Information processing method, program, and information processor

Abstract

To provide an information processing method, a program, and an information processor related to traffic control systems that can reduce traffic congestion risk.SOLUTION: An information processing method for a vehicle transmits location information indicating a current location of the vehicle to a first computer, receives, when the vehicle is traveling in a traffic congestion risk zone or when the first computer predicts that the vehicle will travel in the traffic congestion risk zone, a coordinated traveling request recommended for reducing traffic congestion risk from the first computer, transmits a coordinated traveling report indicating that the vehicle has performed coordinated traveling, to the first computer when the vehicle has performed the coordinated traveling based on the coordinated traveling request, and receives a payment report indicating that payment of the reward for performing the coordinated traveling has been processed, from the first computer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing method, a program, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a traffic control system that provides information related to congestion mitigation (information encouraging acceleration or lane changes) to drivers of vehicles whose driving is causing congestion (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-43094 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There is a demand for mechanisms in traffic control systems that can reduce the risk of congestion more efficiently and effectively.

[0005] The present disclosure provides an information processing method, a program, and an information processing device related to a traffic control system that can efficiently or effectively reduce the risk of congestion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is an information processing method in a vehicle capable of communicating with a first computer via a network, which includes transmitting location information indicating the current location of the vehicle to the first computer, and receiving a cooperative driving request from the first computer when the vehicle is traveling in a congestion risk section or the first computer predicts that the vehicle will travel through the congestion risk section, the congestion risk section being a section where the risk of congestion occurring exceeds a predetermined level, the cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the risk and a reward to be obtained if the vehicle performs the cooperative driving, and when the vehicle performs the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, transmitting a cooperative driving report to the first computer indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed, and receiving a payment report from the first computer indicating that the payment process for the reward has been completed based on the cooperative driving report. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to an information processing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to more efficiently or effectively reduce the risk of congestion. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a traffic control system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the traffic control system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a calculation unit included in a vehicle. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a calculation unit included in the traffic control cloud. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a calculation unit included in the traffic congestion prediction cloud. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a calculation unit included in the toll management cloud. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the traffic control system. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a flow of processes performed by the traffic control system. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of processes performed by a vehicle in the traffic control system. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the traffic control cloud in the traffic control system. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a second operation example of the traffic control system. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a third operation example of the traffic control system. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a fourth operation example of the traffic control system. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the cooperative driving request data. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of response data to a cooperative driving request. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a fifth operation example of the traffic control system. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the driving condition data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] (First embodiment) A first embodiment of a traffic control system 10 according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0010] (Outline of traffic control system configuration) A schematic configuration of a traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a traffic control system according to an embodiment.

[0011] The traffic control system 10 requests a vehicle traveling in a section on a road where there is a risk of congestion to execute recommended driving conditions to reduce the risk of congestion. Specifically, the system requests a vehicle traveling in an uphill section to "maintain 100 km / h for 1 km from here." The driver of the vehicle receives the request for the driving conditions and drives the vehicle while maintaining 100 km / h for a predetermined section. The traffic control system 10 judges whether the vehicle satisfies the recommended driving conditions. If the traffic control system 10 judges that the driving conditions are satisfied, the system gives a predetermined reward to the driver of the vehicle. The reward is, for example, a predetermined amount of discount on the toll of a toll road. The request for execution of such driving conditions is given to multiple vehicles traveling in the same direction in the same area of ​​the same road at the same time. Therefore, the traffic control system 10 can reduce the risk of congestion by controlling the driving conditions of multiple vehicles to an appropriate state. Therefore, the above-mentioned request for execution of the driving condition is to coordinate the driving states of multiple vehicles, that is, to cause multiple vehicles to perform cooperative driving. In addition, in this disclosure, a request from the traffic control system 10 to the vehicles to execute a specific driving condition will be hereinafter referred to as a cooperative driving request or simply a driving request.

[0012] The traffic control system 10 comprises a vehicle 11, an information terminal 12, a traffic control cloud 13, a congestion prediction cloud 14, a toll management cloud 15, a traffic volume sensor 16, an artificial satellite 17 that outputs positioning signals to identify the current positions of the vehicle 11 and the information terminal 12, an ETC gate 18, an ETC on-board unit 19, and a wide-area communication network 20.

[0013] A user 21 rides in the vehicle 11. The vehicle 11 is equipped with a general car navigation system as a part of IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment). In the car navigation system, a navigation application that realizes various functions realized by the traffic control system 10 runs. Note that an application running on an information terminal 12 such as a smartphone used by the user 21 may communicate with the vehicle 11 by short-range communication such as WiFi (registered trademark), BlueTooth (registered trademark), or UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) to realize various functions realized by the traffic control system 10. The car navigation system, the information terminal 12, or the application running thereon may communicate with various clouds, etc. provided in the traffic control system 10 via the wide area communication network 20 by cellular communication such as 5G, for example, to realize various functions. Note that in the present disclosure, the processes performed by the vehicle 11, the IVI, the car navigation system, the information terminal 12, each cloud, etc. may be executed by hardware and software, unless otherwise specified.

[0014] The car navigation system and the information terminal 12 have the function of receiving a cooperative driving request from a traffic control cloud 13 (described later), notifying the user 21 of the contents of the request, and receiving operations from the user 21.

[0015] The vehicle 11 is also equipped with an ETC on-board unit 19. The ETC on-board unit 19 wirelessly communicates with the ETC gate 18 using an ETC card inserted therein, and collects tolls for toll roads in the toll management cloud 15. The ETC on-board unit 19 is assigned an on-board unit ID that uniquely identifies the ETC on-board unit 19.

[0016] The vehicle 11 collects data such as the vehicle ID, the ID of the application installed on the vehicle 11, the current location information of the vehicle 11, the vehicle speed and the travel lane information of the vehicle 11, and transmits the data via the Internet, ultimately to the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14. Note that the vehicle 11 may transmit to the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 some or all of the information described below as being transmitted by the information terminal 12 to the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14.

[0017] The information terminal 12 manages payment information (such as credit card number, ETC card number, bank account, and cryptocurrency wallet) that the user 21 can use. This information can be communicated and shared with the vehicle 11 as necessary via the wide area communication network 20 by an application running on the information terminal 12. A navigation application running on a car navigation system mounted on the vehicle 11 may also run as a smartphone application. In this case, information on not only vehicle driving but also train transfers, delayed use, and the like can be collectively notified to the user 21 via the smartphone application. The information terminal 12 may perform wireless communication with the ETC gate 18 via the ETC vehicle-mounted device 19 and collect tolls for toll roads in the toll management cloud 15. The information terminal 12 may also manage electronic key information and driver's license information for getting on and driving a vehicle. In addition to the information transmitted by the vehicle 11 to the congestion prediction cloud 14, the information terminal 12 transmits the user ID, information terminal ID, installed application ID, ETC ID, ETC payment method (ETC credit card number, cryptocurrency wallet address), current location information of the information terminal 12, destination and route information, setting information of the user 21 for the travel request, notification method during execution of the travel request, etc., via the Internet, ultimately to the congestion prediction cloud 14. The setting information of the user 21 for the travel request includes, for example, automatically rejecting a travel request that involves a lane change, setting the upper speed limit to 90 / 95 / 100% of the legal speed when the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle is 100 / 200 / 500 m or less, respectively, and designation of receipt of incentives (always applying it to a discount on ETC tolls, etc.). The notification method of when a travel request is being executed is information related to a notification method such as lighting up a specific part of the vehicle 11 in a specific color while a travel request is being executed, notifying that a travel request is being executed by an indicator installed on the periphery of the vehicle 11, notifying surrounding vehicles by wireless communication that a travel request is being executed, etc. The information terminal 12 is an example of a communication terminal in the present disclosure.

[0018] The traffic control cloud 13 is a cloud operated by a highway company, a road owner, or a road administrator (local government). The traffic control cloud 13 transmits a travel request to a vehicle 11 (an application of an information terminal 12 of a user 21 in the vehicle 11, or an electric road sign there) traveling in a direction along a route that causes a risk of congestion, to reduce the risk of congestion when traveling in a predetermined section. When the vehicle 11 travels in response to the travel request, the traffic control cloud 13 receives from the vehicle 11 identification information that uniquely identifies the vehicle 11 (a vehicle ID, an on-board device ID of an ETC on-board device, a user ID, a smartphone application ID, an ETC card ID, a unique ID assigned to the travel request, or the like) and a message indicating that the travel request has been responded to, and issues (instructs to issue) an incentive such as a discount on road tolls to the vehicle 11. The traffic control cloud 13 is an example of a first computer in the present disclosure.

[0019] The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 is a cloud operated by a company that performs simulations such as traffic congestion occurrence prediction based on traffic big data. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 collects movement data from the traffic volume sensor 16, the artificial satellite 17, the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, etc., and predicts the occurrence of traffic congestion. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 also transmits the predicted result to the traffic control cloud 13. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 may also transmit information regarding how much the traffic congestion risk can be reduced by performing what kind of traffic control, and information regarding the travel request for each vehicle 11, together with the information. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 is an example of the second computer in the present disclosure. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 may be included as a function in the traffic control cloud 13. In that case, data from various sensors indicating the traffic situation may be transmitted to the traffic control cloud 13. Then, the traffic congestion prediction may be performed in the traffic control cloud 13, and a travel request may be generated.

[0020] The ETC gate 18 communicates wirelessly with the ETC in-vehicle unit 19 to identify the vehicle 11 that has passed through the ETC gate 18. The ETC gate 18 also transmits to the toll management cloud 15 information that the vehicle 11 has passed through the ETC gate 18.

[0021] The wide area communication network 20 is, for example, the Internet. Note that the wide area communication network 20 is an example of a network in this disclosure.

[0022] The toll management cloud 15 is a cloud that manages the collection of tolls for toll roads for vehicles 11 equipped with an ETC on-board unit. The toll management cloud 15 acquires information indicating that the vehicle 11 has passed through the ETC gate 18 from the ETC gate 18, and collects the toll for the toll road for the vehicle 11.

[0023] The traffic volume sensor 16 is a sensor that is installed near a road and detects traffic volume such as the congestion state of vehicles on the road. The traffic volume sensor 16 may be in the form of, for example, a camera, a traffic light, a bulletin board, a 5G base station, a road-embedded sensor, etc. The traffic volume sensor 16 detects a vehicle ID including a vehicle number, the number of passing vehicles in a unit time and / or a specific lane, the average passing speed in a unit time and / or a specific lane, the passing speed of each vehicle, etc. In addition, the traffic volume sensor 16 transmits various detected information to the congestion prediction cloud 14 via the wide area communication network 20.

[0024] The artificial satellite 17 detects sensing information of the earth's surface (for example, an aerial image of the earth's surface, and conditions such as rain, wind, lightning, temperature, humidity, flooding, snowfall, and freezing). The artificial satellite 17 also detects meteorological information (clouds, rain, wind, lightning, temperature, humidity, fine particle distribution such as PM2.5, etc.). The artificial satellite 17 also transmits the detected data to, for example, the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14. The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 may obtain the traffic volume (traffic congestion condition) at the time of shooting for each road or lane by performing vehicle detection from the aerial image received from the artificial satellite 17. In addition, if a SAR satellite equipped with a synthetic aperture radar is used as the artificial satellite 17, it is possible to observe the earth's surface even at night or in bad weather, which is useful for understanding the traffic conditions of the road. In addition, it is possible to measure not only the road but also the number of vehicles parked in a parking lot and vacant parking spaces, so it is also possible to know the congestion of the SA / PA ahead in the direction of travel in almost real time (for example, every 15 minutes, etc.) while driving on a highway. In addition to the artificial satellite 17, artificial satellites that output positioning signals necessary for the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 to locate their own current positions, such as GPS satellites, are also components of the traffic control system 10. The positioning signals are received by a GPS antenna provided in the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12.

[0025] The congestion prediction cloud 14 may be included in the traffic control cloud 13. In this case, data from the traffic volume sensor 16 is transmitted to the traffic control cloud 13, where congestion prediction is performed and a travel request is generated. Also, the artificial satellite 17 may be used as a camera to, for example, perform image analysis from ground photographs to simultaneously detect traffic conditions for each road and each direction of travel over a wide range, and transmit the traffic conditions to the congestion prediction cloud 14 (or the traffic control cloud 13).

