JP7629039B2 - Information processing system, control method for information processing system, and control program for information processing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, a control method for an information processing system, and a control program for an information processing system.

Traditionally, when constructing buildings such as buildings or commercial facilities, the law requires that a parking lot with a certain number of parking spaces be secured according to the size of the building. This system of parking lot obligations has led to the development of many parking lots, especially in areas where buildings are concentrated. However, at present, the growth in the number of owned cars has slowed, leading to a decrease in the number of car users, and parking lots are unused and in surplus. Therefore, as described in Non-Patent Document 1, rather than mandating the provision of parking lots based on certain standards, special rules (so-called "regional rules") for the provision of parking lots according to the characteristics of the region are being formulated and implemented, such as setting standards for the obligation to provide parking lots based on detailed parking lot demand surveys, etc.

When constructing a new building, in order to apply local rules aimed at reducing the number of parking spaces that can be accommodated in attached parking lots, it is necessary to understand the supply and demand situation, such as utilization rates, for existing parking lots around the building. Furthermore, regardless of the mandatory parking lot system, it was required to measure the utilization rate of parking lots in the entire area in order to determine whether the number of parking lots installed in a certain area was appropriate.

"Guidelines for Parking Measures in Cooperation with Urban Development (Basic Edition)", [online], July 2018, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Urban Planning Promotion Division, Urban Planning Division, Street Traffic Facilities Division, [Retrieved July 21, 2021], Internet <URL: https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001245799.pdf>

An information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores at least parking capacity information related to the number of parking spaces as basic information for parking spaces located in a specified area, an acquisition unit that acquires vehicle usage information related to the number of vehicles using the parking space over a specified period of time, and an information output unit that outputs parking supply and demand information related to the supply and demand of parking spaces in the specified area based on the parking capacity information and the vehicle usage information, and the information output unit outputs at least information related to the utilization rate of parking spaces located in the specified area as parking supply and demand information.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit further stores, as basic information about the parking lot, size information about an existing building that is located in a specified area and has the parking lot attached thereto, the acquisition unit further acquires new building information about a new building planned to be constructed in the specified area, and the information output unit may output parking lot supply and demand information about a parking lot that is attached to a similar building that is similar in size to the new building among the existing buildings, based on the size information about the new building included in the new building information.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the acquisition unit acquires information relating to the specified rules set in a specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces, and the information processing system may further include a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from the specified area based on the utilization rate of the parking spaces located in the specified area and the specified rules.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the calculation unit may calculate the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking lot attached to an existing building based on the utilization rate of the parking lot attached to an existing building located in a specified area and on specified rules.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the calculation unit may calculate the capacity of parking spaces to be attached to a new building based on the new building information received by the acquisition unit, predetermined rules, and the utilization rate of parking spaces located in a predetermined area.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit may further store information regarding the usage fees for each parking lot located in a specified area as basic information, and the calculation unit may calculate a usage fee recommended for one parking lot in the specified area based on at least the usage fees and usage rates of other parking lots located in the specified area.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the information output unit may output parking lot vacancy information calculated based on parking capacity information and usage number information as parking lot supply and demand information.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit may further store, as basic information, information relating to means of transportation available from parking lots located in a specified area, and the information output unit may output information relating to means of transportation together with vacancy information in response to a request for information relating to parking lots located in a specified area transmitted from a specified communication device.

In an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the acquisition unit may acquire, as new building information, size information and the capacity of a parking lot to be attached to the new building, and the calculation unit may determine whether the capacity accepted by the acquisition unit satisfies the specified rules based on the utilization rate of the parking lots located in a specified area and the specified rules.

A control method for an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: storing parking capacity information relating to at least the number of parking spaces as basic information for parking spaces located in a specified area; acquiring vehicle usage information relating to the number of vehicles using the parking spaces over a specified period of time; and outputting information relating to the utilization rate of at least parking spaces located in the specified area as parking space supply and demand information relating to the supply and demand of parking spaces in the specified area based on the parking capacity information and the vehicle usage information.

The control program of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention realizes the following functions: storing parking capacity information relating to at least the number of parking spaces that can be accommodated as basic information about parking spaces located in a specified area; acquiring vehicle usage information relating to the number of vehicles using the parking spaces over a specified period of time; and outputting information relating to the utilization rate of parking spaces located in at least a specified area as parking space supply and demand information relating to the supply and demand of parking spaces in the specified area based on the parking capacity information and the vehicle usage information.

