JP7632044B2 - Method and device for selecting a vehicle to be allocated in a demand-based transportation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system and a device for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system.

Patent Document 1 describes a method for setting an operation plan for an on-demand vehicle. In this method, a basic operation plan for a public vehicle is created. The basic operation plan includes points where the vehicle will stop by reservation in advance along the route from the departure point to the final destination. The created operation plan is presented on a website.

The website repeatedly accepts additional reservations from users for bus operation plans with available seats until the bus is filled to capacity. If the delay time caused by diverting to the boarding and alighting point for the accepted reservation falls within a predetermined buffer time, the reservation is accepted and the basic operation plan is revised.

JP 2013-186541 A

In the method of Patent Document 1, additional reservations are repeatedly accepted until the vehicle is full, so the degree of congestion in the vehicle is not taken into consideration when accepting reservations.

The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to select vehicles to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system taking into account the degree of congestion of the vehicles.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in one aspect of the present invention, multiple candidate vehicles with short waiting times at the user's boarding point are extracted in response to a vehicle dispatch request from a user. The extracted candidate vehicles include at least a first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time calculated from an operation plan for demand-based transportation, and a second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time. For the multiple extracted candidate vehicles, it is determined whether the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is higher than the congestion levels of other candidate vehicles other than the first candidate vehicle by a first threshold value or more. If it is determined that the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is higher than the congestion levels of the other candidate vehicles by a first threshold value or more, and the time difference between the waiting time of the first candidate vehicle and the waiting time of the other candidate vehicles is equal to or less than a second threshold value, a predetermined condition is met. If the predetermined condition is met, the other candidate vehicle is selected as the vehicle to be dispatched. If the predetermined condition is not met, the first candidate vehicle is selected as the vehicle to be dispatched.

According to the present invention, it is possible to select vehicles to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system taking into account the degree of congestion of the vehicles.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a demand-responsive transportation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an operation route of an operation plan created by the server of FIG. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the positional relationship between a vehicle on a route and a user when the boarding point of the user requesting a ride is on the route of FIG. 2A. FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of a vehicle selection method for dispatch by the vehicle selection device of the server of FIG. FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating an example of a detailed processing procedure of the vehicle allocation selection processing of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a flowchart illustrating an example of a detailed processing procedure of the vehicle allocation determination processing of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing the basic concept of the selection rule for a vehicle to be allocated based on the user's waiting time and the congestion degree in the vehicle allocation selection process of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a selection rule for a vehicle to be allocated in the vehicle allocation selection process of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram showing another specific example of the selection rule for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in the vehicle dispatch selection process of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4D is an explanatory diagram showing yet another specific example of the rules for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in the vehicle dispatch selection process of FIG. 3A.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, identical parts are given the same reference numerals and the description will be omitted.

The configuration of the demand-based transportation system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The demand-based transportation system 10 according to this embodiment includes a server 20, a user terminal 40, and a vehicle 50.

In this demand-based transportation system 10, the server 20 communicates with the user terminal 40 and the vehicle 50 via a communication network (not shown). The server 20 can be configured, for example, as a general-purpose computer.

The communication network may be configured using either a wireless or wired system, or both, and may include the Internet. In this embodiment, the server 20, the user terminal 40, and the vehicle 50 are connected to the communication network using a wireless communication system. The communication network used by the user terminal 40 and the communication network used by the vehicle 50 may be the same network or different networks.

In the demand-based transportation system 10, a user 41 (see FIG. 2B) who reserves the dispatch of a vehicle 50 can launch application software (hereinafter, referred to as an app) installed on the user terminal 40 and input the information required to reserve the vehicle 50. In this case, a native app is installed on the user terminal 40, and the calculation processing is performed directly by the calculation device in the user terminal 40.

Instead of a native app, it is also possible to use PWA (Progressive Web Apps) technology to enable a mobile website built on a cloud server on the Internet to be used like an app installed on the user terminal 40. In this case, for example, the user terminal 40 accesses a cloud server on the Internet, and the information required to reserve a vehicle 50 can be entered on a console screen of the cloud server displayed on the user terminal 40. The cloud server function referred to here may be provided in the server 20, or may be provided in another server (not shown) that cooperates with the server 20.

In the following embodiment, a case will be described in which a user terminal 40 such as a smartphone on which a native app is installed, or a user terminal 40 such as a personal computer that uses PWA technology instead of a native app, accesses the server 20.

The information input by the user 41 includes, for example, a user ID for identifying the user 41, the boarding and disembarking points of the user 41 relative to the vehicle 50, user information, and other information related to the reservation. The user information may include, for example, identification information such as the user ID, and information on user attributes.

