Section2 Advanced Road Traffic Services

Mobile GIS is a system that provides pedestrians and drivers with information about their current position, route to destination, and facilities using positioning technologies such as GPS, GIS, and personal digital assistance (PDA) terminals. Advanced cellular phones and PDA terminals have been developed that enable users to acquire information through the Internet and an environment for using GIS services that use map information to be constructed, such as route guidance.

However, map data and location-related contents are created separately by each service provider and are not mutually compatible, which hinders the spread of the services. The Mobile GIS Business Team was established within the ITS Standardization Committee in May 2001, and is investigating mobile GIS standards to enable joint use of map data and location contents prepared by different bodies.

The mobile GIS standards will enable the following services:

1) Coordination of map data of different scales prepared by different bodies, and

2) Coordination of information contents prepared by different bodies.

To examine the images, functions, and performances of services based on the mobile GIS standards, the Fukuoka National Highway Work Office conducted a test in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The office edited the map data and location-related contents that were acquirable in Kurume District into a data format that conforms with the mobile GIS standards. The test system consisted of PDA terminals, which were carried by the monitors and contained a GPS receiver and PHS, and a map server for replying to inquiries from PDA.

The test examined 1) the coordination of town and barrier-free information, and 2) multi-modal route guidance. The monitors walked along the predetermined routes near National Highway 209 (Meiji-dori) in Kurume City carrying the PDA terminals. The office collected evaluation data about the joint use of map data and their contents and about interfaces.