1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an overview of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is an example of a table relating to basic information of parking lots in the information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 4 is an example of a table relating to the number of vehicles in a parking lot in the information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A figure showing an example of a display screen of parking supply and demand information regarding the supply and demand of parking spaces in a specified area in an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing other examples of a display screen for parking supply and demand information regarding the supply and demand of parking spaces in a specified area in an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control flow of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an example of a table relating to mandatory parking lots in an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of information relating to transportation modes available from a parking lot located in a specified area in the information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer capable of realizing a server 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention (also referred to as the present invention) according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to those shown in the drawings. For example, the numbers of parking lots, buildings, communication terminals, servers, etc., data sets (tables), flow charts, and display screens shown in the drawings are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

<System Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system 600 may be a system capable of providing information on the supply and demand of parking lots located in a predetermined area that is a survey target area. Information on the supply and demand of parking lots (hereinafter also referred to as "parking lot supply and demand information") may be information on whether there is a demand for parking lots, whether it is unnecessary, or information that can estimate these. Specifically, for example, the parking lot supply and demand information may be information indicating the utilization rate of a parking lot, which is the ratio of the actual number of cars used to the capacity of the parking lot. Note that, as will be described in detail later, the information processing system 600 may provide information on the supply and demand of parking lots on an area basis or on an individual parking lot basis. In addition, in the present disclosure, parking may also refer to stopping.

The information processing system 600 may include at least a server (information processing device) 100 and user communication terminals 310 to 330. The users may include a developer who will build a new building in the area 200, and a manager of an existing building in the area 200 that has a parking lot. In the example shown in the figure, the communication terminal 310 is the communication terminal of a developer who will build a new building in the area 200, and the communication terminal 320 is the communication terminal of a manager of an existing building in the area 200 that has a parking lot. The communication terminal 330 is a communication terminal equipped with an application that can use a car navigation system, and is the communication terminal of a user of a car traveling in the area 200. Here, as will be described in detail later, the other users may include a user on the local government side who determines whether it is possible to reduce the number of parking spaces in the mandatory parking lot that applies local rules when a new building is constructed in the area 200. In FIG. 1, a smartphone and a notebook computer are shown as communication terminals, but the communication terminal may be any terminal capable of implementing the functions described in each embodiment described below. For example, the communication terminal may be a desktop computer, a mobile phone (feature phone), a tablet terminal, a handheld computing device (including, but not limited to, a PDA (personal digital assistant)), or a wearable terminal (such as a glasses-type device or a watch-type device).

Note that, although only one server 100 is shown in FIG. 1, this is not limiting. That is, the information processing system 600 may include multiple servers. Specifically, the server 100 is, for example, a distributed server system that cooperates by communicating via a network, and may include an edge server or may be a so-called cloud server. In other words, the server 100 is not limited to a physical server, and may also include a virtual server. Furthermore, the functions or processes of each functional unit of the server 100 may be realized by machine learning or AI (Artificial Intelligence) to the extent that this is feasible.

<Social issues related to parking lots>
Here, we will further explain the social loss caused by the increase in unused parking lots, i.e., an oversupply of parking lots, as mentioned in the background. From an economic perspective, issues include the monopoly of space by unnecessary facilities and the construction and maintenance costs of unnecessary parking lots. In other words, the rigid application of parking lot obligations to individual buildings results in chronically empty parking spaces, which in turn incurs costs in terms of their construction and maintenance and space utilization. From the perspective of public interest, issues include the disruption of the continuity of the streetscape and the hindrance of pedestrian safety. In other words, the disorderly deployment of parking lots and the parking obligation system for each individual building disrupt the streetscape and pose a threat to pedestrian safety due to the confusion between pedestrians and cars. These issues also show that measures to curb parking lot supply are necessary.

As mentioned above, there is an oversupply of parking spaces, and although there are ample vacant parking spaces in urban areas, users are unable to find available parking spaces, which is an issue. In other words, it is necessary to provide users with comprehensive information on whether parking spaces are available or not. Furthermore, one of the reasons why the use of the system for relaxing the obligation to provide parking spaces, which could reduce the construction of unnecessary parking spaces, is not progressing is that area operators (regional rule organizations) are unable to grasp the parking supply and demand in their area. In other words, it is necessary to provide area operators with information on parking supply and demand in their area.

<Reducing the capacity of mandatory parking lots>
Here, using Fig. 2, it will be explained that the information processing system 600 according to one embodiment of the present invention is effective in reducing the capacity of a mandatory parking lot to which a regional rule is applied. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the application of a regional rule to reduce the capacity of a mandatory parking lot, and Fig. 2(a) is a schematic diagram showing a conventional case in which the information processing system 600 is not used to apply the regional rule, and Fig. 2(b) is a schematic diagram showing a case in which the information processing system 600 is used to apply the regional rule. Here, both Fig. 2(a) and (b) are graphs with the number of days on the horizontal axis and the parking lot utilization rate on the vertical axis, and may be graphs showing the transition of the utilization rate of the parking lot in a specified area.

Regional rules are set according to the characteristics of the region, so their contents may differ depending on the region. Regional rules include, for example, a rule that calculates the number of vehicles required to be parked (number of vehicles required for parking) based on the actual parking situation in the area to which the regional rules apply by multiplying the number of vehicles required by the attached obligation by a relaxation coefficient of less than 1.0 to calculate the number of vehicles required for parking based on the parking record of similar facilities. However, in either case, in order to calculate the appropriate number of vehicles required for parking, it is necessary to understand the current parking record (parking utilization rate). It is not desirable to have a shortage of parking spaces due to the application of regional rules to reduce the number of parking spaces. Therefore, for example, it is necessary to ensure a number of parking spaces that is not less than the peak number of vehicles used at each parking lot throughout the year (peak number of vehicles), or to ensure a number of parking spaces that takes into account the number of parking spaces at other parking lots, such as nearby parking lots.