The user attribute information may be information including, for example, the user's age or age group, and the requirements of the user 41 for the vehicle 50 to be dispatched. The requirements of the user 41 may include, for example, whether a barrier-free environment is required, and whether priority is given to waiting time or congestion. Waiting time priority is a request to preferentially dispatch a vehicle 50 with a short waiting time at the boarding point, and congestion priority is a request to preferentially dispatch a vehicle 50 with a low level of congestion.

The boarding point of the user 41 may be, for example, any location that can be specified by an address, etc., or may be the nearest location selected by the user 41 from predetermined locations, etc.

When a user 41 inputs the information required to reserve a vehicle 50 using a user terminal 40, dispatch request data including the input information is transmitted to the server 20 via a communication network as a dispatch request.

The server 20 creates an operation plan for the vehicle 50 in demand-based transportation. The operation plan indicates the operation route of the vehicle 50 from the departure point to the final destination. If there are already determined stopping points for the vehicle 50, the operation route includes these stopping points. The stopping points can be generated, for example, by prior reservations from the user 41.

Figure 2A shows an example in which two vehicles 56, 57, which correspond to vehicle 50 in Figure 1, travel along a route along a circular route 60. The circular route 60 starts and ends at the same point 61. The circular route 60 includes multiple stops 62-66 along the way. As in the example shown in Figure 2A, the number of vehicles 50 for which a single server 20 in Figure 1 creates an operation plan may be two, or three or more.

As shown in the example of FIG. 2B, when the boarding point 67 of the user 41 who requests a ride is on the circular route 60, the server 20 determines which vehicle 56, 57 on the circular route 60 to assign to the user 41.

If vehicle 56 ahead of vehicle 56 on route 60 in FIG. 2A were to continue to be dispatched until it was full every time a vehicle dispatch request was received from a user, the following situations (1) to (5) would occur.

(1) Car 56 is crowded.

(2) In crowded vehicles 56, the number of passengers boarding and alighting increases, increasing the time it takes for passengers to board and alight.

(3) The increased boarding and alighting times will cause delays to the schedule of vehicle 56.

(4) Due to delays in the train schedule, the distance between train 56 and the following train 57 decreases.

(5) If the schedule of vehicle 56 is delayed, and a reservation is made for a boarding point that vehicle 56 would have already passed if the vehicle were running on schedule, if there are vacant seats in vehicle 56, the reservation will be made for vehicle 56 even if the following vehicle 57 is not crowded.

These situations (1) to (5) are repeated until car 56 is full. This repetition will eventually result in a situation where car 57 with many empty seats is traveling right behind crowded car 56.

In this embodiment, in order to avoid disproportionate congestion in certain vehicles 56, 57 on the circular route 60, the server 20 determines which vehicle 56, 57 to assign to the user 41, taking into account the waiting time of the user 41 at the boarding point and the degree of congestion in each vehicle 56, 57.

By transmitting a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 40 in FIG. 1 to the server 20, the user 41 can have the server 20 determine the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41.

The server 20 receives vehicle dispatch request data as a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 40. Based on the information in the received vehicle dispatch request data, the server 20 determines the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 from among two or more vehicles 50.

When the server 20 has determined the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, the server 20 edits the operation plan created for the determined vehicle 50. When editing the operation plan, the server 20 adds the stops at which the user 41 dispatching the vehicle 50 gets on and off the vehicle 50 to the operation route of the operation plan.

The vehicle 50 can run unmanned by autonomous control according to an operation plan created by the server 20. The vehicle 50 may be a manned vehicle driven by a driver according to an operation plan created by the server 20. Each vehicle 50 in this embodiment is a shared vehicle in which multiple users 41 can ride together, and has multiple seats available for the users 41. The number of seats available for the users 41 of each vehicle 50 is the same and known.

As long as there are vacant seats in the vehicle 50, the server 20 can dispatch the same vehicle 50 to multiple users 41 based on the information in the dispatch request data from the user terminal 40 of each user 41. The same vehicle 50 may be dispatched to multiple users 41 who have the same boarding point and/or disembarking point.

The vehicle 50 in this embodiment is a shared vehicle that can accommodate multiple users 41, and has multiple seats available for the users 41. Therefore, as long as there are vacant seats in the vehicle 50, the server 20 can dispatch the same vehicle 50 to other users 41 based on the reservation information from the user terminal 40 of each user 41. In this case, there may be multiple users 41 who have the same boarding point and/or disembarking point.

Next, the details of the server 20 and the vehicle 50 will be described.

The server 20 has a controller and a storage device. The controller has a processor including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory. The memory includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The controller can function as multiple information processing circuits.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the multiple information processing circuits provided in the controller are realized by software, but it is of course possible to configure the information processing circuits by providing dedicated hardware for executing each of the information processes shown below. Also, the multiple information processing circuits may be configured by individual hardware.

