Patent ID: 7680588

Claim:
A traffic information management system comprising: a plurality of probe cars, each probe car having an in-vehicle terminal for collecting probe information including a current position and a speed of the each probe car, the in-vehicle terminal including a transmitter configured to upload the collected probe information and a receiver configured to receive information broadcasted by a broadcasting system; and a center configured to communicate with the each probe car to receive the probe information transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal of the each probe car, generate road traffic information for specifying a road state by analyzing the received probe information, and transmit the generated road traffic information to the each probe car via the broadcasting system, wherein the in-vehicle terminal further includes a determining unit configured to determine a road state, with respect to each unit road segment included in a plurality of unit road segments traveled by the each probe car, successively in accordance with traveling of the each probe car, and a communications control unit configured to allow the transmitter to transmit, to the center, probe information collected in the each unit road segment, only when a predetermined difference is present in the each unit road segment between (i) the determined road state and (ii) a road state indicated by the traffic information, which is received by the receiver via the broadcasting system.