Conventionally, to grasp the utilization rate of a parking lot, data from a survey of the number of vehicles using the parking lot on about two days out of the year was used, as shown in Figure 2(a). In this case, the maximum number of vehicles using the parking lot on the survey day may not be the peak number for the entire year. Therefore, the predicted value of the peak number is set with a margin of error relative to the data on the survey day.

In contrast, according to an information processing system 600 according to one embodiment of the present invention, information regarding the number of vehicles using a parking lot every five minutes, for example, may be acquired over a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period may be one month, six months, one year, etc., or it may be as long as the parking lot is in operation. This allows detailed acquisition of parking lot utilization rates, making it possible to apply regional rules that use peak vehicle numbers as actual values rather than predicted values. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the capacity of the parking lot subject to the mandatory requirement can be significantly reduced compared to the case of (a).

Therefore, developers of new buildings may use the parking supply and demand information provided by the information processing system 600 when applying local rules in order to reduce the number of parking spaces attached to the building. Managers of existing buildings may use the parking supply and demand information provided by the information processing system 600 to determine whether the number of parking spaces in existing parking spaces can be reduced by applying local rules. In this way, one embodiment of the present invention can optimize the number of parking spaces while fulfilling the obligation to attach parking spaces, and can help developers and others make effective use of space.

In other words, one embodiment of the present invention can contribute to urban development as a so-called smart city.

Returning to FIG. 1, the explanation will be continued. The server 100 may include a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, and a memory unit 170. The control unit 110 may also include an acquisition unit 111, a calculation unit 112, an information output unit 113, and a determination unit 114.

The communication unit 120 may transmit and receive information via the network 500 between the communication terminals 310 to 320 and the communication devices installed in the parking lot. The network 500 may be, for example, a communication method such as LTE, LTE-Advanced, fourth generation communication (4G), fifth generation communication (5G), sixth generation communication (6G) or later, CDMA, etc. In addition, it may be a wireless communication method such as Category M, Category M1, NB-IoT (Narrow Band IoT), etc., which is an extension of LTE. Note that the communication method is not limited to these examples.

The acquisition unit 111 of the server 100 may acquire predetermined information regarding parking lot A201, parking lot M202, and parking lot B203 located in the area 200. In the information processing system 600, the type of parking lot from which parking lot supply and demand information is acquired may not be important. For example, parking lots may be urban planned parking lots provided off the road, parking lots maintained by road administrators, mandatory parking lots, notified parking lots, etc., as well as on-street parking lots (parking meters, etc.) provided on the road. In the example of FIG. 1, parking lot A201 and parking lot B203 may be mandatory parking lots of buildings A and B, respectively, and parking lot M202 may be a notified parking lot, typically a pay-by-the-hour parking lot (coin parking). In addition, the mandatory parking lot provided in the building may be a pay-by-the-hour parking lot. In addition, parking lots may include dedicated parking lots that are not hourly, such as employee-only parking lots and monthly parking lots, and temporary parking lots such as driveways and unloading areas.

The predetermined information about the parking lot may include, for example, parking capacity information about the parking lot's capacity and vehicle usage information about the number of vehicles using the parking lot. The predetermined information about the parking lot may include dynamic information that changes over time, such as the vehicle usage information described above, and static information that does not change over time. Here, the static information about the parking lot is referred to as the "basic information" of the parking lot. The basic information may include, for example, the parking capacity information described above, the name of the parking lot, its location, usage fee, manager, and other information. The basic information may be obtained in advance from the manager of the parking lot, or may be transmitted and updated as appropriate from the manager's communication terminal 320. The basic information may be stored in the memory unit 170.

3 shows an example of a table related to basic information of parking lots stored in the storage unit 170. Table TB10 may be a data set in which a parking lot ID (IDentifier), which is identification information that can uniquely identify a parking lot, an area ID, which is identification information that can uniquely identify an area, the number of parking spaces, the type of parking lot, etc. are associated with each other. For example, a parking lot with parking lot ID "park_A001" may be located in area "A", the number of parking spaces may be "10", and the type of parking lot may be "notified parking lot". Also, a parking lot with parking lot ID "park_A002" may be located in area "A", the number of parking spaces may be "172", and the type of parking lot may be "mandatory parking lot". The area may be an area that a local government has previously determined as a district to which local rules apply. Also, the area may be set by a user who uses the information processing system 600. The basic information is not limited to that shown in the figure. For example, the basic information may further include a usage fee, location information, name, information about the administrator, and the date and time (timestamp) when the basic information was stored or updated. Additionally, the format of the table is not limited to that shown in the figure. For example, a table may be created for each area, or for each type of parking lot.

