JPH044640B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a traffic monitoring device for monitoring congestion on toll roads.

[Conventional technology]

One of the requests of toll expressway users is the display of travel time, such as the current actual travel time for each section, which changes due to traffic volume, etc.

Additionally, as many as 30 traffic accidents occur each day on the Tomei Expressway and the Meishin Expressway, and many of these accidents are due to traffic congestion, so it is desirable to be able to understand traffic congestion in real time.

By the way, conventional traffic monitoring uses a traffic counter that measures the number of passing vehicles using ultrasonic waves to monitor passing vehicles and understand congestion.
Since it is an analog method, it is not possible to obtain absolute values of traffic volume and travel time (the average travel time required for a certain section), and the equipment is expensive, so on long routes such as Tomei and Meishin, it is difficult to obtain measurement accuracy. It is necessary to install equipment every 600 meters, which is a huge burden both economically and in terms of construction and maintenance.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In this way, conventional traffic monitoring mainly uses traffic counters that utilize ultrasonic waves.
They monitored the number of vehicles passing and kept track of traffic jams. However, with this method, it is not possible to know the current travel time (required time) for each section just by knowing the traffic volume and congestion, and in order to accurately know the congested sections, it is necessary to use the traffic counter in detail. This poses a huge burden both economically and in terms of maintenance on long routes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic monitoring device for toll roads that can determine the travel time for each section and can be implemented at low cost.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a reading means is provided at an exit toll gate of a toll road and reads recorded information from a ticket on which entrance interchange number information and entrance entry time information are recorded, a clock device generates time information, and a clock device that generates time information; an arithmetic circuit that obtains time information during reading processing from the clock device and calculates the required travel time based on the time information and entrance entry time information of the pass obtained from the reading means;
The required travel time for each usage section, which is the travel time required between the exit toll gate and each entrance toll gate, is classified by time width, and the travel time required for each usage section corresponds to each classification. It has a function of storing and retaining information on the number of vehicles that required the vehicle, and corresponds to the required travel time in the usage section, which is known based on the entrance interchange number information of the pass ticket obtained by the reading means. A passing vehicle number distribution information holding means for cumulatively updating and holding the number information in the classification, and reading out the contents held in the passing vehicle number distribution information holding means at predetermined time intervals to determine the classification having the maximum recorded value for each usage section. and a travel time storage means for obtaining the relevant travel time information for the division from the passing vehicle number distribution information holding means and storing it for each section; and means for initializing stored information.

[Effect]

Such a device of the present invention utilizes the fact that data such as the entrance interchange number (entrance number) and the date and time of entry into the entrance interchange (entrance time) are recorded on the pass ticket for a multi-section expressway. In addition, we focused on the fact that among the travel times (i.e., the required travel time) of each passing vehicle for each section of use, the most concentrated travel time is the current travel time for that section. The travel time for the section used is calculated based on the entrance number and entrance time data read from the pass ticket at the exit, and the ticket processing time at the exit tollgate, and the travel time is calculated according to the calculated travel time. The number of passing vehicles is recorded, and the recorded contents are read out at regular intervals and old recorded contents are initialized. Then, the recorded contents read out at regular intervals are examined for each section to obtain the travel time indicated by the maximum number of passing vehicles for each section used, and from this, information on the current average travel time for each section is obtained. Try to get the following. This provides a traffic monitoring device for toll roads that can detect the current time required for each section when traveling normally, and that can be done using only pass ticket reading information, resulting in an inexpensive system. can do.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a distribution map showing the travel time and number of vehicles passing between certain sections, specifically interchanges (hereinafter abbreviated as ICs).

This distribution is possible because information such as the vehicle type, entrance interchange number, and date and time of entry into the entrance gate of the entrance interchange is magnetically recorded on the currently used magnetic card type pass. This information can be easily obtained by reading it and processing it with a computer.

The time required for the same section differs depending on the vehicle due to individual reasons, but in general, the time when the peak value is shown, as shown in A in Figure 1, is the average time required at the present moment for that section. Since the number of vehicles that take longer than necessary to rest in a service area or the like due to breakdowns is small, these can be easily separated. Therefore, if such a distribution is obtained through aggregation with sequential correction and obtained from the number of vehicles within the width of peak A and the time required for each, the average time required at the present time can be obtained.

FIG. 2 is a distribution map when traffic congestion occurs, and it can be seen that the location of the peak A section has moved significantly compared to FIG. 1, and the travel time has become longer.

