Traffic information distributing apparatus

A traffic information distributing apparatus that distributes traffic information, comprising:

• a vehicle information receiving unit that receives vehicle information from a navigation apparatus installed in a vehicle;
• a road category setting unit that, when the vehicle information indicates that the vehicle is on an expressway or toll road, sets the expressway or toll road on which the vehicle is traveling, together with roads in an area surrounding an exit of the expressway or toll road, as a road type category that serves as a distribution target of the traffic information, based on the vehicle information;
• a traffic information extracting unit that extracts only the traffic information that corresponds to the set road type category;
• and
• a traffic information distribution controlling unit that controls so as to distribute the extracted traffic information to the navigation apparatus, wherein:
• the vehicle information includes vehicle position information that indicates a current position of the vehicle and destination information that indicates a destination, and
• when the vehicle information indicates that the vehicle is not on an expressway or toll road, the road category setting unit calculates one of a distance and a required travel time from the vehicle position to the destination, based on the vehicle position information and the destination information, judges whether the calculated distance is equal to or longer than a predetermined distance or whether the calculated required travel time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and sets the road type category that serves as the distribution target of the traffic information, based on the results of one of the judgments.