WO2025203257A1 - Vehicle allocation determination device and vehicle allocation determination method - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, taxis are allocated in consideration of advertising revenue.　A vehicle allocation management server 10, which is a vehicle allocation determination device, comprises: an acquisition unit 11 that acquires, for each of taxis that are a plurality of vehicle allocation candidates, information indicating a route from the locations of the taxis to the location of a vehicle allocation target and the time required to travel the route; a calculation unit 12 that calculates, for each of the taxis, the revenue from an advertisement, displayed on the outside of the taxi, according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11, and at the same time calculates, for each of the taxis, a penalty corresponding to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11; and a determination unit 13 that determines a taxi to be allocated from among the plurality of taxis on the basis of the revenue and the penalty calculated by the calculation unit 12.

Description

Vehicle allocation decision device and vehicle allocation decision method

The present invention relates to a vehicle dispatch decision device and vehicle dispatch decision method that decides which taxi to dispatch from among multiple taxis.

Traditionally, advertisements have been displayed on the outside of vehicles. With such advertisements, when the vehicle comes into view of people outside the vehicle, they also see the advertisement. For example, Patent Document 1 shows that a display device that can be seen from the outside is provided on the vehicle, and advertising images are displayed on the display device.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-241698

If a vehicle that displays advertisements on the outside is a taxi, it can earn advertising revenue from the advertisements displayed and revenue from the fare. However, in the past, when deciding which taxi to dispatch to a passenger from among multiple taxis, the advertising revenue was not taken into consideration.

One embodiment of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a vehicle dispatch decision device and vehicle dispatch decision method that can dispatch taxis taking advertising revenue into consideration.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle dispatch decision device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an acquisition unit that acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for dispatch, information indicating the route from the location of the taxi to the location of the dispatch target and the required time for the trip; a calculation unit that calculates, for each taxi, the revenue from advertising displayed on the outside of the taxi according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and calculates, for each taxi, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit; and a determination unit that determines a taxi to dispatch from the plurality of taxis based on the revenue and penalty calculated by the calculation unit.

The vehicle dispatch decision device according to one embodiment of the present invention determines which taxi to dispatch by taking into consideration the advertising revenue according to the route for each taxi to the target location for dispatch, and a penalty according to the time required for that trip. Therefore, the vehicle dispatch decision device according to one embodiment of the present invention can dispatch taxis while taking advertising revenue into consideration.

Incidentally, one embodiment of the present invention can be described not only as an invention of a vehicle allocation determination device as described above, but also as an invention of a vehicle allocation determination method as described below. These are essentially the same invention, just in different categories, and achieve similar functions and effects.

In other words, a vehicle allocation determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition step in which the vehicle allocation determination device acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for allocation, information indicating the travel route from the location of the taxi to the location to be allocated and the required time for the travel; a calculation step in which the vehicle allocation determination device calculates, for each taxi, the revenue of an advertisement to be displayed outside the taxi according to the route indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step, and calculates, for each taxi, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step; and a determination step in which the vehicle allocation determination device determines a taxi to be allocated from the plurality of taxis based on the revenue and penalty calculated in the calculation step.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, taxis can be dispatched taking advertising revenue into consideration.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle allocation management server which is a vehicle allocation determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the determination of a taxi to be dispatched in an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a table showing an example of information about taxis used by the vehicle dispatch management server. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information used to calculate a taxi route. 10 is a table showing an example of estimated values of the number of pedestrians used by the vehicle dispatch management server. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an estimated value of the number of pedestrians used by the vehicle dispatch management server. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of expected advertising revenue for each road section. 10 is a table showing an example of estimated values of the number of pedestrians for each attribute of pedestrians used by the vehicle dispatch management server. 10 is a table showing an example of weights for each combination of an advertisement identifier and a pedestrian attribute used by the vehicle dispatch management server. 10 is a graph showing an example of a correspondence relationship between required time and cancellation rate used by the vehicle dispatch management server, and a table showing an example of information for determining the correspondence relationship. 10 is a table showing an example of an average taxi fare used by the vehicle dispatch management server. 3 is a flowchart showing a vehicle allocation determination method that is a process executed by a vehicle allocation management server that is a vehicle allocation determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a vehicle allocation management server that is a vehicle allocation determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Below, embodiments of a vehicle allocation determination device and vehicle allocation determination method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in the description of the drawings, identical elements will be given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted.

Figure 1 shows a vehicle dispatch management server 10, which is a vehicle dispatch decision device according to this embodiment. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 is a device (system) that determines which taxi to dispatch from multiple taxis. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 is used, for example, by a taxi company that owns multiple taxis.

The vehicle dispatch management server 10 accepts a request for a taxi dispatch (pick-up) from a user terminal 20 used by a user (taxi passenger), and determines which taxi to dispatch to the user from among multiple taxis in response to the request. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 notifies the driver terminal 30 used by the driver of the taxi determined to be the taxi to be dispatched. The driver, who is notified that the taxi he or she is driving is the taxi that has been dispatched to the user, heads to the target location for dispatch (the location where the user will board the taxi, the pick-up point) to get the user into the taxi.