The controller has a user attribute determination unit 21, a waiting time calculation unit 22, a congestion degree calculation unit 23, a dispatched vehicle selection unit 24, a travel route determination unit 25, and a user adjustment unit 26 as multiple information processing circuits. The controller further has a dispatch request information acquisition unit 27, a movement instruction unit 28, a user information receiving unit 29, and a dispatch information transmission unit 30 as multiple information processing circuits. Each of these units 21 to 30 can be virtually constructed on the hardware of the controller by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory.

The storage device functions as an accessible storage device. The storage device may be configured to include, for example, a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The main storage device may be configured, for example, by RAM. The auxiliary storage device may be configured, for example, by an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The storage device, for example an auxiliary storage device, can constitute a user information database unit 31, a vehicle information database unit 32, a map database unit 33, and a vehicle dispatch plan database unit 34.

The controller's user attribute determination unit 21, waiting time calculation unit 22, congestion degree calculation unit 23, and dispatched vehicle selection unit 24 can constitute a dispatched vehicle selection device 35 that selects a vehicle 50 to be dispatched to a user 41. A travel route determination unit 25 and a user adjustment unit 26 may be added to the configuration of the dispatched vehicle selection device 35.

The user attribute determination unit 21 extracts user attributes from the user information acquired by the dispatch request information acquisition unit 27. The dispatch request information acquisition unit 27 can acquire user information from the user information database unit 31.

The user information database unit 31 can accumulate user information input from the user information receiving unit 29. The user information receiving unit 29 can receive vehicle dispatch request data as a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 40, and extract user information from the received vehicle dispatch request data.

The user attribute determination unit 21 determines whether or not one or both of the thresholds 1 and 2 described below, which are used when the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects a vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, need to be changed according to the contents of the extracted user attributes. The user attribute determination unit 21 can output data on the result of the determination to the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24.

The waiting time calculation unit 22 calculates, for each vehicle 50 for which the server 20 creates an operation plan, the waiting time of the user 41 at the boarding point when the vehicle 50 is dispatched to the user 41 whose user information has been acquired by the dispatch request information acquisition unit 27. This waiting time can be calculated from the operation plan created for the corresponding vehicle 50. The vehicle 50 for which the server 20 creates an operation plan can be, for example, a vehicle 50 whose vehicle information has been accumulated in the vehicle information database unit 32.

The vehicle information may include, for example, location information of the vehicle 50 and vacant seat information. The vacant seat information may be, for example, information indicating the vacant or occupied state of each seat available to the user 41 of the vehicle 50. The vacant seat information may be current information or may include future information. The future vacant seat information may be, for example, chronological information until the vehicle 50 arrives at the final destination, which changes as the user 41 gets on and off the vehicle 50 at each stop on the travel route.

The waiting time calculation unit 22, as an extraction unit, extracts multiple candidate vehicles to be dispatched to the user 41. The waiting time calculation unit 22 extracts multiple vehicles 50 as candidate vehicles in order of the shortest waiting time of the user 41 calculated by the waiting time calculation unit 22. The multiple candidate vehicles include at least a first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time and a second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time.

The congestion degree calculation unit 23 calculates the congestion degree of the multiple vehicles 50 extracted as candidate vehicles by the waiting time calculation unit 22. The congestion degree can be, for example, the number of passengers of users 41 in the vehicle 50 divided by the number of seats available for the users 41 in the vehicle 50. The number of passengers of users 41 can be the number of seats already occupied by the users 41 in the vehicle 50.

The congestion degree calculation unit 23 can calculate the congestion degree of each vehicle 50, for example, using the vacant seat information of each vehicle 50 stored in the vehicle information database unit 32. The congestion degree calculated by the congestion degree calculation unit 23 can be, for example, the current congestion degree of the vehicle 50. If the vacant seat information in the vehicle information database unit 32 includes future information, the congestion degree calculated by the congestion degree calculation unit 23 may be the predicted congestion degree at the time of boarding when the vehicle 50 arrives at the stop where the user 41 boards, using the future information.

The dispatch vehicle selection unit 24, as a selection unit, selects a vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 from among the multiple vehicles 50 extracted as candidate vehicles by the waiting time calculation unit 22.

The dispatched vehicle selection unit 24 can select the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 according to a selection rule. The selection rule can be, for example, a rule for selecting, as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, either a first candidate vehicle or a candidate vehicle other than the first candidate vehicle, from among the multiple vehicles 50 extracted as candidate vehicles by the waiting time calculation unit 22. The dispatched vehicle selection unit 24 may select the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 according to a selection rule whose content is changed depending on the judgment result input from the user attribute judgment unit 21. The selection rule will be described in detail later.

