JP2021060632A - Traffic control system and information provision method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a traffic control system capable of suppressing an increase of time variation in an event occurrence degree on a road to be provided.SOLUTION: A traffic control system includes an event occurrence degree calculation section and an information distribution section. The event occurrence degree calculation section calculates an event occurrence degree indicating likelihood of event occurrence on a road based on traffic information of the road for each first regulation time. The information distribution section defines an event occurrence degree being the greatest among a plurality of latest and regulated event occurrence degrees calculated by the event occurrence degree calculation section as provision information, so as to distribute the provision information to distribution destinations.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to traffic control systems and information providing methods.

Conventionally, various events (events) such as traffic accidents occur on roads (for example, highways, toll roads, etc.). The traffic control system calculates the event occurrence degree indicating the likelihood of an event occurring on the road, and provides the calculated event occurrence degree to the user on the road.

JP-A-2009-193212

In the above-mentioned conventional traffic control system, the event occurrence degree is calculated every specified time and the event occurrence degree is provided. For this reason, the time variation of the provided event occurrence degree tends to be large, and the user may be confused.

The traffic control system of the embodiment includes an event occurrence degree calculation unit and an information distribution unit. The event occurrence degree calculation unit calculates the event occurrence degree indicating the susceptibility of an event on the road based on the traffic information of the road every first specified time. The information distribution unit uses the event occurrence degree, which is the largest of the most recently defined multiple times of the event occurrence degree calculated by the event occurrence degree calculation unit, as the provided information, and distributes the provided information to the distribution destination.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a traffic control system or the like according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a method of determining the provided information of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a modified example of the method for determining the provided information of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the information provision of the second embodiment and the information provision of the comparative example. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention (first to third embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment)
First, the first embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, an embodiment applied to a road (for example, an expressway, a toll road, etc.) will be described. Here, the case of an expressway will be described as an example of a road. Further, in the present embodiment, a traffic accident is applied as an event for calculating the likelihood of occurrence, that is, an event for predicting the occurrence.

Next, the traffic control system according to the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the traffic control system 10 and the like according to the first embodiment.

The traffic control system 10 provides a processing unit 11A that performs traffic control processing and traffic accident prediction, and an accident information distribution service 10B that provides information such as accident forecast information to road users in cooperation with the processing unit 11A. I have. The traffic control system is also referred to as an information providing system, and the accident information distribution service 10B is also referred to as an accident information distribution unit.

Here, the traffic control process recognizes the degree of traffic congestion on an expressway and traffic conditions including traffic accidents, and takes measures such as traffic regulation according to the traffic condition information, and occurs in expressway users, etc. It is a process that provides information such as event information and alerts inside. The traffic control system 10 is composed of, for example, a plurality of computer devices in a traffic control room.

First, an outline of the traffic accident prediction function (accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141) of the processing unit 11A in the traffic control system 10 and the accident information distribution service 10B, which constitute the characteristic portion of the first embodiment, will be described.

The accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 of the traffic control system 10 calculates the accident occurrence degree indicating the likelihood of a traffic accident on a highway from the traffic conditions detected by the traffic control system 10 and past traffic accident occurrence cases. Perform processing. Specifically, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 determines a traffic accident for each predetermined section (for each predetermined distance or for each predetermined facility) of the highway from the traffic conditions detected by the traffic control system 10 and past traffic accident occurrence cases. Performs processing to calculate the degree of accident occurrence, which indicates the likelihood of occurrence of.

As an example of the method of calculating the degree of accident occurrence, for example, as described in Japanese Patent No. 6045846, using a model such as a self-organizing map, accident cases can be obtained for each condition such as position on the road, time, and weather. There is a method of calculating the degree of accident occurrence by a method of learning.

On the other hand, the accident information distribution service 10B distributes (provides) accident forecast information including the calculated accident occurrence degree.

Next, each configuration will be specifically described. As information collecting means, the traffic control system 10 includes a vehicle detector 2, a surveillance camera 3, a management vehicle PC (in-vehicle device of the management vehicle), an emergency telephone 4, a mobile information terminal 5 such as a mobile phone 5A or a smartphone 5B, and a general vehicle. 6 (in-vehicle device of a general vehicle) or the like is used.

