JP2010250646A - System and method for controlling public vehicle priority signal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for controlling public vehicle priority signals, which can reduce adverse influence on general vehicles while performing signal control useful for on-time operation of public vehicles. <P>SOLUTION: When vehicle information is acquired from a public vehicle such as a bus 1 passing a predetermined position on the upstream side of an intersection 2, passage time is compared with fixed time on an operation diagram to calculate delay time. When the delay time is equal to or more than a threshold, the signal display time of the intersection 2 is adjusted so as to be extended or shortened, but when the delay time is less than the threshold, normal signal control e.g. is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to traffic signal control, and more particularly, to a signal control system and method constituting a Public Transportation Priority System (PTPS) that prioritizes public vehicles.

  Bus priority control that controls signals at intersections is known in order to smoothly run a bus, which is a typical example of public vehicles, in urban areas with a lot of traffic and intersections (see Non-Patent Document 1, for example). . For example, when a bus approaches an intersection, if the intersection is just before the end of the green signal, the green signal display time is extended, and if it is a red signal, the red signal is terminated earlier and changed to a green signal. It will allow the bus to quickly pass through the intersection.

"Revised Traffic Signal Guide", page 76, published in July 2006, edited and published by: Japan Society for Traffic Engineering

  However, in the conventional bus priority control as described above, priority control is performed even for a bus that is operating almost on time, and private cars that run in the same direction near the bus also receive priority benefits. It will be. On the other hand, a vehicle traveling on a road in the crossing direction at the intersection suffers from the disadvantage that the green light becomes shorter and the red light becomes longer. That is, there is a problem that the adverse effect of the bus priority control is exerted on general vehicles and unfairness occurs.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a public vehicle priority signal control system and method that alleviates harmful effects on general vehicles while performing signal control useful for on-time operation of public vehicles. .

(1) The present invention is a public vehicle priority signal control system capable of performing signal control for extending or shortening the signal display time in accordance with the approach of a public vehicle to an intersection,
A delay time is calculated based on vehicle detection means that is provided at a predetermined position upstream of the intersection and acquires vehicle information including an identification signal from a public vehicle, and the transit time of the public vehicle and operation schedule information of the public vehicle. And a signal control means for performing signal control for changing the handling of public vehicle priority based on the length of the delay time.

In the public vehicle priority signal control system configured as described above, the delay time of the public vehicle at a predetermined position upstream of the intersection is calculated, and based on the length of the delay time, not uniformly, by the signal control means. Signal control to change the handling of public vehicle priority. Thereby, according to the length of the delay time, it is possible to selectively use / not prioritize or to selectively use the priority level. Therefore, for example, when the delay time is relatively long, signal control is performed so that the public vehicle is preferentially passed, and conversely, when the delay time is relatively short (including the case where there is no delay time). Signal control with no priority or low priority can be performed.
Thereby, when it is not necessary to give priority to the public vehicle in particular, it is possible to assign an appropriate signal time to the public vehicle, a vehicle traveling in the vicinity thereof, and a vehicle traveling in the intersection direction at the intersection.

(2) In the public vehicle priority signal control system, when the delay time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the signal control means adjusts to extend or shorten the signal display time of the intersection by a predetermined adjustment amount, and delays the delay. When the time is less than the threshold value, the adjustment amount may be reduced and adjustment may be performed, or normal signal control may be performed.

  In other words, when the public vehicle has a delay time greater than or equal to the threshold, the signal control means adjusts the signal display time by extending the green light or shortening the red light so that the public vehicle can quickly pass through the intersection. , Signal control with priority on public vehicles As a result, the public vehicle can quickly pass through the intersection and recover the delay. On the other hand, when the delay time is less than the threshold value (including the case where there is no delay time), the signal control means reduces the adjustment amount and slightly adjusts the signal display time, or gives priority to public vehicles. Normal signal control is performed without performing signal control. Thereby, when it is not necessary to give priority to the public vehicle in particular, it is possible to assign an appropriate signal time to the public vehicle, a vehicle traveling in the vicinity thereof, and a vehicle traveling in the intersection direction at the intersection.

