JP2004280734A - Method and system for supporting riding-together vehicle operation - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for supporting riding-together vehicle operation, capable of automatically creating an operation schedule for riding-together vehicles, taking into account traffic congestion environment, while the operation schedule has been prepared by human hands. <P>SOLUTION: A method for creating the schedule receives a use request from each riding applicant including a desired get-in point, desired get-off point, desired get-in time and desired get-off time; stores passenger information including the use requests; identifies passengers for one operable vehicle considering the use requests and the capacity of the vehicle; calculates a predicted value of a traveling time between nodes at least probably associated with an operation, based on a traveling time between the nodes at the time to be traveled obtained from VICS (R) or the like and a mean traveling time in the past for every time; creates a vehicle operation schedule including routes and node assumed arrival times so as to minimize traveling times for all passengers using a node insertion method; and transmits the created riding-together vehicle operation schedule to the passengers and the persons concerned with the vehicles. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle operation support method and a vehicle operation support system suitable for a shared vehicle, particularly a shared vehicle taxi.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art The number of vehicles spread in recent years is increasing steadily, and is becoming indispensable for daily life. However, various problems such as chronic traffic congestion and air pollution due to exhaust air accompanying this have become serious, and various public transportation systems have been proposed and put to practical use in order to solve these problems. Among them, the possibility of a demand bus system is being explored.
[0003]
Conventionally, the shared vehicle operation service accepts usage requests from a large number of customers and considers the operating conditions such as the number of vehicles that can be operated, the work conditions of crew members, and road traffic information so as to meet each usage request. Meanwhile, an operation schedule such as distributing a shared vehicle and creating a tour route has been manually created.
[0004]
Regarding a systematic carpooling system, there are proposals such as the following Patent Documents 1 to 5. Patent Literature 1 relates to a bus operation route creation method with a short waiting time. Patent Literature 2 relates to a system for searching for and agreeing to carpool information by itself. Patent Literature 3 relates to a system in which a shared rider notifies a bus driver of a desired use. Patent Document 4 relates to a system for creating an optimal schedule in which a parent schedule and a child schedule of a shared vehicle are created. However, there are few proposals regarding the development of an operation route in consideration of road conditions in the passenger transportation service using the demand bus system.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-10-178789 [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2000-90397 [Patent Document 3] JP-A-2000-301237 [Patent Document 4] JP-A-2002-140788 [0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Changes in road conditions due to the occurrence of traffic congestion, for example, may cause early arrival or departure at a scheduled arrival time when the vehicle travels on an actual road, and may cause a route. In the conventionally proposed carpooling system, a static digital map database that does not consider road conditions is used when searching for a traveling route of a vehicle. However, since the road conditions change from moment to moment, the use of a static digital map database does not fit the actual situation. Therefore, a dynamic digital map database considering road conditions is needed.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to automatically create an operation schedule of a shared vehicle, which has been conventionally performed manually, while taking into account the road congestion situation. It is to provide a shared vehicle operation support system.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the present invention
(1) Accepting a use request including a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time from a boarding applicant;
(2) storing the passenger information including the use request,
(3) From the usage request, specify a desired boarding time and / or a desired getting-off time, a desired boarding point, a desired getting-off point, and a passenger per vehicle in consideration of the number of cars,
(4) At least between nodes likely to be related to the operation, (1) the required time between nodes (current time required time) x at the time to be visited obtained by VICS or the like, and (2) the past average for each time Calculate the operation required time prediction value obtained from the required time y,
(5) Using the node insertion method, a vehicle operation schedule including a route and a node estimated arrival time that minimizes the traveling time of all passengers is created,
(6) A shared vehicle operation support method characterized by outputting the created shared vehicle operation schedule to passengers and persons involved in vehicles.
[0009]
Preferably, the vehicle is a shared taxi.
[0010]
The present invention also provides
(1) means for receiving a use request including a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time from a boarding applicant;
(2) storage means for storing passenger information including the use request;
(3) means for specifying a passenger per operating vehicle in consideration of a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, and the number of cars from the use request;
(4) At least between nodes likely to be related to the operation, (1) the required time between nodes (current time required time) x at the time to be visited obtained by VICS or the like, and (2) the past average for each time Means for calculating a predicted value of the operation required time obtained from the required time y,
(5) means for creating a vehicle operation schedule including a route that minimizes the ride time of all passengers and a node estimated arrival time using the node insertion method;
(6) A shared vehicle operation support system comprising output means for transmitting the created shared vehicle operation schedule to customers and persons involved in vehicles.