[0026] Furthermore, the car navigation system installed in the vehicle 11 may be a car navigation system that does not share data with the vehicle 11 and has only a so-called positioning function.

[0027] (Hardware configuration of traffic control system) The hardware configuration of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a hardware block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the traffic control system according to the embodiment.

[0028] In the traffic control system 10, a vehicle 11, an information terminal 12, a traffic control cloud 13, a congestion prediction cloud 14, a toll management cloud 15, an ETC vehicle-mounted device 19, a traffic volume sensor 16, and an artificial satellite 17 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a wide area communication network 20. The vehicle 11 and the information terminal 12 are connected, for example, by short-distance communication. Furthermore, the functions of the vehicle 11 and the functions of the information terminal 12 do not necessarily need to coexist, and the vehicle 11 may substitute for the functions of the information terminal 12, or the information terminal 12 may substitute for the functions of the vehicle 11. The various functions can be realized by a processor mounted on the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 and a memory in which a program for causing the processor to execute a series of processes is stored. Alternatively, the program may be recorded on a non-transitory recording medium.

[0029] The vehicle 11 includes a communication unit 11a, a calculation unit 11b, a memory 11c, an information input / output unit 11d, a sensor 11e, a lighting device 11f, and an actuator 11g for automatic driving.

[0030] The communication unit 11a controls communications with units other than the vehicle 11 shown in FIG.

[0031] The calculation unit 11b performs various calculations to control the operating state of the vehicle 11 related to the traffic control system 10. The functions of the calculation unit 11b of the vehicle 11 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3).

[0032] The memory 11c stores various programs and various data necessary for the calculation unit 11b of the vehicle 11 to perform calculations.

[0033] The information input / output unit 11d is a display device or a speaker through which the vehicle 11 notifies the user 21 of various pieces of information. In addition, the information input / output unit 11d is, for example, a touch panel laminated on a display device through which the user 21 inputs various pieces of information to the vehicle 11.

[0034] The sensor 11e is various sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 11. Specifically, the sensor 11e is a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 11, a positioning device (a GPS receiver and a map database provided in a car navigation system) that measures the current position of the vehicle 11, a radar sensor that measures the distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle and a following vehicle, a camera that monitors the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 11, and the like.

[0035] The lighting device 11f is installed at the bottom of the vehicle 11 and illuminates the road surface. The lighting device 11f is equipped with an automatic driving function or a driving assistance function, and when the vehicle 11 is notified of a cooperative driving request, the lighting device 11f emits light to notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle 11 is driving automatically in accordance with the request or that the driving assistance function is operating in accordance with the request. The lighting device 11f may be equipped with a plurality of emission colors and emit light in an emission color corresponding to the type of driving request being executed by the vehicle 11. The lighting device 11f may be installed at a plurality of parts of the vehicle 11, and the lighting device 11f at a position corresponding to the driving request being executed may emit light. In place of the lighting device 11f, an indicator or a display device such as an LED installed on the outer periphery of the vehicle 11 may be provided. In place of the lighting device 11f, the lighting device 11f may be equipped with a function of transmitting information to other vehicles around the vehicle 11 via wireless communication.

[0036] The autonomous driving actuator 11g is an actuator for performing throttle control, brake control, steering angle control, etc., which are necessary when the vehicle 11 is equipped with a driving assistance function (so-called ADAS function) or when the vehicle 11 is equipped with an autonomous driving function.

[0037] The information terminal 12 includes a communication unit 12a, a calculation unit 12b, a memory 12c, an information input / output unit 12d, and a sensor 12e.

[0038] The communication unit 12a controls communications with units other than the information terminal 12 shown in FIG.

[0039] The calculation unit 12b performs various calculations to control the operation state of the information terminal 12 related to the traffic control system 10. The functions of the calculation unit 11b of the information terminal 12 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3).

[0040] The memory 12c stores various programs and various data necessary for the calculation unit 12b of the information terminal 12 to perform calculations.

[0041] The information input / output unit 12d is a display device or a speaker through which the information terminal 12 notifies the user 21 of various pieces of information. The information input / output unit 12d is, for example, a touch panel laminated on a display device through which the user 21 inputs various pieces of information to the information terminal 12.

[0042] The sensor 12e is a variety of sensors that detect the moving state of the information terminal 12 that moves together with the vehicle 11. Specifically, the sensor 12e is a vehicle speed sensor that detects the moving speed, a positioning device that measures the current position of the information terminal 12, and the like.

[0043] The traffic control cloud 13 includes a communication unit 13a, a calculation unit 13b, and a memory 13c.

[0044] The communication unit 13a controls communications with units other than the traffic control cloud 13 shown in FIG.

[0045] The calculation unit 13b performs various calculations to control the operation state of the traffic control cloud 13 related to the traffic control system 10. The functions of the calculation unit 13b of the traffic control cloud 13 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 4).

[0046] The memory 13c stores various programs and data required for the calculation unit 13b of the traffic control cloud 13 to perform calculations.

[0047] The traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 includes a communication unit 14a, a calculation unit 14b, and a memory 14c.

[0048] The communication unit 14a controls communication with units other than the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 shown in FIG.

[0049] The calculation unit 14b performs various calculations to control the operation state of the congestion prediction cloud 14 related to the traffic control system 10. The functions of the calculation unit 14b of the congestion prediction cloud 14 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 5).

[0050] The memory 14c stores various programs and various data required for the calculation unit 14b of the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 to perform calculations.

[0051] The toll management cloud 15 includes a communication unit 15a, a calculation unit 15b, and a memory 15c.

[0052] The communication unit 15a controls communications with units other than the toll management cloud 15 shown in FIG.

[0053] The calculation unit 15b performs various calculations to control the operation state of the toll management cloud 15 related to the traffic control system 10. The functions of the calculation unit 15b of the toll management cloud 15 will be described in detail later (see FIG. 6).

[0054] The memory 15c stores various programs and data required for the calculation unit 15b of the toll management cloud 15 to perform calculations.

[0055] The ETC vehicle-mounted device 19 includes a communication unit 19a, a calculation unit 19b, and a memory 19c.

[0056] The communication unit 19a controls communications with units other than the ETC vehicle-mounted unit 19 shown in FIG.

[0057] The calculation unit 19b performs various calculations to control the operating state of the ETC vehicle-mounted unit 19 related to the traffic control system 10, such as determining whether to pass through the ETC gate 18, obtaining toll information, storing toll information, and notifying the user of the toll information.

[0058] The memory 19c stores various programs and various data required for the calculation unit 19b of the ETC vehicle-mounted device 19 to perform calculations.

[0059] The traffic sensor 16 and the artificial satellite 17 are as described above.

[0060] (Functional configuration of the computing unit in the vehicle) The functional configuration of the calculation unit 11b included in the vehicle 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the calculation unit included in the vehicle. The calculation unit 12b included in the information terminal 12 also has the same functions as the calculation unit 11b included in the vehicle 11. Therefore, the functions shown in Fig. 3 may be read as the functions of the calculation unit 12b included in the information terminal 12.

[0061] The calculation unit 11b includes the functional units of a current position measurement unit 30, a position information transmission unit 31, a surrounding condition detection unit 32, a cooperative driving request acquisition unit 33, a cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34, a message notification unit 35, a cooperative driving status notification unit 36, a cooperative driving execution status determination unit 37, a cooperative driving report transmission unit 38, an incentive content acquisition unit 39, and a payment report acquisition unit 40, all of which are shown in FIG.

[0062] The current position measuring unit 30 measures the current position of the vehicle 11 .

[0063] The location information transmission unit 31 transmits information including location information indicating the current location of the vehicle 11 measured by the current location measurement unit 30, a vehicle ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle 11 (which may be the onboard device ID of the ETC onboard device, a user ID, an ETC card ID, etc.), destination information and route information set in the vehicle 11, setting information of the user 21 for a driving request, a notification method when a driving request is being executed, etc., to the congestion prediction cloud 14 via the wide area communication network 20.

[0064] The surrounding conditions detection unit 32 detects the traveling state of the vehicle 11 and the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 11 by the sensor 11e.

[0065] The cooperative driving request acquisition unit 33 receives a cooperative driving request, which is a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the risk of congestion, from the traffic control cloud 13 when the vehicle 11 is driving in a congestion risk section where the congestion risk of congestion exceeds a predetermined level, or when the traffic control cloud 13 predicts that the vehicle 11 will drive in a congestion risk section. The cooperative driving request may include reward information to be obtained when the vehicle 11 performs cooperative driving.

[0066] The cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether it (the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12) is the target of the cooperative driving request. For example, the cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether it is the target of the cooperative driving request by confirming whether the cooperative driving request has been notified to it based on the section position information included in the notified cooperative driving request and the position information of the vehicle 11. In addition, the cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether it can safely implement the driving request. For example, the cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether it is possible for it to drive under the specified driving conditions by monitoring the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 11, thereby determining whether the notified driving request can be safely implemented.

[0067] The message notification unit 35 notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 via the information input / output unit 11d of the contents of the cooperative driving request acquired by the cooperative driving request acquisition unit 33. The message notification unit 35 also notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 via the information input / output unit 11d of the fact that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the driving conditions requested in the cooperative driving request and the contents of the incentive obtained as a result of satisfying the requested driving conditions. The message notification unit 35 also notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 of information indicating that the incentive has been used to pay the toll fee for the toll road.

[0068] The cooperative driving state notification unit 36 ​​outputs notification information notifying surrounding vehicles that the vehicle 11 is equipped with an automatic driving function and a driving assistance function (ADAS function) and that the vehicle 11 is automatically driven in accordance with the request and that the ADAS function is operating when the vehicle 11 is notified of a cooperative driving request. The cooperative driving state notification unit 36 ​​notifies surrounding vehicles of the fact that the vehicle 11 is performing cooperative driving, for example, by turning on the lighting device 11f. The cooperative driving state notification unit 36 ​​may also cause an indicator (display device) such as an LED provided on the outer surface of the vehicle 11 to emit light in a specific form. The cooperative driving state notification unit 36 ​​may also output notification information to other vehicles surrounding the vehicle 11 via wireless communication. Note that the notification information preferably includes at least one of the speed information of the driving speed or the speed range instructed by the cooperative driving request.

[0069] The cooperative driving execution state determination unit 37 determines whether the vehicle 11 satisfies the driving conditions notified in the cooperative driving request.

[0070] When the vehicle 11 satisfies the driving conditions notified in the cooperative driving request, the cooperative driving report transmission unit 38 transmits a cooperative driving report indicating that cooperative driving has been performed to the traffic control cloud 13. The cooperative driving report includes at least identification information (such as a vehicle ID) that uniquely identifies the vehicle, identification information (such as a cooperative driving request ID) that identifies the executed cooperative driving request, information indicating that the driving conditions for cooperative driving have been satisfied, the date and time when the cooperative driving was performed, and information on which section of which toll road the cooperative driving was performed on. Furthermore, when the cooperative driving is performed by the autonomous driving of the vehicle 11 or by a driving assistance system equipped in the vehicle 11, the cooperative driving report includes information indicating that the cooperative driving was performed by the autonomous driving or the driving assistance system.

[0071] The incentive content acquisition unit 39 acquires from the traffic control cloud 13 the content of the reward (incentive) for performing cooperative driving based on a cooperative driving request.

[0072] The payment report acquisition unit 40 acquires from the traffic control cloud 13 a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been carried out based on the cooperative driving report.

[0073] (Functional configuration of the computing unit in the traffic control cloud) The functional configuration of the calculation unit 13b included in the traffic control cloud 13 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the calculation unit included in the traffic control cloud.

[0074] The calculation unit 13b has the functional units of a traffic congestion forecast information acquisition unit 41, a cooperative driving request issuance necessity determination unit 42, a cooperative driving request issuance unit 43, a cooperative driving report acquisition unit 44, an incentive calculation unit 45, an incentive memory unit 46, and an incentive content reporting unit 47 shown in FIG. 4.