The vehicle 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 may be unconditionally determined as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, or may be determined as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 after confirmation by the user 41. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the vehicle 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 is determined as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 after confirmation by the user 41.

The driving route determination unit 25 notifies the user adjustment unit 26 of the vehicles 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 and the vehicles 50 not selected.

The user adjustment unit 26 communicates with the user terminal 40 and transmits the vehicle 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 and the vehicle 50 not selected to the user terminal 40 as information on the vehicle to be dispatched. The user adjustment unit 26 receives information data from the user terminal 40 indicating whether the vehicle 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 or the vehicle 50 not selected should be selected as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41.

The driving route determination unit 25 identifies the vehicle 50 selected by the user 41 as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched from the data received by the user adjustment unit 26, and obtains and edits the basic operation plan of the identified vehicle 50 from the vehicle dispatch plan database unit 34. In editing the operation plan, the driving route determination unit 25 adds the stopping points where the user 41 who dispatches the vehicle 50 gets on and off to the operation route of the vehicle 50.

The driving route determination unit 25 determines, as the operation route, the driving route for the vehicle 50 selected by the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 to be dispatched to the user 41, while referring to the map data in the map database unit 33. The driving route may include the expected arrival time at each stop on the operation route. If the vehicle 50 selected by the user 41 as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched is another candidate vehicle that runs behind the first candidate vehicle, the driving route of the other candidate vehicle determined by the driving route determination unit 25 may include a movement instruction to overtake the preceding first candidate vehicle on the same driving route. The driving route determination unit 25 stores the determined driving route in the vehicle dispatch plan database unit 34 as an edited operation plan.

The movement instruction unit 28 generates a movement instruction for driving the vehicle 50 according to the driving route stored in the vehicle allocation plan database unit 34 by the driving route determination unit 25, and transmits the movement instruction to a movement instruction receiving unit 53 (described later) of the vehicle 50. When the driving route in the vehicle allocation plan database unit 34 includes a movement instruction to overtake a leading first candidate vehicle on the same driving route, the movement instruction unit 28 generates a movement instruction including an instruction to overtake the first candidate vehicle.

The dispatch information transmission unit 30 transmits notification data including the driving route stored in the dispatch plan database unit 34 by the driving route determination unit 25 to the user terminal 40 that made the dispatch request as a notification of the decision of the vehicle 50 to be dispatched.

The vehicle 50 has a vehicle position calculation unit 51, a vehicle information transmission unit 52, a movement instruction reception unit 53, an autonomous driving ECU (Electronic Control Unit, hereinafter the same) 54, and an information presentation device 55.

The vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the automatic driving ECU 54 can be realized using a microcomputer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, and input/output units. A computer program for causing the microcomputer to function as the vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the automatic driving ECU 54 is installed in the microcomputer and executed. This allows the microcomputer to function as the vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the automatic driving ECU 54.

Here, an example is shown in which the vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the autonomous driving ECU 54 are realized by software, but it is of course possible to configure the vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the autonomous driving ECU 54 by preparing dedicated hardware for executing each information processing. Dedicated hardware includes devices such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and conventional circuit components arranged to execute the functions described in the embodiments.

The vehicle position calculation unit 51 and the autonomous driving ECU 54 may be configured as different components, or of course, may be configured as a single device. All or part of the vehicle position calculation unit 51 may be configured using an ECU mounted on the vehicle. This ECU may be the same ECU as the autonomous driving ECU 54, or may be a different ECU from the autonomous driving ECU 54.

The vehicle position calculation unit 51 calculates the position of the vehicle 50 based on the position information. The position information of the vehicle 50 can be detected, for example, using the output of a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor.

The vehicle information transmission unit 52 transmits vehicle information to the server 20. The vehicle information includes, for example, position information of the vehicle 50 calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 51 and vacant seat information of the vehicle 50. The vacant seat information is, for example, information indicating the vacant or occupied state of each seat (not shown) available to the user 41 of the vehicle 50. The vacant seat information can be detected by an occupancy sensor (not shown) provided on each seat.

The movement instruction receiving unit 53 receives the driving route of the vehicle 50 transmitted by the movement instruction unit 28 of the server 20. The autonomous driving ECU 54 can drive the vehicle 50 autonomously according to the driving route of the movement instruction received by the movement instruction receiving unit 53. The information presentation device 55 can display the driving route received by the movement instruction receiving unit 53 on a display so that the occupants of the vehicle 50 can visually confirm it. The occupants can include a driver who is in the vehicle 50 for driving assistance.