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 3, the travel time axis can be set to an appropriate width according to the required time, for example, as shown in Figure 3.
If we divide the expressway into 10 sections and determine which section has peak A, we can calculate the current travel time in a certain section of the expressway, that is, the average travel time required when driving normally under the current traffic conditions. It is easy to know.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a data input device such as a numeric keypad for initial value setting, and 2 is an interchange number (IC No.) as a key. A traffic time distribution circuit that stores the required time value in advance as a specific numerical value for each division up to ~ as shown in Figure 3, 3 corresponds to each division up to ~ in Figure 3 using the interchange number as a key. This circuit stores the number of vehicles passing within a certain period of time and obtains the division in which the peak A is located.In the initial state, the number data is set to zero. Reference numeral 4 denotes a travel time storage circuit that stores information on the travel time and the presence or absence of traffic jams for each IC number, that is, for each section, which are input at predetermined intervals using the interchange number as a key, and the initial value is only the interchange number. 5 is an initial setting circuit that writes the data output from the data input device 1 into the travel time distribution circuit 2 as an initial value; and 6 is the initial setting circuit that writes the data output from the data input device 1 into the travel time distribution circuit 3 and travel time. An initial value setting circuit 7 sets an initial interchange number in a memory circuit 4, and an initial value setting circuit 7 receives a reading signal from a toll road toll collection device 27 installed at a toll gate at an exit interchange, which reads toll record data and calculates tolls. AND circuit, which is an AND gate for reading pass ticket data,
8 is a reading buffer circuit that temporarily stores pass ticket data, and 9 is a reading buffer circuit that reads the entrance time and IC from the reading buffer circuit 8.
No. (interchange number) selection circuit, 10 is an entrance time storage circuit that stores the extracted entrance time, 11 is an interchange number storage circuit that stores the extracted IC No., 12 is the absolute month, day, hour, and minute. 13 is an entry time storage circuit 10 based on the month, day, hour, and minute output from the clock device 12.
a time calculation circuit that subtracts the month, day, hour, and minute stored in , and outputs the travel time in minutes; 14 is a travel time storage circuit that stores the output of the time calculation circuit 13;
Reference numeral 5 designates a position counter circuit for determining the position of the traffic time distribution, and its initial value is "1" and is incremented by 1.
16 is a reading circuit that reads the corresponding travel time from the travel time distribution circuit 2 based on the IC No. and position signal;
7 is a traffic time storage circuit that stores the output traffic time of the reading circuit 16, and 18 is a comparison circuit that subtracts the traffic time 14 from the traffic time memory 17 and outputs a step signal if it is negative, and outputs an addition signal if not. However, this comparison circuit 18 does not operate when the content of the travel time storage circuit 14 is "0". 19
When the comparator circuit 18 outputs the addition signal, the IC number and position signal (information) of the interchange number storage circuit 11 and the position counter circuit 15 are used to add "1" to the number of vehicles passing at the corresponding position in the number distribution circuit 3. When the addition is completed by the addition circuit equipped with the read/write function of the traffic number distribution circuit to be added, it outputs a reset signal and controls the position counter circuit 15, interchange number storage circuit 11, read buffer circuit 8, and traffic time storage circuit 14. clear. 2
0 is a sampling command circuit, which is set at fixed intervals, for example, 1 minute, according to the hour and minute signals output from the clock device 12.
The digit is "0", that is, the sampling signal and lock signal are output at intervals of 10 minutes, etc. This lock signal causes the selection circuit 9 and comparison circuit 18 to temporarily stop operating. 21 has a reading function of the traffic volume distribution circuit 3 which analyzes the contents of the traffic volume distribution circuit 3 for each IC No. using a sampling signal and outputs the traffic time distribution position (class) with the maximum recorded traffic volume for each IC No. Maximum distribution position detection circuit, for example ICNo.
Detect and output the maximum distribution position at fixed time intervals (for example, 100 ms) in descending order of , and detect the highest number among all IC numbers (for example, when reading IC No. 9999, which is the end mark), Issues a reset signal and stops operation. With this reset signal, IC No. of the passing vehicle number distribution circuit 3 is removed and returned to zero, and the sampling command circuit 20 is cleared. 22 stores the maximum distribution position number (section number) of the maximum distribution position detection circuit. A position memory circuit 23 is an interchange number memory circuit that stores the IC No. output from the maximum distribution position detection circuit 21 in pairs with the maximum distribution position of the position memory circuit 22; 24 is an interchange number memory circuit that stores the IC number output from the maximum distribution position detection circuit 21; For example, a comparator circuit that outputs an output signal when the number is "8" or higher indicates the number of a division that can be determined to be a traffic jam.Congestion is detected by comparing and determining whether the division number is equal to or higher than this division number. 25 sets a traffic jam mark at the corresponding position of IC No. of the contents of the interchange number storage circuit 23, with the contents of the traffic time storage circuit 17 as the travel time, and if there is an output signal from the comparison circuit 24, it is set as "1", otherwise it is set as "0". Write circuit to write as,
26 is a display transmission circuit that transmits the contents of the travel time storage circuit 4 to the display device 28 at any time.