[0075] The traffic congestion prediction information acquisition unit 41 acquires, from the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14, traffic congestion prediction information (traffic congestion risk information) that predicts the occurrence of traffic congestion.

[0076] The cooperative driving request issuance necessity determination unit 42 determines whether a cooperative driving request should be issued to the vehicle 11 traveling in an area where congestion is predicted to occur. For example, the cooperative driving request issuance necessity determination unit 42 monitors the traffic conditions around the vehicle 11, and if it is considered that the vehicle 11 cannot travel under the specified conditions, it may not be necessary to issue a cooperative driving request. This will be described in more detail later.

[0077] The cooperative driving request issuing unit 43 issues a cooperative driving request to the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12. The cooperative driving request includes at least section position information including the start position and end position of the cooperative driving, and the contents of the cooperative driving (driving condition information and incentive information).

[0078] The coordinated driving report acquisition unit 44 acquires, from the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12, a coordinated driving report indicating that coordinated driving has been performed.

[0079] The incentive calculation unit 45 calculates an incentive for the vehicle 11 based on the coordinated driving report acquired by the coordinated driving report acquisition unit 44.

[0080] The incentive memory unit 46 stores the content of the incentive calculated by the incentive calculation unit 45 in association with a driving request ID, which is information identifying the target driving request, and a vehicle ID, which is information identifying the vehicle 11 that satisfies the conditions of the driving request.

[0081] The incentive content reporting unit 47 reports the incentive content calculated by the incentive calculation unit 45 to the corresponding vehicle 11 or information terminal 12.

[0082] (Functional configuration of the computing unit in the traffic congestion prediction cloud) The functional configuration of the calculation unit 14b included in the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the calculation unit included in the traffic congestion prediction cloud.

[0083] The calculation unit 14b includes the functional units of a sensor information acquisition unit 51, a traffic congestion risk prediction unit 52, a traffic congestion countermeasure planning unit 53, and a traffic congestion prediction information output unit 54 shown in FIG.

[0084] The sensor information acquisition unit 51 acquires information required for traffic congestion prediction from the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, the traffic volume sensor 16, and the artificial satellite 17.

[0085] The traffic congestion risk prediction unit 52 predicts the risk of traffic congestion occurrence based on various information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 51. Various studies have been conducted on traffic congestion prediction, and predictions can be made using such algorithms or models of machine learning and neural networks.

[0086] The traffic congestion countermeasure planning unit 53, assuming that the traffic congestion predicted by the traffic congestion risk prediction unit 52 has occurred, plans measures required to reduce or eliminate the traffic congestion. The planned measures may include the contents of individual cooperative driving requests for each vehicle.

[0087] The traffic congestion forecast information output unit 54 outputs traffic congestion forecast information (traffic congestion risk information) and the contents of measures (e.g., the contents of a cooperative driving request) proposed to reduce or eliminate traffic congestion to the traffic control cloud 13. The traffic congestion forecast information includes the predicted time of traffic congestion, the predicted traffic congestion occurrence section, and the amount of greenhouse gas (CO 2 This includes the expected increase in the occurrence of

[0088] (Functional configuration of the calculation unit in the toll management cloud) The functional configuration of the calculation unit 15b included in the toll management cloud 15 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the calculation unit included in the toll management cloud.

[0089] The calculation unit 15b includes the functional units of an ETC gate passage information acquisition unit 61, a toll calculation unit 62, an incentive content acquisition unit 63, a payment processing unit 64, and a payment information notification unit 65 shown in FIG.

[0090] The ETC gate passage information acquisition unit 61 acquires information for identifying the ETC gate 18, identification information of the vehicle that passed through the ETC gate 18 (vehicle ID, on-board ETC unit ID, ETC card ID, etc.), the time of passage, etc.

[0091] The toll calculation unit 62 calculates the toll for the vehicle 11 based on the information acquired by the ETC gate passage information acquisition unit 61 .

[0092] The incentive content acquisition unit 63 acquires, from the traffic control cloud 13, the content of the incentive that the vehicle 11 corresponding to the vehicle ID has acquired on the toll road on which it has traveled before passing through the ETC gate 18.

[0093] The settlement processing unit 64 performs settlement by debiting the amount obtained by subtracting the incentive acquired by the incentive content acquisition unit 63 from the toll calculated by the toll calculation unit 62 from the bank account, credit card, or cryptocurrency wallet registered by the user 21. Note that the bank account number registered by the user 21 is registered in association with, for example, the ID of the ETC card.

[0094] The payment information notifying unit 65 notifies the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 of the toll and payment completion information indicating that the payment of the toll has been completed.

[0095] (Example of traffic control system operation) An example of the operation of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the traffic control system.

[0096] 7, when the vehicle 11 is traveling just before an uphill section and it is predicted that there is a risk of congestion on the uphill section, the traffic control cloud 13 requests the vehicle 11 to maintain a speed within a predetermined range in the section where congestion is predicted to occur. If the vehicle 11 complies with the request to maintain the speed, the traffic control system 10 provides a reward, such as a discount on the toll, to the user 21 of the vehicle 11.

[0097] 7 shows an example of a driving request or driving guide given to the vehicle 11 by the traffic control cloud 13 for each driving position of the vehicle 11. Note that, although an uphill section is taken as an example here, the same applies to any section where a speed drop is likely to occur. For example, the same applies to sections with poor visibility, sections that are easily misinterpreted as flat ground or a downhill section, etc.

[0098] The travel position P0 is a point before the vehicle 11 reaches the designated section (the section from the travel position P1 to the travel position P4) that is the subject of a predetermined travel request. That is, the travel position P0 is a point at which the vehicle 11 is notified in advance that there is a travel request.

[0099] The traffic control system 10 updates the current position of the vehicle 11 in real time, and when the vehicle 11 reaches the driving position P0, notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 in advance that there is a driving request ahead. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a request such as "Please maintain 90 km / h for the next 2 km" by, for example, video information and / or audio information via the car navigation system or the information terminal 12.

[0100] The travel position P1 is the start point of the designated section that is the target of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 passes the travel position P1, the traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a travel request such as "maintain 90 km / h for the next 2 km." This allows the user 21 to know that the vehicle 11 has entered the target section of the travel request, and drives the vehicle 11 in accordance with the content of the travel request.

[0101] The driving position P2 is the start point of an uphill section. Since the vehicle speed is likely to drop from this point, which can easily cause congestion, the traffic control system 10 issues a warning such as "Uphill section. Please be careful of your speed" when the vehicle 11 passes the driving position P2.

[0102] The travel position P3 is the end point of the uphill section. The traffic control system 10 issues a warning such as "Please maintain a speed of 90 km / h" when the vehicle 11 passes the travel position P3 so that the vehicle 11 does not immediately slow down its speed because it feels relieved that the uphill section is over.

[0103] The travel position P4 is the end point of the designated section of the travel request. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 that the designated section has ended by notifying the user 21, for example, "This is the end."

[0104] The traffic control system 10 determines whether the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request at the travel position P5 based on the travel data of the vehicle 11 from the travel position P1 to the travel position P4, which is the designated section of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 issues a notification such as "Thank you for your cooperation." This allows the user 21 to understand that the travel request has been satisfied. The notification may also include, explicitly or indirectly, a reward (incentive) that the user 21 will be given for satisfying the travel request. Furthermore, when the vehicle 11 does not satisfy the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 does not issue a notification at the travel position P5. Alternatively, the traffic control system 10 may notify the user 21 that the conditions of the travel request have not been satisfied at the travel position P5.

[0105] Generally, on an uphill road, the speed of a vehicle is likely to decrease without the driver noticing. This causes the following vehicles to decelerate, which then causes the following vehicles to decelerate even more, ultimately resulting in a traffic jam. For this reason, the cause of traffic jams can be reduced by requesting a vehicle in a situation where the vehicle speed is likely to decrease, such as going uphill, to maintain a speed above a predetermined speed (and below the predetermined speed). In the example shown in FIG. 7, a vehicle 11 is followed by a following vehicle, and the vehicle can maintain a distance of at least a predetermined distance ahead, so a travel request is sent to request that the vehicle speed not decrease below a predetermined value.

[0106] The conditions for issuing a cooperative driving request include the following. If at least one or more of these conditions are met, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a driving request to the vehicle 11. Alternatively, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a driving request to the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 that is close to an uphill slope, and notify the user 21 of the driving request if the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 that receives the request meets the following safety conditions.

[0107] For example, when the vehicle 11 should travel at a designated speed, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this applies when other vehicles are traveling at or above the designated speed in all lanes, or when the distance between the vehicle 11 and the preceding vehicle in the same lane is a predetermined distance or more, and the vehicle 11 is traveling at or below the designated speed.

[0108] Also, when there is no risk for the vehicle 11 to reach the designated speed, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this is the case when a predetermined number of lane changes or less are required to travel at the designated speed in the designated section, the weather and visibility are good, etc.

[0109] Furthermore, when the vehicle density in front of the vehicle 11 is lower than the vehicle density behind the vehicle 11 and the vehicle density in front is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this is the case when the rear of the vehicle 11 is busier than the front and there is enough space ahead to accelerate.

[0110] Also, when there are no other vehicles within a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle 11 in the same lane, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a travel request to the vehicle 11. For example, when the area ahead of the vehicle 11 is clear.

[0111] On the other hand, if the above-mentioned "conditions for issuing a travel request" are not satisfied, the traffic control cloud 13 does not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11. Alternatively, the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 may automatically reject the received travel request. That is, the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 may not notify the user 21 of the travel request issued by the traffic control cloud 13. Furthermore, the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 may send a rejection reply to the traffic control cloud 13. Furthermore, the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 may ignore the travel request issued by the traffic control cloud 13.

[0112] For example, in the following cases, the traffic control cloud 13 may not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11, or the car navigation system or the information terminal 12 may not receive a request to issue a travel request.

[0113] For example, if the vehicle 11 cannot reach the designated speed, the traffic control cloud 13 does not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this applies when other vehicles are traveling at or below the designated speed in any lane, or when a preceding vehicle within a predetermined distance ahead of or immediately before the vehicle 11 in the same lane as the vehicle 11 is traveling at or below the designated speed.

[0114] Furthermore, if there is a risk for the vehicle 11 to achieve the designated speed, the traffic control cloud 13 will not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this includes cases where a certain number of lane changes are required to travel at the designated speed in the designated section, where the weather or visibility is poor, etc.

[0115] Furthermore, if the vehicle density behind the vehicle 11 is equal to or lower than a predetermined density, the traffic control cloud 13 does not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this applies when all lanes have a density equal to or lower than a predetermined density, when there are no vehicles following within a predetermined distance of the lane of the vehicle 11, when the density of following vehicles within a predetermined distance is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, etc.

[0116] Furthermore, when the vehicle density in front of the vehicle 11 is higher than the vehicle density behind the vehicle 11, the traffic control cloud 13 does not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11. Specifically, this is the case when the area in front of the vehicle 11 is busier than the area behind the vehicle 11.

[0117] In addition, when the vehicle density ahead of the vehicle 11 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the traffic control cloud 13 does not issue a travel request to the vehicle 11.

[0118] In addition, if the vehicle 11 is an autonomous vehicle equipped with an autonomous driving function (autonomous driving), the vehicle 11 may transition to autonomous driving that satisfies the notified conditions when a driving request is notified from the traffic control system 10. In the above-mentioned example, when receiving a driving request such as "maintain 90 km / h for the next 2 km", the vehicle 11 equipped with the autonomous driving function may perform autonomous driving that maintains 90 km / h and also maintains an appropriate distance from the preceding vehicle.

[0119] In this way, when transitioning to autonomous driving upon receiving a driving request, acceptance condition information indicating the conditions of cooperative driving that the user 21 can accept is set in advance by input from the user 21 of the vehicle 11, and it is desirable to transition to autonomous driving only if the contents of the cooperative driving presented by the traffic control cloud 13 satisfy the acceptance condition information based on the cooperative driving request and the acceptance condition information.