Next, an example of the steps of the method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched executed by the server 20 will be described with reference to Figures 3A to 3C.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the user information receiving unit 29 of the server 20 receives vehicle dispatch request data as a vehicle dispatch request from the user terminal 40 (step S1). The waiting time calculation unit 22 of the server 20 executes an extraction step (step S3). In the extraction step, the user information receiving unit 29 extracts multiple candidate vehicles to be dispatched to the user 41 of the user information extracted from the vehicle dispatch request data received, in order of the shortest waiting time at the boarding point of the user 41. The congestion degree calculation unit 23 of the server 20 calculates the congestion degree of each vehicle 50 extracted as a candidate vehicle by the waiting time calculation unit 22 (step S5).

The dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 performs a dispatch vehicle selection process to select a vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 from among the vehicles 50 extracted as candidate vehicles by the waiting time calculation unit 22 according to the selection rules (step S7).

The selection rule is to compare the waiting time of the user 41 at the boarding point and the degree of congestion of the vehicle 50 between the first candidate vehicle and the other candidate vehicles, and select one of the candidate vehicles as the vehicle 50 to be allocated to the user 41 based on the comparison result.

The basic concept of the selection rules can be shown, for example, by the graph in FIG. 4A. In this graph, the difference in waiting time calculated by the waiting time calculation unit 22 for the two vehicles being compared is taken on the vertical axis, and the difference in congestion degree calculated by the congestion degree calculation unit 23 is taken on the horizontal axis. FIG. 4A shows a case where the second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time for the user 41 at the boarding point is set as the other vehicle candidate.

In the selection rule of FIG. 4A, depending on where on the graph of FIG. 4A the plot point corresponding to the comparison result between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle is located, either the first candidate vehicle or the second candidate vehicle is selected as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41. The comparison result between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle includes the difference in waiting time between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle calculated by the waiting time calculation unit 22 and the difference in congestion degree between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle calculated by the congestion degree calculation unit 23. When points corresponding to the difference in waiting time and the difference in congestion degree are plotted on the graph of FIG. 4A, if the plot point is located in the hatched area of FIG. 4A, the second candidate vehicle is selected, and if the plot point is located in the non-hatched area, the first candidate vehicle is selected.

The difference in waiting times is the time difference obtained by subtracting the waiting time of the first candidate vehicle, which has a shorter waiting time, from the waiting time of the second candidate vehicle, which has a longer waiting time. The longer the waiting time of the second candidate vehicle is compared to the waiting time of the first candidate vehicle, the higher the position of the plot point corresponding to the difference in waiting times will be along the vertical axis.

The difference in congestion levels is ±0% when the congestion levels of the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle are the same. When the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is 100% (full) and the congestion level of the second candidate vehicle is 0% (all seats empty), the difference in congestion levels is +100%. When the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is 0% (all seats empty) and the congestion level of the second candidate vehicle is 100% (full), the difference in congestion levels is -100%. The lower the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is compared to that of the second candidate vehicle, the further to the left (negative side) the plot point is on the horizontal axis. The higher the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle is compared to that of the second candidate vehicle, the further to the right (positive side) the plot point is on the horizontal axis corresponding to the difference in congestion levels.

In the selection rule of FIG. 4A, threshold 1, a value more positive than ±0%, is set as the first threshold for the difference in congestion levels, and if the difference in congestion levels is less than threshold 1, the first candidate vehicle is selected regardless of the difference in waiting time. In the selection rule of FIG. 4A, threshold 2 is set on the vertical axis as the second threshold for the difference in waiting time, and if the difference in congestion levels is greater than or equal to threshold 1, the second candidate vehicle is selected if the difference in waiting time is less than or equal to threshold 2, and the first candidate vehicle is selected if it exceeds threshold 2.

In the selection rule in FIG. 4A, threshold 2 is a fixed value, but threshold 2 may be a variable value that changes depending on the magnitude of the difference in congestion levels. The graph in FIG. 4B shows an example of a selection rule in which threshold 2 is a variable value that changes depending on the magnitude of the difference in congestion levels. Threshold 2 in the example of FIG. 4B is a variable value that increases as the difference in congestion levels increases beyond threshold 1. When threshold 2 in FIG. 4B is used as the selection rule, if the difference in congestion levels between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle is equal to or greater than threshold 1, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 will select the second candidate vehicle as the difference in congestion levels increases, even if the difference in waiting time is large.