(3) In the public vehicle priority signal control system according to (1) or (2), the delay calculation means and the signal control means may be mounted on a roadside device installed at an intersection.
In this case, mobile signal control can be performed for each intersection.

(4) In the public vehicle priority signal control system according to (1) or (2), the delay calculation means and the signal control means are provided in the traffic control center, and in addition to the intersection, downstream of the traveling direction of the public vehicle. Signal control may be performed including the intersection at
In this case, signal control can be comprehensively performed at a plurality of intersections through which the public vehicle will pass.

(5) On the other hand, the present invention is a public vehicle priority signal control method capable of performing signal control for extending or shortening the signal display time in accordance with the approach of the public vehicle to the intersection,
Vehicle information including an identification signal is obtained from a public vehicle at a predetermined position on the upstream side of the intersection, and a delay time is calculated based on the transit time of the public vehicle and the operation schedule information of the public vehicle. Based on the length, signal control is performed to change the handling of public vehicles.

In the public vehicle priority signal control method as described above, the delay time of the public vehicle at a predetermined position upstream of the intersection is calculated, and the public vehicle priority is treated based on the length of the delay time, not uniformly. Control the signal to change. Thereby, according to the length of the delay time, it is possible to selectively use / not prioritize or to selectively use the priority level. Therefore, for example, when the delay time is relatively long, signal control is performed so that the public vehicle is preferentially passed, and conversely, when the delay time is relatively short (including the case where there is no delay time). Signal control with no priority or low priority can be performed.
Thereby, when it is not necessary to give priority to the public vehicle in particular, it is possible to assign an appropriate signal time to the public vehicle, a vehicle traveling in the vicinity thereof, and a vehicle traveling in the intersection direction at the intersection.

  According to the public vehicle priority signal control system / method of the present invention, when it is not necessary to give priority to a public vehicle, the public vehicle and the vehicle traveling in the same direction in the vicinity thereof, and the vehicle traveling in the intersection direction at the intersection are provided. Since an appropriate signal time can be allocated, it is possible to mitigate the adverse effects on general vehicles while performing signal control useful for on-time operation of public vehicles.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of the public vehicle priority signal control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system of FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process by a central apparatus regarding signal control. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a more compact public vehicle priority signal control system than FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a public vehicle priority signal control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, it is assumed that a bus (route bus) 1 as a representative example of a public vehicle is traveling on a road R1, and in the traveling direction, an intersection 2 (intersection with the road R2), an intersection 3 (intersection with the road R3), And there is an intersection 4 (intersection with the road R4). Signal lamps 2s, 3s, and 4s for vehicles traveling on the road R1 are provided at the intersections 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

  Signal controllers 2c, 3c, and 4c are attached to the poles 2p, 3p, and 4p that support the signal lamps 2s, 3s, and 4s, respectively. Signal control for the signal lamps 2s, 3s, 4s is performed by the traffic control center 5, for example. When considered based on the traveling direction of the bus 1, the left side (in the drawing) is the upstream side, and the right side is the downstream side. In addition, the number of signal lamps (three units) is an example, and there may be cases where the number is less or more than this.

On the other hand, an optical beacon 6 as a vehicle detection unit is provided at a predetermined position upstream of the intersection 2. The optical beacon 6 can perform bidirectional communication (downlink / uplink) with the vehicle-mounted device 11 mounted on the bus 1 (the same applies to vehicle-mounted devices mounted on other vehicles). Normally, the optical beacon 6 continues to transmit downlink information within the communication area. The in-vehicle device 11 detects that it has entered the communication area when it receives downlink information, and transmits uplink information in response to the detection. The optical beacon 6 receives this uplink information.
In the following description, attention is focused only on the uplink from the in-vehicle device 11 to the optical beacon 6 that is important as a public vehicle priority signal control system.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system of FIG. In FIG. 2, a central apparatus 51 and a router 52 connected to the central apparatus 51 are provided in the traffic control center 5. The router 52 is connected to the signal controllers 2c, 3c, 4c and the optical beacon 6 via a communication line. The central device 51 has a function of instructing the signal controllers 2c, 3c, 4c to control the signal lamps 2s, 3s, 4s and a function of receiving uplink vehicle information from the optical beacon 6. .

