terminal 3 to log in to an app or website using a user ID and register an email address, phone number, etc., and the operations support device 1 may store the registered email address, phone number, etc. in association with the user ID. Furthermore, a user may use the bus stop terminal 2 to register an email address, phone number, etc. in association with the user ID when making an initial reservation, etc.

[0080] When the user information is transmitted at the time of registration for use of the vehicle 4, the user information stored in the information storage unit 14 may be, for example, user information such as an email address and a telephone number associated with a user ID. In this case, when the user makes a reservation for the vehicle 4 using the bus stop terminal 2, the user makes the reservation for the vehicle 4 using the user ID, and the bus stop terminal 2 transmits the reservation information including the user ID.

[0081] Next, an example will be described in which authentication is performed before displaying change information. When a user makes a reservation using the bus stop terminal 2, the bus stop terminal 2 may display the change information as is, but there may be a user other than the user corresponding to the change information near the bus stop terminal 2. In such a case, user authentication may be performed, and if the authentication is successful, the change information may be displayed.

[0082] Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a bus stop terminal according to this embodiment that authenticates users. By using the bus stop terminal 2a shown in Figure 8 instead of the bus stop terminal 2 shown in Figure 1, it is possible to notify successfully authenticated users, i.e., users whose reservations will be affected by the change in the operation plan, of change information. The bus stop terminal 2a has an information storage unit 24, a reader 25, and an authentication unit 26 added to the bus stop terminal 2 shown in Figure 1. Components having the same functions as those in Figure 1 are designated by the same reference numerals as in Figure 1, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0083] In the bus stop terminal 2a shown in FIG. 8 , when the transmitter / receiver 21 receives change information from the operation support device 1, the transmitter / receiver 21 stores the change information in the information storage unit 24 and instructs the output unit 23 to notify that there has been a change to the operation plan. The output unit 23 notifies that there has been a change to the operation plan in accordance with the instruction. The notification by the output unit 23 may be the output of a predetermined sound such as an alarm sound, the output of a voice message indicating that the operation plan has been changed and a voice message prompting authentication, the output of a light that is turned on or flashes, the display of a message indicating that the operation plan has been changed and a message prompting authentication, or a combination of two or more of these. The method of notification by the output unit 23 may be any method that can notify users around the bus stop terminal 2a of a change to the operation plan, and is not limited to these.

[0084] The information storage unit 24 stores identification information and change information. The reading device 25 is a device that acquires identification information corresponding to a user as authentication information and outputs the acquired authentication information to the authentication unit 26. The reading device 25 may be a reader that reads a two-dimensional code, a reader that reads information from an IC card, an input means that accepts input from a user, a device that acquires biometric authentication information, or a combination of these. The identification information may be reservation identification information such as a reservation number, or user information.

[0085] The authentication unit 26 performs authentication using authentication information acquired from the user. Specifically, the authentication unit 26 authenticates the user by comparing the authentication information received from the reading device 25 with the identification information stored in the information storage unit 24, and if the authentication is successful, the authentication unit 26 instructs the output unit 23 to output change information. As a result, the output unit 23 outputs the change information stored in the information storage unit 24. For example, the authentication unit 26 determines that the authentication is successful if the authentication information received from the reading device 25 matches the identification information stored in the information storage unit 24, and determines that the authentication is unsuccessful if the authentication information received from the reading device 25 does not match the identification information stored in the information storage unit 24.

[0086] As described above, when the transmitting / receiving unit 21 receives change information, the output unit 23 notifies the user that there is a change to the reservation, and if authentication by the authentication unit 26 is successful, notifies the user of the change information.

[0087] When a change in the operation plan is notified, users around the bus stop terminal 2a input authentication information into the bus stop terminal 2a. As described above, the authentication information is identification information, and the identification information is, for example, reservation identification information or user information. The identification information may be input into the bus stop terminal 2a by the user holding a two-dimensional code, or by holding an IC card, or may be input into the bus stop terminal 2a directly by the user. Furthermore, if the identification information is biometric authentication information, the user inputs the identification information into the bus stop terminal 2a by bringing a part of their body used for biometric authentication, such as their face or fingerprint, close to or touching the reading device 25.

[0088] When user information is used as the authentication information, for example, when a vehicle 4 is reserved, the user information of the user corresponding to the reservation is transmitted to the operation support device 1. The operation support device 1 stores the user information in association with the reservation result, and when it determines that the reservation will be affected by the operation plan, it transmits identification information along with change information to the bus stop terminal 2a, causing the bus stop terminal 2a to perform authentication using the identification information. When reservation identification information is used as the authentication information, for example, the operation support device 1 transmits the reservation identification information to the bus stop terminal 2a together with the reservation result, and the bus stop terminal 2a outputs the reservation identification information. The reservation identification information may be output, for example, by being displayed on the bus stop terminal 2a as a reservation number, by being printed as a two-dimensional code, by being output as a voice, or by being written to an IC card. When the reservation identification information is written to an IC card, the output unit 23 includes an IC card writer. The bus stop terminal 2 a may use an IC card reader / writer capable of reading and writing to an IC card, and the IC card reader / writer may have the function of the reading device 25 and the function of the output unit 23 .

[0089] FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a third example of a method for notifying a user of change information according to this embodiment. FIG. 9 shows an example in which a user makes a reservation using a bus stop terminal 2a. As shown in FIG. 9, the reservation terminal is changed from user terminal #1 to bus stop terminal 2a, but steps S21 to S22 are performed in the same manner as in the example shown in FIG. 6. After step S22, the operations support device 1 transmits identification information to the bus stop terminal 2a along with the reservation result (step S23a). This identification information is, for example, reservation identification information, but may also be user information. Step S24 is the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6.