In the selection rule in the example of FIG. 4B, in addition to threshold 2, a limit waiting time is set for the difference in waiting time. If the difference in waiting time is equal to or greater than the limit waiting time, the first candidate vehicle is selected even if the difference in congestion level is equal to or greater than threshold 1. If the limit waiting time is used as a selection rule, when the waiting time between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle is equal to or greater than the limit waiting time, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects the first candidate vehicle even if the difference in congestion level is equal to or greater than threshold 1. Whether or not to set a limit waiting time for the difference in waiting time can be determined based on, for example, the result determined by the user attribute determination unit 21 from the user attributes.

In the selection rule in the example of FIG. 4B, threshold 2 regarding the difference in waiting time is a variable value that increases between zero and the limit waiting time when the difference in congestion level increases to or exceeds threshold 1. The range in which the value of threshold 2 changes is not limited to the example of FIG. 4B.

For example, as in the example of FIG. 4C, threshold 2 for the difference in waiting time may be a variable value that increases between time a (a>0) and a limit waiting time longer than time a when the difference in congestion levels becomes equal to or greater than threshold 1. When the selection rule in the example of FIG. 4C is used, when the difference in congestion levels becomes equal to or greater than threshold 1, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects a second candidate vehicle with a lower degree of congestion, even if the waiting time becomes longer by at least time a.

For example, as in the example of FIG. 4D, threshold 2 for the difference in waiting time may be a variable value that increases between zero and the limit waiting time as the difference in congestion increases between threshold 1 and b% (b>0). In the example of FIG. 4D, when the difference in congestion exceeds threshold 1 and exceeds b%, the value of threshold 2, which was a variable value below the limit waiting time when the difference in congestion is below b%, becomes a fixed value that does not change at the limit waiting time. When the selection rule in the example of FIG. 4D is used, when the difference in congestion exceeds threshold 1, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects the first candidate vehicle with the highest degree of congestion when the waiting time exceeds the limit waiting time, regardless of how large the difference in congestion is.

The contents of the threshold 1 and threshold 2 described above may be changed according to the judgment result input from the user attribute judgment unit 21. For example, if the judgment result of the user attribute judgment unit 21 shows a tendency to prioritize time saving over comfort in the vehicle 50, threshold 1 and threshold 2 may be set to obtain the selection rule of the example of FIG. 4D. For example, if the judgment result of the user attribute judgment unit 21 shows a tendency to prioritize comfort in the vehicle 50 over time saving, threshold 1 and threshold 2 may be set to obtain the selection rule of the example of FIG. 4C. The contents of threshold 2 may be set according to the contents of threshold 1 that have been set according to the judgment result of the user attribute judgment unit 21, for example.

In the selection rules according to the examples of Figures 4A to 4D described above, when the plot points corresponding to the difference in waiting time and the difference in congestion between the first and second candidate vehicles are located within the hatched area in the graph, the specified condition is met. When the specified condition is met, the second candidate vehicle is selected as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41.

The dispatch vehicle selection process in step S7 in FIG. 3A can be performed, for example, by the procedure shown in the example of FIG. 3B. Based on the result of the judgment by the user attribute judgment unit 21, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 calculates a value of threshold 1 related to the difference in congestion level according to the contents of the user attributes (step S71). For example, in the case of a user such as an elderly person who is judged to be at high risk of becoming seriously ill in the event of a viral infection based on the contents of the user attributes, threshold 1 may be set to a small value. In addition to setting threshold 1, or instead of setting threshold 1, the limit waiting time in the selection rules in FIG. 4B to FIG. 4D may be set to a longer time.

The dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 executes a judgment step as a judgment unit (step S72). In the judgment step, it is determined whether the congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle is higher than the congestion degree of the second candidate vehicle by threshold 1 or more.

If the difference in congestion between the first and second candidate vehicles is not equal to or greater than threshold 1 (NO in step S72), the process proceeds to step S75, which will be described later. If the difference in congestion is equal to or greater than threshold 1 (YES in step S72), the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 calculates the value of threshold 2 for the difference in waiting time according to the difference in congestion calculated in step S71 (step S73). The calculation of threshold 2 in step S73 may include changing the calculated threshold 2 according to the judgment result of the user attribute judgment unit 21. If threshold 2 includes a variable value, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 may set a formula or the like that defines the value of threshold 2. For example, threshold 2 in the selection rules of Figures 4B to 4D that set the limit waiting time can be set using the formula threshold 2 = limit waiting time x {(congestion difference - threshold 1) / (100 - threshold 1)}.

The dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 checks whether the difference in waiting time between the first candidate vehicle and the second candidate vehicle is equal to or less than threshold 2 (step S74). If the difference in waiting time is not equal to or less than threshold 2 (NO in step S74), the process proceeds to step S75. In step S75, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects the first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 as a selection step.