[0011]
Preferably, the vehicle is a shared taxi.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
[0013]
In the support system or method of the present invention, first, a use request receiving unit receives a use request from a passenger. The reception may be performed by a dedicated operator. From the passenger, preferably in accordance with a standard application form, the customer's name, telephone number and address, desired use date, desired boarding point, desired boarding time, desired boarding point, desired boarding time, etc. are heard. If necessary, luggage, smoking presence / absence, etc., may be heard. For example, this is performed by means such as telephone, FAX, E-mail, and the Internet. When accepting via the Internet, as shown in FIG. 1, it is desirable to have the passenger fill in blanks of items such as name, boarding place, number of people, luggage, desired arrival time, and contact information. Further, the desired boarding point or the desired boarding point can be specified by the user on the screen of the map software as shown in FIG.
[0014]
The use request from the passenger is registered in the passenger database. The registration is performed using a known electronic recording medium such as a server, a CD-ROM of a computer, and an MO. The registration may be performed in the order of application or may be performed in the order of operation date and time. In addition, if necessary, it can be registered as a passenger database that holds service use record information such as a pick-up destination, a destination and a route to that point. The passenger database may be searched using a name, a telephone number, or the like as a search key, and a pick-up destination, detailed directions, and the like may be downloaded from the customer database.
[0015]
The application is closed a certain time before the operation of the shared vehicle, for example, one day before or several hours before. Then, use application customers are grouped. The grouping is preferably performed, for example, in the order of use time, desired boarding point, and desired drop-off point. Identify passengers by grouping. Thereby, the vehicle to be used and the starting point of the vehicle can be specified according to the group.
[0016]
Next, the starting point of the vehicle, the desired boarding point and the desired drop-off point of each grouped passenger are plotted, for example, on a map, and the area related to the operation is specified. This specification may be the starting point of the vehicle, the desired boarding point of each grouped passenger, the area of the postal code of the desired drop-off point, and the surrounding area. If the above areas are not connected, the area where the main road connecting each area exists is also added to the operation-related areas. Then, for at least the roads and nodes that may be used in these operation-related areas, required time predicted values are obtained by the following method.
[0017]
In the support system of the present invention, as a database, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a reservation database created from a reservation reception screen and an ASP interface, a node database calculated from a digital road map, and information from GPS and VICS. The obtained congestion information, a congestion information digital road map database created from the congestion information and the node database, and a route database created from the reservation database and the congestion information digital road map database are used.
[0018]
FIG. 4 shows an example of a method for determining an operation schedule of a shared vehicle by the support system or the support method of the present invention. An object of the support method or system of the present invention is to optimize the ride time of a user. For this reason, in the present invention, the required time is important, not just the traveling distance on a map of a certain section.
[0019]
In the operation schedule according to the system of the present invention, first, a predicted value of required time between nodes during operation is calculated. Various factors such as distance, speed limit, and traffic congestion affect the time required for vehicle operation. Also, the required time varies every moment depending on the time zone and other factors. In the present invention, the required time is divided into two types, a current time required time based on current road information and a past average required time based on past average road information.
[0020]
The present road information in the present invention is road information that is updated in response to changes in traffic conditions such as VICS, and includes, for example, typhoons, floods, road works, accidents, events such as marathons, inspections by security, cherry blossom viewing, etc. It refers to extraordinary road information such as traffic restrictions or traffic closures due to “events”. This current road information is information that should always be updated as soon as new information is obtained.
[0021]
Based on the current road information, a current time required time, which is a required time between nodes at the current time, is obtained. Specifically, for example, the actual time required between bus stops acquired from the operation of a route bus or the required time between taxi intersections is collected.
[0022]
The second road information employed in the present invention is based on the average value of the actually measured required time between the nodes of the shared vehicle before the day when the past average road information is predicted (hereinafter, referred to as "past average required time"). It is related to the calculated required time. Specifically, for example, the actual required time between bus stops or the required time between taxi intersections obtained from route bus operation during a certain period in the past is collected at certain times, and the average is taken for each time zone. And the like.
[0023]
When obtaining the past average required time, there may be a case where peculiar abnormal values are mixed in the past required time data collected from the operation of a route bus or a taxi. Possible reasons for this variation are the influence of traffic signals existing between bus stops and the influence of right-turn vehicles. Since an abnormal value has an adverse effect on the average value, it is preferable to perform a filtering process before taking the average value. To remove an abnormal value, a threshold value is obtained by a discriminant analysis method often used in image processing or the like, and an average required time from which an abnormal value is removed can be calculated by removing required time data that is equal to or greater than a threshold value.