[0120] (Processing flow of the traffic control system) The flow of processing performed by the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the traffic control system. In Fig. 8, the processing performed by the vehicle 11 may be replaced with the processing performed by the information terminal 12. Also, the processing performed by the congestion prediction cloud 14 may be functionally included in the traffic control cloud 13.

[0121] The current position measuring unit 30 of the vehicle 11 periodically measures the current position of the vehicle 11 (step S1).

[0122] The position information transmission unit 31 of the vehicle 11 associates the current position of the vehicle 11 with its own vehicle ID and periodically transmits the information to the congestion prediction cloud 14 (step S2). The position information transmission unit 31 of the vehicle 11 also associates the current position of the vehicle 11 with its own vehicle ID and periodically transmits the information to the traffic control cloud 13 (step S3). In step S2 or step S3, the vehicle 11 also transmits to the traffic control cloud 13 or the congestion prediction cloud 14 destination information and route information set in the vehicle 11, setting information of the user 21 for the travel request, a notification method when a travel request is being executed, and the like.

[0123] The traffic volume sensor 16 and the artificial satellite 17 periodically transmit the various pieces of acquired information to the congestion prediction cloud 14 (step S4).

[0124] The sensor information acquisition unit 51 of the congestion prediction cloud 14 acquires various information transmitted from the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, the traffic volume sensor 16, and the artificial satellite 17, and periodically grasps the traffic situation (step S5).

[0125] The traffic congestion risk prediction unit 52 of the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 periodically predicts the risk of traffic congestion. When the risk of traffic congestion exceeds a predetermined value, the traffic congestion countermeasure planning unit 53 of the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 plans traffic congestion countermeasures to reduce or eliminate the traffic congestion (step S6). The traffic congestion countermeasures may include information indicating the conditions for cooperative driving.

[0126] The traffic congestion prediction information output unit 54 of the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 periodically transmits the traffic congestion prediction information (traffic congestion risk information) and the proposed measures (for example, conditions for cooperative driving) to the traffic control cloud 13 (step S7).

[0127] The cooperative driving request issuance necessity determination unit 42 of the traffic control cloud 13 determines whether or not a driving request needs to be issued (step S8).

[0128] When the cooperative driving request issuance necessity determination unit 42 of the traffic control cloud 13 decides to issue a driving request, the cooperative driving request issuing unit 43 issues a driving request to the vehicle 11 (step S9).

[0129] The cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 4 of the vehicle 11 checks whether the vehicle itself is the target of the driving request (step S10). If it is determined that the vehicle itself is not the target of the driving request, it rejects the driving request. For example, if the vehicle itself is not traveling in the driving section for which the cooperative driving request has been issued, or if the driving route of the car navigation system does not include that driving section, it is determined that the vehicle itself is not the target.

[0130] When the vehicle 11 is the target of a driving request, the cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 4 of the vehicle 11 checks whether the driving request can be implemented safely (step S11). If it is determined that the driving request cannot be implemented safely, the vehicle 11 rejects the driving request.

[0131] When it is determined that the vehicle 11 is the target of the travel request and that the travel request can be implemented safely, the message notification unit 35 of the vehicle 11 notifies the user 21 (driver) of the vehicle 11 of the contents of the travel request (step S12). Thereafter, the vehicle 11 travels in accordance with the travel request.

[0132] When the vehicle 11 has passed the designated section specified in the travel request, the cooperative travel execution state determination unit 37 of the vehicle 11 determines whether the vehicle 11 has satisfied the travel conditions notified in the travel request (step S13).

[0133] If it is determined that the driving conditions notified in the driving request are satisfied, the coordinated driving report sending unit 38 of the vehicle 11 notifies the traffic control cloud 13 of a coordinated driving report indicating that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the driving request (step S14).

[0134] The cooperative driving report acquisition unit 44 of the traffic control cloud 13 acquires the cooperative driving report, and the incentive calculation unit 45 calculates the incentive. Then, the incentive storage unit 46 stores the calculated incentive in association with a driving request ID, which is information for identifying the target driving request, and a vehicle ID, which is information for identifying the vehicle 11 that satisfies the conditions of the driving request (step S15).

[0135] The incentive content reporting unit 47 of the traffic control cloud 13 reports the content of the incentive to the vehicle 11 (step S16).

[0136] The message notification unit 35 of the vehicle 11 notifies the user 21 (driver) of the vehicle 11 that the driving conditions requested in the driving request have been satisfied and the contents of the incentive that will be obtained as a result of satisfying the requested driving conditions (step S17).

[0137] The ETC gate passage information acquisition unit 61 of the toll management cloud 15 detects that the vehicle 11 has passed through the ETC gate 18 (exit gate) (step S18).

[0138] The toll calculation unit 62 of the toll management cloud 15 calculates the toll for the vehicle 11 (step S19).

[0139] The incentive content acquisition unit 63 of the toll management cloud 15 inquires of the traffic control cloud 13 about the incentive for the vehicle 11 (step S20).

[0140] The traffic control cloud 13 checks the contents of the incentive for the vehicle 11 stored in the incentive storage unit 46 (step S21).

[0141] The traffic control cloud 13 transmits the contents of the incentive for the vehicle 11 to the toll fee management cloud 15 (step S22).

[0142] The payment processing unit 64 of the toll management cloud 15 performs payment processing for the toll including the incentive for the vehicle 11 (step S23).

[0143] The payment information notification unit 65 of the toll management cloud 15 transmits the payment details to the vehicle 11 (step S24).

[0144] The payment report acquisition unit 40 of the vehicle 11 receives the payment details. Then, the message notification unit 35 notifies the user 21 (driver) of the vehicle 11 of the payment details (step S25).

[0145] In this way, the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 collects driving information of the vehicle 11 and traffic information from various sensors, thereby grasping the traffic situation in real time and quantitatively predicting the occurrence of traffic congestion including several hours ahead. Here, if the traffic congestion prediction is determined to be a traffic congestion that will have a large impact and meet certain conditions, the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 estimates a traffic congestion countermeasure plan and the amount of traffic congestion that will be reduced if the plan is implemented (i.e., the effect of the traffic congestion countermeasure). Then, the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 transmits the traffic congestion prediction, the traffic congestion countermeasure plan (which is applied when the traffic congestion prediction meets certain conditions), and the effect of the plan to the traffic control cloud 13 and shares them.

[0146] In response to this, the traffic control cloud 13 determines whether to send a travel request to the vehicle 11 that is traveling on a route related to the congestion occurrence prediction or is scheduled to travel based on the route information, and if so, determines the conditions and incentives. For example, the incentive is designed based on whether the predicted effect of the congestion countermeasure plan is greater than the actual countermeasure cost, or based on the predicted effect as the source or upper limit. Then, when it is determined that the travel request is to be sent, the travel request is sent to the vehicle 11 or information terminal 12 that has sent the vehicle travel information to the congestion prediction cloud 14. The traffic control cloud 13 may send the travel request to an unspecified number of vehicles 11 and information terminals 12, or may send it only to the vehicles 11 and information terminals 12 that have a certain relationship with the congestion occurrence prediction based on the route information of the car navigation system.

[0147] The vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 that receives the travel request determines whether the designated section of the travel request is relevant, and ends the process if it is not relevant. In addition, based on sensors installed on the vehicle 11 and sensors installed on the roads around the vehicle, the vehicle 11 determines whether the travel request can be executed safely. If it is determined that the request cannot be executed safely, the process ends. The vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 notifies the user 21 of a message according to the designated section or point of the travel request and the position, vehicle speed, lane, etc. of the vehicle 11. After passing through the designated space, the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 determines whether the designated section has been traveled while satisfying the designated conditions, and if it is determined that the designated conditions have been satisfied, notifies the traffic control cloud 13 of that effect. The traffic control cloud 13 calculates an appropriate incentive for the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 (app), records it, and transmits a message to the effect that the travel request has been satisfied and / or information on the incentive acquired thereby. For example, an incentive acquired while driving on a highway may be notified to the user 21 as a special discount when the payment is finalized at the ETC gate 18 when exiting the highway. In this way, the incentive can be notified to the user 21 in an easy-to-understand manner as one lump, instead of a small incentive being notified each time the user drives in response to a driving request.

[0148] (Flow of processing performed by the vehicle) The flow of processing performed by the vehicle 11 in the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the vehicle in the traffic control system. Note that Fig. 9 shows the flow of processing performed by the vehicle 11, but it may be replaced with processing performed by the information terminal 12. It may also be replaced with processing performed by the information terminal 12 in cooperation with the vehicle 11 for a specific task such as checking the safety around the vehicle.

[0149] The cooperative driving request acquisition unit 33 receives a driving request from the traffic control cloud 13 (step S31).

[0150] The cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether the acquired driving request is for itself (vehicle 11) (step S32). If it is determined that the driving request is for itself (vehicle 11) (step S32: Yes), the process proceeds to step S33. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the driving request is for itself (vehicle 11) (step S32: No), the vehicle 11 ends the process.

[0151] If it is determined in step S32 that the driving request is for itself (vehicle 11), the cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether the acquired driving request is within the range of acceptance by the user 21 of the vehicle 11 (step S33). If it is determined that the driving request is within the range of acceptance by the user 21 of the vehicle 11 (step S33: Yes), the process proceeds to step S34. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the driving request is within the range of acceptance by the user 21 of the vehicle 11 (step S33: No), the vehicle 11 ends the process.

[0152] If it is determined in step S33 that the travel request is within the range of acceptance by the user 21 of the vehicle 11, the surrounding conditions detection unit 32 detects and updates the travel state and surrounding conditions of the vehicle 11 (step S34).

[0153] The cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 determines whether the driving request can be executed safely (step S35). If it is determined that the driving request can be executed safely (step S35: Yes), the process proceeds to step S36. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the driving request can be executed safely (step S35: No), the vehicle 11 ends the process. The cooperative driving request acceptance determination unit 34 may determine whether the driving request can be executed safely based on one or more of the vehicle density around the vehicle 11 and the distance to the surrounding vehicles. Specifically, it may be determined that the driving request can be executed safely when the vehicle density is equal to or less than a predetermined value and / or the distance to the surrounding vehicles is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

[0154] When it is determined in step S35 that the travel request can be executed safely, the message notification unit 35 notifies the user 21 (driver) of the vehicle 11 of the specified message at a position corresponding to the specified section that is the target of the travel request (for example, travel positions P0, P1, P2 in FIG. 7) (step S36). Thereafter, the vehicle 11 travels according to the travel request.

[0155] The current position measurement unit 30 determines whether the vehicle 11 has passed through the designated section that is the target of the travel request (step S37). If it is determined that the designated section has been passed (step S37: Yes), the process proceeds to step S38. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the designated section has been passed (step S37: No), the process returns to step S34.

[0156] If it is determined in step S37 that the vehicle 11 has passed the designated section, the cooperative driving execution state determination unit 37 determines whether the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the driving request (step S38). If it is determined that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the driving request (step S38: Yes), the process proceeds to step S39. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the driving request (step S38: No), the vehicle 11 ends the process.

[0157] When it is determined in step S38 that the vehicle 11 satisfies the conditions of the driving request, the cooperative driving report transmitter 38 notifies the traffic control cloud 13 that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the driving request (step S39).

[0158] The incentive content acquisition unit 39 acquires the incentive content from the traffic control cloud 13 (step S40).

[0159] The message notification unit 35 notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 of the content of the incentive via the information input / output unit 11d (step S41). After that, the vehicle 11 ends the process.

[0160] 9 each time the vehicle 11 approaches a designated section while traveling on the toll road. Then, when the vehicle 11 passes through the ETC gate 18 and leaves the toll road, the incentive accumulated while traveling on the toll road is appropriated as part of the toll fee, and the user 21 of the vehicle 11 is notified of this fact.

[0161] (Processing flow of the traffic control cloud) The flow of processing performed by the traffic control cloud 13 in the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the traffic control cloud in the traffic control system.

[0162] The cooperative driving request issuing unit 43 transmits a driving request to the vehicle 11 (step S51).

[0163] The cooperative driving report acquisition unit 44 acquires information from the vehicle 11 that the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the driving request (step S52).