Furthermore, once a taxi has been dispatched, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 also notifies the user terminal 20 of this. At that time, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 also notifies the user of the amount of time required for the dispatched taxi to arrive at the target location (the location where the user will board the taxi). This allows the user to know how long it will take for the taxi to arrive. Depending on the amount of time required (for example, if the amount of time required does not meet the user's expectations), the user can cancel the taxi dispatch after it has been dispatched.

Advertisements are displayed on the outside of taxis that are dispatched by the vehicle dispatch management server 10. These advertisements are visible to people looking at the taxi from outside. These advertisements may be conventional advertisements that are attached to vehicles. For example, these advertisements may be stickers, rear stickers, or body stickers attached to the body of the taxi. Alternatively, these advertisements may be body wraps applied to the body of the taxi. Alternatively, the taxi may be equipped with a display device that can be seen from the outside (for example, window signage), and the advertisements may be displayed by the display device.

When a taxi displaying an advertisement travels, the person operating the taxi (e.g., a taxi company) receives advertising revenue from the advertiser of the advertisement. For example, the taxi company receives advertising revenue from the advertiser based on the estimated effectiveness of the advertisement based on the area and time period in which the taxi travels. For example, the effectiveness of the advertisement can be improved by having the taxi travel on roads with heavy foot traffic, and as a result, the taxi company receives a large amount of advertising revenue.

The vehicle dispatch management server 10 determines the vehicle to be dispatched (the taxi to be dispatched) in a way that maximizes (e.g., maximizes) profits by taking into account both the revenue from displaying advertisements when the taxi travels to the target location and a penalty based on the time required for the trip.

The following explains how the dispatch management server 10 determines which vehicle to dispatch. As described above, a user can cancel a taxi dispatch depending on the time required for the dispatched taxi to arrive, i.e., the time required for the taxi to travel to the dispatch target location. For example, after calling a taxi, if the taxi arrives in three minutes, the user will continue to use the taxi, but if the taxi arrives in ten minutes, the user will cancel the taxi dispatch and travel on foot. When a taxi dispatch is canceled by a user, an opportunity loss occurs. Typically, the longer the time required for the taxi to travel to the dispatch target location, the more likely it is to be canceled. The penalty based on the travel time is the opportunity loss described above. In other words, the opportunity loss varies depending on the required time described above.

When a user requests a taxi, the dispatch management server 10 determines the vehicle to be dispatched based on the expected revenue from displaying advertisements and the expected opportunity loss for each candidate taxi. For example, as shown in Figure 2, when a user requests a taxi, the candidate taxis for dispatch are vehicle A, vehicle B, and vehicle C. These taxis are located in different locations.

Vehicle A arrives at the target location in 7 minutes. For vehicle A, the expected hourly revenue from displaying advertisements is 21.4 (¥/min), and the expected hourly opportunity loss is 5.4 (¥/min). Vehicle B arrives at the target location in 9 minutes. For vehicle B, the expected hourly revenue from displaying advertisements is 20 (¥/min), and the expected hourly opportunity loss is 10.5 (¥/min). Vehicle C arrives at the target location in 2 minutes. For vehicle C, the expected hourly revenue from displaying advertisements is 15 (¥/min), and the expected hourly opportunity loss is 4.8 (¥/min).

The difference between the expected hourly revenue from displaying advertisements and the expected hourly opportunity loss (revenue from displaying advertisements - opportunity loss) is 16 for vehicle A, 9.5 for vehicle B, and 10.2 for vehicle C. Vehicle A, which has the largest difference, is selected as the vehicle to be dispatched. By selecting vehicles to be dispatched in this way, the taxi company can make more revenue.

The vehicle dispatch management server 10 is composed of a computer such as a PC (personal computer) or a server device. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 may be composed of multiple computers. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 has a communication function, which allows it to send and receive information to and from other devices such as the user terminal 20 and driver terminal 30 via a network in order to obtain information necessary to realize its functions.

The user terminal 20 is a computer carried and used by a user. The user terminal 20 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. The user terminal 20 has the functions related to this embodiment, as described below. The user terminal 20 has a communication function, and by using this communication function, it sends and receives information to and from the vehicle dispatch management server 10 via a network.

The driver terminal 30 is a computer used by the taxi driver. Although only one driver terminal 30 is shown in FIG. 1, a driver terminal 30 is provided for each taxi (each taxi driver). The driver terminal 30 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. Alternatively, the driver terminal 30 is a terminal provided in the taxi. The driver terminal 30 has the functions related to this embodiment, as described below. The driver terminal 30 has a communication function, which is used to send and receive information to and from the vehicle dispatch management server 10 via a network.

The functions of the vehicle dispatch management server 10, user terminal 20, and driver terminal 30 may be realized by dedicated application programs installed on each device. In particular, the functions of the user terminal 20 may be realized by a taxi dispatch application program for a smartphone or tablet device.

Next, the functions of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 according to this embodiment will be explained. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 is configured to include an acquisition unit 11, a calculation unit 12, and a determination unit 13.