The vehicle detector 2 is installed on the roadside of an expressway, for example, and has traffic volume [vehicles / h], average speed [km / h], vehicle density [vehicles / km], occupancy rate (occupancy) [%], and the like. It is a sensor (traffic counter) that collects information and transmits the detected information to the traffic control system 10.

The surveillance camera 3 is, for example, a camera installed on the roadside of an expressway and capturing an image of the expressway, and transmits the photographed image to the traffic control system 10.

The management vehicle PC uses, for example, a detection system such as GPS (Global Positioning System) to provide time-series vehicle information such as longitude information, latitude information, altitude information, position accuracy, speed information, traveling direction, and acceleration / deceleration information. Probe information such as (acceleration in X, Y, Z directions) is collected, and the probe information is transmitted to the traffic control system 10.

The emergency telephone 4 is provided, for example, on the main line of a highway, in a tunnel, at an interchange, a service area, a parking area, a bus stop, an emergency parking zone, or the like. Then, when a traffic accident occurs, a road user or the like uses an emergency telephone 4 to notify the traffic control center having jurisdiction over the traffic control system 10.

The general vehicle 6 transmits traffic information to the traffic control system 10 by communicating with a road-to-vehicle communication device provided on the road side.

The mobile information terminal 5 is carried by, for example, a road user or the like. Then, the owner of the mobile information terminal 5 notifies the traffic control center having jurisdiction over the traffic control system 10 by using the mobile information terminal 5 to notify the date and time of the occurrence of the traffic accident, individual position information, and the like.

Next, the configuration of the traffic control system 10 will be described. In the following description, for the sake of simplification of the description, the illustration and description of the communication unit for communication with an external device or device will be omitted. The traffic control system 10 is composed of one or more computer devices, and includes a storage unit 12A, an input unit 13A, and a display unit 14A in addition to the processing unit 11A and the accident information distribution service 10B.

The processing unit 11A includes an information acquisition unit 111, a traffic condition calculation unit 112, an event registration unit 113, a display control unit 114, and an accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141. In the following, for processing other than each unit shown in the processing unit 11A, the operating subject is described as "processing unit 11A". The accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 is an example of the event occurrence degree calculation unit.

The processing unit 11A includes, for example, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

The MPU comprehensively controls the operation of the traffic control system 10. The ROM is a storage medium for storing various programs and data. RAM is a storage medium for temporarily storing various programs and rewriting various data.

Then, the MPU executes the program stored in the ROM, the storage unit 12A, or the like using the RAM as a work area (work area).

The storage unit 12A is an external storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 12A includes a road information storage unit 115, an acquisition information storage unit 116, a traffic situation storage unit 117, an event storage unit 118, and a traffic accident prediction storage unit 1181.

The input unit 13A is an input device that receives an operation of a traffic controller for the processing unit 11A of the traffic control system 10. The input unit 13A is, for example, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse.

The display unit 14A is a display unit realized by a liquid crystal display device (LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display device, or the like, and displays various information.

Next, the configuration of the processing unit 11A will be described in detail. The information acquisition unit 111 includes various information collecting means (in addition to the vehicle detector 2 and the like, a precipitation detector, a rain gauge, a road surface thermometer, a sediment detector, etc. are not shown, but are installed as necessary) and external. Various information is acquired from various information servers (disaster information server, weather information server, etc.), and the acquired various information is stored in the acquisition information storage unit 116.

The traffic condition calculation unit 112 is based on the information from the vehicle detector 2 installed on the highway, the information from the general vehicle 6 (that is, the information stored in the acquired information storage unit 116), and the like. The traffic condition including the degree of traffic congestion, that is, the degree of traffic congestion is calculated, and the calculated traffic condition is stored in the traffic condition storage unit 117. That is, the traffic condition includes congestion information about the traffic condition of the expressway. The traffic condition calculation unit 112 calculates the current presence or absence of traffic congestion and the expansion / contraction tendency of the traffic congestion by a known method, and includes the calculation result in the traffic congestion information. The tendency of expansion and contraction of traffic conditions includes the tendency of extension of traffic congestion and the tendency of reduction of traffic congestion.