[0164] The incentive calculation unit 45 determines the content of the incentive to be given to the vehicle 11 (step S53).

[0165] The incentive memory unit 46 stores, in association with each other, a driving request ID which is information for identifying the target driving request, a vehicle ID which is information for identifying the vehicle 11 that satisfies the conditions of the driving request, and the content of the incentive to be given to the vehicle 11 (step S54).

[0166] The incentive content reporting unit 47 notifies the vehicle 11 of the incentive content (step S55). After that, the traffic control cloud 13 ends the process.

[0167] (Effects of the first embodiment) As described above, the vehicle 11 included in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment is communicatively connected to the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) via the wide area communication network 20 (network), transmits location information indicating the current location of the vehicle 11 to the traffic control cloud 13, and receives a cooperative driving request from the traffic control cloud 13 when the vehicle 11 is traveling in a congestion risk section or is predicted to travel in a congestion risk section. The congestion risk section is a section where the congestion risk of congestion exceeds a predetermined level, and the cooperative driving request includes a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the vehicle 11 performs cooperative driving. When the vehicle 11 performs cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, the vehicle 11 transmits a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed to the traffic control cloud 13, and receives a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been performed based on the cooperative driving report from the traffic control cloud 13. Thus, the user 21 of the vehicle 11 can obtain a predetermined reward on the condition that the presented driving conditions for reducing the risk of congestion occurrence are followed. This can provide the driver of the vehicle 11 with motivation and enthusiasm to learn driving operations that will reduce the risk of congestion.

[0168] In addition, in the vehicle 11 equipped in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, cooperative driving is driving in which the driving speed of the vehicle 11 is maintained within a predetermined speed range on an uphill road. Therefore, a predetermined reward can be given to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 who reduces the risk of congestion by maintaining the predetermined speed range on an uphill road. Note that the "speed range" in the present disclosure is not limited to indicating both the upper and lower speed limits, but may indicate either the upper or lower speed limit. For example, the "speed range" may be determined by setting an arbitrary allowable range for a specified specific speed.

[0169] Furthermore, the vehicle 11 included in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment transmits identification information including at least one of a vehicle ID for identifying the vehicle 11, an on-board device ID mounted on the vehicle 11, a user ID for identifying the user 21 of the vehicle 11, and an ETC card number of the user 21 to the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer), and the reward payment process is performed by or via the traffic control cloud 13 based on the identification information. Therefore, a predetermined reward can be reliably given to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 who has traveled in accordance with a cooperative driving request.

[0170] In the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the congestion risk section is a part of a toll road, and the reward payment process is executed as a discount on the toll fee for the toll road. Therefore, the user 21 of the vehicle 11 can be given a discount on the toll fee for the toll road as a reward for driving in accordance with the cooperative driving request.

[0171] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the congestion prediction cloud 14 (second computer) used by the entity managing the toll road identifies congestion risk sections on the toll road using information from at least one of one or more devices installed on the toll road, an artificial satellite 17 that detects ground conditions, the vehicle 11, and an information terminal 12 (communication terminal) of a user 21 of the vehicle 11, and the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) receives congestion risk information on the congestion risk sections from the congestion prediction cloud 14, and a cooperative driving request is presented to the vehicle 11 from the traffic control cloud 13 based on the congestion risk information. Therefore, the vehicle 11 can be notified of a cooperative driving request based on a highly accurate congestion prediction calculated based on driving information from multiple vehicles, etc.

[0172] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) receives information indicating the conditions for cooperative driving from the traffic congestion prediction cloud 14 (second computer) in addition to the traffic congestion risk information. Therefore, the processing load of the traffic control cloud 13 can be reduced.

[0173] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the cooperative driving request includes section location information indicating the location of the congestion risk section, and after receiving the cooperative driving request, if it is determined that the vehicle 11 is a target vehicle for cooperative driving based on the section location information and the position information of the vehicle 11, a message regarding cooperative driving is presented to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 via at least one of a display device and a speaker provided in the vehicle 11. Therefore, the cooperative driving request can be notified only when the vehicle 11 is a target for cooperative driving.

[0174] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, acceptance condition information indicating the conditions of cooperative driving that the user 21 can accept is preset by input from the user 21 of the vehicle 11, and when the contents of the cooperative driving presented by the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) based on the cooperative driving request and the acceptance condition information satisfy the conditions of cooperative driving that the user 21 can accept, a message regarding cooperative driving is presented to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 via at least one of a display device and a speaker provided in the vehicle 11. Therefore, a cooperative driving request that does not conform to the conditions preset by the user 21 of the vehicle 11 can be rejected without performing any special operation.

[0175] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the vehicle 11 is an autonomous vehicle, and consent condition information indicating the conditions of cooperative driving acceptable to the user 21 is set in advance by input from the user 21 of the vehicle 11, and cooperative driving is performed by autonomous driving only when the contents of cooperative driving presented by the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) based on the cooperative driving request and the consent condition information satisfy the conditions of cooperative driving acceptable to the user 21. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle 11 from arbitrarily changing the driving conditions of the autonomous driving when the conditions do not conform to the conditions accepted in advance by the user 21.

[0176] In the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the vehicle 11 is an autonomous vehicle, and when performing cooperative driving by autonomous driving based on a cooperative driving request, notification information indicating that cooperative driving is being performed by autonomous driving is notified to the surroundings of the vehicle 11. Therefore, it is possible to notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle 11 is driving autonomously in accordance with the cooperative driving request. This increases the opportunity for vehicles traveling around the vehicle 11 to implement congestion countermeasures. Even vehicles and information terminals that do not have an application related to the cooperative driving request can cooperate in reducing congestion by notifying them of the correct action to reduce congestion and having them imitate it.

[0177] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the vehicle 11 is equipped with a driving assistance system, and when performing cooperative driving using the driving assistance system based on a cooperative driving request, notification information indicating that cooperative driving is being performed using the driving assistance system is notified to the surroundings of the vehicle 11. Therefore, it is possible to notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle 11 is operating the driving assistance system in accordance with the cooperative driving request.

[0178] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the notification information is notified by being displayed on a display device provided on the exterior of the vehicle 11, being irradiated onto the road surface around the vehicle 11 by a lighting device 11f provided on the vehicle 11, or being transmitted via wireless communication to other vehicles around the vehicle 11. Therefore, it is possible to easily notify surrounding vehicles that the vehicle 11 is performing autonomous driving in accordance with a cooperative driving request or that a driving assistance system is operating in accordance with a cooperative driving request.

[0179] In the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, when the traveling speed of the vehicle 11 is maintained within a predetermined speed range by the cooperative traveling, the notification information includes at least one of the traveling speed and the predetermined speed range. Therefore, the traveling state of the vehicle 11 can be easily notified to surrounding vehicles.

[0180] Furthermore, in the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, when the cooperative driving is performed by the autonomous driving of the vehicle 11 or by a driving assistance system provided in the vehicle 11, the cooperative driving report includes information indicating that the cooperative driving is performed by the autonomous driving or the driving assistance system. Therefore, the traffic control system 10 can know that the vehicle 11 has performed the cooperative driving by the autonomous driving or the driving assistance system. This allows the traffic control system 10 to obtain information for analyzing, for example, the effect of reducing the risk of congestion by using the autonomous driving of the vehicle or the driving assistance system.

[0181] In addition, the calculation unit 11b (information processing device) of the vehicle 11 that constitutes the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment is equipped with: a location information transmission unit 31 that transmits location information indicating the current location of the vehicle 11 to a traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) outside the vehicle 11 via a network; a cooperative driving request acquisition unit 33 that receives a cooperative driving request from the traffic control cloud 13 when the vehicle 11 is traveling in a congestion risk section where the risk of congestion occurring exceeds a predetermined level, or when the vehicle 11 is predicted to travel in a congestion risk section, the cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the risk of congestion and a reward to be obtained when the vehicle 11 performs cooperative driving; a cooperative driving report transmission unit 38 that transmits a cooperative driving report to the traffic control cloud 13 indicating that cooperative driving has been performed when the vehicle 11 performs cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request; and a payment report acquisition unit 40 that receives from the traffic control cloud 13 a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been fulfilled based on the cooperative driving report. Therefore, the user 21 of the vehicle 11 can receive a predetermined reward on the condition that the user 21 complies with the presented driving conditions for reducing the risk of congestion occurring.

[0182] In the traffic control system 10 of the first embodiment, the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) acquires location information indicating the current locations of the vehicles 11 from the vehicles 11, identifies a congestion risk section where the congestion risk of congestion exceeds a predetermined level based on the location information, presents a cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the one or more target vehicles perform cooperative driving to one or more target vehicles among the vehicles 11 that are driving or are predicted to drive in the congestion risk section, receives a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed from the vehicle 11 that performed cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request among the one or more target vehicles, and performs a payment process to grant a reward to the vehicle 11 that performed cooperative driving or the user 21 of the vehicle 11 that performed cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving report. Thus, the user 21 of the vehicle 11 can obtain a predetermined reward on the condition that the user 21 follows the driving conditions for reducing the congestion occurrence risk presented.

[0183] In addition, when the vehicle 11 (or information terminal 12) continues to transmit current location information along with individually identifiable information such as a vehicle ID, user ID, information terminal ID, app ID, ETC ID, etc., the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a cooperative driving request (1:1 communication) only to the vehicle 11 (or information terminal 12) that is the target of the congestion countermeasure plan, rather than transmitting a cooperative driving request (1:N broadcast) to an unspecified number of vehicles 11 (or information terminals 12).

[0184] In addition, in the communication specifications (API) with the traffic control cloud 13 regarding the cooperative driving request, whether the processing is performed by a computer mounted on the vehicle 11 or a computer mounted on the information terminal 12, the same API may be used, or some or all of different APIs may be used. When the same API is used, the API specifications may be made public or licensed as OSS (Open Source Software), so that more devices / applications can respond to the cooperative driving request. By having more vehicles / information terminals respond, larger congestion countermeasures can be realized, and congestion can be reduced. This is thought to bring many benefits not only to the user 21 who is given some kind of incentive for responding to the cooperative driving request, but also to the operator of the toll road and the local government seeking congestion countermeasures in the city. For example, by reducing congestion, traffic volume can be increased, which allows the operator of the toll road to earn more sales and reduce CO2 emissions caused by congestion. 2 This will reduce emissions, improve convenience for users, and increase satisfaction.

[0185] In addition, in this embodiment, a discount on ETC tolls (tolls for toll roads) is exemplified as an example of an incentive, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to estimate the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction between the predicted traffic jam and the actual traffic jam, and acquire this as a token with environmental value such as J-Credit by a highway company or a local government. It is also possible to distribute the token acquired by the highway company or the local government as an incentive to a collaborator of the cooperative driving request. In this case, the token may be granted to the user 21, the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, its application, or the cryptocurrency wallet of the user 21 who responded to the cooperative driving request.

[0186] Furthermore, the data analysis company operating the congestion prediction cloud 14 and the highway company and local government operating the traffic control cloud 13 can access traffic big data by collecting large amounts of movement status of the vehicles 11 and information terminals 12 in real time through the cooperative driving request mechanism. Services using the traffic big data may be provided to third parties by removing information that can identify individuals from the big data, processing it partially so that individuals cannot be identified, or treating it as statistical data. Part or all of the source of incentives for cooperative driving requests may be returned as profits from such secondary data transactions.

[0187] Second embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the traffic control system 10 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The situation in which the traffic control system 10 operates is not limited to an uphill road as described in the first embodiment. The second embodiment of the present disclosure is an example in which the traffic control system 10 is applied to a situation in which a vehicle passes through a tunnel.

[0188] Another operation example of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating a second operation example of the traffic control system.

[0189] The operation example shown in FIG. 11 is an operation example when the vehicle 11 is traveling just before a tunnel and it is predicted that there is a risk of congestion occurring in the tunnel where speed reduction is likely to occur. In this embodiment, when it is predicted that congestion will occur in the tunnel (or, more specifically, when it is predicted that the vehicle 11 can reduce the risk of congestion occurring by a predetermined amount or more), the traffic control system 10 requests the vehicle 11 to maintain a speed within a predetermined range throughout a designated section including the tunnel. Note that the traffic control system 10 may designate only a portion of the tunnel as the designated section for the travel request. For example, it may designate only the section before and after entering the tunnel where speed reduction is likely to occur.