The acquisition unit 11 is a functional unit that acquires, for each of multiple dispatch candidate taxis, information indicating the route from the taxi's location to the dispatch target location and the required time for the trip. The acquisition unit 11 may also acquire penalty calculation information indicating the dispatch target location, the status of the location, or the time of dispatch.

The information used to determine which taxi to dispatch and acquired by the acquisition unit 11 is, for example, as follows. The acquisition unit 11 also acquires information used to determine which taxi to dispatch, for example, as follows. The information used to determine which taxi to dispatch includes at least information indicating, for each of multiple taxis that are candidates for dispatch, the route from the taxi's location to the dispatch target location and the required time for that trip.

When a request for dispatching a taxi is sent from the user terminal 20 to the dispatch management server 10, the acquisition unit 11 receives the request. The request includes information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched. The information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched is, for example, information indicating the latitude and longitude of the location. The location of the vehicle to be dispatched is specified or acquired, for example, by the user terminal 20. For example, the location of the vehicle to be dispatched is the user's current location as determined by the user terminal 20. Alternatively, the location of the vehicle to be dispatched is the location specified by the user where the user wishes to board a taxi.

The acquisition unit 11 calculates and acquires, for each of the multiple dispatch candidate taxis, the route and travel time required for travel from the taxi's location (current location) to the dispatch target location. For this calculation, the acquisition unit 11 acquires information about each taxi. For example, the acquisition unit 11 receives and acquires information from the driver's terminal 30. Figure 3 shows an example of acquired information about taxis. This information associates vehicle identifiers, advertising identifiers, latitude, longitude, and display board information.

The vehicle identifier is information (identifier) such as a number used to identify a taxi (vehicle) and is set in advance for each taxi. The advertising identifier is information (identifier) used to identify an advertisement (body advertisement) posted (displayed) on the outside of the taxi and is set in advance for each advertisement. The latitude and longitude are the latitude and longitude of the current location of the taxi (vehicle). The latitude and longitude are measured, for example, by the driver's terminal 30. The display board is information shown on the taxi's display board. The display board shows the taxi's status, such as "available," "hired," "payment," "pick-up," and "reserved."

For example, the driver terminal 30 for each taxi transmits the above real-time information to the dispatch management server 10. For example, the driver terminal 30 periodically transmits the above information to the dispatch management server 10. The acquisition unit 11 stores the received information in the database of the dispatch management server 10 (for example, a vehicle information management table), and reads and uses it when calculating the travel route and the required time for that travel. Alternatively, when the acquisition unit 11 receives a request for dispatching a taxi from the user terminal 20, it requests each driver terminal 30 to transmit information.

The acquisition unit 11 determines taxis that are candidates for dispatch based on information about taxis. For example, the acquisition unit 11 determines taxis whose display boards show "vacant" (i.e., taxis that are available to pick up passengers) as candidates for dispatch. The location of the taxi to be dispatched may also be used to determine taxis that are candidates for dispatch. For example, the acquisition unit 11 calculates the distance between the location of the taxi to be dispatched and the location of the taxi, and determines taxis whose display boards show "vacant" and whose distance is within a predetermined distance (e.g., several kilometers) as candidates for dispatch. This determination may also be made by a general method other than the above.

For each of the multiple taxis that are candidates for dispatch, the acquisition unit 11 calculates the route and travel time required from the taxi's location to the taxi's location (current location) based on the location of the taxi and the location of the taxi indicated by the acquired information. Note that if there is only one candidate for dispatch, or if there are no candidates for dispatch, the dispatch management server 10 may perform pre-set processing. For example, if there is only one candidate for dispatch, the dispatch management server 10 may dispatch that one taxi. Furthermore, if there are no candidates for dispatch, the dispatch management server 10 may notify the user terminal 20 that a taxi cannot be dispatched.

The travel route and the required time for that travel can be calculated using a general route search method, with the taxi's location as the departure point and the location of the vehicle to be dispatched as the destination. For example, as shown in Figure 4, information is stored in advance that expresses the travel time and number of lanes for each road section connecting intersections as driving costs, and a search is made for a route from the taxi's location (departure point S) to the vehicle to be dispatched (destination G) that minimizes the driving cost. The travel route and the required time for that travel can be calculated by assuming that the vehicle departs from the taxi's location at the current time (time of calculation). Furthermore, when calculating the travel route, the passing time for each location included in the route can also be calculated.

The calculation of the travel route and the required time for that travel may be performed by a device other than the vehicle dispatch management server 10. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire information indicating the travel route and the required time for that travel for each of multiple taxis that are candidates for dispatch using a method other than the above. For example, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire information indicating the above route and required time by receiving it from another device, without acquiring location information, etc., as described above. Furthermore, the information indicating the above route and required time acquired by the acquisition unit 11 may be other than the above, as long as it can be used to determine the taxi to dispatch.

Furthermore, in cases where the advertisement to be displayed in each taxi is selected from multiple options, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire information indicating the advertisement to be displayed in the taxi as information used to determine the taxi to be dispatched. For example, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire the above-mentioned advertisement identifier for each taxi as this information.