[0090] The bus stop terminal 2a outputs the identification information (step S51). Specifically, the output unit 23 outputs the identification information by at least one of display, voice, printing, and writing to an IC card, for example. Steps S25 to S29 are the same as those in the example shown in Fig. 6. After step S29, the operations support device 1 transmits the identification information together with the change information (step S30a).

[0091] When the bus stop terminal 2a receives the change information, it notifies the change (step S52). In detail, the transmitting / receiving unit 21 stores the change information and the identification information in the information storage unit 24 and instructs the output unit 23 to notify that there has been a change in the operation plan, and the output unit 23 makes the notification based on the instruction. As described above, the notification in the output unit 23 is made by, for example, an alarm sound, a voice message, a lit or flashing light, a display, etc.

[0092] The bus stop terminal 2a performs user authentication (step S53). Specifically, the reading device 25 acquires identification information from the user as authentication information and outputs the acquired authentication information to the authentication unit 26. The authentication unit 26 then compares the identification information stored in the information storage unit 24 with the authentication information received from the reading device 25 to authenticate the user. The user retains or memorizes the identification information output along with the reservation result at the time of reservation, and inputs the identification information into the bus stop terminal 2a when notified of a change in the operation plan. For example, if the identification information is a reservation number, the user memorizes or writes down the reservation number and inputs the reservation number into the bus stop terminal 2a. If the identification information is a piece of paper on which a two-dimensional code is printed, the user retains the paper and inputs the identification information into the bus stop terminal 2a by holding the two-dimensional code over the paper. If the identification information was written on an IC card at the time of reservation, the user inputs the identification information into the bus stop terminal 2a by holding the IC card over the card.

[0093] The bus stop terminal 2a displays the change information (step S54). Specifically, if authentication is successful, the authentication unit 26 instructs the output unit 23 to output the change information, and the output unit 23 displays the change information. While an example in which the change information is displayed is shown here, the output of the change information is not limited to displaying it, and it may be output by printing, audio output, or a combination of display, printing, and audio output. While FIG. 9 shows an example in which authentication is successful, if authentication fails, for example, the authentication unit 26 instructs the output unit 23 to output a message indicating that there are no changes to the reservation corresponding to the user, and the output unit 23 outputs the message in accordance with the instruction. Furthermore, when multiple users are authenticated, authentication is performed for each user, and the change information is presented to the user who is successfully authenticated, and a message indicating that there are no changes to the reservation corresponding to the user is presented to the user who is unsuccessful in authentication.

[0094] Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a fourth example of a method for notifying a user of change information according to the present embodiment. Fig. 10 shows an example in which a user makes a reservation using a bus stop terminal 2a. In Fig. 10, user information is used as identification information.

[0095] The bus stop terminal 2a transmits user information to the operation support device 1 (step S61). This user information is information used for user authentication, such as an email address, a telephone number, a user ID, IC card identification information, or biometric authentication information. The user ID may be input directly by the user into the bus stop terminal 2a, or the user may input the user ID into the bus stop terminal 2a by holding a piece of paper with a two-dimensional code printed on it. That is, the reception unit 22 of the bus stop terminal 2a may acquire the user information, or the reading device 25 may acquire the user information. The transmission / reception unit 21 transmits the user information acquired by the reception unit 22 or the reading device 25 to the operation support device 1. The user information may be transmitted as part of the reservation information or separately from the reservation information. In the latter case, for example, the reservation information and the user information may be transmitted from the same reservation terminal during a series of communication processes, allowing the operation support device 1 to associate the received reservation information with the user information.

[0096] Steps S21 to S29 are the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6. After step S29, steps S30a and S52 are performed, as in the example shown in FIG. 9. However, in the example shown in FIG. 10, the identification information transmitted in step S30a is the user information transmitted in step S61. After step S52, the bus stop terminal 2a performs user authentication (step S53a). In detail, the reading device 25 acquires user information from the user as authentication information and outputs the acquired user information to the authentication unit 26. The authentication unit 26 authenticates the user by comparing the identification information (user information) stored in the information storage unit 24 with the authentication information received from the reading device 25. In this authentication, the user information input by the user to the bus stop terminal 2a is the user information input in step S61. For example, if an email address is used as the user information in step S61, the email address is also used for authentication in step S53a, if a user ID is used as the user information in step S61, the user ID is also used for authentication in step S53a, and if biometric authentication information is used in step S61, biometric authentication is performed in step S53a. Step S54 is the same as the example shown in FIG.

[0097] In the example described above, user authentication is performed by the bus stop terminal 2a, but this is not limiting and user authentication may also be performed by the operations support device 1. For example, the authentication unit 26 is provided in the operations support device 1, and instead of steps S52 and S53a, the bus stop terminal 2a transmits authentication information input by the user to the operations support device 1. The authentication unit 26 of the operations support device 1 performs authentication using the received authentication information and the identification information it holds, and transmits the authentication result to the bus stop terminal 2a. Depending on the authentication result, the bus stop terminal 2a displays change information or a message indicating that there are no changes to the reservation corresponding to the user.

[0098] Note that, in the first to fourth examples of the notification method described above, the case where a change in the operation plan is triggered by a reservation by another user has been described, but the trigger for a change in the operation plan is not limited to a reservation by another user, as described using Fig. 4. That is, even if steps S25, S27, and S28 in each of the examples in Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 9, and Fig. 10 are not performed, and step S26 is performed as a result of a Yes determination being made in step S12 shown in Fig. 4 and the operation plan being changed, the processing from step S29 onwards in each of the examples in Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 9, and Fig. 10 is similarly performed.