[0190] The traffic control system 10 updates the current position of the vehicle 11 in real time, and when the vehicle 11 reaches the travel position P0, notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 in advance that there is a travel request ahead. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a request such as "There is a tunnel ahead. Please maintain a speed of 90 km / h" by, for example, video information and / or audio information via the car navigation system or the information terminal 12.

[0191] The travel position P1 is the start point of the designated section that is the target of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 passes the travel position P1, the traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a travel request such as "Entering a tunnel. Maintain a speed of 90 km / h from here." This lets the user 21 know that the vehicle 11 has entered the target section of the travel request, and drives the vehicle 11 in accordance with the content of the travel request.

[0192] Generally, when entering a tunnel, the vehicle speed is likely to decrease due to a sense of psychological pressure. Therefore, the area just before the entrance to a tunnel is a point that is likely to cause congestion. Therefore, by requesting the vehicle 11 entering the tunnel to maintain its traveling speed at or above a predetermined speed (and below the predetermined speed), the cause of the congestion can be reduced. Therefore, the traveling speed of the vehicle 11 is maintained at or above a predetermined speed (and below a predetermined speed) particularly in the section before entering the tunnel (the section between traveling positions P1 and P2).

[0193] The driving position P2 is the entrance to a tunnel. Since the vehicle speed is likely to drop from this point, which can easily cause congestion, the traffic control system 10 issues a warning such as "Please maintain a speed of 90 km / h" when the vehicle 11 passes through the driving position P2.

[0194] The driving position P3 is the exit of the tunnel. The traffic control system 10 issues a warning such as "Please maintain a speed of 90 km / h" when the vehicle 11 passes the driving position P3 so that the vehicle 11 does not immediately increase the vehicle speed because it feels relieved that it has exited the tunnel, or reduces the vehicle speed because it thinks that the section of the cooperative driving request has ended.

[0195] The travel position P4 is the end point of the designated section of the travel request. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 that the designated section has ended by notifying the user 21, for example, "This is the end."

[0196] The traffic control system 10 determines whether the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request at the travel position P5 based on the travel data of the vehicle 11 from the travel position P1 to the travel position P4, which is the designated section of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 issues a notification such as "Thank you for your cooperation." This allows the user 21 to understand that the travel request has been satisfied. The notification may also include, explicitly or indirectly, a reward (incentive) that the user 21 will be given for satisfying the travel request. Furthermore, when the vehicle 11 does not satisfy the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 does not issue a notification at the travel position P5. Alternatively, the traffic control system 10 may notify the user 21 that the travel request has not been satisfied at the travel position P5.

[0197] As described in the first embodiment, the traffic control cloud 13 issues a travel request to the vehicle 11 when the vehicle 11 can travel safely at a specified speed or within a specified speed range.

[0198] Moreover, the flow of the process performed by the traffic control system 10 is the same as in the first embodiment, so a repeated explanation will be omitted.

[0199] (Effects of the second embodiment) As described above, in the vehicle 11 equipped in the traffic control system 10 of the second embodiment, cooperative driving is driving in which the driving speed of the vehicle 11 is maintained within a predetermined speed range within at least one of a predetermined distance range before the entrance of a tunnel and a predetermined distance range from the exit of the tunnel. Therefore, a predetermined reward can be given to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 who reduces the risk of congestion by maintaining the predetermined speed range at the entrance or exit of the tunnel. Note that the "distance range" in the present disclosure is not limited to indicating both the upper and lower limits of the distance, but may indicate either the upper or lower limit of the distance. For example, the "distance range" may be determined by setting an arbitrary allowable range for a specified specific distance.

[0200] (Third embodiment) Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the traffic control system 10 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The third embodiment of the present disclosure is an example in which the traffic control system 10 is applied to a situation in which a vehicle travels through a junction of roads on a toll road.

[0201] Another operation example of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating a third operation example of the traffic control system.

[0202] Generally, the travel speed is likely to decrease at a junction where roads merge. Therefore, it is a point where congestion is likely to occur. Therefore, by requesting a vehicle entering a junction to stay in a lane away from the merging side in a specified section (for example, in the case of a three-lane road merging from the left, the center lane or the right lane, or in the case of a two-lane road merging from the right, the left lane), the flow of vehicles at the junction can be made smooth, thereby reducing the cause of congestion. FIG. 12 shows an example in which the traffic control system 10 requests the vehicle 11 to stay in the right lane when the vehicle 11 is traveling in the left lane toward the junction and it is determined that the road ahead and around the vehicle are clear and that it is possible to safely change lanes to the right lane.

[0203] 12 is an example of a travel request notified when the vehicle 11 is traveling in a section that crosses a junction on a road. Here, a travel request for a section that crosses a junction is described, but this is not limiting, and only a part of the section that crosses the junction may be set as the designated section of the travel request. For example, only the section from a predetermined distance before the junction to the junction (between traveling position P1 and traveling position P2, which is the junction, in FIG. 12) may be set as the designated section.

[0204] The traffic control system 10 updates the current position of the vehicle 11 in real time, and when the vehicle 11 reaches a travel position P0, notifies the user 21 of the vehicle 11 in advance that there is a travel request ahead. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a request such as "There is a merging ahead. Please change to the right lane" via the car navigation system or the information terminal 12, for example, by video information and / or audio information.

[0205] The travel position P1 is the start point of the designated section that is the target of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 passes the travel position P1, the traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a travel request such as "This is the merging section. Please stay in the right lane." This lets the user 21 know that the vehicle 11 has entered the target section of the travel request, and drives the vehicle 11 in accordance with the content of the travel request.

[0206] The driving position P2 is a merging point. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21, who is driving at the driving position P2, to stay in a lane different from the merging lane (in the example of FIG. 12, the right lane because the user is driving on two lanes merging from the left). The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 of a driving request such as "Please stay in the right lane" by, for example, video information and / or audio information via the car navigation system or the information terminal 12.

[0207] The travel position P3 is the end point of the designated section of the travel request. The traffic control system 10 notifies the user 21 that the designated section has ended by notifying the user 21, for example, "This is the end."

[0208] The traffic control system 10 determines whether the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request at the travel position P4 based on the travel data of the vehicle 11 from the travel position P1 to the travel position P3, which is the designated section of the travel request. When the vehicle 11 has satisfied the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 issues a notification such as "Thank you for your cooperation." This allows the user 21 to understand that the travel request has been satisfied. The notification may also include, explicitly or indirectly, a reward (incentive) that the user 21 will be given for satisfying the travel request. Furthermore, when the vehicle 11 does not satisfy the conditions of the travel request, the traffic control system 10 does not issue a notification at the travel position P4. Alternatively, the traffic control system 10 may notify the user 21 that the travel request has not been satisfied at the travel position P4.

[0209] The traffic control cloud 13 may issue a cooperative driving request under the following conditions. If at least one or more of these conditions are met, the traffic control cloud 13 transmits a cooperative driving request to the vehicle 11, determined from the viewpoints of traffic efficiency and safety. Alternatively, the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a cooperative driving request to the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 close to the merging section, and the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 that receives the request may notify the user 21 of the driving request if the following safety conditions are met.

[0210] For example, the traffic control cloud 13 may issue a driving request to change lanes to the right lane if the vehicle 11 is traveling in a lane where it is merging and there is enough room to change lanes to a lane where it is not merging (e.g., if it is merging from the left and the right lane is clear but the vehicle is still traveling in the left lane).

[0211] In addition, the traffic control cloud 13 may issue a driving request to maintain the right lane if the vehicle 11 is traveling in a lane not being merged into and has enough room to change lanes to the lane being merged into (e.g., if the vehicle is merging from the left and continues to travel in the right lane even though the left lane is clear).

[0212] Furthermore, when the vehicle 11 is traveling in the lane on the side where the vehicle 11 is to be merged, there is a vehicle merging when passing the merging point, and there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the vehicle 11 (such as when merging from the left side, and the merging timings overlap but the area ahead of the vehicle is clear), the traffic control cloud 13 may issue a travel request to shift the merging timing (to increase or decrease the speed of the vehicle 11). Alternatively, the traffic control cloud 13 may issue a travel request to the merging vehicle to shift the merging timing (to decrease or increase the speed of the vehicle merging).

[0213] (Effects of the third embodiment) As described above, in the vehicle 11 equipped in the traffic control system 10 of the third embodiment, cooperative driving is driving in which the driving lane of the vehicle 11 is designated as a specific lane within a predetermined distance range from a junction of multiple roads. Therefore, a predetermined reward can be given to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 who reduces the risk of congestion by maintaining the predetermined driving lane before and after a junction of roads.

[0214] (Fourth embodiment) Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the traffic control system 10 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The fourth embodiment of the present disclosure is an example in which the traffic control system 10 is applied to a situation in which a request is made to change a driving route so as to avoid a route with a high risk of congestion.

[0215] Another operation example of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating a fourth operation example of the traffic control system.

[0216] In the fourth embodiment, operators (such as local governments, highway companies, and public transportation facilities such as trains, buses, and taxis) that own various transportation resources measure the degree of congestion of each transportation resource in real time, and when mitigation measures are necessary, register a cooperative driving request in a location accessible from multiple vehicles 11 and information terminals 12, such as a predetermined database or blockchain 70. Then, the vehicles 11 that constitute the traffic control system 10 are requested to change their driving routes, thereby reducing the risk of congestion and congestion in transportation resources (public transportation facilities, roads, and other transportation infrastructure).

[0217] 14 is a diagram showing an example of the cooperative driving request data. The cooperative driving request data 80 includes a cooperative driving request ID 80a that identifies the cooperative driving request, route information 80b that indicates the order in which the routes are to be passed through the designated locations, incentive information 80c that indicates a reward for the cooperative driving request, and validity period information 80d that indicates the validity period of the cooperative driving request.

[0218] The cooperative driving request is recorded on the blockchain 70 equipped in the decentralized network, so that once issued, it is difficult to tamper with and is visible to all participants in the blockchain 70.

[0219] Based on the current position of the vehicle 11 (information terminal 12), route information to the destination, and the cooperative driving request that the traffic control cloud 13 is about to issue, acquired from the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12, the traffic control cloud 13 notifies the user 21 of the cooperative driving request or new route information when it is determined that the cooperative driving request can be satisfied without significantly increasing the time and cost required for travel from the original route information, or that there is a certain degree of rationality. The user 21 can learn of the cooperative driving request through the information terminal 12 that the user possesses, the vehicle 11 that the user is riding in, or an application that runs on the computer system of the user 21. In particular, when the vehicle 11 is equipped with an automatic driving function, the vehicle 11 may automatically update its own route information to satisfy the cooperative driving request when such conditions are met.

[0220] The information terminal 12 of the user 21 or the vehicle 11 continues to update the current location information by GPS or the like, and stores the time when the checkpoint described in the route information is reached. In FIG. 13, the user 21 or the vehicle 11, which has been moving from the current location to the destination along a general route, receives a cooperative driving request and aims for the destination along a new route along the checkpoints of the cooperative driving request. In the example of FIG. 13, five checkpoints (C1, C2, C3, C4, C5) are specified in order in the route information of the cooperative driving request. The information terminal 12 or the vehicle 11 records that it has passed all the checkpoints (or only some of the required checkpoints) in this order, together with the time when the checkpoints were passed, and after passing the last checkpoint, registers it in the blockchain 70 as a response to the cooperative driving request.

[0221] 15 is a diagram showing an example of response data to a cooperative driving request. The response data 81 includes an information terminal ID (or vehicle ID) 81a that transmitted the response data 81, a cooperative driving request ID 81b, and checkpoint passage information 81c that indicates that each checkpoint has been passed.

[0222] In the blockchain 70, when a response that satisfies the conditions of a registered cooperative driving request is registered by a smart contract, the incentive described in the incentive information is automatically paid to the relevant information terminal 12 or vehicle 11. The total amount of this incentive is fixed, and payment of the incentive may be terminated as soon as the amount runs out.