The number of vehicles using the parking lot may be obtained, for example, from any parking system installed in each parking lot. For example, the number of vehicles using the parking lot may be based on information on the entry and exit of vehicles detected by a parking lot device of the parking lot system, such as a fee settlement machine, a parking ticket issuing machine, and an exit discrimination machine, and transmitted to the server 100 from a communication device installed in the parking lot device. Alternatively, the number of vehicles using the parking lot may be transmitted to a management server of the parking lot (not shown), and then transmitted from the management server to the server 100. Note that information on the number of vehicles parked in the parking lot may be collected by an IoT device (camera, infrared sensor, weight sensor, etc.) installed in each parking lot, a drone equipped with a camera, etc., and the information may be transmitted to the server 100 via an IoT gateway (not shown). The method of transmitting the number of vehicles using the server 100 is not limited to the above, and may be obtained by any method. The number of vehicles using the information transmitted to the server 100 may be information on the number of vehicles parked in the parking lot itself, or may be only information on the entry and exit of vehicles. As long as the server 100 can calculate the number of vehicles using the information, the form of the information does not matter. For example, if parking equipment is installed for each parking space, the number of vehicles in use information may be aggregated information on whether each parking space is full or empty.

The acquisition unit 111 may acquire the number of vehicles used information at a predetermined interval. The predetermined interval may be, for example, every minute, every five minutes, every ten minutes, etc., and is not particularly limited. The number of vehicles used information acquired by the acquisition unit 111 may be stored in the storage unit 170. FIG. 4 shows an example of a number of vehicles used information table. The number of vehicles used information table TB20 may store the parking lot ID in association with the date and time (timestamp) when the data was acquired, and the number of vehicles used at that date and time. Note that FIG. 4 shows an example in which the acquired data is stored in timestamp order, but a table may be generated for each parking lot ID.

The calculation unit 112 may execute various calculation processes. For example, the calculation unit 112 may calculate the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a specified area based on the utilization rate of parking lots located in the specified area and specified rules (regional rules) described below. Furthermore, the determination unit 114 may execute various determination processes.

The information output unit 113 may output parking supply and demand information regarding the supply and demand of parking spaces in a specified area based on the parking capacity information and the usage number information. In other words, the information output unit 113 may function as an API (Application Program Interface) that provides information acquired by the server 100 to applications provided in the communication terminals 310 to 330. An example of parking supply and demand information is shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 may be, for example, a display screen of the developer's communication terminal 310.

In the example of screen 10 in FIG. 5, parking supply and demand information may include an area 11 showing the average utilization rate of parking lots in a specified period, an area 12 showing the number of parking lot users, an area 13 showing the utilization rate trends, and an area 14 showing the location and average number of users of each parking lot. The average utilization rate shown in area 11 may be the average utilization rate of all parking lots in the area for the specified period. Area 14 may show the average number of users relative to the number of cars accommodated in the specified period for each parking lot located in the area surrounded by the dotted line. Note that the specified period is shown as one month in the example of FIG. 5, but it is not limited to one month, and may be a date that can be specified, such as one week or six months, or may be a certain day or a specific time period, such as 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. In addition, the display mode of parking lots that are likely to fill up, parking lots that are slightly crowded, and parking lots with many vacant cars may be changed in area 14. As an example, FIG. 4 shows the part showing the average number of users in different colors.

Area 12 may be an area showing the total number of parking spaces in the area and the total number of vehicles using each parking space during peak hours. The number of vehicles using the peak hours may be the total number of vehicles using the parking space during the peak hours when the number of vehicles was the highest during a specified period for each parking space. Area 13 may show the change in the utilization rate of parking spaces in the area on a daily basis during a specified period.

In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the server 100 acquires information regarding the number of vehicles using parking spaces within an area and outputs information regarding the supply and demand of parking spaces. This makes it possible to accurately grasp the utilization rate of parking spaces within an area.

The display format of the parking supply and demand information is not limited to that shown in FIG. 5. The display format of the collected results may be a table, a pie chart, a line graph, or the like. The display target is not limited to the entire area, but may be individual parking lots. The parking supply and demand information may be output in any data format, and may be output by specifying the output area by specifying latitude, longitude, and radius, specifying the output area by keyword (e.g., bayside, Shibaura, Hamamatsucho, etc.), searching by address (including city/ward/town/village code and zip code), parking lot operator, parking lot name, etc. The specified period to be displayed or output may be specified by date and time.

Figure 6 shows another example of the output of parking supply and demand information. Figure 6(a) is an example of a line graph showing the change in the number of vehicles in use during the operation hours of a day for one parking lot in an area, with the horizontal axis being time and the vertical axis being the number of vehicles in use. Figure 6(b) is an example of a graph showing the change in the proportion of off-street parking (general/hourly parking, etc.), off-street parking, and vacant spaces (unused sections of parking lots) throughout the day for parking lots in the entire area, with the horizontal axis being time and the vertical axis being the number of vehicles in use. In this way, parking supply and demand information may be output in any format.

<Control flow>
7 is an example of a control flowchart of the server 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the acquisition unit 111 of the server 100 may acquire at least parking capacity information related to the number of cars that can be accommodated as basic information of a parking lot located in a specified area (step S11). The acquired parking capacity information may be stored in the storage unit 170 as master information. Note that the parking capacity information may be acquired in advance from the manager or operator of the parking lot and stored in the storage unit 170 as described above, or may be received via the network 500.