[0099] As described above, change information is transmitted to the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation affected by the change in the operation plan, allowing the user corresponding to that reservation to recognize the change in the reservation. This prevents the user from boarding the wrong bus due to not being aware of the change in the reservation, thereby improving user convenience. To further improve user convenience, the changed information may be highlighted when the change information is displayed. That is, the output unit 23 and the display unit 33 may highlight the changed items when displaying the change information. This allows the user to easily recognize what has been changed.

[0100] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen for change information according to this embodiment. When displaying the change information, the terminal device receiving the change information may highlight the changed information, as illustrated in FIG. 11 . As described above, the terminal device receiving the change information is the bus stop terminal 2, 2a, or the user terminal 3, and the change information is displayed by the output unit 23 or the display unit 33. In FIG. 11 , the changed information is highlighted by surrounding it with a line and adding a star. However, the highlighting method is not limited to this, and may be displayed in a different color from other information, in larger font than other information, or in a different font than other information. The highlighting method is not limited to the above example, and any method may be used. In this case, the change information generation unit 12 of the operation support device 1 includes, in the change information, information indicating which items of information should be highlighted, i.e., information for highlighting the changed items. As a result, the terminal device receiving the change information highlights the changed information.

[0101] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11 , the terminal device that has received the change information may also display a message for accepting a reservation change when displaying the change information. In the example shown in FIG. 11 , a button labeled "Change Reservation" is displayed at the bottom to accept a reservation change. When the user presses this button, a screen for accepting the reservation change may be displayed, and the reservation change may be accepted. This button may be displayed in response to an instruction from the operations support device 1. For example, the change information transmitted from the operations support device 1 may include information for displaying a screen for accepting a reservation change from the user. For example, it is possible that the user finds that the changed boarding time is inconvenient. In such a case, if a message for accepting a reservation change is displayed together with the change information, the user can easily change the reservation, thereby improving user convenience.

[0102] In the example shown in FIG. 1 , vehicle 4, which is an autonomous vehicle, is used as an example, but the configuration and operation related to the change information of this embodiment can also be applied to manually driven vehicles driven by a driver. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example configuration of an operations support system of this embodiment when a manually driven vehicle is used. The operations support system 100a shown in FIG. 12 is the same as the operations support system 100 shown in FIG. 1 except that the target of operations support by the operations support device 1 is vehicle 4a instead of vehicle 4. Components having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are assigned the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0103] Vehicle 4a is an example of a mobile body and includes an in-vehicle terminal device 41a and a self-location determining unit 43. In-vehicle terminal device 41a is an example of a mobile body-mounted terminal and is similar to in-vehicle terminal device 41 shown in FIG. 1 except that it includes a transceiver unit 413 instead of a receiver unit 411. Transceiver unit 413 functions as receiver unit 411 shown in FIG. 1 and transmits location information output from self-location determining unit 43 to operation support device 1. Note that FIG. 12 illustrates an example in which vehicle 4a includes self-location determining unit 43 and transceiver unit 413 transmits location information to operation support device 1 so that operation support device 1 can grasp the location of vehicle 4a. However, if operation support device 1 does not use the location of vehicle 4a, the location information does not need to be transmitted to operation support device 1. In this case, vehicle 4a may not include self-location determining unit 43 and may include in-vehicle terminal device 41 instead of in-vehicle terminal device 41a. 12, the in-vehicle terminal device 41a displays the operation plan determined by the operation support device 1, and the driver drives the vehicle 4a in accordance with the operation plan. Note that in the operation support system 100a, a bus stop terminal 2a may be used instead of the bus stop terminal 2.

[0104] Next, the hardware configuration of the operation support device 1 of this embodiment will be described. In the operation support device 1 of this embodiment, a computer program that describes the processing in the operation support device 1 is executed on the computer system, causing the computer system to function as the operation support device 1. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a computer system that realizes the operation support device 1 of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 13, this computer system includes a control unit 101, an input unit 102, a storage unit 103, a display unit 104, a communication unit 105, and an output unit 106, which are connected via a system bus 107.

[0105] In FIG. 13 , the control unit 101 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program describing the processes performed by the operation support device 1 of this embodiment. The input unit 102 is composed of, for example, a keyboard, buttons, a mouse, and the like, and is used by a user of the computer system to input various information. The memory unit 103 includes various types of memory, such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a storage device, such as a hard disk, and stores programs to be executed by the control unit 101, necessary data obtained during processing, and the like. The memory unit 103 is also used as a temporary storage area for programs. The control unit 101 and the memory unit 103, for example, constitute a processing circuit. The processing circuit may be a single circuit or multiple circuits. The display unit 104 is composed of a display, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the like, and displays various screens to the user of the computer system. Note that a touch panel in which the input unit 102 and the display unit 104 are integrated may also be used. The communication unit 105 is a receiver and transmitter that perform communication processing. The output unit 106 is a speaker or the like. Note that Fig. 13 is just an example, and the configuration of the computer system is not limited to the example of Fig. 13. For example, the output unit 106 does not have to be provided.

[0106] Here, an example of the operation of the computer system until the program of this embodiment is ready to be executed will be described. In the computer system having the above configuration, for example, the program is installed into the storage unit 103 from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM inserted in a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM drive or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM drive (not shown). Then, when the program is executed, the program read from the storage unit 103 is stored in the main storage area of ​​the storage unit 103. In this state, the control unit 101 executes the processing as the operations support device 1 of this embodiment in accordance with the program stored in the storage unit 103.