[0223] In this way, the blockchain 70 makes it possible to publish cooperative driving requests in a form that is difficult to modify, and to change the behavior of not only the vehicles 11 but also the information terminals 12 (including people traveling on foot or by public transportation) so as to reduce the risk of congestion and congestion in transportation resources. In addition, the payment of incentives is processed based on the contents of a pre-agreed smart contract for an unspecified number of responses, which can reduce system operation costs. In addition, rather than being an initiative by a single company, organizations, groups, corporations, and individuals that own multiple transportation resources can issue and respond to cooperative driving requests within the same framework on an information and communication technology platform that ensures transparency and safety, so it is expected that efforts can be made to flatten transportation resources as a society as a whole, and ultimately contribute to coexistence with the earth, such as decarbonization.

[0224] (Effects of the fourth embodiment) As described above, in the vehicle 11 equipped in the traffic control system 10 of the fourth embodiment, cooperative driving refers to driving along a second route different from the first route by avoiding a first route that passes through a congestion risk section, and the cooperative driving request includes information about the second route. Therefore, a predetermined reward can be given to the user 21 of the vehicle 11 who reduces the risk of congestion by changing his / her own driving route.

[0225] In addition, in the vehicle 11 equipped with the traffic control system 10 of the fourth embodiment, the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) is one of multiple computers that manage the blockchain 60 in a distributed manner, and the cooperative driving request is recorded in the blockchain 60 together with a smart contract that programs an agreement regarding the payment of rewards before being presented to the vehicle 11, and the payment process of the reward is automatically executed based on the cooperative driving report and the smart contract. Therefore, the payment process of the incentive is performed based on the pre-agreed contents of the smart contract for an unspecified number of responses, thereby reducing the system operation costs.

[0226] The traffic control system 10 can apply this cooperative driving request not only to toll roads such as expressways, but also to general roads in cities. For example, a new route proposal may be sent as a cooperative driving request to a vehicle traveling in a heavily congested area of ​​an urban area. In this case, by determining whether the vehicle has passed through multiple checkpoints in the proposed route, the local government of the city may provide an incentive for contributing to easing congestion in the urban area.

[0227] In addition, when the traffic control cloud 13 determines a cooperative driving request, it may record the information of the cooperative driving request in the blockchain 70 and make it public. The computer system of the vehicle 11 collects driving data of the specified section of the vehicle 11, issues a certificate that the cooperative driving request is satisfied, and records it in the blockchain 70 together with the wallet address of the cryptocurrency. After that, a smart contract on the blockchain 70 may compare the record, and if it is determined that the conditions are satisfied, it may issue (send) a predetermined incentive (token) to the wallet. In this way, by building a traffic control system on a distributed network such as the blockchain 70, it is possible to simplify the system architecture, reduce the operating costs of the system, and increase the resistance and reliability of the system. Furthermore, such a mechanism makes it easy for multiple organizations or individuals to issue cooperative driving requests and for multiple targets to respond. Therefore, it is possible to realize traffic within a city involving multiple road-related parties, multiple public transportation-related parties, and multiple moving people with a common information and communication infrastructure technology and even a single app. This makes it possible to present a more environmentally friendly and overall optimal transportation method in consideration of the current traffic conditions according to the user's location, destination, transportation means, etc., without causing the end user the inconvenience of having to install and use different apps for each business. In addition, since the user can centrally grasp and judge possible opportunities (cooperative driving requests), it becomes possible to obtain more incentives and opportunities to contribute to a decarbonized society. In addition, if the vehicle 11 is an autonomous vehicle, the user 21 can set conditions for responding to a cooperative driving request in advance, and the vehicle 11 can automatically determine whether the conditions are met, and if the conditions are met, it becomes possible to change the driving route in response to the cooperative driving request. This makes it possible to operate the cooperative driving request mechanism even in autonomous vehicles.

[0228] Fifth embodiment Hereinafter, a fifth embodiment of the traffic control system 10 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The fifth embodiment of the present disclosure is an example in which the traffic control system 10 notifies the vehicle 11 of a travel request by infrastructure such as an electronic bulletin board installed on the road.

[0229] Another operation example of the traffic control system 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a diagram illustrating a fifth operation example of the traffic control system.

[0230] In all of the above embodiments, the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 cooperates in mitigating congestion and an incentive is given through mutual communication between the vehicle 11 or the information terminal 12 and the traffic control cloud 13 (first computer), but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. For example, in the case of an uphill road, as shown in FIG. 16, an electronic signboard 90a (first notification device) installed at a driving position P1 before the uphill road may display a message such as "Maintain 90 km / h for the next 2 km" in response to an instruction from the traffic control cloud 13, thereby notifying all drivers of a driving request. At this time, a sensor 91a (for example, a first camera) installed at the driving position P1 reads the license plate of the vehicle, detects the passing time (first passing time) of each vehicle, and transmits it to the traffic control cloud 13 for temporary storage.

[0231] Furthermore, all drivers may be notified that the designated section has ended by displaying a message such as "This is the end of the speed request" on an electronic signboard 90b (second notification device) installed at driving position P4 (end point of the designated section of the driving request) after the uphill section ends. At this time, a sensor 91b (e.g., a second camera) installed at driving position P4 reads the license plate of the vehicle 11, detects the passing time (second passing time) of each vehicle 11, and transmits it to the traffic control cloud 13.

[0232] The traffic control cloud 13 calculates the average speed of the detected vehicle in the specified section based on the route between the two sensors 91a and 91b. If the calculated average speed is within a predetermined difference from the speed (e.g., 90 km / h) specified by the travel request, an incentive may be given to the vehicle 11 with that vehicle number. At this time, the traffic control cloud 13 generates the travel situation data 82 shown in FIG. 17. That is, the travel situation data 82 includes a vehicle ID 82a, a first passing time 82b (first time) which is the time when the vehicle passes through the travel position P1, a second passing time 82c (second time) which is the time when the vehicle passes through the travel position P4, an average speed 82d, and an instruction speed 82e specified by the travel request.

[0233] The incentive may be any of the means described in this disclosure. For example, the total result of the incentive may be communicated to the user 21 under the pretext of a special discount when passing through the ETC gate 18 and paying the road toll. In this way, instead of measuring the average speed at the entrance and exit of the expressway, by measuring the average speed of each vehicle while presenting congestion countermeasures in a local section where there is a risk of congestion, the degree of cooperation of each vehicle in the congestion countermeasures can be evaluated, and a mechanism can be created to return an incentive individually according to the degree of cooperation.

[0234] In this embodiment, the electronic signboards 90a and 90b are not necessarily required. The electronic signboards 90a and 90b may be installed at both the start and end of the designated section, or at either one of them, or the electronic signboards 90a and 90b may not be installed. Also, normal traffic signs may be used instead of the electronic signboards 90a and 90b.

[0235] In this embodiment, preparation and setting of the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, and the application running thereon are not required, and all vehicles whose vehicle number can be read can be targeted. In addition, for example, in a situation where the installation of ETC on-board units 19 is widespread, such as in Japan today, it is possible to provide services such as discounts on ETC fees to owners of ETC cards linked to vehicle numbers that have cooperated in mitigating congestion by simply linking the vehicle numbers with the users' ETC cards and managing them in the traffic control cloud 13. In this explanation, the sensors 91a and 91b are described as cameras that detect vehicle numbers, but for example, the ETC on-board unit of the vehicle 11 (which may be an ETC ID or an ETC card number) may be detected and used instead of the vehicle number. In addition, the car navigation system of vehicle 11, which can acquire and transmit current location information, or the information terminal 12 (application) of user 21 may transmit the time of passing driving position P1 and driving position P4 together with their identification information (application ID, user ID, vehicle ID, ETC ID, etc.) to the traffic control cloud 13, thereby identifying vehicles 11 and users 21 that have cooperated in alleviating congestion.

[0236] (Effects of the Fifth Embodiment) As described above, the traffic control system 10 of the fifth embodiment includes a traffic control cloud 13 (first computer) capable of communicating with a plurality of sensors 91a (first camera) and 91b (second camera) provided along a road and a plurality of electronic billboards 90a (first notification device) and 90b (second notification device), and obtains a vehicle number of a target vehicle traveling on a road and a first time when the target vehicle was detected by the sensor 91a via the sensor 91a of the plurality of sensors 91a and 91b, and notifies the target vehicle of the first time via the electronic billboard 90a located within a predetermined range from the sensor 91a of the plurality of electronic billboards 90a and 90b. , presents the target vehicle with a cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the risk of traffic congestion and a reward to be obtained when the cooperative driving is performed, acquires the vehicle number of the target vehicle and a second time when the target vehicle is detected by the sensor 91b through the electronic signboard 90b, which is installed ahead of the electronic signboard 90a in the traveling direction of the target vehicle among the multiple sensors 91a and 91b, and performs a payment process to grant a reward to the target vehicle or the user of the target vehicle when it is determined that the target vehicle has performed cooperative driving based on the first time and the second time. Therefore, if the sensors 91a and 91b can acquire the identification information of the ETC on-board device, it is possible to realize a traffic control system that contributes to traffic congestion mitigation and the provision of incentives therefor through an existing ETC fee settlement system without using an application that runs on the vehicle 11 side or an application that runs on an information terminal 12 such as a smartphone carried by the user 21 of the vehicle 11.

[0237] In this embodiment, the vehicle number printed on the license plate is read by image recognition of the camera image installed on the road as information for identifying the vehicle 11. However, the vehicle number also records the fact that the owner of the vehicle 11 or the user of the vehicle 11 at that time passed a specific point with the vehicle 11 having that vehicle number on the recorded date and time. Since using the vehicle number as it is has a problem of social acceptability from the viewpoint of privacy, after the camera identifies the vehicle number, alternative vehicle identification information encrypted so that a third party cannot easily identify the vehicle number may be used inside the camera, a data relay device (edge ​​server, etc.), or inside the traffic control cloud. A step may be included in which the average speed of the vehicle 11 within the section is calculated from the start point and end point where the passage of the vehicle 11 is detected, and if the vehicle matches the condition for granting an incentive, the alternative vehicle identification information is decrypted into the vehicle number in the secure area of ​​the traffic control cloud 13, and an ETC number for returning the incentive is identified. It is preferable that not only the vehicle number but also information that can identify the user 21, the vehicle 11, and the information terminal 12 is encrypted in the same manner.

[0238] In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, when current location information is continuously transmitted along with individually identifiable information such as a vehicle ID, a user ID, an information terminal ID, an application ID, and an ETC ID (ETC onboard unit ID), the traffic control cloud 13 may transmit a unique cooperative driving request to an individual that is the target of the congestion countermeasure plan (1:1 communication) instead of transmitting a cooperative driving request to an unspecified number of devices (1:N broadcast).

[0239] Furthermore, in each of the above-described embodiments, the traffic control cloud 13 or the transportation business operator may not need to issue a cooperative driving request depending on the vehicle conditions, congestion conditions, and weather conditions around the vehicle 11. For example, when there is a certain distance or more to the vehicle following the vehicle 11, when the driving speeds of multiple vehicles driving within a certain distance ahead of the vehicle 11 are below a certain level, when two or more lane changes are required to execute the cooperative driving request, when it is determined that the weather conditions around the vehicle 11 are poor and sufficient visibility is difficult to ensure, and the like.

[0240] In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, the vehicle 11 that is executing the cooperative driving request broadcasts visual information or wireless communication to the surroundings of the vehicle 11 that the cooperative driving request is being executed, so that the drivers of the vehicles around the vehicle 11 can recognize that the vehicle 11 is executing cooperative driving by visual information or wireless communication. By informing the surroundings of the vehicle that the cooperative driving request is being executed in this way, it is possible to increase the opportunity for the drivers of the vehicles traveling around the vehicle 11 to execute the congestion countermeasure plan. Even in vehicles or information terminals that do not have the cooperative driving request app installed, it is expected that a greater effect of congestion reduction will be exerted by informing the correct action for reducing congestion by another means.

