JP6029488B2 - Fare collection system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fare collection system. In particular, the present invention relates to a bus automatic fare collection system using a non-contact IC card.

  There are three types of fare systems: distance system, zone system, and uniform system. The distance system is a method in which fares are added according to the distance traveled by passengers, and in Japan, it is often used for suburban route buses. The zone system is a system in which a route network is divided into multiple rectangular or concentric zones, and a fare is added each time the zone is crossed. There are few examples in Japan, and it is mainly used in Europe. The uniform system is a method that imposes a fixed fare for each trip, regardless of the distance and time of boarding, and is widely used in city buses in Japan and abroad.

  In recent years, fare settlement (fare payment) using a contactless IC card has become the mainstream in automatic fare collection systems, but distance fare and zone-based fare settlement are usually both on boarding and getting off. The contactless IC card is held over the automatic fare collection machine, and fare settlement is performed when the passenger gets off. In the uniform system, fare settlement is generally performed at a fixed amount determined in advance when a non-contact IC card is held over an automatic fare collector when boarding.

  In case of boarding / exiting at an arbitrary point, which is not limited to a specified stop, as long as it is on a route bus route that is determined in advance by combining the technology of a GPS receiver and a non-contact type IC card with Patent Document 1. However, it is described that it is possible to settle fares for the distance system.

JP 2009-187275 A

  For route bus operators, the distance system that collects fares according to passengers' travel distance is more likely to contribute to profit improvement, and there are many operators who want to introduce the distance system. However, in the distance system, it is necessary to determine the fares starting from each stop and ending data, such as some fares when the A stop is the boarding position and the B stop is the exit position, and to create each fare data. There is a complicated work to manage and maintain the fare data. For this reason, there are many operators who finally give up the introduction of distance systems.

  Outside of Japan, there are many frequent changes to route bus routes and stops, and bus routes are often changed on a daily basis at the discretion of bus drivers. The conventional technology that manages the fare from the starting point to the ending point cannot handle such operations.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a technique for eliminating the fare data management method of determining the fare for each stop as described above and calculating the boarding fare based on the operation route and the travel distance. However, this technology has the purpose of improving the convenience for users, so it is easy for operators to manage complicated fare data, but there is a need to further manage the route database for fare settlement. Will occur and the burden on the operator will not be reduced. Moreover, in patent document 1, it cannot respond | correspond to management of the bus operator outside the country which permits the operation route change of the day.

  As described above, there is a need for a fare collection system that can easily realize a distance-based fare that can be adapted to changes in the bus route.

  In order to solve the above problems, the fare collection system responds to a crew member operation panel, a GPS receiver that outputs vehicle position information, a timer that outputs a notification at predetermined time intervals, and a crew member operation panel operation and notification from the timer. A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information from the GPS receiver, a distance calculation unit that determines a travel distance between the stops by regarding the position indicated by the position information as a stop in response to the input of the position information, and a travel distance In response to the input, a fare calculation unit that creates a distance-based fare master that indicates the fare according to the accumulated mileage, with each position regarded as a stop as a stop and a stop, and when a passenger gets on The position information is written on the non-contact IC card as the boarding position information, and when getting off, the boarding position information is read from the non-contact IC card, and the position information is input as the boarding position information. Corresponding to the getting-off location information comprises an IC card reader / writer to subtract from the stored-value boarding stop distance system fare master and the fare between the alighting stop stored in the non-contact IC card.

  According to the present invention, the fare collection system can realize a distance-based fare that can cope with a change in the operation route of a bus vehicle.