Next, an example of the operation of this device having the above configuration will be explained.

Traffic time distribution data as shown in FIG. 6 is created manually. The meaning of the data is Entrance IC No.
“15” in category 1 of “0102” indicates a travel time of 0 minutes to 15 minutes.
This means that items up to the minute are classified as Category 1.
Below, "20" in Category 2 is from 16 minutes to 20 minutes, "30" in Category 3 is from 21 minutes to 30 minutes, and "40" in Category 4 is from 31 minutes.
40 minutes, Category 5 "60" is 41 minutes to 60 minutes, Category 6 "90" is 61 minutes to 90 minutes, Category 7 "120" is 91 minutes to
120 minutes, Category 8 “180” is 121 minutes to 180 minutes, Category 9
"240" is 181 minutes to 240 minutes, "1000" in category 10 is
This means that each category is from 241 minutes to 1000 minutes. Also, the last section 10, 1000 minutes, is a number that has the same meaning as infinity, which is impossible as a transit time.

The initial values of the traffic time distribution data shown in FIG. 6 are inputted from the data input device 1 in FIG. 4, and the input data is written and stored in the traffic time distribution circuit 2 through the initial value setting circuit 5. Ru. Further, the arrangement order of the entrance IC numbers is written to the passing vehicle number distribution circuit 3 and travel time storage circuit 4 through the initial value setting circuit 6, and initial values are set. That is, the initial values to be set are as shown in Figure 6 in the traffic time distribution circuit 2, and in the traffic number distribution circuit 3, only the entrance IC number shown in Figure 7 is set, and the other data contents are "0". However, the travel time memory circuit 4 has the entrance IC shown in Figure 8.
Only No. is set, and the other data contents are set to "0" as an initial value.

At the exit of a toll gate on a toll road, tickets are received from vehicles that enter one after another and processed by a collector at a toll road toll collection device 27 located at a booth at the toll gate. An example of the pass data is shown in FIG. Traffic data is synchronized with read signals.
It passes through an AND circuit 7 and is temporarily stored in a read buffer circuit 8. The pass ticket data stored in the read buffer circuit 8 is divided by the selection circuit 9 into the month, day, hour and minute of passing through the entrance toll gate, and the entrance IC No., and are stored in the entrance time storage circuit 10 and the IC No. storage circuit 11, respectively. be remembered. In the example of Figure 5,
"01150105" is in the entrance time memory circuit 10,
The No. storage circuit 11 stores "0102" as the stored content.
The time calculation circuit 13 reads the current time of the clock device 12, calculates the travel time by subtracting the time stored in the entrance time storage circuit 10, and sends this to the travel time storage circuit 14, where it is stored. For example, if the content of the current time of the clock device 12 is "01150121", that is, 1:21 on January 15th, the calculation result is "16", that is, 16 minutes.
is memorized. On the other hand, the content of the IC No. memory circuit 11 is "0102" and the initial value of the position counter circuit 15 is "1".
The reading circuit 16 sends the contents of
sets the contents of the IC No. memory circuit 11 as the input IC No.,
Using the contents of the position counter circuit 15 as a division position, the contents of the travel time distribution circuit 2 are retrieved and read out, and the contents are sent to the travel time storage circuit 17. In the data example shown in Figure 6, "15" is the passage time memory circuit 1.
7 is stored. The comparator circuit 18 subtracts the contents of the traffic time storage circuit 14 from the contents of the traffic time storage circuit 17, and when the result is negative, it sends an increment signal to the position counter circuit 15, and increments the contents of the position counter circuit 15, that is, +1. "do. When it is 0 or positive, an addition signal is sent. In this example, the contents of the travel time storage circuits 17 and 14 are "15" and "16".
Since 15-16=-1, which is negative, the comparator circuit 18 sends out a step signal. Therefore, the contents of the position counter circuit 15 change from "1" to "2".
becomes. The reading circuit 16 again reads the IC No. memory circuit 11.
The contents of the traffic time distribution circuit 2 are read out using the contents of the position counter path 15 and the contents of the position counter path 15. This time, the contents of the IC No. memory circuit 11 are “0102” and the position counter 15 is
Since the content of is "2", in the data example of FIG. 6, "20" is stored in the travel time storage circuit 17. The comparison circuit 18 subtracts the content "16" of the transit time storage circuit 14 from the content "20" of the transit time storage circuit 17, 20-16=4, which is positive, so the comparison circuit 18 sends out an addition signal.

