Patent ID: 8781717

Claim:
A traffic information creating device comprising: a memory that stores map information including link information related to links that constitute a road; and a controller that: acquires travel information including a current location of a vehicle and a vehicle speed of the vehicle at unit time intervals; acquires traffic information, which includes a distributed traffic congestion level of each link and which is distributed from a device outside the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; determines whether the vehicle has exited a link on the basis of the map information; when it is determined that the vehicle has exited the link, acquires a travel traffic congestion level of the exited link on the basis of the travel information within the exited link; determines whether the travel traffic congestion level of the exited link coincides with the distributed traffic congestion level at a time point at which the vehicle has exited the link; when it is determined that the travel traffic congestion level of the exited link does not coincide with the distributed traffic congestion level at the time point at which the vehicle has exited the link, determines whether the traffic information has been updated and the distributed traffic congestion level has been changed within the exited link; when it is determined that the traffic information has been updated and the distributed traffic congestion level has been changed within the exited link, acquires a distribution time rate of each distributed traffic congestion level within the exited link, the distribution time rate for each distributed traffic congestion level indicating a relative amount of travel time along the link having that distributed traffic congestion level; determines a traffic congestion level of the exited link on the basis of the distribution time rate of each acquired distributed traffic congestion level and the travel traffic congestion level of the exited link; and stores the determined traffic congestion level of the exited link in association with the exited link.