The acquisition unit 111 may acquire vehicle usage information regarding the number of vehicles using the parking lot at predetermined intervals over a predetermined period (step S12). The predetermined interval may be any interval, such as one minute, five minutes, or 30 minutes, and may be long enough to determine the trend in the number of vehicles using the parking lot and the maximum number of vehicles using the parking lot (peak number). The predetermined period may be any interval, such as one year, six months, or one month, and may be long enough to determine the trend in the utilization rate of the parking lot.

The information output unit 113 may output information regarding the utilization rate of parking lots located in a specified area as parking lot supply and demand information regarding the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area based on the parking lot capacity and utilization number information (step S13). The output parking lot supply and demand information may be as described above.

<Other embodiments>
When applying local rules when constructing a new building, information about parking lots of existing buildings that are similar in size, type, etc. can be used as the predicted number of vehicles to be used. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the acquired information about parking lots of existing buildings may be provided when applying local rules to other buildings.

The acquisition unit 111 may further acquire size information related to the size of an existing building that is located in the specified area and has a parking lot attached, and new building information related to a new building that is planned to be constructed in the specified area. The acquired size information may be stored in the storage unit 170. FIG. 8 shows an example of a table TB30 related to size information. Table TB30 may store a parking lot ID in association with the number of parking spaces, the name of the building, size information, etc. The size information is information indicating the size of the building, and may include the total floor area, the purpose of the building, and the number of floors. The size information is not limited to this, and may further include the number of employees working in the building, etc. The information stored may be less than this.

For example, the acquisition unit 111 may acquire, as new building information regarding a new building to be constructed, size information indicating that the total floor area is "62,000 m2" and that the uses are stores, restaurants, and clinics. The determination unit 114 may refer to table TB30 and extract "XX Terrace" as a similar building similar in size to the new building. The information output unit 113 may then output parking supply and demand information for the parking lot identified by the parking lot ID "park_A003" to which "XX Terrace" is attached. In other words, the information output unit 113 may output, for example, the peak number of vehicles, the utilization rate for a specified period, etc., for the parking lot with the parking lot ID "park_A003".

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide information on the utilization rate of parking lots in similar buildings, so that the peak number of vehicles can be accurately predicted when constructing a new building. Therefore, as explained using FIG. 2, it is possible to increase the number of parking spaces that can be reduced by applying local rules compared to the conventional method.

Note that the regional rules may be applied to the entire area, not to the individual buildings as described above. In other words, from the viewpoint of urban development, the number of parking spaces required for the entire area may be shared by the mandatory parking spaces of the buildings located in the area and other parking spaces, rather than relaxing the number of parking spaces required for the entire area. In this case, the regional rules set for the area may be applied to the entire area. The regional rules may be arbitrary, and for example, a regional rule may be set such that "the number of parking spaces is the number obtained by multiplying the peak number of parking spaces predicted for the entire area by a predetermined coefficient (e.g., 1.2, etc.)". In this case, the information processing system 600 may calculate the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a specified area based on the utilization rate of the parking spaces in the entire area calculated from the information obtained from each parking space and the regional rule set for the area (in this example, multiplying by 1.2). This allows the number of parking spaces to be optimized while fulfilling the obligation to occupy the entire area, for example, when redeveloping the entire area.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to obtain information about parking lots located in an area, so that parking lot supply and demand information can be obtained with high accuracy to be reflected in the set regional rules.

In addition, there is a demand to reduce the number of parking spaces in parking lots attached to existing buildings by applying local rules. According to the information processing system 600, the parking lot supply and demand information described above may be acquired for parking lots installed in existing buildings. Therefore, the calculation unit 112 may calculate the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking lot attached to an existing building based on the utilization rate of the parking lot attached to an existing building located in a specified area and the local rules. In addition, reducing the number of parking spaces in an existing building may refer to converting the space to a space for other purposes such as a warehouse, event space, bicycle parking lot, etc., rather than using it as a parking lot. Furthermore, it may be converted into a space that can be monetized, such as a rental space. This eliminates the need to maintain unused, idle parking lots as parking lots, making it possible to effectively use the vacant space.

In addition, from the perspective of urban development described above, it is possible that the demand for parking spaces in the entire area is met based on the parking supply and demand information for the entire area and the regional rules set for the area, and that the number of parking spaces to be provided when a new building is constructed can be reduced. In such a case, the calculation unit 112 may calculate the number of parking spaces to be provided in the new building based on the new building information, the regional rules set for the area, and the utilization rate of the parking spaces located in the area. In other words, the information output unit 113 may output an appropriate number of parking spaces within the area when a new building is constructed as parking supply and demand information. This makes it possible to reduce the construction costs of parking spaces in new buildings.

Taking into account the supply and demand of parking spaces throughout the area, a system may be set up that allows users of the new building to use parking spaces in existing buildings, and the capacity of the mandatory parking spaces in the new building may be calculated. In this case, a system may be in place that does not put the manager of the existing building at a disadvantage, such as the manager of the new building making a payment to the manager of the existing building, or sharing the management costs of the existing building's parking spaces. Note that users of the new building may be able to use unused parking spaces throughout the entire area, not just in existing buildings. In other words, the capacity of the mandatory parking spaces in the new building may be calculated on the premise that unused parking spaces will be used.