[0024]
It is preferable to obtain a predicted value S of the operation time required when the shared vehicle is operated by taking a weighted average of the current time required time x and the past average required time y obtained as described above. An example of a prediction equation is shown in (Equation 1) below.
[0025]
S = αx + βy (Equation 1)
[0026]
Here, S: required time predicted value x: required time at current time y: past average required time α, β are parameters (α + β = 1)
Normally, it is preferable that α ≧ β, and α be 0.8 to 0.6 depending on the type of event.
[0027]
Since the required time predicted value is obtained by the above method, a database of the required time predicted value between at least the nodes which are likely to be related is created using the value.
The obtained data may be displayed and displayed on a map as a required time. An operation for obtaining the following optimum route is performed based on this value.
[0028]
The node insertion method is used to determine the optimal route that gives the passenger the shortest boarding time. The node insertion method itself is a known algorithm. The procedure will be described. In order to optimize the evaluation value of the route, a newly generated passenger's lift point is inserted into the passenger's lift point determined so far. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, first, the departure place a of the vehicle and the boarding point of the customer A having the farthest drop-off point among the customers are calculated using the predicted operation time required between the nodes. The shortest time route via the point abc connecting the point b and the drop-off point c is obtained. It is not necessary to strictly consider whether it is the farthest exit point.
[0029]
Next, using the node insertion method, a desired boarding point d and a desired boarding point e (where the desired boarding point d comes before the desired boarding point e) of the next customer B are a-b, bc In each case when the distance is outside c, the boarding times of the passengers A and B are calculated, and among the paths passing through the points of abcde (in any order), the path having the optimum evaluation value is selected. In the same manner, this calculation is performed for all passengers after the passenger C, and a shared vehicle operation schedule is created. The evaluation in the node insertion method is determined by the length of the boarding time of all the passengers. The calculation of the shortest route between the tour points can be performed using a method such as the Dijkstra method.
[0030]
The schedule such as the operating route of the shared vehicle, the scheduled ride time of each passenger, the scheduled drop-off time, etc. can be displayed or printed out in a predetermined output form by a display, a printer, or the like, or the traveling route of the vehicle can be displayed. .
[0031]
The above schedule is communicated to a terminal such as a telephone, a personal computer or the like, or a vehicle-mounted terminal carried by the passenger, and the passenger can confirm the operation. It is preferable to notify the passenger of the scheduled boarding time, the scheduled boarding time, the assigned vehicle type, color, and the like. The driver is notified of the route from the departure point, the boarding point of the passenger, the boarding point, the scheduled boarding time, the scheduled boarding time, the passenger name, and the like.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a shared-vehicle operation support system that automatically creates an optimal operation schedule that minimizes the boarding time of a shared-vehicle passenger. The carpooling operation support system of the present invention can be used as a means of transportation for taxis, especially for airport users.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an application form that can be used in the method of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a map software screen on which a user can specify a desired boarding point or a desired boarding point in the method of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow for preparing a schedule according to the method of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram relating to a node method used in the method of the present invention.

Claims (4)

(1) Accepting a use request including a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time from a boarding applicant;
(2) storing the passenger information including the use request,
(3) From the usage request, specify a desired boarding time and / or a desired getting-off time, a desired boarding point, a desired getting-off point, and a passenger per vehicle in consideration of the number of cars,
(4) At least between nodes likely to be related to the operation, (1) the required time between nodes (current time required time) x at the time to be visited obtained by VICS or the like, and (2) the past average for each time Calculate the operation required time prediction value obtained from the required time y,
(5) Using the node insertion method, a vehicle operation schedule including a route and a node estimated arrival time that minimizes the traveling time of all passengers is created,
(6) A shared vehicle operation support method characterized by outputting the created shared vehicle operation schedule to passengers and persons involved in vehicles. The vehicle sharing support method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is a shared taxi. (1) means for receiving a use request including a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time from a boarding applicant;
(2) storage means for storing passenger information including the use request;
(3) means for specifying a passenger per operating vehicle in consideration of a desired boarding time, and / or a desired boarding time, a desired boarding point, a desired boarding point, and the number of cars from the use request;
(4) At least between nodes likely to be related to the operation, (1) the required time between nodes (current time required time) x at the time to be visited obtained by VICS or the like, and (2) the past average for each time Means for calculating a predicted value of the operation required time obtained from the required time y,
(5) means for creating a vehicle operation schedule including a route that minimizes the ride time of all passengers and a node estimated arrival time using the node insertion method;
(6) A shared vehicle operation support system comprising output means for transmitting the created shared vehicle operation schedule to customers and persons involved in vehicles. The shared vehicle operation support system according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle is a shared vehicle taxi.

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