It is a schematic diagram of a fare collection system. It is a processing flowchart of a fare collection system. It is a block diagram of each process part of a fare collection system. It is a figure which shows the in-card information of a non-contact type IC card. It is a figure which shows the calculation method of a travel distance. It is a conceptual diagram of the distance fare master with the first boarding fare. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a distance fare rule. It is a conceptual diagram of the distance fare master without a first boarding fare. It is the schematic diagram which represented the structure of the general town simplified. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting in the case of applying the distance fare rule which differs in an urban area and a medium density area / suburb.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing main devices of a fare collection system. The fare collection system includes a non-contact IC card 103 equipped with a non-contact IC chip, an automatic fare receiver 101 for receiving fare from the non-contact IC card 103, GPS (global positioning) System) to identify the position of the bus vehicle on the map (output position information), the GPS receiver 102 that is part of the vehicle tracking system that manages the bus operation, and the door opening and closing control And a passenger operation panel 104 for operating passenger guidance (voice guidance and video guidance for passengers).

  In the present embodiment, the non-contact type IC card 103 that is widely used is described as being owned by a passenger. However, it is only necessary to store position information, stored value, and the like, which will be described later, and to be able to read and write the stored contents with a reader / writer. . Therefore, it is not limited to the non-contact type, and may be a contact type IC card or the shape may not be a card.

  FIG. 2 is a process flowchart of the fare collection system. This processing flowchart does not show the processing of a specific device, but is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of the entire fare collection system. In the fare collection system, there are an initial process 201 that is performed when a passenger gets on, a settlement process 203 that is performed when the passenger gets off, and a running process 202 that is performed between the initial process 201 and the settlement process 203. Details of the initial process 201, the running process 202, and the settlement process 203 are as follows: the operation of each device and each processing unit of the fare collection system shown in FIG. 3, the information in the non-contact type IC card 103 shown in FIG. This will be described together with the method for calculating the travel distance shown in FIG.

  The initial process 201 includes a boarding process 204 for the contact IC card 103 by the automatic fare receiver 101. In the boarding process 204, when the passenger holds the non-contact IC card 103 over the automatic fare receiver 101 when boarding the bus, the IC reader / writer 308 obtains the bus position information 40a acquired in advance from the position information acquisition unit 305, and The boarding time 40b acquired from the timer 310 is written in the contact IC card 103, and the boarding state 40d of the non-contact IC card 103 is rewritten during boarding.

  The running process 202 includes a GPS information acquisition process 205, a distance calculation process 206, and a fare master creation process 207. The GPS information acquisition process 205 is a process by the position information acquisition unit 305 of the automatic fare receiver 101 that acquires the position information 40a from the GPS receiver 102. The distance calculation process 206 is a process by the distance calculation unit 306. The fare master creation process 207 is a process performed by the fare calculation unit 307.

  The GPS information acquisition process 205 is acquisition of position information 40 a from the GPS receiver 102 of the vehicle tracking system 303 by the position information acquisition unit 305. One of the opportunities for the position information acquisition unit 305 to acquire the position information 40 a is an operation of the door opening / closing control unit 311 that controls the opening / closing of the door by the crew member operation panel 104. By acquiring the position information 40a at this opportunity, the position information acquisition unit 305 acquires the position information 40a of the stop at the stop where the passenger gets on. In addition, by opening and closing the door, even if the route bus changes its operating route on the day and passengers get on and off at places where there are no stops, or when a temporary bus is operated, The location information 40a necessary for calculating the distance-based fare can be acquired in the same manner as the predetermined stop. In addition, the route bus may pass through a stop when there are no passengers getting on and off. In this case, the door opening / closing control unit 311 is not operated, but instead, a voice guidance for informing the next stop is played, or a video guide for informing the next stop on the in-vehicle display is switched. Therefore, the position information acquisition unit 305 acquires the position information 40 a from the GPS receiver 102 when the crew member operates the passenger guidance control unit 312 for starting voice guidance or switching video guidance. The position information 40a acquired by the position information acquisition unit 305 is stored in the distance calculation unit 306 for calculating the travel distance 50b, and the IC reader / writer 308 for writing the boarding position and the getting-off position in the non-contact type IC card 103. Is output.