In addition, according to an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the utilization rate of each parking lot may be used to dynamically set the usage fee. For example, if the usage fee of a certain parking lot is higher than the usage fees of other parking lots in the vicinity, the other parking lots are more likely to be used. According to an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, the utilization rate of each parking lot is accurately acquired, so information on other surrounding parking lots may be used to set the usage fee. That is, the acquisition unit 111 may further acquire information on the utilization fee for each parking lot located in the area. Then, the calculation unit 112 may calculate the utilization fee recommended for a parking lot in the area according to at least the utilization fee and utilization rate of other parking lots located in the area. This makes it possible to set an optimal utilization fee for the parking lot (dynamic pricing), thereby increasing the utilization rate of the parking lot.

It is possible that a certain parking lot has a lower usage fee than other parking lots in the area, but is less used. This may be because factors such as the location or number of vehicles in the parking lot mean that the parking lot is avoided. According to one embodiment of the present invention, basic information about each parking lot can be obtained and the usage rate can be output along with the relative locations of each parking lot, such as on the map in Figure 3, so that information can be appropriately provided to understand the phenomenon that has occurred and to investigate its cause. Furthermore, parking lot supply and demand information can be used to formulate parking lot management strategies.

<Use in car navigation systems>
The information acquired by the information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention may be used for a car navigation system. For example, the information output unit 113 may output the vacancy information of the parking lot calculated based on the accommodation number information and the usage number information as the parking lot supply and demand information to an external server (not shown) that provides a car navigation application. For example, the information output unit 113 may output the vacancy information of each parking lot in which the parking lot device is installed as the parking lot supply and demand information. Also, for example, when the parking lot device is installed in each parking space, the information output unit 113 may output the vacancy information of each parking space as the parking lot supply and demand information. According to an embodiment of the present invention, regardless of the manager of the parking lot, the vacancy information of the parking lots in the area is unified, and the vacancy information that is more in line with real time can be provided to the user. Therefore, more useful information for the user can be provided.

From the viewpoint of urban development described above, parking lots may not be provided in areas where cars are concentrated, but parking facilities may be provided in remote locations, and transportation means from the parking facilities to destinations within the area may be provided. That is, the number of parking spaces required in a certain area may be supplemented by parking lots provided in remote locations. Transportation means from remote parking facilities to destinations within the area may include public transportation, autonomous vehicles, motorcycles, taxis, shared bicycles, and the like. When a user uses a car navigation system to request a parking lot search, the information processing system 600 may output information on the transportation means available from the parking lot together with information on whether the parking lot is full or not. FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen of the communication terminal 330 on which information on the transportation means is displayed. That is, the acquisition unit 111 may further acquire information on the transportation means available from the parking lot located in the area. More specifically, public transportation within a predetermined range may be acquired from existing map information, etc., based on the location information of the parking lot, or information on autonomous vehicles and shared bicycles may be stored in advance in the storage unit 170 and extracted according to the destination. The information output unit 113 may output information about the means of transportation along with vacancy information in response to a request for information about parking lots located in the area sent from the communication terminal 330.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, when a parking lot search request is made, information on vacancy status and secondary transportation is provided, and the user can be informed of the existence of secondary transportation even if an available parking lot is far from the destination. This makes it possible to provide an information processing system with higher usability and to promote the use of secondary transportation.

<Use by local governments>
In the above, the case where the information processing system is used by the party to which the regional rules are applied, such as a developer of a new building or a manager of an existing building, has been described. However, the information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention may be used by the local government that sets the regional rules. That is, the acquisition unit 111 may acquire, as new building information, size information and information regarding the capacity of a parking lot to be attached to the new building. The determination unit 114 may determine whether the capacity of a parking lot to be attached to the new building satisfies the regional rules based on the utilization rate of the parking lots located in the area and the regional rules set for the area. This makes it easier to operate the regional rules and promotes the expansion of the regional rules. In addition, the information processing system may be used not only for new buildings, but also for verification, inspection, etc. of whether a building meets the obligation to attach a parking lot, or whether the area meets the obligation even if the building does not meet the obligation as a single building.

In addition, parking supply and demand information obtained by the system may be used to formulate the regional rules. That is, the areas to which the regional rules apply and the above-mentioned relaxation coefficients may be set based on the parking supply and demand information.

<Hardware Configuration>
The hardware configuration of the server 100 will be described. FIG. 10 is an example of a hardware configuration of a computer capable of realizing the server 100 in this embodiment. The server 100 includes a processor 101, a storage 102, a memory 103, an input/output interface (input/output I/F) 104, and a communication interface (communication I/F) 105. The components are connected to each other via a bus B. The server 100 realizes the functions and methods described in this embodiment by the cooperation of these components. For example, when each functional unit of the server 100 is realized by software, it is realized by the processor 101 executing an instruction included in a program loaded from the storage 102 to the memory 103. That is, the server 100 according to this embodiment functions as a control unit 110, an acquisition unit 111, a calculation unit 112, an information output unit 113, and a determination unit 114 by the processor 101 executing a program loaded on the memory 103.

