ROADS in JAPAN

1-1 Administration Management

1-2 Intelligent Transport System

1-3 Operation & Communication

1-4 Disaster Prevention

Home > INDEX > 1 Diversifying Road Administration > 1-2 Intelligent Transport Systems

Effects and Development of ITS

As ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) becomes more advanced, car navigation systems, VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System), and ETC (Electric Toll Collection system) is becoming more widespread. As a result, not only is a more comfortable and convenient driving experience made possible but social effects such as congestion reduction are becoming more pronounced.
In 1990, car navigation systems equipped with a digital road map were first introduced in Japan and they have become increasingly popular, recording a total shipment volume of 17 million systems in 2004 and is widely becoming a standard feature of automobiles.

URL:
http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/ITS/

Shipment Volume of Car Navigation and VICS
Both VIC and Car Navigation increasing their volumes

The shipment volume of 3 million car navigation units in FY2003 (25% annual increase) corresponds to over three-quarters of new vehicle registrations.

VICS is the world's first real-time road traffic information system debuted in April of 1996, the information is broadcast to on-board equipment such as car navigation systems in the form of text and graphics. Since then, accumulated shipment volume of on-board equipment systems with VICS has reached over 10 million units and is widely recognized as standardized equipment of car navigation systems.
Mechanism of VICS
Real-time traffic information such as congestion status or zone-travel time is sent to the onboard equipment from roadside beacons and other equipment in the form of convenient visuals and text.