  The distance calculation process 206 by the distance calculation unit 306 will be described. Each time the position information 40a is input from the position information acquisition unit 305, the distance calculation unit 306 calculates the travel distance 50b between the stops, and outputs the calculated travel distance 50b to the fare calculation unit 307. The travel distance 50b is calculated as a distance of an approximate straight line between two points (broken line in FIG. 5) with respect to the actual travel distance 50a (solid line in FIG. 5) of the bus. In order to reduce the difference between the actual travel distance 50a and the travel distance 50b, the automatic fare receiver 101 includes a timer 310. The timer 310 is a periodic timer that is cleared to zero when the position information acquisition unit 305 acquires the position information 40a and starts counting up immediately after. That is, when the count value reaches a certain threshold value (a predetermined time has elapsed), the position information acquisition unit 305 is notified to acquire the position information 40a. When the position information acquisition unit 305 acquires the position information 40a before the count value reaches the threshold value by operating the crew member operation panel 104, or when the count value reaches the threshold value and notifies the timer 310, the timer 310 is cleared to zero. The reason why the timer 310 is cleared to zero by the operation of the crew member operation panel 104 is that the travel distance 50b calculated by the distance calculation unit 306 becomes extremely short when the operation of the crew member operation panel 104 and the notification from the timer 310 are almost simultaneous. It is. This is because when the travel distance 50b is extremely short, creation of a fare master 600 described later is avoided, and the capacity of the fare master 600 is suppressed. The notification from the timer 310 plays an important role in an intercity bus that runs in a suburb with a longer stop interval than a city bus.

  The fare master creation process 207 by the fare calculation unit 307 will be described. When the mileage calculation unit 307 inputs the travel distance 50b from the distance calculation unit 306, the fare calculation unit 307 dynamically creates the fare master 600 shown in FIG. Dynamic means that a new row and column are added to the fare master 600 every time a travel distance is input from the distance calculation unit 306.

  The settlement process 203 includes a card information acquisition process 208, a fare calculation process 209, a fare collection process 210, and a disembarking process 211, and when the passenger gets off, performs a fare calculation according to the mileage 50b that is different for each passenger. It is a process to perform a simple fare settlement.

  The card information acquisition processing 208 is positional information in the non-contact type IC card 103 by the IC reader / writer 308 according to holding the non-contact type IC card 103 over the automatic fare receiver 101 when the passenger gets off. 40a is a reading of the boarding position.

  The fare calculation processing 209 is a calculation of the fare paid by the fare calculation unit 307 based on the boarding position read by the IC reader / writer 308 from the non-contact type IC card 103 and the fare master 600.

  In the fare collection processing 210, the IC card reader / writer 308 subtracts the payment fare calculated by the fare calculation unit 307 from the stored value of the contactless IC card 103 of the passenger (the electronic money balance precharged to the contactless IC card). To do.

  In the unloading process 211, the IC reader / writer 308 writes the unloading time 40b, the unloading position information 40a, and the boarding state 40d to the non-contact type IC card 103 as unloaded. At the end of the disembarking process 211, together with the fare adjustment, the processing result display unit 309 adjusts the fare adjustment of the non-contact type IC card 103 on the display device provided in the automatic fare collection machine 101 so that the passenger can check. Display the stored value later.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram in which the actual travel distance 50a of the actual bus is indicated by a solid line, and the travel distance 50b calculated by the GPS-linked automatic fare collection system is indicated by a broken line. In FIG. 5, the stop A to the stop H are shown, but each stop from the stop A to the stop H does not necessarily match the actual stop position. The position information acquisition unit 305 records the actual stop position triggered by the operation of the crew member operation panel 104, but the fare collection system calculates the travel distance 50b based on the position information 40a acquired by the notification from the timer 310. It is considered as temporary stop location information for processing. Therefore, the number of stops for calculating the travel distance 50b may be larger than the actual number of stops. Although the use of the notification by the timer 310 is described to reduce the difference between the actual travel distance 50a and the travel distance 50b, the threshold value of the count value for notification by the timer 310 serves this purpose. Must be set appropriately. For example, it is desirable to set a small threshold value on a route with a long stop interval and many meanders and turns.