Furthermore, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire penalty calculation information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched, the status of that location, or the time of dispatch as information used to determine the taxi to be dispatched. The penalty calculation information may include multiple types of information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched, the status of that location, and the time of dispatch.

As for information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched, for example, the acquisition unit 11 acquires it by receiving a taxi dispatch request including the information from the user terminal 20, as described above. The situation at the location of the vehicle to be dispatched is, for example, the weather at that location. Furthermore, the situation at the location of the vehicle to be dispatched may be something other than the weather at that location, as long as it can affect the calculation of the penalty. For example, the acquisition unit 11 acquires information indicating the situation at the location of the vehicle to be dispatched from an external server (for example, a server that provides weather information) based on the location of the vehicle to be dispatched. As for information indicating the time of dispatch, for example, the acquisition unit 11 acquires it by setting the time at which the request for dispatching a taxi is received from the user terminal 20 as the time of dispatch. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire information for penalty calculation by a method other than the above. The acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired information to the calculation unit 12 and the determination unit 13.

The calculation unit 12 is a functional unit that calculates, for each taxi, the revenue from advertisements displayed outside the taxi according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11, and also calculates, for each taxi, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11.

The calculation unit 12 may calculate the revenue and penalty per unit time based on the required time. The calculation unit 12 may calculate, as the penalty, a loss based on the cancellation rate according to the required time. The calculation unit 12 may also calculate the penalty according to the penalty calculation information acquired by the acquisition unit 11. The calculation unit 12 may calculate the revenue based on the number of people present at the route position. The calculation unit 12 may calculate the revenue based on the number of people of each attribute present at the route position in accordance with advertisements displayed on the outside of the taxi.

For example, the calculation unit 12 performs the calculation as follows based on pre-stored calculation criteria. The calculation unit 12 inputs information used to determine the taxi to be dispatched from the acquisition unit 11. Based on the input information, the calculation unit 12 calculates the advertising revenue and penalty for each of the multiple taxis that are candidates for dispatch.

The calculation unit 12 calculates the expected advertising revenue as the revenue from taxi advertising. The advertising revenue depends on the number of people who view the advertisement. For example, the advertising revenue is calculated by multiplying the (estimated) number of people who view the advertisement by a preset coefficient. The number of people who view the advertisement when a taxi passes through a certain road section is, for example, the number of pedestrians present in that road section at that time. If the estimated number of pedestrians in a certain road section during a certain time period is five, there will always be an average of five pedestrians present in that road section during that time period, and therefore five people will view the advertisement while the taxi is traveling along the road section. The calculation unit 12 calculates the revenue based on the number of people present at the location of the route (for example, a road section included in the route).

The calculation unit 12 stores an estimated number of pedestrians for each road section in advance. The calculation unit 12 may also store an estimated number of pedestrians for each combination of time period and road section. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the calculation unit 12 stores an estimated number of pedestrians for each road section every 10 minutes up to one hour ahead in a database (e.g., an estimated pedestrian number table) of the vehicle dispatch management server 10. The road sections are set in advance. Figure 6 shows an example of an estimated number of pedestrians for each road section. In Figure 6, each hatched area corresponds to each road section. Note that the unit of pedestrian number in Figures 5 and 6 is (people).

The number of pedestrians for each combination of time period and road section may be estimated using a conventional method (e.g., a method using real-time pedestrian flow data). The pedestrian number estimation may be performed by the vehicle dispatch management server 10, or by a device other than the vehicle dispatch management server 10. If the pedestrian number estimation is performed by a device other than the vehicle dispatch management server 10, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 obtains information indicating the estimated pedestrian number from that device. The estimated pedestrian number (e.g., the estimated pedestrian number table shown in Figure 5) may be newly calculated and updated at regular intervals (e.g., every 10 minutes). For example, the estimated pedestrian number table shown in Figure 5 was updated at 11:50. The pedestrian number may be a value for each sidewalk on the left and right sides of the road. In this case, the advertising revenue may be calculated using the number of pedestrians on the sidewalk on the lane on which the taxi related to the calculation of advertising revenue is traveling.

The calculation unit 12 calculates the expected value of advertising revenue from the information indicating the taxi travel route input from the acquisition unit 11 and the stored information using the following formula.
The letters in the above formula represent the following:
A _Z : Expected advertising revenue of a taxi passing through route Z O _ζ : Estimated number of pedestrians on road section ζ when the taxi passes through road section ζ (number of people who see the advertisement)
b: coefficient for calculating advertising revenue (a value that is set in advance and stored in the calculation unit 12)

If the information indicating the route of travel includes the passing time for each location, the estimated number of pedestrians in the road section may be, for example, the number at the time when the taxi entered the road section. For example, if the taxi entered the road section at 15:28, the estimated number of pedestrians from 15:20 to 15:30 may be used for calculation. The time related to the estimated number of pedestrians may be the current time (the time of calculation) or a time related to the route of travel. Figure 7 shows an example of the expected advertising revenue (O _ζ · b above) for each road section included in the route. The sum of the expected advertising revenue for each road section shown in Figure 7 is the expected advertising revenue for the entire route (A _Z above). In the example shown in Figure 7, the expected advertising revenue for the entire route (A _Z above) is 180 yen.