The addition circuit 19 uses the addition signal to determine ICNo.
Using the contents of the memory circuit 11 as the entrance IC No., the contents of the position counter bottleneck 15 are classified and added to the corresponding classification of the traffic number distribution circuit 3 by "+1." In this example, the contents of the IC No. storage circuit 11 are 0102",
Since the content of the position counter road is "2", "+1" is added to the data of the position of the division "2" in the section of "0102" entrance IC of the traffic distribution road 3.
This operation is repeated every time a toll ticket is read by the toll road money collection device. As a result, data on the number of vehicles in use for each required time segment for each IC No. as shown in FIG. 7 is arranged in the traffic vehicle number distribution circuit 3.

The sampling command circuit 20 outputs a sampling signal and a lock signal at regular time intervals. For example, if the interval is set to 10 minutes, the sampling signal and lock signal will be output from the sampling command circuit 20 when the content of the clock device 12 becomes "01150130", that is, 1:30 on January 15th. The lock signal temporarily stops the operation of the selection circuit 9 and the comparison circuit 18, and temporarily stops the collection of traffic distribution data. Based on the sampling signal, the maximum distribution position detection circuit 21 detects the entrance IC based on the contents of the circuit 3 for the number of passing vehicles.
The number stored in the No. unit, that is, the division position where the maximum number of passing vehicles is detected, is detected, and the entrance IC No. is changed to the IC No.
The maximum division position is stored in the storage circuit 23 and the position storage circuit 22
Send to. Based on the contents of the IC No. storage circuit 23 and the contents of the position storage circuit 22, the reading circuit 16 reads the data contents of the corresponding position of the traffic time distribution circuit 2 and stores it in the traffic time storage circuit 17. Comparison circuit 24
is used to determine traffic congestion, and compares a predetermined number with the contents of the position memory circuit 22.
When the content of 2 is larger, output ``1''. The writing circuit 25 writes the data of the entrance IC No. of the travel time storage circuit 4 that matches the contents of the IC No. storage circuit 23, the contents of the traffic time storage circuit 17 in the travel time section, and the contents of the traffic time storage circuit 17 in the traffic jam mark section. Comparison circuit 24
If there is an output of "1" from
When there is no output, the same travel time memory circuit 4 is "0".
write to. The maximum distribution position detection circuit 21 is IC No.
The travel time data is set in the travel time storage circuit 4 by sequentially reading the data in units and repeating the above series of operations. The maximum distribution position detection circuit 21 releases the lock signal of the sampling command circuit 20 that detects the data end of the passing vehicle number distribution circuit 3, and initializes the data of the passing vehicle number distribution circuit 3.

The maximum distribution position is detected as follows. In this example, the contents of the passing vehicle number distribution circuit 3 are as shown in FIG. 7, so the maximum distribution position detection circuit 21 is IC No.
Detection starts from "0102". Then, the classification position "2" of "40", which is the maximum number of passing vehicles, is output to the position storage circuit 22, and "0102" is output to the IC No. storage circuit 23. This IC No.
"0102" and the classification position "2" cause the reading circuit 16
outputs the data “20” of the position of classification “2” of the “0102” entrance IC No. of the traffic time distribution circuit 2 to the traffic time storage circuit 17. If the comparison circuit 24 determines that 8 or more of the classifications 1 to 10 of the traffic time distribution position in Figure 6 are traffic jams, the content of the position memory circuit is 2, so the comparison circuit 24 determines that the traffic time distribution position in Figure 6 is determined to be congested. Since it is small, the comparator circuit 24 does not output an output. Therefore,
The write circuit 25 uses the content "0102" of the IC No. memory bottleneck 23 as a key, and combines the content "20" of the travel time memory circuit 17 with "no output" of the comparison circuit 24 and writes it into the travel time memory circuit 4 as shown in FIG. It is written as follows. Next, the same operation as above is repeated in sequence with IC No. "0103" and "0105" until the end mark "9999" appears. For IC No. "0105", the maximum classification position of the number of passing vehicles is "9", so "1" is stored in the traffic jam mark position of the travel time storage circuit 4.