  FIG. 6 shows a fare master 600 dynamically created by the fare calculation unit 307. Assuming that the stop A is the starting point of the bus operation, when the bus departs from the stop A, the fare calculation unit 307 provides the fare master 600 with a row of the stop A for the boarding stop and a row of the stop A for the stop. The value of the cell (the component of the row of the stop A and the component of the column of the stop A) is Null (blank). When the bus arrives at the stop B, the fare calculation unit 307 adds to the fare master 600 a row of the stop B as the boarding stop, a column of the stop B as the stop, and the data area becomes a table of 2 rows and 2 columns. The fare calculation unit 307 stores the fare (100 yen) in the fare master 600 when getting on at the stop A and getting off at the stop B. Subsequently, when the bus arrives at the stop C, the fare calculation unit 307 expands the data area of the fare master 600 to a table of 3 rows and 3 columns and applies from the stop B to the stop C applied to passengers boarding at the stop A. Fare (20 yen) and the fare (100 yen) for getting on at stop B and getting off at stop C are stored. In this way, the fare master 600 expands the data area of the fare master 600 every time it obtains information on a stop including a new temporary stop, and additionally stores the fare when it gets off at the stop.

  In FIG. 6, the reason that the fare for the first section from the stop where you boarded is unified at 100 yen because the first fare is taken into consideration. After the section to which the first boarding fare is applied, the fare corresponding to the travel distance 50b of the section (between stops) is additionally stored according to the distance-based fare rule 700 of FIG. The example shown by the bold line frame in FIG. 6 shows the fare of each section when getting on from the stop C and getting off at the stop H. The fare calculation unit 307 is 100 yen, 20 yen, The payment fare is calculated as 220 yen, which is the sum of 50 yen, 30 yen, and 20 yen.

  The purpose of executing the creation of the fare master 600 by the fare calculation unit 307 not in the settlement process 203 when getting off, but in the running process 202 is to speed up the process. By completing the fare master 600 up to the stop just before getting off before getting off, the fare calculation processing 209 expands the data area of the fare master 600 to include the get-off stop, additionally stores the fare, It is possible to simplify the addition of the fare, and the settlement process 203 at the time of getting off can be executed in a short time.

  When creation of the fare master 600 is executed in the running process 202, before the fare master 600 is expanded to the latest data area, the passenger holds the non-contact IC card 103 over the automatic fare receiver 101 and displays the previous stop information. However, until the fare calculation unit 307 expands to the latest data area and additionally stores the fare in the expanded data area, the IC reader / writer 308 of the automatic fare collector 101 This can be prevented by inactivating.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a distance-based fare rule 700 used in creating the fare master 600 and is a conceptual diagram thereof. As the mileage 50b becomes longer, the fare is increased stepwise to obtain a distance-based fare. In FIG. 7, the fare is in units of 10 yen, but the distance-based fare rule 700 can be freely defined according to the management policy of the operator, for example, in units of 1 yen. The distance-based fare rule 700 is used before starting daily operations or when the definition of the distance-based fare rule 700 is changed, via a portable recording medium such as a USB memory, or with the automatic fare receiver 101. It is updated by receiving data from another system that can communicate. The distance-based fare rule 700 is stored in the storage device in the automatic fare receiver 101 so that the fare calculation unit 307 can refer to the table of correspondence between the boarding distance (for example, 300 m to 350 m) and the fare. Alternatively, the unit distance (50 m in the example shown in FIG. 7) indicating the stage of the boarding distance, the initial value of the boarding distance after the first boarding (250 m in the example shown in FIG. 7), and the unit fare (shown in FIG. 7) indicating the stage of the fare. In the example, 10 yen) and the initial fare after the first ride (20 yen in the example shown in FIG. 7) are stored in the storage device in the automatic fare collector 101, and the fare calculation unit 307 calculates the fare by calculation. May be. For example, when a distance between certain stops is 370 m, [((riding distance) − (initial value of riding distance)) / (unit distance)] × (unit fare) + (initial value of fare) = [(370− 250) / 50] × 10 + 20 = 40 yen. However, [] indicates an integer obtained by rounding down the numbers in [].