  The vehicle information is a bus identification signal (vehicle ID). For example, a system number of a route and information on which bus on the operation diagram (operation schedule information) (when to start from which time) Is included. The central device 51 sets the time when the vehicle information is acquired as the passing time of the bus. The operation diagram is stored in the central device 51 in advance. In addition, the central device 51 determines at what point in time under what optical beacon 6 if the hourly bus of which system is on-time operation based on the operation diagram and point information where the optical beacon 6 is provided. I know everything that should be reached. Therefore, the central device 51 can detect whether or not the vehicle is a bus as a public vehicle based on the uplink vehicle information.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the central device 51 relating to signal control (also showing a public vehicle priority signal control method).
First, the central device 51 acquires vehicle information by uplink from a vehicle (step S1), and determines whether the vehicle is a bus as a public vehicle from the acquired vehicle information (step S2). Here, when it is not a public vehicle, the central apparatus 51 performs normal signal control (step S5).

On the other hand, when the bus is a public vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as a bus), the central device 51 calculates the delay time by comparing the passage time of the bus with the scheduled time based on the bus operation diagram. (Step S3).
That is, the central device 51 has a function as delay calculation means for calculating the delay time based on the bus passage time and the schedule information.

  Next, the central device 51 determines whether or not the delay time is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold (step S4). The threshold value is an allowable maximum value of the delay time, and can be arbitrarily set in consideration of the operation status. If the delay time is negative, that is, earlier than the scheduled time, it can be handled that there is no delay time. In step S4, when the delay time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the central device 51 performs signal control with public vehicle priority (step S6).

  The public vehicle priority signal control is basically the extension of the green light or the reduction of the red light. However, depending on the timing, there is a case where signal control is not particularly preferential. For example, in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the bus 1 has a delay time equal to or greater than a threshold value, and public vehicle priority signal control is performed on the signal lamp 2s at the intersection 2. The bus 1 then reaches the intersection 2, but the time required to reach the intersection 2 after the bus 1 is detected by the optical beacon 6 is known empirically or statistically.

  Therefore, the end time of the green light is extended by, for example, 10 seconds so that the signal turns red immediately before the bus 1 reaches the intersection 2 and the bus 1 cannot pass through the intersection 2. On the other hand, when it is certain that the signal is already red when the bus 1 reaches the intersection 2, the blue signal is not extended, and the red signal is shortened to be rounded up quickly. As a result, the bus 1 can shorten the signal waiting time. By such signal control, the bus 1 can quickly pass through the intersection 2 and recover the delay. When the bus 1 arrives at the intersection 2 is at the beginning of the start of the green signal or just before the end of the red signal, there is no need to adjust the signal display time, and a substantially normal signal The same thing happens with control.

  The central device 51 of the traffic control center 5 can perform public vehicle priority signal control not only on the intersection 2 but also on the intersections 3 and 4 downstream in the traveling direction of the bus 1. For example, the distance between the intersections 2, 3, and 4 is known, and the average traveling speed of the bus 1 can be estimated. Therefore, if the time / timing of the green light of the signal lamps 2s, 3s, 4s is adjusted so that the bus 1 can pass through the intersections 2, 3, 4 in a non-stop manner, the delay time can be shortened at once. That is, signal control can be comprehensively performed at a plurality of intersections through which the bus 1 will pass.

