1999 ITS policies and demand for budgetary appropriations

1999 ITS policies and demand for budgetary appropriations by the Ministry of Construction
Recently, major policies regarding road projects in 1999 were laid out. Among these policies, a summary of ITS-related policies by the Ministry of Construction is as follows:

Points

Launch new strategic ITS procedures based on the following three policies:

Start and promote ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) service.
Start "Smartway 2001" project which aims to achieve epoch-making roads for the 21^st Century that are excellent in safety and smooth driving.
Promote the active introduction of regional ITS.

Conduct R&D on AHS (Advanced Cruise-Assist Highway Systems), build a common platform for the systems, and promote continued support for global standardization programs.

1. ITS effects and trends in the United States

ITS is a new road traffic system that utilizes cutting-edge information communication technology. It is a strategic measure to solve modern road traffic problems such as worsening traffic congestion (about \12 trillion loss/year), traffic accidents (about 10,000 victims), deteriorating environment and so forth.
At the end of June, 1998, the cumulative shipment of car navigation systems surpassed 3 million sets, and that of VICS units also reached nearly 600,000 units, indicating a quick market expansion. ETC-related fields are also greatly expected to create new markets.
The United States passed the TEA-21 Law in October, 1998, and decided to provide a new budget for ITS implementation as well as to proceed with active R&D and standardization.

2. ITS promotion measures(basic framework)
Image: Basic Framework of ITS promotion

3. Concrete policies
Based on the integrated ITS plan, launch new ITS strategic procedures and promote continued commitments with cooperation from related ministries and agencies (National Police Agency, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications) as well as universities and private sectors.

(1) New commitments in ITS promotion
1) Launch and promote ETC service

Start ETC service mostly at major toll gates in metropolitan Tokyo to solve traffic congestion at toll gates, improve driver convenience through clash-less payments, reduce costs and so forth.

Service areas to start
Higashi-Kanto Expressway, Tateyama Expressway, Keiyo Expressway
Chiba-Togane Expressway, Tokyo Bay Aqua Line
Metropolitan Expressway Omiya Line, Wangan Line (Main Line toll gates)and others

Promote ETC and create new markets by providing various services, such as a tie-up with ETC-IC cards and credit cards, based on a partnership with the private sector.

2) "Smartway 2001" plan
Plan programs and start preparing systems and standards in order to achieve epoch-making roads for the 21^st Century which are excellent in safety and smooth driving due to the integrated cutting-edge ITS technology built into the roads.
In 2000, conduct AHS proof tests and set systems and standards based on the results of the tests in order to implement Smartways, one at a time, from 2001.

3) Promote active introduction of regional ITS.
In order to provide advanced information for users, improve road control and support activation of regions, build regional ITS promotion systems. At the same time, prepare guidelines to promote active introduction of ITS which is compatible and adaptable among regions.

Example of concrete policies: Road control system utilizing sensors and so forth, homepage, and others

(2) Continued commitments in ITS promotion

1) Implementation and future plans of ITS To prepare for ETC, actively promote installation of toll gate equipment including IC card readers. To prepare for VICS that provides real time information such as traffic congestion and accidents, restrictions due to rain, parking availability and so forth, promote building facilities and improve services including information contents.

2) Promote R&D.
a) R&D on AHS (Advanced Cruise-Assist Highway Systems)
In order to improve AHS technology that assists driving and warns drivers of dangers by coordinating roads and vehicles, promote R&D in cooperation with the AHS Research Association, aiming to conduct proof tests in 2000.
b) R&D on efficient distribution and road control information To improve distribution efficiency, promote R&D on the system that supports the efficient driving of commercial vehicles. Also promote R&D on a new road control system utilizing information communication technology.

3) Build a common platform for systems.
In order to secure compatibility among regions and systems and to promote ITS efficiently, keep in mind the ITS system architecture and promote the preparation of standards including road communication standards that are universal communication rules.

4) Support global standardization programs.
In order to bring Japanese systems in conformity with global standards, actively support analyzing proposals by various countries regarding ISO and others as well as proposals from Japan.

Description	Budget requested for 1999	Previous year's budget	Ratio
R&D and implementation of ITS	653	247	2.64
Promote ITS infrastructures (such as ETC)	565	165	3.41
Integrated promotion including R&D	88	82	1.07

(unit:100 million yen)




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