Traffic control apparatus, traffic control system, traffic control method, and non-transitory computer recording medium

1. A traffic control apparatus comprising:

a communicating part configured to be able to communicate with car-mounted devices mounted in a plurality of vehicles controlled to be automatically driven; and

a control part, wherein

the control part is configured to:

prepare scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles based on current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles received through the communicating part or to receive scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles through the communicating part;

judge that, among the plurality of vehicles, there are two or more close vehicles when a first close vehicle traveling a first scheduled driving route and a second close vehicle traveling a second scheduled driving route will overlap on a roadway or at a point of interest at the same time; and,

when it is judged that there are two or more close vehicles, determine the driving/stopping priorities of the two or more close vehicles on the roadway or at the point of interest based on information relating to passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles; and

send instructions to a lower priority vehicle to yield to allow a higher priority vehicle to proceed with priority to avoid interference between the first close vehicle and the second close vehicle, wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is a number of passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles,

the control part is further configured so that the greater the number of passengers of a vehicle among the two or more close vehicles, the higher the driving/stopping priority is made, and

the control part is further configured to increase the driving/stopping priority of the lower priority vehicle when the lower priority vehicle yields to higher priority vehicles a predetermined number of times.

2. The traffic control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:

the control part is further configured to send driving instructions to the car-mounted devices of the respective two or more close vehicles through the communicating part so that the higher the driving/stopping priority of a vehicle among the two or more close vehicles, the greater the priority by which it is driven through the roadway or point of interest or the greater the priority by which it is made to stop on the roadway or at the point of interest.

3. The traffic control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is information on billing of an additional service charge besides a car dispatch service charge paid by the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles, and

the control part is further configured so that the greater the amount of the billing of an additional service charge besides the car dispatch service charge paid by the passengers, the higher the driving/stopping priority is made.

4. The traffic control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is information relating to the destinations of the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles, and

the control part is further configured so that the driving/stopping priority of a vehicle with a destination of a preset specific facility among the two or more close vehicles is made higher.

5. The traffic control apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:

the specific facility is a hospital or the police.

6. A traffic control system comprising:

car-mounted devices mounted in a plurality of vehicles which are controlled to be automatically driven; and

a server connected to be able to communicate with the car-mounted devices through a network, wherein

the car-mounted devices are configured to send current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles to the server or send scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles prepared based on the current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles to the server, and

the server is configured to:

prepare scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles based on the current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles received through the car-mounted devices or to receive the scheduled driving routes through the car-mounted devices;

judge that, among the plurality of vehicles, there are two or more close vehicles when a first close vehicle traveling a first scheduled driving route and a second close vehicle traveling a second scheduled driving route will overlap on a roadway or at a point of interest at the same time;

when it is judged that there are two or more close vehicles, determine the driving/stopping priorities of the respective two or more close vehicles on the roadway or at the point of interest based on information relating to passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles; and

send instructions to a lower priority vehicle to yield to allow a higher priority vehicle to proceed with priority to avoid interference between the first close vehicle and the second close vehicle, wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is a number of passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles,

the server is further configured so that the greater the number of passengers of a vehicle among the two or more close vehicles, the higher the driving/stopping priority is made, and

the server is further configured to increase the driving/stopping priority of the lower priority vehicle when the lower priority vehicle yields to higher priority vehicles a predetermined number of times.

7. A traffic control method comprising:

preparing scheduled driving routes of a plurality of vehicles controlled to be automatically driven based on current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles received through a communicating part configured to be able to communicate with car-mounted devices mounted in the plurality of vehicles or receiving scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles through the communicating part;

judging that, among the plurality of vehicles, there are two or more close vehicles when a first close vehicle traveling a first scheduled driving route and a second close vehicle traveling a second scheduled driving route will overlap on a roadway or at a point of interest at the same time;

when it is judged that there are two or more close vehicles, determining the driving/stopping priorities of the two or more close vehicles on the roadway or at the point of interest based on information relating to passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles; and

sending instructions to a lower priority vehicle to yield to allow a higher priority vehicle to proceed with priority to avoid interference between the first close vehicle and the second close vehicle,

wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is a number of passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles,

the greater the number of passengers of a vehicle among the two or more close vehicles, the higher the driving/stopping priority is made, and

the driving/stopping priority of the lower priority vehicle is increased when the lower priority vehicle yields to higher priority vehicles a predetermined number of times.

8. A non-transitory computer recording medium including a computer program for traffic control use for making a computer:

prepare scheduled driving routes of a plurality of vehicles controlled to be automatically driven based on current positions and destinations of the plurality of vehicles received through a communicating part configured to be able to communicate with car-mounted devices mounted in the plurality of vehicles or receive scheduled driving routes of the plurality of vehicles through the communicating part;

judge that, among the plurality of vehicles, there are two or more close vehicles when a first close vehicle traveling a first scheduled driving route and a second close vehicle traveling a second scheduled driving route will overlap on a roadway or at a point of interest at the same time;

when it is judged that there are two or more close vehicles, determine the driving/stopping priorities of the two or more close vehicles on the roadway or at the point of interest based on information relating to passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles; and,

send instructions to a lower priority vehicle to yield to allow a higher priority vehicle to proceed with priority to avoid interference between the first close vehicle and the second close vehicle, wherein:

the information relating to the passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles is a number of passengers picked up by the respective two or more close vehicles,

the greater the number of passengers of a vehicle among the two or more close vehicles, the higher the driving/stopping priority is made, and

the driving/stopping priority of the lower priority vehicle is increased when the lower priority vehicle yields to higher priority vehicles a predetermined number of times.