When an event occurs on the highway, the event registration unit 113 accepts an event registration operation based on the input of information by the traffic controller using the input unit 13A, and registers (remembers) the contents in the event storage unit 118. To do. The event registration information includes, for example, the date and time when the event occurred, the place where the event occurred, and the content of the event (traffic accident, broken car, road obstacle, fire, etc.).

The display control unit 114 controls to display various information on the display unit 14A.

The accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 calculates the accident occurrence degree and predicts the accident occurrence. Specifically, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 calculates the accident occurrence degree every first specified time based on the traffic information of the road. The first specified time is, for example, 5 minutes. The first specified time may be other than 5 minutes.

Traffic information required for prediction processing in the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 includes, for example, an integrated value of passing traffic volume per unit time (number of vehicles traveling per unit time; hereinafter referred to as traffic volume) and per unit time. The average speed, occupancy rate, large vehicle mixing rate, etc. can be mentioned. Further, as the control information required for the prediction processing in the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141, the occurrence flag at the time of the occurrence of a traffic accident, the occurrence time, and the like can be mentioned. This control information may be manually input by the traffic controller using the man-machine interface.

The processing unit 11A acquires past traffic information and control information from the acquired information storage unit 116 and the traffic situation storage unit 117, and learns the traffic information at the time of event occurrence stored in the event storage unit 118 as a pattern. As a learning method, based on the event occurrence information (event occurrence point, event occurrence time, event type) stored in the event storage unit 118, the traffic information of the corresponding time zone and route position (lane). (For example, traffic volume, average speed, occupancy rate, large vehicle mixing rate, etc.) are obtained, and these responses are learned as patterns when an event occurs.

For example, when the event is an accident, the event occurrence pattern learning unit 131 considers environmental information such as weather, temperature, and road surface condition (road surface freezing, leaf fall state) in addition to traffic information and control information when the accident occurs. It may be learned as a pattern. As a result, it is possible to learn the accident occurrence pattern in consideration of the situation where an accident is more likely to occur such as rainy weather, fog, and road surface freezing, and to calculate the accident occurrence probability more accurately.

As an example of the accident occurrence degree calculation method in the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141, for example, as described in Japanese Patent No. 60455846, a method of learning accident cases using a model such as a self-organizing map is used on the road. The degree of accident occurrence (the degree of similarity to the situation in which an accident occurred in the past [for example, the degree of traffic congestion, road surface condition, temperature, weather, etc.]) is determined for each condition such as position, time, and weather. There is a way to calculate.

Moreover, as the simplest method of learning, a method of holding and accumulating these combinations, a method of clustering these combinations by statistical processing, and a method of creating data of similar cases can be mentioned.

As a result, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 learned the traffic condition at the time of the prediction processing calculated by the traffic condition calculation unit 112 based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 111 in the event occurrence pattern learning unit 131. Compared with the pattern of traffic conditions at the time of occurrence, when the degree of similarity is high, the accident occurrence prediction result that the degree of accident occurrence is high is output.

For example, when the correlation between the traffic information at the time of prediction processing and any of the patterns at the time of accident occurrence learned by the event occurrence pattern learning unit 131 is, for example, 0.85 or more, the accident occurrence degree is calculated as 85%.

In other words, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 regards the correlation with any of the learned traffic condition patterns at the time of accident occurrence as the accident occurrence degree (accident occurrence possibility or accident occurrence tendency), and this is the accident occurrence prediction result. Will be calculated as. Then, for example, the degree of accident occurrence is divided into 11 stages from 0% to 100% in units of 10% (the 11th stage is the most likely to cause a traffic accident, and the 1st stage is the least likely to cause a traffic accident). Hereinafter, the first to eleventh stages may be simply described as "1" to "11".

Then, based on the accident occurrence degree calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141, the traffic control system 10 predicts the accident, prepares for the occurrence of the accident, and prepares for the occurrence of the accident, the information board DT1, the highway radio DT2, and the information. It is possible to call attention to a traveling vehicle or the like via the providing terminal DT3, the mobile information terminal DT4, the in-vehicle device DT5, or the like.

Next, the configuration of the storage unit 12A of the traffic control system 10 will be described in detail. The storage unit 12A is an external storage device such as an HDD or SSD, and includes a road information storage unit 115, an acquisition information storage unit 116, a traffic situation storage unit 117, an event storage unit 118, and a traffic accident prediction storage unit 1181.