The display transmission circuit 26 transmits the contents of the travel time storage circuit 4 to the display device 28 at regular time intervals, and the display device displays the travel time and the traffic jam location.

In this way, it is possible to calculate the travel time in advance by using the current toll road toll collection device and the normally obtained information on the pass, without using special expensive equipment such as conventional traffic counters. By digitally determining the distribution, finding the number of passing vehicles corresponding to that distribution, and using the maximum number of passing vehicles and the passing time as the travel time, we can reduce the travel time of cars resting in service areas and parking lots. By doing so, it is possible to easily obtain practical travel time and traffic congestion information, and by displaying this, it is possible to display travel time and traffic congestion sections more accurately in real time than the current wide range of traffic congestion information. This will enable users to decide whether it is better to use the expressway or take a detour, which will also help with natural traffic regulation.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, the pass ticket for a multi-section expressway includes the entrance interchange number (entrance number), the date and time of entrance interchange (entrance time)
By using the recorded data such as Focusing on the fact that it is a time, we calculated the travel time for the section used based on the data of the entrance number and entrance time read from the ticket at the exit of the toll gate of the toll road and the time when the ticket was processed at the exit toll gate. The number of passing vehicles is recorded for each travel time in accordance with the calculated travel time, and the stored contents are read out at regular intervals and old recorded contents are initialized. Then, the memory contents read out at regular intervals are examined for each section to obtain the travel time indicated by the maximum number of passing vehicles for each section, and from this, information on the current average travel time for each section is obtained. It was designed to obtain
Therefore, this system has the characteristics that it is possible to know the current time required for each section when traveling normally, and that it can be done using only the reading information of the pass ticket, making it possible to create an inexpensive system. A traffic monitoring device on toll roads can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 are diagrams to explain the relationship between the number of vehicles passing and the travel time depending on the traffic situation in a certain section of the expressway, and Figure 3 is a diagram to explain the correspondence between the traffic time classification and travel time in a certain section. diagram for,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of recorded data of a pass ticket, and FIG.
The figure shows an example of data for the traffic time distribution circuit.
The figure is a diagram showing an example of data for the traffic distribution circuit.
The figure is a diagram showing an example of data in the travel time storage circuit. 1... Data input machine, 2... Traffic time distribution circuit, 3... Passing number distribution circuit, 4... Travel time storage circuit, 8... Read buffer circuit, 9... Selection circuit, 10... Entrance time storage Circuit, 11...Interchange number storage circuit, 12...Clock device, 1
3...Time calculation circuit, 14...Travel time storage circuit, 15...Position counter, 16...Reading circuit, 1
7... Passage time storage circuit, 19... Addition circuit, 2
0...Sampling command circuit, 21...Maximum distribution position detection circuit, 22...Position storage circuit, 23...
Interchange number storage circuit, 24...comparison circuit, 25...writing circuit, 26...transmission circuit for display.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A reading means installed at an exit toll gate of a toll road and reading recorded information from a pass ticket on which entrance interchange number information and entrance entry time information are recorded; and a clock device that generates time information. , an arithmetic circuit that obtains time information from the clock device during the reading process by the reading means, and calculates the required travel time based on the time information and entrance entry time information of the pass obtained from the reading means; The required travel time for each usage section, which is the travel time required between the exit toll gate and each entrance toll gate, is classified by time width, and the travel time required for each usage section corresponds to each classification. It has a function of storing and retaining information on the number of vehicles that required the vehicle, and corresponds to the required travel time in the usage section, which is known based on the entrance interchange number information of the pass ticket obtained by the reading means. a passing vehicle number distribution information holding means for cumulatively updating and holding the number information in the classification, and reading out the retained contents of the passing vehicle number distribution information holding means at predetermined time intervals to determine the classification having the maximum recorded value for each usage section. and a travel time storage means for obtaining the relevant travel time width information for the segment from the passing vehicle number distribution information holding means and storing it for each section; and the passing vehicle number distribution information holding means for each of the holding operations of the travel time storage means. A traffic monitoring device for a toll road, comprising means for initializing stored information.