If the difference in waiting time is equal to or less than threshold 2 (YES in step S74 in FIG. 3B), the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 executes an operation control step (step S76). In the operation control step, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 generates a driving route including a movement instruction for the second candidate vehicle with a long waiting time to overtake the first candidate vehicle with a short waiting time.

After the second candidate vehicle is determined to be the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, the generated driving route is read out from the vehicle dispatch plan database unit 34 by the movement instruction unit 28. The movement instruction unit 28 generates a movement instruction according to the read driving route and transmits it to the movement instruction receiving unit 53 of the second candidate vehicle. In the second candidate vehicle, the autonomous driving ECU 54 drives the second candidate vehicle autonomously according to the driving route of the movement instruction received by the movement instruction receiving unit 53 so as to overtake the first candidate vehicle.

The dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 can control the operation of the second candidate vehicle so that it overtakes the first candidate vehicle by generating a driving route that includes a movement instruction for the second candidate vehicle to overtake the first candidate vehicle.

After the operation control step, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 selects the second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 (step S77) as a selection step, and then ends the dispatch vehicle selection process of step S7 in FIG. 3A. The operation control step (step S76) in FIG. 3B may be omitted.

In step S9, the driving route determination unit 25 and the user adjustment unit 26 perform a vehicle allocation determination process to determine a vehicle 50 to be allocated to the user 41. The vehicle allocation determination process can be performed, for example, according to the procedure shown in the example of FIG. 3C. The user adjustment unit 26 executes a presentation step (step S91). In the presentation step, the user adjustment unit 26 executes a process to present information on the candidate vehicles 50 extracted by the waiting time calculation unit 22 to the user 41 as selection candidates for the vehicle to be allocated. This process can be executed, for example, by transmitting data on information on the candidate vehicles 50 indicating the vehicles 50 selected and the vehicles 50 not selected by the vehicle allocation selection unit 24 to the user terminal 40 and displaying the contents of the driving route on a display (not shown) of the user terminal 40.

The driving route determination unit 25 checks whether the user adjustment unit 26 has received the selection data by the user 41 of the vehicle 50 to be dispatched (step S93). If the user adjustment unit 26 has not received the selection data (NO in step S93), step S93 is repeated until the selection data is received. If the selection data is received (YES in step S93), the driving route determination unit 25 executes a confirmation step (step S95). In the confirmation step, the driving route determination unit 25 confirms the vehicle 50 selected by the user 41 in the selection data received by the user adjustment unit 26 as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41. After the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41 has been confirmed, the dispatch vehicle determination process of step S9 in FIG. 3A is terminated.

As described above, in this embodiment, in response to a vehicle dispatch request from the user 41, the waiting time calculation unit 22 extracts multiple vehicles 50 in order of the shortest waiting time of the user 41 at the boarding point as candidate vehicles to be dispatched to the user 41. If the congestion level of the first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time is greater than the threshold value 1 or more than the congestion level of other candidate vehicles with second or subsequent waiting times, one of the candidate vehicles is selected as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41, taking into account the difference in waiting time between the first candidate vehicle and the other candidate vehicles.

In this embodiment, by taking the difference in waiting time into consideration, for example, if the difference in waiting time is greater than threshold 2, a first candidate vehicle with a short waiting time even if the degree of congestion is high is selected, and if the difference is less than threshold 2, another candidate vehicle with a low degree of congestion even if the waiting time is longer can be selected. In this embodiment, the server 20 can select a dispatch vehicle for the demand-based transportation system 10 by taking the degree of congestion of the vehicle 50 into consideration.

In this embodiment, threshold 2 is a variable value in which the value of threshold 2 increases as the difference in congestion levels above threshold 1 increases, for example, as in the selection rules of Figures 4B to 4D. By setting threshold 2 to such a variable value, it becomes easier for a vehicle 50 with a low congestion level to be dispatched, even if the waiting time is longer, as the difference in congestion levels increases.

Threshold 1 and threshold 2 in this embodiment may be changed to contents corresponding to the content of the user attributes based on the judgment result of the user attribute judgment unit 21. By changing the contents of threshold 1 and threshold 2 according to the content of the user attributes, for example, even if the importance placed on either comfort level in the vehicle 50 or time saving differs depending on the attributes, the likelihood of the vehicle 50 being selected can be changed according to the attributes. Only one of the contents of threshold 1 and threshold 2 may be changed according to the content of the user attributes. The dispatch vehicle selection process in Figure 3B describes a case where only threshold 1 is changed according to the content of the user attributes.

The congestion degree calculation unit 23 may calculate the difference in congestion degree between the first candidate vehicle and the other candidate vehicles from the expected congestion degree at the time of boarding of the user 41. By calculating the difference in congestion degree from the expected congestion degree at the time of boarding, it is possible to select a dispatched vehicle taking into consideration the difference in congestion degree at the time of boarding, rather than the difference in congestion degree at the time of calculation of the difference in congestion degree.