Next, the calculation unit 12 calculates the expected advertising revenue A _Z ave per a preset unit time (e.g., one minute) using the calculated expected advertising revenue A _Z for the entire route and the information indicating the time required for taxi travel x _Z ^input from the acquisition unit 11, using the following formula:
A _Z ^ave = A _Z /x _Z
The expected advertising revenue per unit time A _Z ^ave is, for example, expressed in units of (¥/minute) as described above. This takes into consideration the fact that the longer the route and the longer the time required for a taxi to arrive, the more opportunities there are for an advertisement to be viewed. However, the calculation unit 12 may use the expected advertising revenue A _Z for the entire route as the revenue from taxi advertising to be used in determining which taxi to dispatch.

Each advertisement displayed in a taxi may target a different demographic. For example, one advertisement may target men and women in their twenties, while another advertisement may target men in their forties. Taking this into consideration, the calculation unit 12 may calculate revenue based on the number of people of each attribute present at the route location in accordance with the advertisement displayed outside the taxi. Person attributes may be, for example, gender and age (in 10-year increments). Person attributes may also be other than those listed above, as long as they relate to advertising revenue. In this case, for example, the calculation unit 12 may calculate revenue as follows:

The estimated number of pedestrians stored in the calculation unit 12 is for each attribute. For example, as shown in Figure 8, the calculation unit 12 stores estimated values of the number of pedestrians for each attribute of pedestrians for each road section, every 10 minutes up to one hour into the future, in a database (e.g., an estimated pedestrian number table) of the vehicle dispatch management server 10. Note that the unit of the number of pedestrians in Figure 8 is (people).

The calculation unit 12 also stores in advance a weight, which is a coefficient used to calculate revenue, for each advertisement and pedestrian attribute. The weight is set in advance. For example, the closer the corresponding attribute is to the attribute of the pedestrian who is the target of the corresponding advertisement, the larger the weight value. This indicates that the closer the corresponding attribute is to the attribute of the pedestrian who is the target of the corresponding advertisement, the greater the advertising revenue per person who views the advertisement. For example, as shown in Figure 9, the calculation unit 12 stores the weight for each combination of advertisement identifier and pedestrian attribute in the database of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 (for example, a weight table for each attribute).

The calculation unit 12 calculates the expected value of advertising revenue from the information indicating the taxi travel route input from the acquisition unit 11 and the stored information using the following formula.
The letters in the above formula represent the following:
A _Z : Expected advertising revenue of a taxi passing through route Z w _p : Weight of pedestrian attribute p for advertisements displayed in the target taxi P : All pedestrian attributes O _ζ ^p : Estimated number of pedestrians with attribute p on road section ζ when the taxi passes through road section ζ (number of people who see the advertisement)
b: coefficient for calculating advertising revenue (a value that is set in advance and stored in the calculation unit 12)
In this case, too, the calculation unit 12 may calculate the expected value A _Z ^ave of advertising revenue per unit time (for example, one minute) in the same manner as above.

The calculation unit 12 calculates, as the penalty, a loss based on the cancellation rate according to the required time, or more specifically, the opportunity loss mentioned above. Generally, the longer the required time for a taxi to arrive, as notified when a taxi is requested, the more likely the user is to cancel the taxi.

The calculation unit 12 stores information indicating the correspondence between the required time and the cancellation rate in advance. This correspondence is, for example, a function of the cancellation rate f(x) when the required time is x minutes, as shown in the graph in Figure 10. This correspondence is calculated or set in advance. The horizontal axis in Figure 10 is in minutes. For example, this correspondence is found based on the required time displayed on the user terminal (the required time notified to the user, in minutes) shown in the table in Figure 10, and the actual presence or absence of cancellations in that case.

According to the relationship between the required time x minutes and the cancellation rate f(x) shown in the graph in Figure 10, for example, vehicle A, which has a required time of 7 minutes as shown in Figure 2, has a cancellation rate of 0.04; vehicle B, which has a required time of 9 minutes, has a cancellation rate of 0.1; and vehicle C, which has a required time of 2 minutes, has a cancellation rate of 0.01. Note that the function of cancellation rate f(x) may be determined by any method, including conventional methods, based on knowledge gained from the operation of taxi dispatch. The correspondence between the required time and the cancellation rate may be other than that described above.

The calculation unit 12 stores the average taxi fare in advance. The stored average fare may correspond to the taxi boarding location (i.e., the location of the taxi dispatch target). For example, the stored average fare may be a value for each area divided into regions (e.g., 500m mesh). The stored average fare may also correspond to the taxi dispatch or boarding time. For example, the stored average fare may be a value for every 10 minutes.