The processor 101 may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a processor core, a multiprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc., and may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), etc., or a dedicated circuit. Note that it is preferable that the server 100 has a processor 101 with high computing power for processing the above-mentioned large amounts of data.

The communication I/F 105 is implemented as hardware such as a network adapter, communication software, or a combination of these, and transmits and receives various data to and from external devices. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the two devices can communicate with each other.

The input/output I/F 104 includes an input device for inputting various operations to the server 100, and an output device for outputting the results of processing performed by the server 100. The input device includes, for example, a touch panel, a touch display, hardware keys such as a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a camera (operation input via images), and a microphone (operation input via voice). The output device outputs the results of processing performed by the processor 101. The output device includes, for example, a touch panel, a speaker, etc.

Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that a person skilled in the art would easily be able to make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions included in each component, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical inconsistencies, and multiple components, steps, etc. can be combined into one or divided. In addition, the configurations shown in the above embodiments may be appropriately combined. For example, each component described as being included in server 100 may be realized in a distributed manner by multiple servers, or may be realized on the communication terminal side.

For example, the information processing system 600 may obtain information about events taking place inside and outside the area, in addition to information about parking lots in the area. Events are, for example, events that are expected to increase or decrease the number of cars, and may be various competitions, events, festivals, international conferences, problems with public transportation, the spread of epidemics, etc. Changes in the utilization rate of parking lots in the area due to these events may then be output as parking supply and demand information.

In addition, in the above description, a building has been used as an example of a building that is required to provide a parking space, but the present invention may be applicable to any building that is required to provide a parking space, such as an apartment building or an entertainment facility.

Furthermore, in an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention, information on the types of vehicles using the parking lot may be acquired. In other words, the information on vehicle types may be information that allows for the distinction between passenger cars, trucks (freight vehicles), etc. This makes it possible to determine whether the parking lot is being used for unloading cargo. Since the parking obligation system requires that space be secured for unloading cargo, it is possible to provide a system with higher usability by outputting the utilization rates of trucks and passenger cars separately.

The effects that can be obtained by the information processing system according to the present invention are summarized below.
- Drivers Conventionally, information on whether parking lots in an area are full or not has not been acquired centrally, and drivers have had to wait in line to enter a full parking lot or drive around looking for an empty parking lot. In contrast, according to the present invention, information on parking lots in an area is acquired centrally, making it possible to acquire accurate information on whether parking lots are full or not for each parking lot.

New building owners: In the past, the utilization rate of parking lots in the area was unknown, and it was not possible to fully relax the obligation to provide parking lots. In contrast, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain accurate supply and demand information for parking lots in the area, which makes it possible to appropriately relax the obligation to provide parking lots.

Existing building owners: In the past, there was no way to monetize unused parking spaces, and applying for the application of local rules required the time and effort of calculating the utilization rate. In contrast, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain accurate information necessary for applying for the application of local rules, so that unused parking spaces can be converted into monetizable spaces.

・Parking lot manager (operating company)
In the past, the parking supply and demand in the area was unknown, and the strategy was limited to a parking lot alone without considering surrounding parking lots. In contrast, according to the present invention, it may be possible to plan a parking lot strategy that takes the entire area into consideration, such as which locations have a shortage/surplus of parking lots, or whether the usage fee is appropriate, based on the parking lot supply and demand information in the area.

- Local governments In the past, local rules were established, but they were not used, and the number of parking spaces could not be reduced. In addition, verification was not possible after relaxing the parking lot attachment obligation and reducing the number of spaces. In contrast, according to the present invention, it is easy to apply local rules, and it is possible to reduce unnecessary parking spaces.

Moreover, the information processing system according to the present invention may be developed as follows.
・Reserving parking spaces and reserving vacant spaces from applications used in smart cities in conjunction with the Smart City Platform (PF) ・Support services for mitigating parking facility obligations ・Sale of data to similar areas (e.g., appropriation of mitigation coefficients, etc.)
・Expanding the scope of parking lot transactions and surveys to include not only parking lots but also unloading spaces ・Park-and-ride collaboration with micromobility ・Utilization of vacant parking lots (for sales, etc.)
・Drastic decline in parking demand due to autonomous driving, valet parking, roadside management (Curbstone Management)

The programs of each embodiment of the present disclosure may be provided in a state stored in a storage medium readable by an information processing device. The storage medium can store the programs in a "non-transitory tangible medium." The programs include, for example, software programs and control programs. When each functional unit of the server 100 is realized by software, the server 100 functions as the control unit 110, the acquisition unit 111, the calculation unit 112, the information output unit 113, and the information output unit 113 by the processor executing the programs loaded on the memory.

The storage medium may, where appropriate, include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (e.g., field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific ICs (ASICs), etc.), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical disks, optical disk drives (ODDs), magneto-optical disks, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid state drives (SSDs), RAM drives, secure digital cards or drives, any other suitable storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these. The storage medium may, where appropriate, be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile.