[0107] In the above explanation, a program describing the processing in the operational support device 1 is provided using a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM as a recording medium, but this is not limited to this. Depending on the configuration of the computer system, the capacity of the program to be provided, etc., it is also possible to use a program provided via a transmission medium such as the Internet via the communication unit 105.

[0108] The program of this embodiment causes, for example, a computer system that supports the operation of a mobile object arranged in accordance with a reservation to execute the following steps when the operation plan of the mobile object is changed from a reference operation plan or a current operation plan that is an operation plan changed from the reference operation plan: extracting change-affected reservations, which are reservations that will be affected by the change in the operation plan; generating change information regarding changes to the change-affected reservations; and transmitting the change information to a terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations.

[0109] The change information generation unit 12 and the operation plan determination unit 13 shown in FIG. 1 are realized by the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 13 executing a program stored in the storage unit 103 shown in FIG. 13. The storage unit 103 is also used to realize the change information generation unit 12 and the operation plan determination unit 13. The transmission / reception unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the communication unit 105 shown in FIG. 13. Some functions of the transmission / reception unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 may be realized by the control unit 101 and the storage unit 103. The information storage unit 14 is part of the storage unit 103. The operation support device 1 may be realized by multiple computer systems. Furthermore, for example, the operation support device 1 may be realized by a cloud computer system.

[0110] The bus stop terminal 2, user terminal 3, control device 42, and in-vehicle terminal device 41 shown in FIG. 1, the bus stop terminal 2a shown in FIG. 8, and the in-vehicle terminal device 41a shown in FIG. 12 are also realized by computer systems.

[0111] As described above, in this embodiment, when an operation plan is changed, the operations support device 1 extracts reservations that will be affected by the change and transmits change information indicating the details of the change to the terminal device corresponding to the extracted reservation, thereby improving user convenience.

[0112] Second Embodiment Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation reception screen according to a second embodiment. The configuration of the operation support system 100 according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The processing according to this embodiment may also be performed in the operation support system 100a shown in Fig. 12. Below, explanations that overlap with those of the first embodiment will be omitted, and differences from the first embodiment will be mainly explained.

[0113] In this embodiment, the reservation terminal displays, on a reservation reception screen for receiving reservations, the operation status of the vehicle 4. The operation status includes at least one of the operation route of each vehicle 4, stops, the current position of the vehicle 4 traveling on each route, the reservation status, and the timetable.

[0114] In the example shown in FIG. 14 , a mark 301 indicating the current location and a route 302 indicating the route traveled by the vehicle 4 are displayed on a map on the reservation reception screen. Furthermore, a mark such as a bus image on the map indicates the current location of each vehicle 4. In the example shown in FIG. 14 , vehicle information 303 is displayed on the right side, including the flight name of each vehicle 4, the type of vehicle 4 (e.g., cart, PMV, or bus), route information (e.g., X-route), the departure time from the nearest stop, and the reservation status. In the example shown in FIG. 14 , the current time 304 is also displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 14 , the reservation status is indicated by the number of colored figures among three human figures. However, this is not limited to this, and the reservation status may be indicated by the number of reservable seats (number of remaining seats), the occupancy rate, or the like. Any method for displaying the reservation status may be used. The departure time from the nearest stop is an example of a timetable. Note that FIG. 14 is merely an example, and the information displayed on the reservation reception screen, the arrangement of each piece of information, and the display method of each piece of information are not limited to this example. For example, in Figure 14, the position of each vehicle 4 is displayed on a map, but the method of displaying the position of each vehicle 4 is not limited to displaying it on a map, and it may also be shown by the distance to the bus stop, the time required to reach the bus stop, etc.

[0115] FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process related to the reservation of a vehicle 4 according to this embodiment. The operation support device 1 notifies the user terminal 3, i.e., user terminal #1, of the operation status (step S71). Specifically, the operation plan determination unit 13 extracts operation status information to be displayed on the reservation acceptance screen from the operation plan stored in the information storage unit 14 and the location information received from the vehicle 4 via the transceiver unit 11. The extracted operation status information is output to the transceiver unit 11, and the transceiver unit 11 transmits the operation status information to the user terminal #1. The destinations of the operation status information are, for example, the bus stop terminal 2 and the user terminal 3 running an app for reserving the vehicle 4. However, the destinations of the operation status information may also include all user terminals 3 that have the app installed. The bus stop terminal 2 may be notified of the operation status information when at least one of the operation status information changes, or may be periodically transmitted regardless of whether a change occurs. The user terminal 3 may be notified of the operation status information when at least one of the operation status information changes, or may be periodically transmitted regardless of whether a change occurs, for example, when the app for reserving the vehicle 4 is running. In addition, the user terminal 3 may be notified if at least one of the operating conditions changes, regardless of whether the app is launched or not, or may be sent periodically regardless of whether there is a change.

[0116] 14 , when the current position of the vehicle 4 is displayed on a map, map information may also be stored in the information storage unit 14 of the operations support device 1, and the operations support device 1 may transmit the map information together with the operation status. Alternatively, the reservation terminal may hold the map information, and display the map information using the held map information and the operation status received from the operations support device 1. Furthermore, the operations support device 1 may determine the range of geographical positions for displaying the map information and operation status depending on the location of the reservation terminal to which the operation status is transmitted, or the operations support device 1 may transmit wide-area map information and operation status to the reservation terminal, and the reservation terminal may determine the range of geographical positions to display depending on its own current location.