The calculation unit 12 calculates the expected value of the opportunity loss from the information indicating the time required for taxi travel input from the acquisition unit 11 and the stored information using the following formula.
F _Z =p・f(x _Z )
The letters in the above formula represent the following:
F _Z : Expected opportunity loss for the length of time required for a taxi to travel along route Z p: Average fare for that time period (for example, at the time of dispatch or boarding) in the area that includes the pick-up point (location of the taxi to be dispatched) x _Z : Time required for the taxi to arrive (time required for the taxi to travel)

Next, the calculation unit 12 calculates the expected value F _Z ave of the opportunity loss per preset unit time (for example, one minute) from the calculated expected value F _Z of the opportunity loss and the information indicating the time x _Z required for taxi travel ^input from the acquisition unit 11, using the following formula:
F _Z ^ave = F _Z /x _Z
The expected value of opportunity loss per unit time F _Z ^ave is, for example, expressed in units of (¥/minute) as described above. This is to align the units with the expected value of advertising revenue per unit time A _Z ^ave . However, the calculation unit 12 may use the expected value of opportunity loss F _Z that is not expressed per unit time as the penalty to be used in determining which taxi to dispatch.

The calculation unit 12 may also calculate a penalty according to the penalty calculation information acquired by the acquisition unit 11. In this case, the average taxi fare stored in the calculation unit 12 corresponds to the penalty calculation information. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the calculation unit 12 stores the average fare in a database (e.g., an average fare table) of the dispatch management server 10. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the average fare is information for each combination of a mesh code (information identifying a mesh) and information indicating the weather, and for every 10 minutes. Note that the unit of the average fare in FIG. 11 is (¥).

The calculation unit 12 determines the mesh (area) including the location of the dispatch target indicated by the penalty calculation information input from the acquisition unit 11 as the mesh for calculating the penalty. The calculation unit 12 determines the average fare stored in advance, associated with the mesh and the combination of weather for the dispatch target and dispatch time indicated by the penalty calculation information input from the acquisition unit 11, as the average fare for calculating the expected value of opportunity loss. The calculation unit 12 uses this average fare to calculate the expected value of opportunity loss in the same manner as above.

The calculation unit 12 outputs the advertising revenue (e.g., the expected advertising revenue described above) and penalty (e.g., the expected opportunity loss described above) calculated for each of the multiple dispatch candidate taxis to the determination unit 13. Note that the advertising revenue calculated by the calculation unit 12 may be other than the above as long as it corresponds to the above route. Also, the penalty calculated by the calculation unit 12 may be other than the above as long as it corresponds to the above required time. Also, the calculation of the advertising revenue and penalty by the calculation unit 12 may be performed using methods other than those described above.

The determination unit 13 is a functional unit that determines which taxi to dispatch from multiple taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated by the calculation unit 12. For example, the determination unit 13 determines which taxi to dispatch based on pre-stored determination criteria as follows:

The determination unit 13 inputs the advertising revenue and penalty for each of the multiple dispatch candidate taxis from the calculation unit 12. The determination unit 13 inputs information from the acquisition unit 11. The determination unit 13 determines a taxi to dispatch by taking into consideration the advertising revenue and penalty. For example, the determination unit 13 calculates the expected advertising revenue - the expected opportunity loss (A _Z ^ave - _{F Z} ^ave ) for each taxi. The determination unit 13 determines the taxi with the largest calculated value as the taxi to dispatch from among the multiple dispatch candidate taxis. Note that the determination of a taxi to dispatch by the determination unit 13 may be performed by a method other than the above, as long as it is based on the revenue and penalty calculated by the calculation unit 12.

The determination unit 13 outputs the determination result and accompanying information. In response to the request for dispatching a taxi, the determination unit 13 notifies the user terminal 20 that a taxi has been dispatched and the amount of time required for the dispatched taxi to arrive. The notified amount of time is the amount of time required for the determined taxi to travel to the dispatch target location indicated by the information input from the acquisition unit 11. The user terminal 20 receives a notification from the determination unit 13 (vehicle dispatch management server 10). The user of the user terminal 20 can refer to the notification to know that a taxi has been dispatched and the amount of time required.

The determination unit 13 notifies the driver terminal 30 associated with the determined taxi that a taxi has been dispatched and information indicating the route from the taxi's location to the target location for dispatch. The notified route is the route indicated by the information input from the acquisition unit 11 for the determined taxi. The driver terminal 30 receives the notification from the determination unit 13 (vehicle dispatch management server 10). The driver using the driver terminal 30 refers to the notification to learn that a taxi has been dispatched and the route to the target location for dispatch. The driver drives the taxi to the target location for dispatch according to the route and picks up the user of the user terminal 20 in the taxi. In other words, the taxi heads to the pickup location. This allows the user to use the taxi. These are the functions of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 associated with this embodiment.

Next, using the flowchart in Figure 12, we will explain the vehicle dispatch determination method, which is a process executed by the vehicle dispatch management server 10 according to this embodiment (a method of operation performed by the vehicle dispatch management server 10). This process starts when a request for dispatching a taxi is sent from the user terminal 20 to the vehicle dispatch management server 10 and the request is received by the acquisition unit 11 in the vehicle dispatch management server 10.