The road information storage unit 115 stores road information such as the number of lanes on an expressway, an interchange, and the location of a parking area.

The acquired information storage unit 116 stores various information acquired by the information acquisition unit 111 from the vehicle detector 2, the surveillance camera 3, the management vehicle PC, the general vehicle 6, and the like.

The traffic condition storage unit 117 stores the traffic condition calculated by the traffic condition calculation unit 112.

The event storage unit 118 stores the contents of the event registration operation received by the event registration unit 113. The traffic accident prediction storage unit 1181 will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the accident information distribution service 10B will be described. The accident information distribution service 10B is composed of one or more computer devices, and includes a processing unit 11B, a storage unit 12B, an input unit 13B, a display unit 14B, and a communication unit 15.

The processing unit 11B includes an information distribution unit 121 and a display control unit 124. In the following, the operating subject will be referred to as "processing unit 11B" for the processing other than each unit shown in the processing unit 11B. The processing unit 11B includes, for example, an MPU, a ROM, and a RAM, similarly to the processing unit 11A.

The information distribution unit 121 distributes the accident occurrence degree calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 to the distribution destination. Specifically, the information distribution unit 121 uses the highest accident occurrence degree among the most recently defined multiple accident occurrence degrees calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 as the provided information. In other words, the information distribution unit 121 uses the highest accident occurrence degree among the accident occurrence degrees from the latest time calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 to the specified time before the latest time as the provided information. In this way, the information distribution unit 121 creates the provided information. The plurality of times specified above is, for example, three times. In this case, the latest specified time is two times before. In addition, the specified plurality of times may be a plurality of times other than three times. Then, the information distribution unit 121 distributes the provided information to the distribution destination.

Here, as the distribution destination of the provided information, for example, in the case of the example of FIG. 1, an information board DT1, a highway radio DT2, an information providing terminal DT3, a mobile information terminal DT4, an in-vehicle device DT5, and the like can be mentioned.

The information board DT1 is an information display device arranged in various places on the expressway. The highway radio DT2 is a radio device that receives radio waves transmitted from transmitting antennas arranged in various places on a highway and converts them into voice.

The information providing terminal DT3 is an information providing terminal device installed in a service area or a parking area provided on an expressway. The mobile information terminal DT4 is a smartphone, a mobile phone, or the like carried by a pre-registered road user. The on-board unit DT5 is a car navigation device or the like mounted on a pre-registered general vehicle 6.

The display control unit 124 displays, for example, information on the event registered by the event registration unit 113, information on the accident occurrence degree calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141, and the like on the display unit 14B.

Next, the storage unit 12B of the accident information distribution service 10B will be described. The storage unit 12B is an external storage device such as an HDD or SSD, and includes a distribution information storage unit 128.

The distribution information storage unit 128 stores the accident occurrence degree calculated for each section by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 in chronological order, and also stores the provided information created by the information distribution unit 121.

The input unit 13B is an input device that accepts the operation of the traffic controller for the accident information distribution service 10B. The input unit 13B is, for example, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse.

The display unit 14B is realized by a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL display device, or the like.

The communication unit 15 has a communication interface (not shown), and provides information via communication paths corresponding to each of the information board DT1, the highway radio DT2, the information providing terminal DT3, the mobile information terminal DT4, and the in-vehicle device DT5, which are information distribution targets. (Text data, audio data, image data, etc. related to the event) will be distributed. The communication unit 15 executes the above information distribution under the control of the information distribution unit 121. That is, the information distribution unit 121 distributes information (provided information) to the information distribution target via the communication unit 15.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the first embodiment. It is assumed that the accident prediction learning model has already been generated before the information provision process is executed. In addition, the information providing process is executed for each of the predetermined sections of the expressway. The details of the example of the predetermined section will be described later.

First, the information acquisition unit 111 of the traffic control system 10 acquires traffic information such as traffic volume, average speed, vehicle density, and occupancy rate from information collecting means such as a vehicle detector 2 on an expressway (S1).

Next, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 of the traffic control system 10 calculates the accident occurrence degree for each predetermined section of the expressway based on the learning model of the accident prediction and the traffic information (S2).