The program of the present disclosure may also be provided to the server 100 via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves).

Furthermore, each embodiment of the present disclosure may be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission. The program of the present disclosure may be implemented using, for example, a scripting language such as JavaScript (registered trademark) or Python, C language, Go language, Swift, Koltin, Java (registered trademark), etc.

100 Server (information processing device)
110 Control unit 111 Acquisition unit 112 Calculation unit 113 Information output unit 114 Determination unit 120 Communication unit 170 Storage device 200 Area 201 to 203 Parking lot 310 to 330 Communication terminal 500 Network 600 Information processing system

Claims (15)

An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
an information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from the specified area based on the utilization rate of parking lots located in the specified area and a specified rule that defines the number of parking spaces as the number of parking spaces predicted in the specified area multiplied by a specified coefficient, which is set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces. An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least the parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
an information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking space attached to an existing building located in the specified area based on the utilization rate of the parking space attached to the existing building located in the specified area and a specified rule that defines the number of parking spaces as the number of parking spaces predicted in the specified area multiplied by a specified coefficient, which is set in the specified area regarding the obligation to attach a parking space. An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
An information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the capacity of a parking lot to be attached to the new building based on information indicating the size of a new building planned to be constructed in the specified area, a specified rule set in the specified area regarding the obligation to attach a parking lot, which specifies that the capacity of the parking lot should be the number obtained by multiplying the predicted peak number of vehicles in the specified area by a specified coefficient, and the utilization rate of the parking lot located in the specified area. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information output unit outputs, as the parking lot supply and demand information, vacancy information indicating whether the parking lot is full or vacant, which is calculated based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used. The acquisition unit further acquires information on transportation means available from a parking lot located in the specified area, the information being stored in a specified storage unit or included in existing map information including information on public transportation,
The information processing system according to claim 4 , wherein the information output unit outputs information about the means of transportation together with the vacancy information in response to a request for information about parking lots located in the specified area transmitted from a specified communication device. The acquisition unit receives the number of parking spaces to be provided in the new building,
The information processing system according to claim 3 , wherein the calculation unit determines whether the capacity of parking lots accepted by the acquisition unit satisfies the specified rule based on a utilization rate of the parking lots located in the specified area and the specified rule. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A control method for an information processing system, comprising: a step of calculating the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from the specified area based on the utilization rate of parking lots located in the specified area and a specified rule that defines the number of parking spaces as the number of parking spaces predicted in the specified area multiplied by a specified coefficient, which rule is set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A control method for an information processing system, comprising: a step of calculating the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking space attached to an existing building located in the specified area, based on a utilization rate of the parking space attached to the existing building located in the specified area, and a specified rule regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces, which defines the number of parking spaces as the number of parking spaces predicted in the specified area multiplied by a specified coefficient. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A step of calculating the capacity of a parking lot to be attached to the new building based on information indicating the size of the new building to be constructed in the specified area, a predetermined rule regarding the obligation to provide parking lots set in the specified area, which defines the capacity as the number of cars that is calculated by multiplying the predicted peak number of cars in the specified area by a predetermined coefficient, and the utilization rate of parking lots located in the specified area;
A method for controlling an information processing system, comprising: An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
an information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from the specified area based on the utilization rate of parking spaces located in the specified area and local rules for calculating the parking space capacity among local rules set in the specified area regarding parking space obligations stipulated by law. An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
an information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking space attached to an existing building located in the specified area based on the utilization rate of the parking space attached to the existing building located in the specified area and a local rule for calculating the parking space capacity among local rules set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces as stipulated by law. An acquisition unit that acquires the capacity of a parking lot located in a specified area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a specified period of time;
an information output unit that outputs a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
An information processing system comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the number of parking spaces to be attached to the new building based on information indicating the size of a new building planned to be constructed in the specified area, local rules for calculating the number of parking spaces among local rules set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces as stipulated by law, and the utilization rate of parking spaces located in the specified area. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A control method for an information processing system, comprising: a step of calculating the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from the specified area based on the utilization rate of parking spaces located in the specified area and local rules for calculating the parking space capacity among local rules set in the specified area regarding parking space obligations stipulated by law. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A control method for an information processing system , comprising: a step of calculating the number of parking spaces that can be reduced from a parking space attached to an existing building located in the specified area based on the utilization rate of the parking space attached to the existing building located in the specified area and a local rule for calculating the parking space capacity among local rules set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces as stipulated by law. Executed by the information processing device,
Obtaining the capacity of a parking lot located in a predetermined area and the number of vehicles using the parking lot over a predetermined period of time;
outputting a utilization rate of at least parking lots located in the specified area based on the capacity and the number of vehicles used as parking lot supply and demand information indicating the supply and demand of parking lots in the specified area;
A step of calculating the number of parking spaces to be provided to the new building based on information indicating the size of the new building to be constructed in the specified area, local rules for calculating the number of parking spaces among local rules set in the specified area regarding the obligation to provide parking spaces as stipulated by law, and the utilization rate of parking spaces located in the specified area;
A method for controlling an information processing system, comprising:

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