In this process, first, the acquisition unit 11 acquires information used to determine the taxi to be dispatched (S01, acquisition step). This information includes, for each of the multiple taxis that are candidates for dispatch, information indicating the route from the taxi's location to the dispatch target location and the time required for that trip. For example, the route and the time required for that trip may be calculated as described above, and this information may be acquired.

Next, the calculation unit 12 calculates, for each taxi, the revenue from advertisements displayed outside the taxi according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11 (for example, the expected advertising revenue described above). The calculation unit 12 also calculates, for each taxi, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit 11 (for example, the expected opportunity loss described above) (S02, calculation step).

Next, the determination unit 13 determines which taxi to dispatch from a plurality of taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated by the calculation unit 12 (S03, determination step). Next, information according to the dispatch result is output from the determination unit 13 (S04). For example, as described above, information is sent from the determination unit 13 to the user terminal 20 that requested the taxi dispatch and the driver terminal 30 associated with the determined taxi. By sending this information, a taxi is dispatched, and the user of the user terminal 20 can use the taxi. This completes the vehicle dispatch determination method, which is processing executed by the vehicle dispatch management server 10 according to this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the taxi to be dispatched is determined by taking into consideration the advertising revenue according to the route for each taxi to the target location and the penalty according to the time required for that trip. Therefore, according to this embodiment, taxis can be dispatched taking advertising revenue into consideration. More specifically, taxi operating profits can be increased by balancing the time required for the trip and advertising revenue along the way.

Furthermore, as in the above-described embodiment, the calculation unit 12 may calculate the revenue and penalty per unit time based on the required time. With this configuration, the revenue and penalty per unit time are taken into consideration when determining which taxi to dispatch. Therefore, taxis can be dispatched with advertising revenue more appropriately taken into consideration. However, the calculated revenue and penalty do not necessarily have to be calculated per unit time.

Furthermore, as in the above-described embodiment, the calculation unit 12 may calculate a loss (for example, the above-described opportunity loss) based on the cancellation rate corresponding to the required travel time as the penalty. With this configuration, the calculated penalty can be made more appropriate, and as a result, a more appropriate taxi dispatch can be made according to the penalty. However, the penalty need not necessarily be based on the cancellation rate, as long as it corresponds to the required travel time.

Furthermore, as in the above-described embodiment, the penalty may also be calculated based on penalty calculation information indicating the location of the vehicle to be dispatched, the situation at that location, or the time of dispatch. This configuration allows the calculated penalty to be more appropriate, and as a result, a more appropriate taxi can be dispatched in accordance with the penalty. However, penalty calculation information does not necessarily need to be used to calculate the penalty.

Furthermore, as in the above-described embodiment, the calculation unit 12 may calculate the revenue based on the number of people present at the route location. With this configuration, the calculated revenue can be made more appropriate, and as a result, taxis can be dispatched more appropriately according to the revenue.

In this case, the calculation unit 12 may calculate revenue based on the number of people of each attribute who are present at a location on the route, in accordance with the advertisement displayed on the outside of the taxi. With this configuration, the calculated revenue can be made more appropriate by taking into account the attributes of the people who are the target of the advertisement, and as a result, taxis can be dispatched more appropriately according to the revenue. However, it is not necessary to use people's attributes when calculating revenue, and it is not necessary to use the number of people who are present at a location on the route when calculating revenue.

Note that the block diagrams used to explain the above embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of hardware and/or software. Furthermore, there are no particular limitations on how each functional block is realized. That is, each functional block may be realized using a single device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are connected directly or indirectly (for example, using wires, wirelessly, etc.) and these multiple devices. A functional block may also be realized by combining software with the single device or multiple devices.

Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, assessment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, election, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, regard, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs transmission functions is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on how these functions are implemented.

For example, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 in one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs the information processing of the present disclosure. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 in one embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle dispatch management server 10 described above may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, memory 1002, storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc. Furthermore, the hardware configuration of the user terminal 20 and the driver terminal 30 may also be as described here.

In the following explanation, the term "device" can be interpreted as a circuit, device, unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in the diagram, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

Each function of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 is realized by loading specific software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, causing the processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communications via the communication device 1004, and control at least one of reading and writing data from and to the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, runs an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) that includes an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, registers, etc. For example, each function of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 described above may be realized by the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 also reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes in accordance with these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-described embodiments. For example, each function of the vehicle dispatch management server 10 may be implemented by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and running on the processor 1001. While the above-described various processes have been described as being executed by a single processor 1001, they may also be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented on one or more chips. The programs may also be transmitted from a network via telecommunications lines.

Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be composed of at least one of, for example, ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. Memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory (primary storage device), etc. Memory 1002 can store executable programs (program code), software modules, etc. for performing information processing related to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The storage medium provided by vehicle dispatch management server 10 may be, for example, a database, a server, or other appropriate medium that includes at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission/reception device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also referred to as a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc.

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, speaker, LED lamp, etc.) that outputs to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (e.g., a touch panel).