Next, the information distribution unit 121 of the accident information distribution service 10B has the latest specified multiple accident occurrence degrees calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141, specifically, the latest, 5 minutes ago, and 10 minutes ago. The highest accident occurrence rate is determined as the provided information (S3). Specifically, the information distribution unit 121 determines whether or not the latest accident occurrence degree is greater than the accident occurrence degree 5 minutes ago and the accident occurrence degree 10 minutes ago. When the latest accident occurrence degree is greater than the accident occurrence degree 5 minutes ago and the accident occurrence degree 10 minutes ago, the information distribution unit 121 determines the latest accident occurrence degree as the provided information. On the other hand, when the latest accident occurrence degree is less than or equal to the accident occurrence degree 5 minutes ago and the accident occurrence degree 10 minutes ago, the information distribution unit 121 indicates the latest accident occurrence degree and the accident occurrence degree 5 minutes ago. The largest accident occurrence degree is extracted from the accident occurrence degree 10 minutes ago, and the extracted accident occurrence degree is determined as the provided information.

Here, the method of determining the provided information in S3 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a method of determining the provided information of the first embodiment.
In the example of FIG. 3, it is an example of a method of determining the provided information of the section B between two interchanges (IC1 and IC2 in FIG. 3). Further, four (plural) vehicle detectors (TC1 to TC4 in FIG. 3) 2 are installed between the two interchanges. In the following description, IC1 and IC2 may be used as the two interchanges, and TC1 to TC4 may be used as the plurality of vehicle detectors 2. In this example, the section B includes, as a plurality of constituent sections, a section Ba between TC1 and TC2, a section Bb between TC2 and TC3, and a section Bc between TC3 and TC4. Here, TC1 to TC4 are highway points. That is, section B is defined by the points on the highway. The accident rate of section Ba is calculated based on the information collected by TC1, the accident rate of section Bb is calculated based on the information collected by TC2, and the accident rate of section Bc is calculated by TC3. Calculated based on the information collected.

In FIG. 3, time 10:10 is the latest accident occurrence degree, time 10:05 is the previous accident occurrence degree (5 minutes ago), and time 10:00 is the accident occurrence degree two times before (10 minutes ago). Is. The accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 calculates the accident occurrence degree of each section Ba to Bc at each time. Then, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 extracts the maximum accident occurrence degree from the accident occurrence degree of the sections Ba to Bc at each time. In FIG. 3, the maximum accident occurrence degree among the accident occurrence degrees in the sections Ba to Bc is surrounded by a square frame. Then, the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 sets the extracted accident occurrence degree as the accident occurrence degree of the section B at each time.

The information distribution unit 121 extracts the maximum accident occurrence degree from the accident occurrence degree of the last three times (10:00, 10:05, 10:10) calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141. In FIG. 3, the maximum accident occurrence degree among the accident occurrence degrees in the section B is surrounded by a square frame. Then, the information distribution unit 121 uses the extracted accident occurrence degree as the information provided in the section B.

Returning to FIG. 2, the information distribution unit 121 transmits the accident forecast information including the provided information (accident occurrence degree) determined in S3 to the information board DT1, the highway radio DT2, the information providing terminal DT3, the mobile information terminal DT4, and the in-vehicle device. It is delivered to, that is, provided to a delivery destination such as DT5 (S4).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the traffic control system 10 includes an accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 (event occurrence degree calculation unit) and an information distribution unit 121. The accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 calculates the accident occurrence degree indicating the likelihood of a traffic accident on an expressway based on the traffic information of the expressway every first specified time (for example, 5 minutes). The information distribution unit 121 uses the highest accident occurrence degree among the multiple accident occurrence degrees of the latest regulation calculated by the accident occurrence degree calculation unit 1141 as the provided information, and delivers the accident forecast information including the provided information to the distribution destination. To deliver. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress a large time variation of the accident occurrence degree provided to the delivery destination. Therefore, it is possible to suppress user confusion due to time fluctuations in the degree of accident occurrence.