  FIG. 8 is an example of a fare master 800 when the first fare is not applied to the first section after boarding. In the fare master 800, even when the distance-based fare method that applies the fare based on the distance-based fare rule 700 is adopted for the first section, the section immediately after boarding is determined regardless of the distance the passenger has boarded. In many cases, the first fare is collected, but in urban areas where multiple transportation systems are operated, there are operators that operate railways and buses, as well as many bus routes. In such a case, there is also an operator that provides a connection discount service that does not apply the initial boarding fare at the transfer destination when the passenger transfers between the railway and the bus. The fare calculation unit 307 creates the fare master 600 with the initial fare and the fare master 800 without the initial fare, and stores both masters, so that the fare collection system of this embodiment also provides the connection discount service. It is possible to implement. For example, when getting off, the time of getting off at time 50b of the non-contact type IC card 103 is read, and if it is within 30 minutes from the getting off of the previous transportation, it is determined whether or not to apply the connection discount service (the multi-discount in FIG. 4). The determination 40e) is written as “applied” in the non-contact type IC card 103. When the boarding split determination 40e is applied at the time of getting off, the fare calculation unit 307 calculates and settles the fare according to the fare master 800 instead of the fare master 600.

  To summarize the above description, the fare collection system acquires position information from the GPS receiver 102 in response to the operation of the crew operator panel 104 and the notification from the timer 310, and outputs the position information acquisition unit 305, position information In response to the input of the position information from the acquisition unit 305, the position indicated by the position information is regarded as a stop, and from the position information previously input and the position information input this time, from the position regarded as the previous stop, In response to the input of the travel distance from the distance calculation unit 306 and the distance calculation unit 306 to obtain the travel distance to the regarded position, each position regarded as a stop is set as a boarding stop and an exit stop according to the travel distance The position information acquisition unit 305 is included in the fare calculation unit 307 that creates the distance-based fare master 600 that indicates the fare, and the non-contact IC card 103 that the passenger owns when boarding the passenger. The position information to be output is written as boarding position information, and when the passenger gets off, the boarding position information is read from the non-contact IC card, the position information from the position information acquisition unit 305 is input as the boarding position information, the boarding position information and the boarding position An IC card reader / writer that subtracts the fare between the boarding stop and the getting-off stop of the distance-based fare master 600 corresponding to the information from the stored value stored in the contactless IC card is provided.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram 900 showing a simplified structure of a general town. The city is divided into urban areas where the population is dense, medium density areas where the population is medium density and residential areas, and suburbs. A schematic diagram 900 of FIG. 9 shows an example of getting on a bus at a stop A in an urban area, getting off at a stop C in a suburb through a stop B in a medium density area.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which the rules are divided into the urban distance fare rule 1000 and the medium density area / suburban distance fare rule 1001. The city-based distance-based fare rule 1000 sets a lower fare than the medium-density / suburban distance-based fare rule 1001, and is a fare setting aimed at promoting the use of public transportation in urban areas. . This is an effective setting example when it is desired to take measures to prevent the inflow of private vehicles and commercial vehicles to urban areas and to ease traffic congestion that easily occurs in urban areas. In the above description, the fare calculation unit 307 inputs the travel distance 50b from the distance calculation unit 306, and together with the travel distance 50b, the GPS receiver 102 passes through the position information acquisition unit 305 and the distance calculation unit 306. The position information 40a is input. It is determined whether the position indicated by the input position information 40a is in an urban area, a medium density area, or a suburb. If the position information is in an urban area, a fare master 600 is created according to the urban distance fare rule 1000. . On the other hand, when the position indicated by the position information 40a is in the medium density area or the suburbs, the fare master 600 is created according to the medium density area / suburb distance fare rule 1001. In addition, in order to determine whether the position information 40a is in an urban area, a medium density area, or a suburb, the automatic fare collector 101 needs to install map information in the vicinity of the traveling city. The map information only needs to reflect definitions of urban areas, medium density areas, and suburbs determined by the operator in addition to general information.

