Traffic monitoring apparatus, traffic monitoring system, traffic monitoring method, and non-transitory computer readable medium storing program

Abstract

A traffic monitoring apparatus capable of determining a cause of traffic congestion more definitely is provided. A traffic monitoring apparatus ( 10 ) includes a vehicle information acquisition unit ( 11 ), an additional information acquisition unit ( 12 ), a congestion determination unit ( 13 ), and a cause determination unit ( 14 ). The vehicle information acquisition unit ( 11 ) acquires vehicle information regarding a travelling state of a vehicle from data received from a detection apparatus ( 20 ). The additional information acquisition unit ( 12 ) acquires additional information regarding objects that are other than the travelling vehicle and are present in the vicinity of the travelling vehicle. The congestion determination unit ( 13 ) determines, for each of a plurality of lanes on the road, whether or not congestion is occurring based on the vehicle information. The cause determination unit ( 14 ) determines, for the lane that has been determined to be congested, a cause of congestion using at least the additional information.

1 . A traffic monitoring apparatus comprising:
 a memory storing instructions; and   a processor connected to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to:
 receive image data of a range of an intersection on a road including a plurality of lanes; 
 acquire vehicle information regarding travelling states of vehicles that are located in a vicinity of the intersection from the image data; 
 determine, using the vehicle information, whether congestion is occurring for each of the plurality of lanes of the road that intersect with the intersection; 
 acquire additional information regarding objects that are other than the vehicles that are travelling; and 
 determine a cause of the congestion using the additional information. 
   
     
     
         2 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the vehicle information is a traffic amount in the road.   
     
     
         3 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average travelling speed of the vehicle travelling in the road.   
     
     
         4 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average waiting time of the vehicle within a predetermined range of the intersection.   
     
     
         5 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an intersection capacity indicating the number of the vehicles that the intersection allows to pass.   
     
     
         6 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the processor is configured to execute the instructions to   acquire the vehicle information regarding the travelling states of the vehicles that are located in the vicinity of the intersection,   acquire additional information regarding objects that are other than the travelling vehicle and are located in the vicinity of the intersection, and   determine, for each of a plurality of lanes of a road crossing the intersection, whether or not congestion is occurring based on the vehicle information.   
     
     
         7 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the processor is configured to execute the instructions to   determine whether the place where the congestion is occurring is a congestion-inducing place which has induced the congestion and   determine the cause of the congestion for the congestion-inducing place.   
     
     
         8 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein 
 the processor is configured to execute the instructions to   determine, for a travelling direction of vehicles on a path crossing the intersection, whether congestion is occurring on an upstream side of the intersection and whether or not congestion is occurring on a downstream side of the intersection,   determine, when it has been determined that congestion is occurring on the upstream side of the intersection and congestion is not occurring on the downstream side of the intersection, that there is a congestion-inducing place which has induced the congestion on the upstream side of the intersection where the congestion has occurred, and   determine the cause of the congestion for the congestion-inducing place.   
     
     
         9 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein 
 the processor is configured to execute the instructions to   determine the cause of the congestion in the lane in which it has been determined that congestion is occurring by analyzing images captured by a detection apparatus that captures images of the road.   
     
     
         10 . The traffic monitoring apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the processor is configured to execute the instructions to 
 present a countermeasure method against the cause of the congestion that has been determined using countermeasure information in which the cause of the congestion and the countermeasure method are associated with each other. 
   
     
     
         11 . A traffic monitoring method comprising:
 receiving image data of a range of an intersection on a road including a plurality of lanes;   acquiring vehicle information regarding travelling states of vehicles that are located in a vicinity of the intersection from the image data;   determining, using the vehicle information, whether congestion is occurring for each of the plurality of lanes of the road that intersect with the intersection;   acquiring additional information regarding objects that are other than the vehicles that are travelling; and   determining a cause of the congestion using the additional information.   
     
     
         12 . The traffic monitoring method according to  claim 11 , wherein 
 the vehicle information is a traffic amount in the road.   
     
     
         13 . The traffic monitoring method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average travelling speed of the vehicle travelling in the road.   
     
     
         14 . The traffic monitoring method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average waiting time of the vehicle within a predetermined range of the intersection.   
     
     
         15 . The traffic monitoring method according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an intersection capacity indicating the number of the vehicles that the intersection allows to pass.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the following steps of:
 receiving image data of a range of an intersection on a road including a plurality of lanes;   acquiring vehicle information regarding travelling states of vehicles that are located in a vicinity of the intersection from the image data;   determining, using the vehicle information, whether congestion is occurring for each of the plurality of lanes of the road that intersect with the intersection;   acquiring additional information regarding objects that are other than the vehicles that are travelling; and   determining a cause of the congestion using the additional information.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 16 , wherein 
 the vehicle information is a traffic amount in the road.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 16 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average travelling speed of the vehicle travelling in the road.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 16 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an average waiting time of the vehicle within a predetermined range of the intersection.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to  claim 16 , wherein
 the vehicle information is an intersection capacity indicating the number of the vehicles that the intersection allows to pass.