Next, a modified example of the method for determining the provided information of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a modified example of the method for determining the provided information of the first embodiment.
The modified example shown in FIG. 4 differs from the example shown in FIG. 2 in the following points. That is, in the modified example, the information distribution unit 121 extracts the maximum accident occurrence degree from the accident occurrence degree three times (10:00, 10:05, 10:10) for each section Ba to Bc. In FIG. 3, the maximum accident occurrence degree among the accident occurrence degrees in the sections Ba to Bc is surrounded by a square frame. Then, the information distribution unit 121 sets the extracted accident occurrence degree as the maximum accident occurrence degree of each section Ba to Bc. Then, the information distribution unit 121 extracts the maximum accident occurrence degree from the calculated accident occurrence degrees of the three sections Ba to Bc. In FIG. 3, the maximum accident occurrence degree among the accident occurrence degrees in the sections Ba to Bc is surrounded by a square frame. Then, the information distribution unit 121 uses the extracted accident occurrence degree as the information provided in the section B.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in a part of the information providing process. Specifically, in S4, the information distribution unit 121 transmits the accident occurrence degree determined in S3 to the distribution destinations such as the information board DT1, the highway radio DT2, the information providing terminal DT3, the mobile information terminal DT4, and the in-vehicle device DT5. Continue to deliver (provide) for a second specified time (for example, 15 minutes) that is multiple times (for example, three times) the first specified time (for example, 5 minutes). That is, the information distribution unit 121 updates the provided information every second specified time (15 minutes), which is a plurality of times the first specified time. The above-mentioned plurality of times may be other than three times.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the information provision of the second embodiment and the information provision of the comparative example. In the comparative example shown in FIG. 6, the degree of accident occurrence is calculated and information is provided every 5 minutes. In the example of FIG. 6, in each of the actual embodiment and the comparative example, the accident occurrence degree (provided information) is provided (delivered) when the accident occurrence degree is equal to or higher than the threshold value, and the accident occurrence degree is less than the threshold value. Does not provide (deliver) the degree of accident occurrence (provided information). Further, in the example of FIG. 6, a traffic accident actually occurred between 10:20 and 10:25. The present embodiment continues to provide the accident occurrence degree determined as the provided information at 10:10 from 10:10 to 10:25. As a result, an accident occurs during the period when the accident occurrence degree is provided. That is, in the present embodiment, the result that the accident forecast is correct can be obtained. On the other hand, in the comparative example, after the accident occurrence degree is calculated and provided (delivered) at 10:10, the accident occurrence degree is not provided for at least 10:15 to 10:25. This is because the accident occurrence degree calculated at each time of 10:15 to 10:25 was less than the threshold value. In this comparative example, an accident occurs during the period when the accident occurrence degree is not provided. That is, the comparative example results in the accident forecast being off.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the information distribution unit 121 updates the provided information every second specified time (for example, 15 minutes) that is a plurality of times (for example, three times) of the first specified time (for example, 5 minutes). .. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to further suppress the increase in the time variation of the accident occurrence degree provided to the delivery destination. Therefore, it is possible to further suppress user confusion due to time fluctuations in the degree of accident occurrence.

(Third Embodiment)
Next, the third embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the information providing process of the third embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, a part of the information providing process is different in the third embodiment from the first and second embodiments.

Specifically, the information distribution unit 121 determines the degree of accident occurrence in S3, and then proceeds to S11. In S11, the information distribution unit 121 determines whether or not there is traffic congestion in the road section based on the traffic congestion information calculated by the traffic condition calculation unit 112 (S11). Here, as described above, the expansion / contraction tendency of the traffic condition includes the extension tendency of the traffic congestion and the reduction tendency of the traffic congestion. When the information distribution unit 121 determines that there is no traffic congestion (S11: No), the information distribution unit 121 sets the provision time (delivery time) of the accident forecast information (provided information) to 15 minutes as the reference value (reference time). (S4). Then, the information distribution unit 121 proceeds to S4. Here, the provision time (delivery time, update interval) is stored in the storage unit 12B.

When the information distribution unit 121 determines that there is a traffic jam (S11: Yes), based on the traffic jam information, the information distribution unit 121 determines whether the traffic jam has been extended in the past 15 minutes, that is, whether the traffic congestion tends to be extended. Judgment (S13). When the information distribution unit 121 determines that the traffic congestion tends to be extended (S13: Yes), the information distribution unit 121 sets the provision time (delivery time) of the accident forecast information (provided information) to be longer than the reference value (15 minutes). For example, it is set to 25 minutes (S14). That is, the information distribution unit 121 sets the update interval, which is the time interval for updating the accident forecast information (provided information), to 25 minutes. Then, the information distribution unit 121 proceeds to S4.