[0117] The user terminal #1 displays the operation status (step S72). Specifically, the display unit 33 receives the operation status from the operation support device 1 via the transmitter / receiver 31 and displays the received operation status on the reservation acceptance screen. Steps S21 to S24 are the same as the example shown in FIG. 6.

[0118] As in step S71, the operations support device 1 notifies the user terminal 3, user terminal #2 (or bus stop terminal 2), of the operation status (step S73). As in step S72, user terminal #2 (or bus stop terminal 2) displays the operation status (step S74). Steps S25 to S31 are the same as the example shown in FIG. 6. When at least one of the operation statuses has changed, or periodically, the operation status is notified to user terminal #1 and user terminal #2 (or bus stop terminal 2) (step S75).

[0119] 7 in the first embodiment, and when user authentication is performed as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 in the first embodiment, the operation status is also displayed on the reservation reception screen. Furthermore, as described above, the processing of this embodiment can also be applied when a manually driven vehicle 4a is used instead of the vehicle 4.

[0120] As described above, in this embodiment, when the operation plan is changed, the reservation terminal displays the operation status of the vehicles 4 on the reservation acceptance screen that accepts reservations. This allows the user to make a reservation while checking the operation status of each vehicle 4, thereby improving user convenience.

[0121] Third Embodiment Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on an in-vehicle terminal device 41 according to a third embodiment. The configuration of the operation support system 100 according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The processing of this embodiment may also be performed in the operation support system 100a shown in Fig. 12. Below, explanations that overlap with those of the first embodiment will be omitted, and differences from the first embodiment will be mainly explained.

[0122] In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 16, the display unit 412 of the in-vehicle terminal device 41 displays a display screen including at least the number of passengers getting off at the bus stop. When the vehicle 4a shown in Fig. 12 is used, the display unit 412 of the in-vehicle terminal device 41a similarly displays the display screen exemplified in Fig. 16. That is, the vehicles 4 and 4a are provided with the display unit 412 that displays a display screen including at least the number of passengers getting off at the bus stop.

[0123] In the example shown in FIG. 16 , vehicle 4 is traveling, and the display screen displays next stop information 401, which includes the number of users boarding and alighting at the next stop, stop A, and the departure time. Subsequent stop information 402 displays the number of users boarding and alighting at stops beyond stop A (stops B and C) and the departure times. In the example shown in FIG. 16 , next stop information 401 is distinguished from information about other stops by being surrounded by a dashed line. The display for distinguishing next stop information 401, which is information about the next stop, is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 16 . It is sufficient that next stop information 401 and information about other stops are displayed in different ways. For example, the display may be by different hatching, by different font colors or sizes, or by other means. Furthermore, vehicle number-of-people information 403, which indicates the number of users on board, is displayed at the bottom of the display screen shown in FIG. 16 . In addition, on the display screen shown in FIG. 16, the word "arrival" is displayed as arrival display 404 in the upper right corner.

[0124] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of another display screen displayed on the in-vehicle terminal device 41 according to the third embodiment. The display screen shown in FIG. 17 is displayed after the display screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed, and is displayed from the time when the vehicle 4 arrives at bus stop A until the time when the vehicle 4 departs from bus stop A. In the display screen shown in FIG. 17, since the vehicle has stopped at bus stop A, the next stop information 401 in FIG. 16 has been changed to stop stop information 405. The stop stop information 405 is surrounded by a solid line, which indicates that the vehicle is stopped at bus stop A in the display screen shown in FIG. 17. Note that the display method for indicating that the vehicle has stopped at bus stop A is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 17. In addition, in the display screen shown in FIG. 17, since the vehicle has stopped at bus stop A, the arrival display 404 in FIG. 16 has been changed to departure display 406.

[0125] When the onboard terminal device 41 of the vehicle 4, which is an autonomous vehicle, displays the display screen, the display contents of the arrival display 404 and the departure display 406 change according to the control information received from the operation support device 1. For example, based on the control information received from the operation support device 1, while traveling, the arrival display 404 displays the word "arrival," indicating that the next event is arrival at bus stop A. Upon arrival at bus stop A, the next event is departure from bus stop A, and the departure display 406 displays the word "departure." Furthermore, when the onboard terminal device 41a of the manually operated vehicle 4a displays the display screen, the arrival display 404 and the departure display 406 may be, for example, buttons pressed by a driver or other occupant. For example, when the display screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed, the occupant presses the button displayed on the arrival display 404 when the vehicle 4a arrives at bus stop A. As a result, the arrival display 404 changes to the departure display 406, and the next stop information 401 changes to the stop stop information 405. Furthermore, when the bus departs from stop A, the passenger presses a button displayed on the departure display 406, which changes the departure display 406 to the arrival display 404.

[0126] Note that even when a manually driven vehicle 4a is used, the arrival display 404 and the departure display 406 may be changed by control information transmitted from the operation support device 1. The operation support device 1 can grasp the position of the vehicle 4a by receiving the position information of the vehicle 4a, and can therefore determine whether the vehicle 4a is moving or stopped depending on the position of the vehicle 4a.

[0127] 16 and 17, instruction information indicating the work to be done by the crew, such as "Please proceed to the next stop" or "Please give instructions for boarding and alighting," is displayed at the top of the display screen. In this way, instruction information indicating the work to be done by the crew may be displayed on the display screen. Although not shown, after stopping at stop A, when it is time to depart from stop A, the message at the top may be changed to "Please depart." After departing from stop A, the next stop is stop B, so after departing from stop A, information about stop B is displayed on the display screen as next stop information 401.