  That is, the fare collection system further includes a map information device (not shown) that stores map information corresponding to the travel position of the vehicle. The fare calculation unit 307 identifies the travel position of the vehicle based on the map information stored in the map information device and the position information from the position information acquisition unit 305, and sets a plurality of distance-based fare masters 600 according to the identified travel position. create. The IC card reader / writer 308 selectively refers to the fare from a plurality of distance-based fare masters according to the travel position corresponding to the passenger's boarding position information and the getting-off position information.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible for a bus operator to introduce a distance-based fare without managing complicated distance-based fare data, thereby contributing to an improvement in profits. In addition, even bus operators that have introduced distance-based fare systems can freely change their operating routes and stops depending on the situation on the day, and travel on routes that differ from the prescribed route. Temporary buses can be operated, improving convenience for users.

  101: Automatic fare receiver, 102: GPS receiver, 103: Non-contact IC card, 104: Crew operator panel, 201: Initial processing, 202: In-travel processing, 203: Checkout processing, 303: Vehicle tracking system, 305 : Position information acquisition unit, 306: distance calculation unit, 307: fare calculation unit, 308: IC reader / writer, 309: processing result display unit, 310: timer, 311: door opening / closing control unit, 312: passenger guidance control unit.

Claims (5)

A position information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle position information from a GPS receiver in response to a door opening / closing operation of the vehicle;
In response to the door opening / closing operation, the position indicated by the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit is a stop, and a fare calculation unit that creates a fare master indicating the fare between the stops, and an IC card for reading IC card reader / writer for writing
With
The fare calculator is
The information on the IC card owned by the passenger is acquired via the IC card reader / writer when the passenger gets on, and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit in response to the door opening / closing operation for the passenger is obtained. Write as stop information,
When the passenger gets off, the information on the IC card is acquired via the IC card reader / writer, and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit in response to the door opening / closing operation for the getting off is used as the stop information. A fare collection system, wherein a fare is calculated based on the boarding stop information, the getting-off stop information, and the fare master, and the fare is subtracted from a stored value applied to the IC card. In claim 1,
The position indicated by the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit is a stop, and includes a distance calculation unit that calculates a travel distance of the vehicle between the stops,
The fare calculation system, wherein the fare calculation unit creates the fare master based on the travel distance. In the fare collection system according to claim 1 or 2,
The fare calculation system is characterized in that the fare calculation unit creates a plurality of fare masters, determines a fare master to be applied based on information of an IC card owned by the passenger, and calculates the fare. In the fare collection system according to claim 1 or 2,
The fare calculator is
A plurality of fare rules, and map information corresponding to the travel position and the applied fare rules,
A fare collection system that creates a fare master between the stops based on the location information of the stops and a fare rule determined in light of the map information. The position information acquisition unit acquires the position information of the vehicle from the GPS receiver in response to the door opening / closing operation of the vehicle,
The fare calculation department
The position indicated by the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit in response to the door opening / closing operation is a stop, and a fare master indicating the fare between the stops is created.
When a passenger gets in, information on the IC card owned by the passenger is acquired via an IC card reader / writer, and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit in response to a door opening / closing operation on the passenger is boarded. Write as stop information,
When getting off the passenger, via the IC card reader / writer obtains the information of the IC card, alighting stop information the position information the position information acquiring unit in response acquired in the door opening and closing operation according to the getting-off And calculating a fare based on the boarding stop information, the getting-off stop information, and the fare master, and subtracting the fare from a stored value applied to the IC card,
A fare collection method characterized by this.

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