When the information distribution unit 121 determines that the traffic congestion does not tend to extend (S13: No), the information distribution unit 121 determines whether the traffic congestion has decreased in the past 15 minutes, that is, whether the traffic congestion tends to decrease (S15). ). When the information distribution unit 121 determines that the traffic congestion is shrinking (S15: Yes), the information distribution unit 121 sets the provision time (delivery time) of the accident forecast information (provided information) to, for example, 20 minutes and sets the reference value (S15: Yes). 15 minutes) (S16). Then, the information distribution unit 121 proceeds to S4.

The information distribution unit 121 is set by the information distribution unit 121 when the traffic congestion does not tend to extend (S13: No) and does not tend to decrease (S15: No), that is, when the congestion is stagnant (S17). The provision time (delivery time, update interval) of the accident forecast information (provided information) that has been provided is retained (S18). That is, in this case, the provision time of the provided information is not changed. Then, the information distribution unit 121 proceeds to S4.

In S4, the information distribution unit 121 distributes (provides) the accident forecast information (provided information) to the distribution destination during the provision time set or held in S12, S14, S16, and S18.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the information distribution unit 121 provides accident forecast information (provided) when the traffic congestion information, which is information about the traffic congestion on the expressway, indicates that the traffic congestion on the road tends to be extended. Update the information) Extend the update interval (time interval) than the update interval of the accident forecast information (provided information) when there is no traffic congestion on the road. Further, when the traffic congestion information indicates that the traffic congestion is decreasing, the information distribution unit 121 sets the update interval of the accident forecast information (provided information) to the accident forecast information (provided) when there is no traffic congestion on the expressway. Information) close to the update interval. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to set the update interval of the accident forecast information (provided information) according to the expansion and contraction of the traffic congestion.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The above-described embodiment can be implemented in various forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. The above-described embodiment is included in the scope and gist of the invention, and is also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

In addition, the event for which the event occurrence degree is calculated is not limited to a traffic accident, and can be arbitrarily set as long as it is an event that needs to be delivered to the users of the expressway. For example, the event for which the event occurrence degree is calculated may be a traffic jam, a fuel shortage, a falling object, a landslide, an avalanche, a local heavy rain, or the like.

In addition, the target roads are not limited to expressways, and may be toll or free.

Further, the target section of the provided information is not limited to the section B, and may be, for example, each section Ba to Bc.

10 Traffic control system 121 Information distribution unit 1141 Accident occurrence degree calculation unit (event occurrence degree calculation unit)

Claims (5)

An event occurrence degree calculation unit that calculates the event occurrence degree indicating the likelihood of an event occurrence on the road based on the traffic information of the road for each first specified time.
An information distribution unit that uses the event occurrence degree, which is the largest of the most recent specified multiple times of the event occurrence degree calculated by the event occurrence degree calculation unit, as the provided information and distributes the provided information to the distribution destination.
Traffic control system equipped with. The traffic control system according to claim 1, wherein the event is a traffic accident. The traffic control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information distribution unit updates the provided information every second specified time, which is a plurality of times the first specified time. When the traffic congestion information, which is information about the traffic congestion on the road, indicates that the traffic congestion on the road tends to be extended, the information distribution unit sets an update interval for updating the provided information on the road. If the update interval is extended beyond the update interval when there is no traffic congestion and the congestion information indicates that the traffic congestion tends to decrease, the update interval is set to the update interval when there is no traffic congestion on the road. The traffic control system according to claim 3, which is brought closer. A process in which the event occurrence degree calculation unit calculates the event occurrence degree indicating the likelihood of an event occurring on the road based on the traffic information of the road every first specified time.
A process in which the information distribution unit uses the event occurrence degree, which is the largest of the most recently specified multiple times of the event occurrence degree calculated by the event occurrence degree calculation unit, as the provided information, and distributes the provided information to the distribution destination. ,
Information provision method with.

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