Furthermore, each device, such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses for each device.

Furthermore, the vehicle dispatch management server 10 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by this hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

The order of the processing steps, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be changed unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order, and are not limited to the particular order presented.

Input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, memory) or may be managed using a management table. Input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. Output information may be deleted. Input information may be sent to another device.

The determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (for example, comparison with a predetermined value).

Each aspect/embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched between depending on the implementation. Furthermore, notification of specified information (e.g., notification that "X is true") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may also be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specified information).

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, which are defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended for illustrative purposes only and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

In addition, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) and/or wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then the wired and/or wireless technology is included within the definition of a transmission medium.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc. described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values from a predetermined value, or other corresponding information.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching a table, database, or other data structure), and ascertaining something that is considered to be a "determination." "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and so on. Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding actions such as resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and comparing as having been "judgment" or "decision." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding some action as having been "judgment" or "decision." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

As used in this disclosure, any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must in some way precede the second element.

When the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Furthermore, when the term "or" is used in this disclosure, it is not intended to be an exclusive or.

In this disclosure, where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the noun following these articles being plural.

In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." Note that this term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combined" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

The vehicle allocation determination device and vehicle allocation determination method of the present disclosure have the following configuration.
[1] an acquisition unit that acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for dispatch, information indicating a route of travel from the location of the taxi to a target location for dispatch and a required time for the travel;
a calculation unit that calculates, for each of the taxis, revenue from advertisements to be displayed outside the taxis according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and calculates, for each of the taxis, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines a taxi to be dispatched from the plurality of taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated by the calculation unit;
A vehicle dispatch determination device comprising:
[2] The vehicle allocation determination device according to [1], wherein the calculation unit calculates the profit and the penalty per unit time based on the required time.
[3] The vehicle allocation determination device according to [1] or [2], wherein the calculation unit calculates, as the penalty, a loss based on a cancellation rate according to the required time.
[4] The acquisition unit acquires penalty calculation information indicating a location of a vehicle to be dispatched, a situation at the location, or a time of dispatching the vehicle,
The vehicle allocation determination device according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the calculation unit calculates a penalty according to the penalty calculation information acquired by the acquisition unit.
[5] The vehicle allocation determination device according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the calculation unit calculates the profit based on the number of people present at positions on the route.
[6] The vehicle dispatch decision device according to [5], wherein the calculation unit calculates the revenue based on the number of people of each attribute present at a position on the route in accordance with an advertisement displayed outside the taxi.
[7] an acquisition step in which the vehicle allocation determination device acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for allocation, information indicating a route of travel from the location of the taxi to a location to be allocated and a required time for the travel;
a calculation step in which the vehicle dispatch determination device calculates, for each of the taxis, revenue from advertisements to be displayed outside the taxis according to the route indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step, and calculates, for each of the taxis, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step;
a determination step in which the vehicle allocation determination device determines a taxi to be allocated from the plurality of taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated in the calculation step;
A vehicle dispatch decision method including:

10... vehicle dispatch management server, 11... acquisition unit, 12... calculation unit, 13... determination unit, 20... user terminal, 30... driver terminal, 1001... processor, 1002... memory, 1003... storage, 1004... communication device, 1005... input device, 1006... output device, 1007... bus.

Claims (7)

an acquisition unit that acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for dispatch, information indicating a route of travel from the location of the taxi to a location to be dispatched and a required time for the travel;
a calculation unit that calculates, for each of the taxis, revenue from advertisements to be displayed outside the taxis according to the route indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and calculates, for each of the taxis, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired by the acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines a taxi to be dispatched from the plurality of taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated by the calculation unit;
A vehicle dispatch determination device comprising: The vehicle allocation determination device described in claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the revenue and the penalty per unit time based on the required time. The vehicle allocation determination device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates, as the penalty, a loss based on a cancellation rate corresponding to the required time. the acquisition unit acquires penalty calculation information indicating a location of a vehicle to be dispatched, a situation at the location, or a time of dispatching the vehicle;
The vehicle allocation determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the calculation unit calculates the penalty according to the penalty calculation information acquired by the acquisition unit. The vehicle allocation decision device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the revenue based on the number of people present at the location on the route. The vehicle dispatch decision device described in claim 5, wherein the calculation unit calculates the revenue based on the number of people of each attribute present at the location on the route in accordance with an advertisement displayed on the outside of the taxi. an acquisition step in which the vehicle allocation determination device acquires, for each of a plurality of taxis that are candidates for allocation, information indicating a route of travel from the location of the taxi to a location to be allocated and a required time for the travel;
a calculation step in which the vehicle dispatch determination device calculates, for each of the taxis, revenue from advertisements to be displayed outside the taxis according to the route indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step, and calculates, for each of the taxis, a penalty according to the required time indicated by the information acquired in the acquisition step;
a determination step in which the vehicle allocation determination device determines a taxi to be allocated from the plurality of taxis based on the profit and penalty calculated in the calculation step;
A vehicle dispatch decision method including: