JP2010128751A - Seat information provision system - Google Patents

Abstract

When passengers who are not seated are provided with seat information that is likely to be vacant, it is difficult for elderly people to sit, and unfairness such as seating for those who board later will occur.
SOLUTION: The vacant seat expectation of the seat on which the passenger is seated is extracted and stored and managed from the user information stored in the passenger ticket and the seat information corresponding to the passenger seat. Based on this, priority information provision to senior citizens is provided by providing seat information after deciding the priority of provision of seat information from user information stored in passenger tickets that cannot be seated It also makes it possible to provide seat information according to the boarding order.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a seat information providing system, and more particularly to a seat information providing system for notifying passengers of the availability of seats on a train or bus.

  Passengers wishing to sit on trains and buses that have not reserved seats can sit freely if there are vacant seats, but if there are no vacant seats, they will stand in a suitable place in the car and seats nearby will be vacant. Will wait. At present, it is impossible to know where the seated person gets off, so he stands without knowing when the seat is empty. Even if seats are vacant, people who can be seated are usually people standing in the vicinity, so it is difficult to sit in a seat away from where they are standing, and eventually they get off There will be a situation where you cannot sit down to the station.

  In order to improve such a situation, various technologies for providing seat availability information have been disclosed. For example, the “vacant seat prediction system and method” described in Patent Document 1 is intended to enable seating in a relatively short time. According to Patent Document 1, a passenger terminal owned by a passenger, a central device, and a system comprising a communication network connecting them, a seated passenger inputs a seat number and a planned departure station to the mobile device and transmits to the central device. However, the central device generates an estimated waiting time until the seat becomes vacant based on the relationship between the information received from the mobile terminal and the current position of the train, and informs the mobile terminals of passengers who are not seated, thereby improving the above-mentioned matters. Is possible.

JP 2004-86471 A

  According to the said patent document, since the passenger who has not been seated is notified of the estimated seat vacancy time, it becomes possible to sit in a shorter time by moving in front of the seat that becomes vacant. However, since the vacant seat prediction information in Patent Document 1 is uniformly provided to passengers who are not seated, when a plurality of people are standing, passengers who have boarded later will seat first. There is a concern that unfairness will occur, and that seats will be shared. Also, especially in crowded situations, it is not possible to move as expected even if you are informed of the vacant seat prediction information for seats away from where you are standing. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a seat information providing system for notifying passengers of vacant seat information or seat information expected to be available.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat information providing system for notifying passengers of vacant seats or estimated seat availability in trains, buses, etc., so as not to be unfair to passengers.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a seat information providing system that notifies passengers of vacant seats or seat information that is expected to be available according to the congestion status or priority of the passengers.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a passenger portable terminal, a ticket storing passenger ticket information including identification information of the passenger and a communication address assigned to the passenger portable terminal, and a plurality of seats. A passenger information providing system for providing passenger seat information of the passenger in the vehicle to the passenger portable terminal, wherein the passenger portable terminal has a wireless communication function, and the vehicle is for the passenger. A wireless communication unit that communicates with a mobile terminal through a wireless line, a boarding gate information collection unit that acquires boarding ticket information stored in the boarding ticket when the passenger gets on and off the vehicle, and a separation of the passenger's seat A seat information collecting unit that acquires the ticket information stored in the ticket in response to the seating, and a vacant seat of the vehicle from the passenger seat information acquired by the boarding gate information collecting unit and the seat information collecting unit. Comprises a seat information processing unit that manages vacant seat prospect information, and the seat information processing unit provides seat information to the passenger portable terminal via the wireless communication unit based on the vacant seat of the vehicle or the vacant seat prospect information. It is characterized by doing.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the seat information provision system which notifies a passenger about the seat information of a vacant seat or a vacant seat prospect can be provided.
In addition, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a seat information providing system that informs passengers of vacant seats or prospects of vacant seats on trains, buses, etc. so as not to be unfair to passengers.
In a further case, it is possible to provide a seat information providing system that notifies passengers of vacant seat information or seat information that is expected to be available according to the congestion status or priority of passengers.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, an example applied to a railway will be described.
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a train in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of a station ticket gate in one embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 10 indicates a vehicle A, and 11 indicates a vehicle B. Each is a vehicle included in a train. Of course, the number of vehicles is not limited to two, and there may be more vehicles or only one vehicle.

  In the vehicle A10, reference numeral 101 denotes a seat information processing unit, which has a configuration in which a vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 and a seat information provision control unit 1012 are provided as illustrated. Details of these will be described later. Reference numeral 15 denotes a ticket A carried by the passenger of the vehicle A10, 16 denotes a portable terminal A (also referred to as a passenger portable terminal A) carried by the passenger of the vehicle A10, and 17 denotes a passenger of the vehicle B11. Tickets B and 18 indicate mobile terminals B (also referred to as passenger mobile terminals B) carried by passengers of the vehicle B11.

  The boarding ticket A15 and the boarding ticket B17 are, for example, those of the non-contact IC card type that is currently popular, and those having a wireless communication function are used. The inside of the ticket A15 and the ticket B17 includes a ticket A information storage unit 151 and a ticket B information storage unit 171 as shown in the figure. In the ticket A information storage unit 151 and the ticket B information storage unit 171, at least an ID number for identifying each ticket is stored inside. The mobile terminal A16 and the mobile terminal B18 are, for example, mobile phones, mobile personal computers, etc., and those having a wireless communication function are used. In this embodiment, as an example, seat information is sent to each passenger using e-mail. This will be described in the form provided.

  Reference numeral 102 denotes a vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit, and 109 denotes a vehicle B boarding information collection unit, each having a wireless communication function with each boarding ticket, and for identifying the mounted vehicle inside. Vehicle number A storage unit 1021 and vehicle number B storage unit 1091 are included. The vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 is provided near the boarding gate of the vehicle A10, for example, and the ID number stored in the boarding ticket A information storage unit 151 of the boarding ticket A15 when the passenger gets on and off the vehicle A10 wirelessly. Perform the reading process. Similarly, the vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 is provided near the boarding gate of the vehicle B11, and performs a process of wirelessly reading the ID number stored in the boarding ticket B information storage unit 171 of the boarding ticket B17.

  A plurality of seats are provided in the train. 105 indicates a seat 1A, 106 indicates a seat 2A, 107 indicates a seat 1B, and 108 indicates a seat 2B. Is shown. In the present embodiment, only two seats are shown, but it goes without saying that a plurality of seats having the same configuration are arranged.

The seat 1A105 in the vehicle A10 includes a vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 and a seating detection unit A1052 as illustrated.
The vehicle A seat information collecting unit 1051 includes a wireless communication function with the ticket A15 and a seat number 1A storage unit 10511 that stores therein a seat number 1A for identifying that the seat is attached to the seat 1A105. It is configured.
The seating detection unit A1052 is a sensor that detects a passenger's seating, for example, a sensor that detects a pressure generated when the passenger is seated.
Although the internal configuration of the seat 2A106 is not shown, the configuration is the same as that of the seat 1A105.

  Similarly, the seat 1B107 in the vehicle B11 is provided with a vehicle B seat information collection unit 1071 and a seat detection unit B1072 as shown, and the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 and the seating detection unit A1052 are respectively provided. The seat number 1B storage unit 10711 of the vehicle B seat information collection unit 1071 stores the seat number 1B in order to identify that the seat is in the vehicle B11. It is assumed that the internal configuration of the seat 2B108 is similar.

The vehicle A wireless communication unit 103 is means for wirelessly communicating with the portable terminal A16 possessed by the passenger in the vehicle A10, and is used when communicating seat information of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as an example, the vehicle A wireless communication unit 103 is also used for wireless communication with the ticket gate system 20 at a station shown in FIG.
The vehicle B wireless communication unit 104 in the vehicle B11 is provided as a communication unit that wirelessly communicates with a mobile terminal B18 possessed by a passenger in the vehicle B11.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a communication network A in the vehicle A10, and reference numeral 13 denotes a communication network B in the vehicle B11. As shown in the figure, each communication element in the vehicle A10 is connected to the communication network A12. Is configured to communicate by connecting each component in the vehicle B11.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a repeater, which is provided to connect the communication network A12 and the communication network B13 to enable communication between vehicles.

Next, a configuration example of the ticket gate system at the station will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 denotes a station ticket gate system.
In the ticket gate system 20, 201 is a ticket vending machine that issues a ticket A15 and a ticket B17, 202 is a ticket gate that performs predetermined ticket processing such as a ticket check for payment of a boarding fee, and 203 is a mobile phone carried by the passenger. The terrestrial radio | wireless communication part which communicates with terminal A16, portable terminal B18, the vehicle A radio | wireless communication part 103 in a train, and the vehicle B radio | wireless communication part 104 is shown. A boarding information management unit 204 connects components as illustrated, and performs management control processing for the entire ticket gate system in cooperation with the ticket vending machine 201, the ticket gate 202, and the ground wireless communication unit 203.

First, an example of the operation up to issuing a ticket A15 in the ticket vending machine 201 will be described below.
A passenger who wishes to purchase the ticket A15 first requests a ticket from the ticket vending machine 201. When the ticket vending machine 201 receives a ticketing request from a passenger, the ticket vending machine 201 displays a screen for prompting input of passenger information necessary for ticketing, and the passenger inputs predetermined passenger information accordingly.

Passenger information input here is, for example, boarding section, valid period, name, age, gender, etc. In this embodiment, in addition to these, assigned to the portable terminal A16 possessed by the passenger, for example, Assume that an e-mail address is entered. Moreover, you may make it input the information which shows that it is a passenger who needs priority to seating, such as a disabled person and a pregnant woman.
In the present embodiment, the seat information is provided by using an electronic mail for the portable terminal A16 and the portable terminal B18 possessed by the passenger, and an existing portable terminal having an electronic mail receiving function is used without change.

In the ticket vending machine 201, when the input by the passenger is completed, the input passenger information is sent to the boarding information management unit 204 to request ticketing. When the boarding information management unit 204 receives a ticketing request, the boarding information management unit 204 assigns a unique ID number for identifying the boarding ticket A15 to be issued, and sends it back to the ticket machine 201.
The ticket vending machine 201 writes the unique ID number assigned from the boarding information management unit 204 and the passenger information input from the passenger into the boarding ticket A information storage unit 151 of the boarding ticket A15 and provides the boarding ticket A15 to the passenger. To do.
The boarding information management unit 204 also stores and manages passenger information input from the ticket vending machine 201 in association with the assigned unique ID number in the passenger information storage unit 2041.

Next, an operation example in the ticket gate 202 will be described.
The ticket gate 202 detects entry / exit of passengers to / from the station, reads the ticket information stored in the ticket A information storage unit 151, and gets on / off necessary for payment of the boarding fee to the ticket A information storage unit 151. Predetermined information such as station information and date / time information when passing through the ticket gate is written.
The ticket checker 202 transmits the read ticket information to the boarding information management unit 204, and the boarding information management unit 204 performs the ticketing process.

  The ticket processing in the ticket information management unit 204 includes the validity of the ticket based on the unique ID number included in the ticket information, the validity period, date and time information when passing through the ticket gate 202, etc. Check processing, boarding section check when leaving the station, boarding fee settlement processing, etc. The settlement process result is notified to the ticket checker 202, and the ticket checker 202 performs processing for notifying the passenger of the settlement result.

  In the present embodiment, “station exit state / station entrance state / in-car seat state / in-car seat state” is defined as the boarding state of each passenger, and seat information is provided according to the boarding state as will be described later. . Therefore, the boarding state is also managed as part of the passenger information.

Next, the state transition of a boarding state is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 3 shows a state transition diagram of the boarding state in one embodiment of the present invention.
The boarding state is configured such that the state update and storage management are performed by the boarding information management unit 204 of the ticket gate system 20 and the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101 provided in the vehicle A10. The state transition process of “exit state S301-1 / station entrance state S301-2” is performed by the exit ticket gate system 20, and the boarding state is stored and managed by the passenger information storage unit 2041 of the boarding information management unit 204. .

  Then, the state transition of “separate seat state S302-1 / seat seat state S302-2” in step S302 is performed in the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101, and the boarding state is the vacant seat expectation information management unit. 1011 indicates that storage management is performed.

Hereinafter, the flow of the state transition update of the boarding state will be described.
First, in step S301, the ticket vending machine 201 performs a ticketing process in which the boarding information management unit 204 assigns a unique ID at the time of ticketing, as described above, so that the boarding information management unit 204 is in the boarding state at the time of the ticketing process, for example. Is initially set to “station exit state S301-1”. The set boarding state is stored in the passenger information storage unit 2041 in addition to the passenger information notified from the ticket vending machine 201. The ticket gate 202 transmits the ticket information read at the time of detection of passengers entering or leaving the station to the boarding information management unit 204 as described above. State transition is performed when ticket information is received. When the reception of the ticket information is when entering the station, the boarding state stored in the passenger information storage unit 2041 is updated to “station entrance state S301-2”, and when the station is leaving, “station exit state S301”. -1 "is updated.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle A 10 is provided with a vehicle A entrance information collecting unit 102 and the vehicle B 11 is provided with a vehicle B entrance information collecting unit 109 at the entrance of each vehicle. Even when passengers get on and off the train, the ticket information is read and transmitted to the seat information processing unit 101.

  Therefore, in step S302, for example, when the ticket information is received from the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 by the vacant seat prospect information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101, the ticket information already stored and managed internally is stored. A process for checking the unique ID number is performed. In the case of boarding, if this is not yet received, the boarding state is set to “separation state S302-1 in the vehicle”, and the process of storing inside is performed. In addition, the unique ID number and data indicating that the vehicle has been boarded are notified to the boarding information management unit 204 via the vehicle A radio communication unit 103 and the ground radio communication unit 203.

  In the case of getting off, if the received unique ID has already been received, the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 confirms that it has got off with the unique ID number received by the boarding information management unit 204 at the getting-off station. The data to be shown is notified, and the ticket information stored and managed internally is deleted.

  When the boarding information management unit 204 receives a passenger boarding notification from the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101, the boarding information management unit 204 corresponds to the unique ID number stored in the passenger information storage unit 2041 as shown in step S301. A process of updating the boarding state from “station entrance state S301-2” to “separate seat state S302-1” is performed. Alternatively, since the passenger information is managed in the train and the destination station, the passenger information may be deleted. In addition, when the boarding information management unit 204 receives a passenger exit notification from the vacant seat information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101, the passenger information in which the unique ID number and the boarding state are set to “station entrance state S301-2”. Is added to the passenger information storage unit 2041.

  In the train, the seating detection unit A1052 and the seating detection unit B1072 provided in each seat detect the passenger's arrival and departure seats and notify the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 and the vehicle B seat information collection unit 1071, respectively. In response to this, the vehicle A seat information collecting unit 1051 and the vehicle B seat information collecting unit 1071 read the ticket information of the passengers who have taken off the seat, and transmit the information to the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 of the seat information processing unit 101. Accordingly, as shown in step S302, in the vacant seat prospective information management unit 1011, when the ticket information transmitted by seating is received from the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051, the boarding associated with the corresponding unique ID number The state is updated to “in-vehicle seating state S302-2”, and when the ticket information transmitted by leaving the seat is received, processing to update to “in-car seating state S302-1” is performed. 3, only the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 are described, but the vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 and the vehicle B seat information collection unit 1071 similarly. State transition shall be performed.

In this embodiment, when the seating detection units 1052 and 1072 detect passenger seating, the seat information collecting units 1051 and 1071 inform the seat information processing unit 101 of the seating information associated with the unique ID number. Therefore, it is not necessary for the passengers themselves to send information about take-off seats.
The above is a processing example of state transition update of a boarding state.

Next, the information providing operation of the seat information processing unit 101 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a boarding ticket information table in the vehicle A10 that is stored and managed by the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 in one embodiment of the present invention.

  In the vehicle A10, as described above, the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 perform a process of reading the ticket information of the ticket A15 possessed by each passenger, and the read ticket information Are sequentially transmitted to the seat information processing unit 101. The same applies to the vehicle B11, and the ticket information read from the ticket B17 is sequentially transmitted to the seat information processing unit 101.

  The communication with the seat information processing unit 101 is performed via a communication network in each vehicle, and the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle A seat information collection unit 1051 transmit information via the communication network A12. The vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 and the vehicle B seat information collection unit 1071 transmit information via the communication network B13, the repeater 14, and the communication network A12.

In the seat information processing unit 101, the received ticket information is sequentially received by the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 and stored therein.
When the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 can read the ticket information, in order to generate at least vacant seat expectation information, the unique ID number, boarding zone, age, and e-mail address of the ticket Are transmitted to the seat information processing unit 101. The ticket information shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the vacant seat prospect information management unit 1011 as described above. Also, as passenger boarding information in each vehicle, whether the boarding status, boarding time, seat number of seated person, getting-off station shown in boarding section, scheduled arrival time at getting-off station, availability of seat availability information were received Is added, and is stored and managed in association with the unique ID number of the ticket information.
In FIG. 4, the boarding time of the passenger boarding information in the vehicle A is time information when the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 read the ticket information. This time information is stored in the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011. The seat number of the seated person is stored in each seat number storage unit when the vehicle A seating information collection unit 1051 and the vehicle B seating information collection unit 1071 receive the seating detection notification from the seating detection unit A1052 and the seating detection B1072. Seat number. This is transmitted to the vacant seat expectation information management unit 1011 and stored. Further, the vacant seat prospect information management unit 1011 stores destination information and estimated arrival time information at each station as train operation information, and each passenger's departure station is included in the boarding section and operation information of the ticket information. It is set based on the train destination information, and the estimated arrival time at the disembarking station is set based on the diagram information included in the operation information. The boarding state is set by the vacant seat prospect information management 1011 as described above.

The information provision state of the vacant seat prospect information is set according to a notification from the seat information provision control unit 1012 described below, but here, “unprovided” is set as an initial value.
In addition, the vehicle number stored in the vehicle number A storage unit 1021 in the vehicle A boarding gate information collection unit 102 and the vehicle number stored in the vehicle number B storage unit 1091 in the vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit 109 are also included. In addition to the ticket information, the vacant seat prospect information management unit 1011 stores and manages the passenger information table shown in FIG. 4 in units of vehicle numbers. The boarding ticket information table is an example, and it goes without saying that the ticket information table is appropriately changed according to the system configuration and purpose.

Next, the operation in the seat information provision control unit 1012 which is a particularly characteristic component of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a process flowchart of the seat information provision control unit 1012 in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a processing example in which information provision control is performed so that seat information is preferentially provided to the elderly in the vehicle, and information is then provided with priority in the order of boarding. In addition, a process for controlling the information provision range according to the congestion status is also provided.
The process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 has shown the example performed every time a passenger's train boarding / alighting is completed in each station.

Hereinafter, the processing content of each step will be described.
In FIG. 5, step S501 is a passenger boarding completion check process, for example, a process for checking the opening / closing state of a boarding gate at a station stop, and when the boarding gate is open, passengers can board and board the board. Therefore, when the boarding / unloading is not completed and the boarding gate is closed, processing for determining that boarding / exit is completed is performed.

  Step S502 is seat information provision priority order determination processing, in which the ticket information stored in the order of reception by the vacant seat prospect information management unit 1011 is rearranged in the order of high priority for providing seat information.

The ticket information table of FIG. 4 is shown as an example after the rearrangement process in step S502.
The seat information provision control unit 1012 provides seat information according to the information provision order No. in the passenger information table shown in FIG. In the information provision order No., No. 1 is the highest priority.

In step S502, first, in order to provide the seat information with the highest priority given to the elderly, processing is performed in order of increasing age in the ticket information.
For example, a passenger over 60 years old is defined as an elderly person, and a passenger over 60 years old is in order of age. In addition, the process is performed so that persons under the age of 60 are not particularly distinguished and are arranged in the order of boarding.

  Next, in order to provide seat information in the order of boarding, for example, when a train stops in the order of a station and b station, as shown in FIG. Passenger boarding ticket information of passengers boarding at a station is additionally stored, and the information provision order of passengers boarding from a later station is made later, and then processing is performed in order of age.

  When the processing in step S502 is completed, the seat information provision target away passenger count processing in step S503 is performed. In step S503, a process is performed in which the number of passengers whose boarding state is “separated in the vehicle” and whose information provision state of seat information is “unprovided” is counted as a seat information provision target person.

  In step S504, the next station vacant seat count estimation process is performed. In step S504, processing is performed to count the number of passengers whose boarding state is "sitting in the vehicle" and whose next station is the disembarking station. For example, when the next station is station c, the passengers with ID numbers 201 and 150 in the passenger information list of FIG. 4 are counted, and the number of vacant seats is counted as 2.

Next, the seat information provision range determination process of step S505 is performed. Details of step S505 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing seat information provision range determination processing in one embodiment of the present invention.
For example, when providing information only in a vehicle that already has vacant seats or is expected to be vacant at the next station (hereinafter referred to as a corresponding vehicle), the seat information provision range of the present embodiment is also provided to vehicles adjacent to the corresponding vehicle. When providing information, when providing information to all vehicles, define when providing information to the next station. Which information provision range is selected is determined according to the congestion situation as described below.

  First, as a standard indicating the degree of congestion, here, a first threshold value and a second threshold value are defined based on the number of seats and the number of straps in the vehicle. For example, the first threshold value is the number of seats in the vehicle as an indication that the vehicle can move without touching another person, and the second threshold value cannot move without touching another person in the vehicle. As a guide, set the number of seats in the vehicle + the number of straps. Alternatively, the first threshold value may be set to 100% boarding rate, the second threshold value may be set to 150% boarding rate, etc., using the boarding rates generally indicated by railway operators. The first threshold value and the second threshold value can be appropriately set according to the system configuration and purpose.

  In FIG. 6, step S <b> 601 is a process of checking whether or not the number of seat information provision target away passengers is equal to or less than the number of vacant seats. In step S601, the number of vacant seats is calculated by subtracting the number of passengers whose boarding state is "seat in the vehicle" from the total number of seats in the vehicle, and compared with the number of passengers previously counted in step S503 of FIG. In step S601, if the number of seated passengers subject to seat information provision is equal to or less than the number of vacant seats (Yes in the figure), all seated subject seated passengers can be seated. Next, in step S610, seat information is provided. It is checked whether the number of passengers to be provided is equal to the number of vacant seats. In the case where they are equal (Yes in the figure), there is no vacant seat, so in step S602, processing for notifying that seat information is not provided is performed. This is used in step S506 of FIG. In step S610, if the number of vacant seats subject to seat information provision is not equal to the number of vacant seats, that is, if all the seats are vacant (No in the figure), seats in the train in step S611 There is no information provided, but a process of notifying that there is a vacant seat is performed. This vacant seat information may provide seat information at the next station platform. An example of providing seat information at a station platform will be described later.

  Then, if the number of passengers leaving the seat information provision target is greater than the number of vacant seats in step S601 (No in the figure), in step S603, a process is performed to check whether the estimated number of vacant seats in the next station is zero. The estimated number of seats available at the next station refers to the result of S504, and if it is 0 (No in the figure), the number of seats available is checked at step S604. If there is no vacant seat, processing for notifying that seat information is not provided is performed in the same manner as described above in step S602. In step S603, if the estimated number of vacant seats in the next station is greater than 0 (Yes in the figure) and if there is a vacant number in step S604 (Yes in the figure), seat information is provided. Then, in order to determine the information provision range, the congestion status in step S605 and subsequent steps is checked.

  Step S605 is a process of checking whether or not the number of seat information provision target away passengers is equal to or less than the first threshold value. If the value is equal to or less than the first threshold value (Yes in the figure), the check process in step S606 is performed. In step S606, it is checked whether or not the number of passengers leaving the seat information provision target is equal to or greater than (the number of vacant seats + the estimated number of vacant seats at the next station). In step S606, if the number of seated passengers subject to seat information provision is greater than or equal to (the number of vacant seats + the estimated number of seats available at the next station), that is, if seats subject to seat information provision are seated, no seats remain (Yes in the figure). ) In step S607, processing for notifying that seat information is provided is performed only within the vehicle. In step S606, when the number of seated passengers subject to seat information provision is less than (the number of vacant seats + the estimated number of seats available for the next station), that is, even if all seat information subject seated seats are seated, vacancies still remain. (No in the figure), in step S608, a process of notifying the corresponding vehicle and the adjacent vehicle that seat information is provided is performed. Although not shown in FIG. 6, if all the passengers in the adjacent vehicle still have a vacant seat, all the vehicles will be notified, and if there is still a vacant seat, the next station platform will have a vacant seat. You may make it notify. The contents notified in steps S607 and S608 are, for example, the vehicle number for providing seat information and the number of information that can be provided in each vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the number of seat information that can be provided).

If the number of passengers leaving the seat information provision target is greater than the first threshold value in step S605 (No in the figure), a comparison process with the second threshold value is performed in step S609. In step S609, when the number of passengers leaving the seat information provision target is equal to or less than the second threshold value (Yes in the figure), it is determined that movement within the vehicle is possible, and in step S607, Only process to notify that seat information is provided. In step S609, when the number of passengers leaving the seat information provision target is equal to or greater than the second threshold value (No in the figure), it is determined that it is difficult to move within the vehicle even if the seat information is provided. Process to notify that no seat information is provided.
The above is an example of the seat information provision range determination process in step S505 in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, after the process of S505 is completed, a process of checking the process result of step S505 is performed in step S506. In step S506, the presence / absence of seat information is checked. If seat information is not provided (No in the figure), the presence / absence of a vacant seat is checked in step S515. If there is no vacant seat (No in the figure), the process ends without providing seat information. If there is a vacant seat (Yes in the figure), the number of vacant seats is transmitted to the next station in step S516. In step S516, the seat information processing unit 101 performs a process of transmitting to the ticket gate system 20 via the communication network A12 and the vehicle A wireless communication unit 103. The ticket gate system 20 receives the number of vacant seats via the terrestrial wireless communication unit 203, and the boarding information management unit 204 performs processing for providing vacant seat information to passengers to the station platform. An information providing method in the boarding information management unit 204 will be described later.

If seat information is provided in step S506 (Yes in the figure), processing for obtaining the seat information provision target vehicle number and the number of seat information available from the processing result in step S505 is performed in step S507.
Thereafter, in the processing in step S508 and subsequent steps, among the seat information provision target passengers in the vehicle of the acquired vehicle number, the vacant seats are arranged in order of priority according to the number of seat information provisionable according to the ticket information table shown in FIG. Process to send seat information that is expected.

  In step S508, the next information provision No. In the acquisition process, the information provision state of the ticket information table in FIG. 4 is referred to, and the minimum information provision order No that is “unprovided” is obtained as the next information provision order. Thereafter, the passenger information of the information provision number acquired in step S508 is checked.

  In step S509, it is checked whether the disembarking station is the next station. If the next station is the disembarking station (Yes in the figure), it is not necessary to provide seat information. Returning to S508, the next information provision order No. Is obtained and processed in the same manner. In step S509, if the disembarking station is not the next station (No in the figure), a process of reading an e-mail address is performed in step S510, and a process of transmitting seat information to the corresponding e-mail address in step S511. I do. In step S511, seat information that is expected to be vacant is transmitted to the mobile terminal A16 or the mobile terminal B18 possessed by the passenger who is the seat information provision target.

  In step S512, the information provision state is updated to “provided”. Next, in step S513, a process of checking whether or not the provision of seat information has been executed for the number of provisions is performed, and the process from step S508 is repeated until completion (No in the figure). When it is completed in step S513 (Yes in the figure), in step S514, a process of checking whether or not there is a vehicle number to be the next seat information provision target is performed. In step S514, the vehicle number notified in step S505 is checked. If there is another vehicle number that can provide seat information (Yes in the figure), the process returns to step S507 and the above processing is performed. If there is no other vehicle number in step S514 (No in the figure), the seat information providing process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, vacant seats or seat information expected to become vacant seats are provided in the passenger's boarding order, so that it is possible to provide fair seat information that does not give passengers an unfair feeling. . In addition, since it is possible to give priority notification to the elderly, it is possible to improve convenience when the elderly use trains, buses, and the like. Furthermore, since the information provision range is controlled in accordance with the congestion situation in the vehicle, it is possible to provide seat information with reduced confusion due to information provision.

  In addition, as described above, information indicating that the person is a seated priority person such as a disabled person or a pregnant woman is added to the ticket information by inputting passenger information at the ticket machine 201, and the seat information provision priority order determining process in step S502 is performed. Thus, by assigning the information provision order No. to the seat priority person, it is also possible to give the seat information to the disabled person, the pregnant woman, etc. with priority.

Next, one embodiment of the seat information providing method at the station platform shown in the above-described embodiment will be described below.
Provision of seat information at the station platform is performed by the ticket gate system 20.
As described above, when there are vacant seats in the train, the seat information processing unit 101 transmits the number of vacant seats to the boarding information management unit 204, and trains at the station platform for the number of vacant seats received by the boarding information management unit 204. Providing seat information to passengers waiting for This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 shows an example of another boarding ticket information table stored and managed by the passenger information storage unit 2041 of the boarding information management unit 204 in an embodiment of the present invention.
The ticket information in FIG. 7 indicates information received from the ticket gate 202, and the passenger information management unit 204 sequentially receives the ticket information of the ticket read by the ticket gate 202, and the passenger information storage unit 2041. Remember me.

  Accordingly, the passenger information is stored in the order of entrance to the station platform, and the ticket information table is created, so that the information provision order No. is incremented and assigned in the order of reception. The passenger information in the station shown in FIG. 7 has a boarding state and an information providing state. Note that the ticket information table shown in FIG. 7 is also an example, and it goes without saying that the ticket information table is appropriately set according to the system configuration and purpose.

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the seat information providing process at the station platform of the passenger information management unit 204 in one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same processes as those in FIG. 5 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  In FIG. 8, step S801 is processing for checking whether or not vacant seats have been received, and checks whether or not vacant seat information has been received from the next scheduled arrival train notified in step S516 in FIG. If the number of vacant seats has been received (Yes in the figure), the next information provision order No. is read in step S508, and the electronic data of the passenger's portable terminal corresponding to the boarding provision order No. read in step S510 Performs processing to read the email address. In step S802, a process for transmitting vacant seat information of the next scheduled arrival train to the e-mail address is performed. The seat information provided in step S802 is, for example, the vehicle number and the position of the entrance near the empty seat. When the vacant seat information is transmitted in step S802, the information provision state in step S512 is updated to “provided”, and it is checked in step S803 whether the provision of seat information for the number of vacant seats has been completed. The process is repeated until completion in step S803 (No in the figure), and when completed, the process ends (Yes in the figure).

Although FIG. 8 shows an example of processing for providing seat information in the order of station entry, notifications may be given preferentially to elderly people, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, etc., as in the vehicle.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide seat information of the next train to a passenger waiting for the train at the station platform, thereby improving convenience. Further, since seat information is provided in the order of entrance to the station platform, it is possible to provide fair seat information in addition to convenience.

  The system block diagrams and flowcharts shown so far do not limit the scope of the present invention. Based on the gist of the present invention, examples in which changes are made to these can be considered, but all fall within the scope of the present invention.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment of the seat information providing system described here, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be widely applied to other seat information providing systems.

The system block diagram of the train in one Example of this invention. The system block diagram of the ticket gate of the station in one Example of this invention. The state transition diagram of the boarding state in one Example of this invention. The figure which shows the boarding ticket information table of one Example of this invention. The processing flowchart of one Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the seat information provision range determination process in one Example of this invention. The figure which shows the other boarding ticket information table in one Example of this invention. The flowchart of the process for demonstrating the operation | movement in other one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  10: vehicle A, 11: vehicle B, 12: communication network A, 13: communication network B, 14: repeater, 15: boarding ticket A, 16: mobile terminal A, 17: boarding ticket B, 18: mobile terminal B 20: Ticket gate system.

  101: Seat A information processing section, 102: Vehicle A boarding gate information collection section, 103: Vehicle A wireless communication section, 104: Vehicle B wireless communication section, 105: Seat 1A, 106: Seat 2A, 107: Seat 1B, 108: Seat 2B, 109: Vehicle B boarding gate information collection unit, 151: Ticket A information storage unit, 171: Ticket B information storage unit.

  201: ticket vending machine, 202: ticket gate, 203: ground radio communication unit, 204: boarding information management unit.

  1011: Expected seat availability information management unit, 1012: Seat information provision control unit, 1021: Vehicle number A storage unit, 1091: Vehicle number B storage unit, 1051: Vehicle A seat information collection unit, 1071: Vehicle B seat information collection unit, 1052: Seating detection unit A, 2021: Passenger information storage unit, 10511: Seat number 1A storage unit, 10711: Seat number 1B storage unit.

Claims (6)

A passenger portable terminal, a passenger ticket for storing ticket information including identification information of the passenger and a communication address assigned to the passenger portable terminal, and a vehicle having a plurality of seats, the passenger in the vehicle Seat information providing system for providing the seat information of the passenger to the portable terminal for passengers,
The passenger portable terminal has a wireless communication function,
The vehicle is
A wireless communication unit that communicates with the passenger portable terminal via a wireless line;
A boarding gate information collection unit that acquires the ticket information stored in the ticket according to the passenger's getting on and off of the vehicle,
A seat information collection unit that acquires the ticket information stored in the ticket according to the seating of the passenger in the seat;
A seat information processing unit that manages vacant seat information or vacant seat prospect information of the vehicle from the passenger seat information acquired by the boarding gate information collecting unit and the seat information collecting unit;
The seat information providing system provides seat information to the passenger portable terminal via the wireless communication unit based on vacant seat or vacant seat prospect information of the vehicle.   2. The seat information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the seat information processing unit includes a seat information provision priority determination unit, and the seat information provision priority determination unit is an age of a passenger stored in the ticket. 3. A seat information providing system characterized by providing seat information based on information.   2. The seat information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the seat information processing unit includes a seat information provision priority determination unit, and the seat information provision priority determination unit is configured such that the boarding gate information collection unit is a passenger boarding. A seat information providing system characterized in that seat information is provided based on an acquisition order of ticket information sometimes stored in the ticket.   The seat information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the seat information processing unit determines a congestion state according to the number of passengers, and determines whether to provide seat information according to the determination result. Seat information provision system.   5. The seat information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the seat information processing unit provides a first threshold value for determining the congestion state and a second threshold value larger than the first threshold value, The seat information processing unit provides the seat information to vehicles other than the vehicle when the number of passengers in the vehicle is less than the first threshold, The seat information providing system, wherein the seat information is provided only to the vehicle when the threshold value is less than 2, and the seat information is not provided when the threshold value is greater than or equal to the second threshold value. The seat information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising:
A ticket gate for acquiring the ticket information stored in the ticket in response to entering and leaving the station;
A boarding information management unit for managing the ticket information acquired by the ticket gates in the order of station entry;
A terrestrial wireless communication unit that communicates with the in-vehicle wireless communication unit through a wireless line;
The seat information processing unit calculates the number of vacant seats when the vacant seats are generated even if all passengers are seated, and determines the number of vacant seats of the vehicle through the in-vehicle wireless communication unit and the ground wireless communication unit. And the boarding information management unit provides seat information to the passenger mobile terminals of passengers entering the station.

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