[0128] 16 and 17, the number of passengers getting on and off at the next stop and at subsequent stops, as well as the number of passengers inside the vehicle, are displayed, but it is sufficient that the display screen of the in-vehicle terminal device 41, 41a displays at least the number of passengers getting off at the next stop. For example, at least some of the information displayed on the display screens shown in Figures 16 and 17, other than the number of passengers getting off at the next stop, does not have to be displayed on the display screen of the in-vehicle terminal device 41, 41a, and information other than that shown in Figures 16 and 17 may be displayed on the display screen of the in-vehicle terminal device 41, 41a.

[0129] 16 and 17, the next stop is displayed separately, but this is not limiting and the number of passengers disembarking at all stops of vehicle 4 may be displayed in a list. Since the occupants of vehicles 4 and 4a know the next stop, they can know the number of passengers disembarking at the next stop based on the number of passengers disembarking displayed in a list. Furthermore, in addition to the number of passengers disembarking at all stops of vehicle 4, at least one of the number of passengers boarding at all stops and the number of passengers boarding between each stop may be displayed.

[0130] As described above, the on-board terminal devices 41 and 41a of the present embodiment are examples of mobile-body-mounted terminal devices mounted on a mobile body that gets on at any one of a plurality of boarding and alighting points and gets off at any one of a plurality of boarding and alighting points. The display unit 412 displays at least the number of alighting users, which is the number of users who will get off at the next bus stop at which the vehicle 4 or 4a on which the on-board terminal device 41 or 41a is mounted, respectively, will arrive, calculated from the reservation result.

[0131] By displaying the number of users getting off at the bus stop on the in-vehicle terminal device 41, 41a, the occupants of the vehicles 4, 4a can appropriately manage users getting off when they arrive at the bus stop. For example, if a user forgets to get off the vehicle 4, 4a, the occupants can warn the user to get off, thereby improving user convenience.

[0132] FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing related to displaying the number of passengers disembarking from vehicle 4 in this embodiment. While the following description will be given using vehicle 4 as an example, the same applies when vehicle 4a is used. Steps S21 and S22 are the same as those in the example shown in FIG. 6 . After determining the operation plan, the operations support device 1 calculates passenger number information (step S81). The passenger number information is information displayed on the in-vehicle terminal device 41 and includes at least the number of passengers disembarking at the next stop of vehicle 4. In detail, the operation plan determination unit 13 calculates passenger number information for each trip based on the determined operation plan, the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14, and the location information of vehicle 4 received from the transmission / reception unit 11, and outputs the calculated passenger number information to the transmission / reception unit 11. For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 determines the next stop of vehicle 4 for each trip using the location information of vehicle 4 and stop location information indicating the locations of each predetermined stop. Then, the operation plan determination unit 13 calculates the number of passengers information using the next stop of the vehicle 4 and the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14.

[0133] In addition, in the case where the in-vehicle terminal device 41 displays the number of people getting off in a list without distinguishing between the next stops, for example, the position information of the vehicle 4 does not need to be used to calculate the number of people information. In this example, the operation plan determination unit 13 also has the function of a number of people information calculation unit that calculates the number of people information, but the number of people information calculation unit may be provided separately from the operation plan determination unit 13.

[0134] The operation support device 1 transmits the number of passengers information to the on-board terminal device 41 (step S82). Specifically, the transmitter / receiver 11 transmits the number of passengers information to the on-board terminal device 41 of the corresponding vehicle 4. The on-board terminal device 41 displays the number of passengers disembarking (step S83). Specifically, the receiver 411 receives the number of passengers information, outputs the received number of passengers information to the display unit 412, and the display unit 412 displays the number of passengers information, thereby displaying the number of passengers disembarking at the next stop. As described above, the display unit 412 displays at least the number of passengers disembarking at the next stop, but may also display the number of passengers on board, the number of passengers in the vehicle, etc. As a result, for example, the display screens illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 are displayed on the on-board terminal device 41.

[0135] Steps S23 to S26 are the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6 . Steps S81 to S83 are also performed after step S26. Steps S27 to S31 are the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6 . Note that the example shown in FIG. 18 illustrates an example in which the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S23 and the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S27 are assigned to the same flight. If the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S23 and the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S27 are assigned to different flights, the number of passengers information transmitted after step S26 is transmitted to an in-vehicle terminal device 41 of a vehicle 4 different from the vehicle 4 equipped with the in-vehicle terminal device 41 to which the number of passengers information transmitted after step S22 is transmitted. Although not illustrated, steps S81 to S83 are also performed after step S30 in response to a change in reservation. Furthermore, the operations support device 1 also performs steps S81 and S82 when vehicle 4 arrives at or departs from a bus stop based on the location information of vehicle 4, thereby also performing step S83. Note that while Fig. 18 shows an example in which the display in step S83 is performed after the number of people information is received, the in-vehicle terminal device 41 may perform the display in step S83 regardless of whether the number of people information is received, and when the number of people information is updated, the display content may be changed in accordance with the updated number of people information.