On the other hand, when the delay time is less than the threshold value (including delay time 0 or minus) in step S4 of FIG. 3, the central device 51 performs normal signal control (step S5). That is, when the delay time is less than the threshold value, the public vehicle priority signal control is not executed even if the bus 1 is detected.
As described above, when the delay time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the central device 51 as the signal control unit performs adjustment to extend or shorten the signal display time by a predetermined adjustment amount (for example, 10 seconds). In the case where the delay time is less than the threshold value, a function for performing normal signal control is provided.

  Therefore, when the delay time is a slight time that is within the allowable range, or when there is no delay time (including when it is earlier than the scheduled time), especially when there is no need to give priority to public vehicles, the bus 1 and the vicinity thereof It is possible to allocate an appropriate signal time to a vehicle traveling in the same direction and a vehicle traveling in the intersection direction at the intersection. In this way, it is possible to provide a public vehicle priority signal control system that alleviates the negative effects on ordinary vehicles while performing signal control useful for scheduled operation of public vehicles.

In the above embodiment, when the delay time is less than the threshold value, the normal signal control is performed without performing the public vehicle priority signal control. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to performing the normal signal control. For example, in such a case, public vehicle priority signal control may be performed in which the amount of signal extension or shortening is reduced to slightly adjust the signal display time. Further, it is possible to perform signal control in which the adjustment amount is changed continuously or stepwise according to the delay time.
In short, it is only necessary to be able to perform signal control that changes the handling of public vehicle priority based on the length of the delay time for each public vehicle, not for public vehicle priority.

  The installation location of the central device 51 and the router 52 is not limited to the traffic control center 5 and may be provided on a signal controller or other roadside device on the road. Further, some functions (delay calculation means / signal control means) of the central device may be mounted on the roadside device.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a public vehicle priority signal control system more compact than FIG. In this example, uplink vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 11 is received by the optical beacon 6, and from the optical beacon 6, signal control with a partial function (delay calculation means / signal control means) of the central device is mounted. Is transmitted to the machine 2c. In this case, mobile signal control can be performed for each intersection without depending on the traffic control center 5.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

1 Bus 2, 3, 4 Intersection 2s, 3s, 4s Signal lamps 2c, 3c, 4c Signal controller (signal control means, roadside device)
5 Traffic control center 6 Light beacon (vehicle detection means)
51 Central unit (delay calculation means / signal control means)

Claims (5)

A public vehicle priority signal control system capable of performing signal control for extending or shortening the signal display time according to the approach of an intersection of public vehicles,
Vehicle detection means provided at a predetermined position on the upstream side of the intersection and acquiring vehicle information including an identification signal from a public vehicle;
A delay calculating means for calculating a delay time based on the transit time of the public vehicle and the operation schedule information of the public vehicle;
A public vehicle priority signal control system comprising: signal control means for performing signal control for changing the handling of public vehicle priority based on the length of the delay time.   When the delay time is equal to or greater than a threshold, the signal control unit performs adjustment to extend or shorten the signal display time at the intersection by a predetermined adjustment amount, and when the delay time is less than the threshold, The public vehicle priority signal control system according to claim 1, wherein adjustment is performed by reducing the adjustment amount, or normal signal control is performed.   The public vehicle priority signal control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the delay calculation means and the signal control means are mounted on a roadside device installed at the intersection.   3. The public according to claim 1, wherein the delay calculation unit and the signal control unit are provided in a traffic control center, and perform signal control including an intersection located downstream in the traveling direction of the public vehicle in addition to the intersection. Vehicle priority signal control system. A public vehicle priority signal control method capable of performing signal control for extending or shortening the signal display time in accordance with the approach of a public vehicle to an intersection,
Obtain vehicle information including identification signals from public vehicles at a predetermined position upstream of the intersection,
Calculate the delay time based on the transit time of the public vehicle and the schedule information of the public vehicle,
A public vehicle priority signal control method, comprising: performing signal control for changing the handling of public vehicle priority based on the length of the delay time.

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