[0241] In addition, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, a discount on ETC tolls (tolls for toll roads) has been given as an example of an incentive, but this is not limited thereto. For example, it is conceivable that the amount of GHG emission reduction is estimated between the predicted congestion occurrence and the actual congestion, and this is acquired by the expressway company or the local government as a token with environmental value such as J-Credit. It is also conceivable that the token acquired by the expressway company or the local government is distributed as an incentive to the collaborators of the cooperative driving request. In this case, the token may be granted to the user 21, the vehicle 11, the information terminal 12, its application, or the user's cryptocurrency wallet that responded to the cooperative driving request.

[0242] In addition, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the data analysis company operating the congestion prediction cloud 14 and the highway company or local government operating the traffic control cloud 13 can access traffic big data by collecting a large amount of vehicle and information terminal movement status in real time through the cooperative driving request mechanism. It may be possible to provide services using traffic big data to third parties by deleting or modifying information that can identify individuals from the big data, partially processing the data so that it cannot be identified, or treating it as statistical data. Part or all of the source of the incentive for the cooperative driving request may be returned as profits from such secondary data transactions.

[0243] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the above-mentioned embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. This new embodiment can be embodied in various other forms. In addition, various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. In addition, this embodiment is included in the scope and gist of the invention, and is included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

[0244] The present disclosure may have the following configuration.

[0245] An information processing method in a first computer capable of communicating with a plurality of cameras and a plurality of notification devices installed along a road, the information processing method comprising the steps of: acquiring, via a first camera of the plurality of cameras, a vehicle number of a target vehicle traveling on the road and a first time when the target vehicle was detected by the first camera; presenting, to the target vehicle, a cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the risk of congestion occurring and a reward to be obtained if the cooperative driving is performed, via a first notification device of the plurality of notification devices that is located within a predetermined range from the first camera; acquiring, via a second camera of the plurality of cameras that is installed ahead of the installation position of the first notification device in the traveling direction of the target vehicle, the vehicle number of the target vehicle and a second time when the target vehicle was detected by the second camera; and, when it is determined that the target vehicle has performed the cooperative driving based on the first time and the second time, performing a payment process to grant the reward to the target vehicle or a user of the target vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0246] 10 Traffic Control System 11 Vehicles 11b Calculation unit (information processing device) 12 Information terminals (communication terminals) 13 Traffic Control Cloud (First Computer) 14. Traffic Jam Prediction Cloud (Second Computer) 15 Toll Management Cloud 16 Traffic Sensor 17 Satellite 18 ETC Gate 19 ETC on-board device 20 Wide area communication network (network) 21 users 30 Current location measurement unit 31 Location information transmission unit 32 Surrounding situation detection unit 33 Cooperative Driving Request Acquisition Unit 34 Cooperative driving request acceptance decision unit 35 Message notification section 36 Cooperative Driving Status Notification Unit 37 Cooperative Driving Execution Status Determination Unit 38 Cooperative Driving Report Transmission Unit 39 Incentive Content Acquisition Department 40 Payment Report Acquisition Department 41 Traffic congestion forecast information acquisition unit 42 Cooperative driving request issue determination unit 43 Cooperative Driving Request Issuance Unit 44 Cooperative Driving Report Acquisition Unit 45 Incentive Calculation Department 46 Incentive Memory Unit 47 Incentives Reporting Department 51 Sensor information acquisition unit 52 Traffic Jam Risk Prediction Department 53 Traffic Jam Countermeasures Planning Department 54 Traffic jam forecast information output section 61 ETC Gate Passage Information Acquisition Unit 62 Toll Calculation Department 63 Incentive Content Acquisition Department 64 Payment processing unit 65 Payment Information Notification Department 70 Blockchain 80 Cooperative Driving Request Data 81 Response Data 82 Driving status data 90a, 90b Electronic bulletin board 91a Sensor (1st camera) 91b Sensor (2nd camera)

Claims

1. 1. An information processing method in a vehicle capable of communicating with a first computer via a network, comprising: Transmitting location information indicating a current location of the vehicle to the first computer; receiving a cooperative driving request from the first computer when the vehicle is traveling through a congestion risk section or when the first computer predicts that the vehicle will travel through the congestion risk section, the congestion risk section being a section in which the congestion risk of congestion occurring exceeds a predetermined level, the cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the vehicle performs the cooperative driving; When the vehicle performs the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed is transmitted to the first computer; receiving from the first computer a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been performed based on the cooperative driving report; Information processing methods.

2. The cooperative driving is a driving in which the driving speed of the vehicle is maintained within a predetermined speed range on an uphill road. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

3. The cooperative driving is a driving in which the driving speed of the vehicle is maintained within a predetermined speed range at least one of within a predetermined distance range from an entrance of a tunnel and within a predetermined distance range from an exit of the tunnel. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

4. The cooperative driving is a driving in which the driving lane of the vehicle is designated as a specific lane within a predetermined distance range from a connection point of a plurality of roads. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

5. The cooperative driving is to avoid a first route that passes through the congestion risk section and to drive along a second route different from the first route, The cooperative traveling request includes information regarding the second route. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

6. Furthermore, transmitting to the first computer identification information including at least one of a vehicle ID for identifying the vehicle, an on-board device ID mounted on the vehicle, a user ID for identifying a user of the vehicle, and an ETC card number of the user; The payment process of the reward is performed by or via the first computer based on the identification information. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

7. The congestion risk section is a part of a toll road, The payment of the reward is executed as a discount on the toll fee for the toll road. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

8. A second computer used by a business entity that manages a toll road identifies the congestion risk section within the toll road using information from at least one of one or more devices installed on the toll road, the vehicle, and a communication terminal of a user of the vehicle; The first computer receives congestion risk information regarding the congestion risk section from the second computer, The cooperative driving request is presented to the vehicle from the first computer based on the congestion risk information. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

9. The first computer receives information indicating conditions for the cooperative driving from the second computer in addition to the congestion risk information. The information processing method according to claim 8.

10. The first computer is one of a plurality of computers that manage a blockchain in a distributed manner, The cooperative driving request is recorded on the blockchain together with a smart contract that programs an agreement regarding the payment of the reward before being presented to the vehicle; The reward payment process is automatically executed based on the cooperative driving report and the smart contract. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

11. The cooperative driving request includes section location information indicating a location of the congestion risk section, after receiving the cooperative driving request, when it is determined that the vehicle is a target vehicle for the cooperative driving based on the section position information and the position information of the vehicle, a message regarding the cooperative driving is presented to a user of the vehicle via at least one of a display device and a speaker provided in the vehicle. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

12. Acceptable condition information indicating conditions for cooperative driving that can be accepted by the user of the vehicle is set in advance by an input from the user of the vehicle; When the content of the cooperative driving presented by the first computer based on the cooperative driving request and the consent condition information satisfies the conditions for cooperative driving that are acceptable to the user, a message regarding the cooperative driving is presented to the user of the vehicle via at least one of a display device and a speaker provided in the vehicle. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

13. the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle; Acceptable condition information indicating conditions for cooperative driving that can be accepted by the user of the vehicle is set in advance by an input from the user of the vehicle; execute the cooperative driving by autonomous driving when the content of the cooperative driving presented by the first computer based on the cooperative driving request and the consent condition information satisfies a condition for cooperative driving that is acceptable to a user. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

14. the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle; When the cooperative traveling is performed by autonomous traveling based on the cooperative traveling request, notification information indicating that the cooperative traveling is being performed by autonomous traveling is notified to the surroundings of the vehicle. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

15. The vehicle is equipped with a driving assistance system, When the cooperative driving is performed using the driving assistance system based on the cooperative driving request, notification information indicating that the cooperative driving is being performed using the driving assistance system is notified to those around the vehicle. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

16. The notification information is displayed on a display device provided on an exterior surface of the vehicle, is illuminated on a road surface around the vehicle by a lighting device provided on the vehicle, or is transmitted via wireless communication to other vehicles around the vehicle.

16. The information processing method according to claim 14 or 15.

17. When the traveling speed of the vehicle is maintained within a predetermined speed range by the cooperative traveling, the notification information includes at least one of the traveling speed and the predetermined speed range.

16. The information processing method according to claim 14 or 15.

18. When the cooperative driving is performed by the autonomous driving of the vehicle or by a driving assistance system provided in the vehicle, the cooperative driving report includes information indicating that the cooperative driving is performed by the autonomous driving or the driving assistance system. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

19. transmitting location information indicating a current location of the vehicle to a first computer outside the vehicle via a network; When the vehicle is traveling in a congestion risk section where the congestion risk of congestion exceeds a predetermined level, or when the first computer predicts that the vehicle will travel in the congestion risk section, a cooperative driving request is received from the first computer, the cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the vehicle performs the cooperative driving; When the vehicle performs the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed is transmitted to the first computer; receiving from the first computer a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been performed based on the cooperative driving report; A program that causes a processor to execute a process.

20. An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, A processor; A memory in which a program for causing the processor to execute a predetermined process is stored, The processor, based on the program, transmitting location information indicating a current location of the vehicle to a first computer outside the vehicle via a network; When the vehicle is traveling in a congestion risk section where the congestion risk of congestion exceeds a predetermined level, or when the first computer predicts that the vehicle will travel in the congestion risk section, a cooperative driving request is received from the first computer, the cooperative driving request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the vehicle performs the cooperative driving; When the vehicle performs the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed is transmitted to the first computer; receiving from the first computer a payment report indicating that the payment process of the reward has been performed based on the cooperative driving report; Information processing device.

21. An information processing method in a first computer capable of communicating with a plurality of vehicles via a network, comprising: acquiring location information indicating current locations of the plurality of vehicles from the plurality of vehicles; Identifying a congestion risk section where a congestion risk that congestion will occur exceeds a predetermined level based on the location information; Present a cooperative driving request to one or more target vehicles among the plurality of vehicles that are traveling or are predicted to travel in the congestion risk section, the request including a request for cooperative driving recommended to reduce the congestion risk and a reward to be obtained when the one or more target vehicles perform the cooperative driving; receiving a cooperative driving report indicating that the cooperative driving has been performed from a vehicle that has performed the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving request, among the one or more target vehicles; Executing a payment process for granting the reward to the vehicle that performed the cooperative driving or a user of the vehicle that performed the cooperative driving based on the cooperative driving report; Information processing methods.

22. The cooperative driving is a driving in which the driving speed of the one or more target vehicles is maintained within a predetermined speed range on an uphill road.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

23. The cooperative driving is driving in which the driving speed of the one or more target vehicles is maintained within a predetermined speed range at least one of within a predetermined distance range from an entrance of a tunnel and within a predetermined distance range from an exit of the tunnel.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

24. The cooperative driving is a driving in which the driving lane of the one or more target vehicles is designated as a specific lane within a predetermined distance range from a connection point of a plurality of roads.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

25. The cooperative driving is to avoid a first route that passes through the congestion risk section and to drive along a second route different from the first route, The cooperative traveling request includes information regarding the second route.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

26. Furthermore, receiving, from the plurality of vehicles, identification information including at least one of a vehicle ID for identifying the vehicle, an on-board device ID mounted on the vehicle, a user ID for identifying a user of the vehicle, and an ETC card number of the user; Fulfilling the payment transaction based on the identification information; 22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

27. The congestion risk section is a part of a toll road, The payment of the reward is executed as a discount on the toll fee for the toll road.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

28. Identifying the congestion risk section of the toll road using information from at least one of one or more devices installed on the toll road, the vehicle, and a communication terminal of a user of the vehicle; receiving congestion risk information regarding the congestion risk section from a second computer used by an entity that manages the toll road; Present the cooperative driving request to the vehicle based on the congestion risk information.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

29. receiving information indicating a condition for the cooperative driving from the second computer in addition to the congestion risk information; 29. The information processing method according to claim 28.

30. The first computer is one of a plurality of computers that manage a blockchain in a distributed manner, The cooperative driving request is recorded on the blockchain together with a smart contract that programs an agreement regarding the payment of the reward before being presented to the vehicle; The reward payment process is automatically executed based on the cooperative driving report and the smart contract.

22. The information processing method according to claim 21.

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