[0136] Furthermore, while FIG. 18 illustrates an example in which the operations support device 1 calculates the number of passengers information, the calculation of the number of passengers information may be performed by an in-vehicle terminal device. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process related to displaying the number of passengers disembarking from the vehicle 4 according to this embodiment when the calculation of the number of passengers information is performed by the in-vehicle terminal device. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle terminal device according to this embodiment that calculates the number of passengers information. As shown in FIG. 20 , the in-vehicle terminal device 41b is configured by adding a number of passengers information calculation unit 414 and an information storage unit 415 to the in-vehicle terminal device 41. In the example illustrated in FIG. 19 , the vehicle 4 includes an in-vehicle terminal device 41b instead of the in-vehicle terminal device 41. Note that while FIG. 20 illustrates an example in which the number of passengers information calculation unit 414 and the information storage unit 415 are added to the in-vehicle terminal device 41, the number of passengers information calculation unit 414 and the information storage unit 415 may also be added to the in-vehicle terminal device 41a. In this case, the same operation as in FIG. 20 is performed.

[0137] 19 and 20 , the operation when the number of people information is calculated by the in-vehicle terminal device 41b will be described. Steps S21 and S22 shown in FIG. 19 are the same as those shown in FIG. 6 . After determining the operation plan, the operations support device 1 transmits the reservation results and the operation plan to the in-vehicle terminal device 41b (step S91). For example, the operation plan determination unit 13 extracts the reservation results and the operation plan corresponding to the vehicle 4 in which the in-vehicle terminal device 41b is installed from the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14, and transmits the extracted reservation results and the operation plan to the in-vehicle terminal device 41b via the transmission / reception unit 11. Note that the operations support device 1 may transmit only the reservation results that have been updated since the previous transmission of the reservation results to the in-vehicle terminal device 41b.

[0138] The in-vehicle terminal device 41b calculates the number of passengers information (step S92). Specifically, when the receiving unit 411 receives the reservation results and the operation plan, the receiving unit 411 stores the reservation results and the operation plan in the information storage unit 415. The number of passengers information calculation unit 414 calculates the number of passengers information using the reservation results and the operation plan stored in the information storage unit 415 and the location information output from the self-location identification unit 43, and outputs the calculated number of passengers information to the display unit 412. The number of passengers information calculation unit 414 determines the next stop for the vehicle 4, for example, using the location information of the vehicle 4 and stop location information indicating the locations of each predetermined stop. The number of passengers information calculation unit 414 then calculates the number of passengers information using the next stop for the vehicle 4 and the reservation results stored in the information storage unit 14. Note that if the in-vehicle terminal device 41b displays the number of passengers disembarking without distinguishing between the next stops, for example, in a list, the location information of the vehicle 4 may not be used to calculate the number of passengers information.

[0139] The in-vehicle terminal device 41b displays the number of passengers getting off (step S93). Specifically, the display unit 412 displays the number of passengers getting off at the next stop by displaying the number of passengers information received from the number of passengers information calculation unit 414. As in step S83, the display unit 412 displays at least the number of passengers getting off at the next stop, as described above, but may also display the number of passengers boarding the bus, the number of passengers in the bus, etc. As a result, for example, the display screens illustrated in Figures 16 and 17 are displayed on the in-vehicle terminal device 41b.

[0140] Steps S23 to S26 are the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6 . Steps S91 to S93 are also performed after step S26. Steps S27 to S31 are the same as in the example shown in FIG. 6 . Note that, like the example shown in FIG. 18 , FIG. 19 illustrates an example in which the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S23 and the reservation corresponding to the reservation result transmitted in step S27 are assigned to the same flight. Although not shown, steps S91 to S93 are also performed after step S30 in response to a change in reservation. Furthermore, based on the position information of vehicle 4, the operations support device 1 performs step S92 when vehicle 4 arrives at or departs from a bus stop, thereby also performing step S93. Note that, while FIG. 19 illustrates an example in which the display in step S93 is performed after the number of passengers information is calculated, the on-board terminal device 41b may perform the display in step S93 regardless of whether the number of passengers information is calculated, and may change the display content according to the updated number of passengers information when the number of passengers information is updated.

[0141] 16 and 17 are displayed as buttons, the number of people information calculation unit 414 may determine the next stop by pressing the button. For example, when the departure display 406 is displayed as a button, the number of people information calculation unit 414 updates the next stop every time the departure display 406 is pressed.

[0142] In addition, when user information is sent to the operation support device 1 as shown in Figure 7 of embodiment 1, or when user authentication is performed as exemplified in Figures 9 and 10 of embodiment 1, the number of people information is calculated and the number of people getting off is displayed in the same way.

[0143] In the example described above, the operation support system 100 of the first embodiment added a process for displaying the number of alighting passengers. However, this is not limiting. A similar process for displaying the number of alighting passengers may be added to the operation support system 100 of the second embodiment. Furthermore, the process for displaying the number of alighting passengers of the present embodiment may be performed in an operation support system that does not perform the operation of transmitting the change information described in the first embodiment. That is, for example, steps S29 to S31 in FIGS. 18 and 19 may not be performed. In this case, the operation support device 1 does not need to include the change information generation unit 12, and the bus stop terminals 2, 2a and the user terminal 3 may not have a function for displaying change information.

[0144] In this embodiment, the in-vehicle terminal devices 41, 41a, and 41b display the number of passengers disembarking at a bus stop. This allows appropriate management of passenger disembarking when the bus arrives at a bus stop. For example, if a passenger forgets to disembark from the vehicle 4 or 4a, the passenger can alert the passenger to disembark, thereby improving user convenience.

[0145] The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known technologies, or different embodiments may be combined with each other. It is also possible to omit or modify parts of the configurations as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the invention.