In this embodiment, the dispatch vehicle selection unit 24 notifies the user terminal 40 of the selected and unselected candidate vehicles, and the candidate vehicle selected by the user 41 is determined as the vehicle 50 to be dispatched to the user 41. By determining the dispatch vehicle through the user 41's selection, the first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time and other candidate vehicles taking into consideration the difference in congestion level are proposed to the user 41, and the user can choose which one to use.

In this embodiment, when another candidate vehicle, not the first candidate vehicle, is selected as the vehicle 50 to be allocated to the user 41, the allocation vehicle selection unit 24 generates a driving route including a movement instruction for the second candidate vehicle, which has a long waiting time, to overtake the first candidate vehicle, which has a short waiting time. When the driving route including such a movement instruction is used to drive the other candidate vehicle after the other candidate vehicle is determined as the vehicle 50 to be allocated to the user 41, the operation of the other candidate vehicle is controlled so that it overtakes the first candidate vehicle on the driving route, which is the operation route of the operation plan. This control allows the other candidate vehicle, which has a lower degree of congestion, to arrive at the boarding point of the user 41 before the preceding first candidate vehicle.

The above-described embodiment is one example of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made to the design, etc., even if the embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment, as long as the modifications do not deviate from the technical concept of the present invention.

Reference Signs List 10 Demand-based transportation system 20 Server 21 User attribute determination unit 22 Waiting time calculation unit 23 Congestion degree calculation unit 24 Vehicle allocation selection unit 25 Travel route determination unit 26 User adjustment unit 35 Vehicle allocation selection device 40 User terminal 41 User 50, 56, 57 Vehicle 60 Travel route 67 Boarding point

Claims (7)

an extraction step of extracting, in response to a vehicle dispatch request from a user, a plurality of candidate vehicles with short waiting times, including at least a first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time at the boarding point of the user calculated from an operation plan for demand-based transportation and a second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time;
a determination step of determining whether a congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle is higher than a congestion degree of other candidate vehicles among the plurality of candidate vehicles other than the first candidate vehicle by a first threshold value or more;
a selection step of selecting the other candidate vehicle as a vehicle to be dispatched when a predetermined condition is met by determining that the congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle is higher than the congestion degree of the other candidate vehicle by at least the first threshold value and a time difference between the waiting time of the first candidate vehicle and the waiting time of the other candidate vehicle being equal to or smaller than a second threshold value, and selecting the first candidate vehicle as a vehicle to be dispatched when the predetermined condition is not met;
A method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system, comprising: The method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system according to claim 1, wherein the second threshold is a variable value whose value increases as the difference between the congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle, which is higher than the congestion degree of the other candidate vehicles by at least the first threshold, and the congestion degree of the other candidate vehicles increases. The method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value is a variable value that is changed according to the attributes of the user who has made the dispatch request. The method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the congestion level is an expected congestion level at the time of boarding the user who has requested the dispatch, calculated from the operation plan. The method for selecting a vehicle for dispatch in a demand-based transportation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a presentation step of presenting the other candidate vehicles selected in the selection step and the first candidate vehicle to the user as selection candidates for the dispatch vehicle, and a confirmation step of confirming the candidate vehicle selected by the user from the presented selection candidates as the dispatch vehicle. The method for selecting a vehicle to be dispatched in a demand-based transportation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a driving control step of controlling the driving of the other candidate vehicle so that the other candidate vehicle overtakes the first candidate vehicle on the driving route of the driving plan when the other candidate vehicle is selected as a vehicle to be dispatched. an extraction unit that extracts, in response to a vehicle dispatch request from a user, a plurality of candidate vehicles with short waiting times, including at least a first candidate vehicle with the shortest waiting time at the boarding point of the user calculated from an operation plan for demand-based transportation and a second candidate vehicle with the second shortest waiting time;
a determination unit that determines whether a congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle is higher than a congestion degree of other candidate vehicles among the plurality of candidate vehicles other than the first candidate vehicle by a first threshold value or more;
a selection unit that selects the other candidate vehicle as a vehicle to be dispatched when a predetermined condition is met by determining that the congestion degree of the first candidate vehicle is higher than the congestion degree of the other candidate vehicle by at least the first threshold value and a time difference between the waiting time of the first candidate vehicle and the waiting time of the other candidate vehicle is equal to or smaller than a second threshold value, and selects the first candidate vehicle as a vehicle to be dispatched when the predetermined condition is not met;
A vehicle allocation selection device for a demand-based transportation system comprising:

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