[0146] 1 Operation support device, 2, 2a Bus stop terminal, 3 User terminal, 4, 4a Vehicle, 11, 21, 31, 413, 421 Transmitting / receiving unit, 12 Change information generation unit, 13 Operation plan determination unit, 14, 24, 415 Information storage unit, 22, 32 Receiving unit, 23 Output unit, 25 Reading device, 26 Authentication unit, 33, 412 Display unit, 41, 41a, 41b In-vehicle terminal device, 42 Control device, 43 Self-position identification unit, 100, 100a Operation support system, 411 Receiving unit, 414 Number of people information calculation unit, 422 Travel control unit.

Claims

1. An operations support device that supports the operation of a mobile object for which a standard operation plan is determined and which is arranged according to reservations, comprising: a change information generation unit that, when the operation plan of the mobile object is changed from the standard operation plan or a current operation plan which is an operation plan changed from the standard operation plan, extracts change-affected reservations which are the reservations affected by the change in the operation plan, and generates change information regarding changes to the change-affected reservations; and a transmission unit that transmits the change information to a terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations.

2. An operation support device according to claim 1, characterized in that an operation route and an operation time are defined as the operation plan.

3. The operation support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the change information includes information for highlighting and displaying items to be changed.

4. The operation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the change information includes information for displaying a screen for accepting a change to the reservation from a user.

5. An operation support device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the transmission unit transmits the operating status of the mobile object to a reservation terminal that accepts the reservation.

6. An operational support device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the operation support device further comprises a number of users information calculation unit that calculates number of users information including the number of users who will get off at at least the next boarding and alighting location of the moving body among the boarding and alighting locations of the moving body, and the transmission unit transmits the number of users information to a mobile body-mounted terminal device that is mounted on the moving body and displays the number of users information.

7. An operation support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the operation plan is changed in accordance with the reservation.

8. An operation support device as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the operation plan is changed in response to at least one of the occurrence of a malfunction of the mobile object and the occurrence of a shortage of charge of the mobile object.

9. An operation support device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the moving body is a vehicle, and the operation plan is changed depending on the traffic congestion situation of the road on which the moving body travels.

10. A terminal device capable of accepting reservations for a mobile body for which a standard operation plan is defined and which is arranged according to a reservation, comprising: a reception unit that accepts input of information relating to the reservation of the mobile body from a user; a transmission unit that transmits reservation information, which is generated based on the information received by the reception unit and indicates a request for the reservation, to an operation support device that supports the operation of the mobile body; a reception unit that receives change information from the operation support device indicating that the reservation corresponding to the reservation information has been changed; and a notification unit that notifies the user of the change information.

11. The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the notification section displays the change information and, when displaying the change information, highlights the changed items.

12. A terminal device as described in claim 10 or 11, further comprising an authentication unit that performs authentication using authentication information obtained from the user, wherein the notification unit notifies the user that there has been a change to the reservation when the receiving unit receives the change information, and notifies the user of the change information if the authentication by the authentication unit is successful.

13. A mobile body in which a user who has made a reservation boards at one of a number of boarding and alighting points and alights at one of the plurality of boarding and alighting points, the mobile body being characterized by having a display unit that displays at least the number of users who will alight at the boarding and alighting point where the mobile body will next arrive, calculated from a reservation result that is the result of reservation processing based on the reservation.

14. The vehicle according to claim 13, further comprising a calculation unit that calculates the number of users who will get off at the boarding and alighting points based on the reservation results.

15. An operations support system comprising: an operations support device that supports the operation of a mobile object for which a standard operation plan is determined and which is arranged according to reservations; and a terminal device, wherein the operations support device comprises: a change information generation unit that extracts change-affected reservations, which are reservations that are affected by the change in the operation plan when the operation plan of the mobile object is changed from the standard operation plan or a current operation plan, which is an operation plan changed from the standard operation plan, and generates change information regarding changes to the change-affected reservations; and a transmission unit that transmits the change information to the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations, wherein the terminal device displays the change information when it receives the change information.

16. The operations support system described in claim 15, characterized in that the terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservation includes a bus stop terminal installed at a bus stop, which, upon receiving the change information from the operations support device, notifies the user that there is a change in the operation plan, obtains authentication information for user authentication from the user, and transmits the obtained authentication information to the operations support device, and when the operations support device receives the authentication information, authenticates the user using the authentication information and transmits an authentication result that is the result of the authentication to the bus stop terminal, and the bus stop terminal displays the change information if the authentication result received from the operations support device indicates successful authentication.

17. An operations support system comprising: an operations support device that supports the operation of a mobile body in which a user who has made a reservation boards at one of a plurality of boarding and alighting points and disembarks at one of the plurality of boarding and alighting points; and a mobile body-mounted terminal device mounted on the mobile body, wherein the mobile body-mounted terminal device has a display unit that displays at least the number of users who will disembark at the boarding and alighting point where the mobile body will next arrive, calculated from a reservation result that is the result of reservation processing based on the reservation.

18. An operations support method in an operations support device that supports the operation of a mobile body for which a standard operation plan is determined and which is arranged according to reservations, comprising the steps of: when the operation plan of the mobile body is changed from the standard operation plan or a current operation plan which is an operation plan changed from the standard operation plan, extracting change-affected reservations which are the reservations affected by the change in the operation plan, and generating change information regarding the change to the change-affected reservations; and transmitting the change information to a terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations.

19. A program for a computer system that supports the operation of a mobile object for which a standard operation plan is determined and which is arranged according to reservations, the program comprising the steps of: extracting change-affected reservations, which are reservations that will be affected by the change in the operation plan when the operation plan of the mobile object is changed from the standard operation plan or a current operation plan that is an operation plan changed from the standard operation plan, and generating change information regarding changes to the change-affected reservations; and transmitting the change information to a terminal device corresponding to the change-affected reservations.

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