Japan, with a population density almost 12 times greater than the United States, has an abiding interest in developing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to resolve its traffic congestion and other transportation problems. Indeed, the Japanese Comprehensive Automobile Traffic Control System (CACS) program from 1973 to 1979 was the first public-private partnership effort in Japan -- perhaps in the world -- to test in urban areas an interactive route guidance system with an in-vehicle display unit.

But recently, Japanese officials have started looking at ITS from a much greater perspective. ITS is an essential element in creating a global advanced information and telecommunications society. This advanced society will realize the free generation, circulation, and sharing of information and knowledge that are the products of all human intellectually creative activities, thus leading to a new socioeconomic system that can forge a balance between living/culture, industry/business, and nature/environment. As a result, it is expected that there will be an expansion of economic frontiers, balanced national land development, and the creation of a standard of living for the people such that they can realize a truly comfortable and affluent lifestyle.

To put this in context, let's briefly review the history of ITS before taking a look at the Japanese approach to ITS and the status of development efforts in Japan.

ITS History

I see three stages in the history of ITS to date.

Stage 1 is the beginning of ITS research in the 1960s and 1970s. This early research was characterized by Japan's CACS, the Electronic Route Guidance System (ERGS) in the United States, and a similar system in Germany. All of these systems shared a common emphasis on route guidance and were based on central processing systems with huge central computers and communications systems. Due to limitations, these systems never resulted in practical application.

The next period from 1980 through about 1995 could be called stage 2. Conditions for ITS development had improved by the 1980s. Technological reforms, such as the advent of mass memory, made processing cheaper. New research and development efforts directed at practical use got under way. In Japan, work on the Road/Automobile Communication System (RACS) project, which formed the basis for our current car navigation system, began in 1984. Two projects were going on in Europe at the same time: the Program for a European Traffic System with Higher Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety (PROMETHEUS), which was mainly set up by auto manufacturers, and the Dedicated Road Infrastructure for Vehicle Safety in Europe (DRIVE), set up by the European Community. The U.S. Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) project was also progressing.

It seems to me that we have now entered a new stage -- Stage 3. Several trends support this view. First, we are beginning to see practical application of earlier programs. Second, we are at last beginning to understand the full potential of ITS, and intelligent transportation systems are being thought of in intermodal terms rather than simply in terms of automobile traffic. Third, intelligent transportation systems have started to gain recognition as critical elements in the national and international overall information technology hierarchy.

Consolidating Diverse Perspectives

Competing philosophies of ITS have become diversified in this third stage, and as a result, the current discussion may appear somewhat confused. It may, therefore, be necessary to adjust our approach a little bit.

I believe that we have two areas for discussion. The first is the concept that ITS constitutes a transportation revolution. The second is the more important issue of the potential of ITS to become a leading model for information technology applications in general. I call the first area "small ITS" and the second, "large ITS."

I don't think I need to explain "small ITS." There is already sufficient discussion regarding user services and their efficacy in the field of transportation. The more important point, which I call "large ITS," is the vital role that ITS can and should play as integral elements of the larger information technology systems that are being developed.

In Japan alone, there are approximately 14,000 traffic fatalities each year. I wonder if there is any other application that could help to save so many lives. Traffic congestion costs Japan 5.5 billion person-hours of lost time annually; in financial terms, this translates into a cost of $120 billion each year. Is there any other application that could save so much time and money? ITS projects offer truly universal benefits, so there is clear value in investing public funds.

Not only are these projects large and important, but, having taken a pioneering position in practical applications, ITS should have an important impact on information technology in general. For example, the ITS standard may well determine mobile communications standards, and the automatic toll collection system standard may well influence electronic money standards.

The Approach to ITS in Japan

By approving nine ITS areas of development, the government has officially defined the future direction of ITS in Japan. The nine areas of development include navigation systems, automatic fee collection, safe driving efforts, optimization of traffic management, road management methods, public transit, commercial vehicle operations, programs for pedestrians, and emergency vehicle operations. For more information about the overall information and telecommunications program and about the nine ITS areas, please refer to the Ministry of Construction's home page -- http://www.road.moc.go.jp.

Development Projects

The latest version, called the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS), can receive information. It was released on April 23, 1996. The Ministry of Construction has been building VICS in conjunction with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the National Police Agency, and beacons have already been installed along main trunk roads in Tokyo as well as expressways linking Tokyo and Osaka. Approximately 600 beacons have been located along these expressways. The plan is to expedite the placement of another 1,800 beacons and the development of information centers so that by March 1997, VICS service will be available throughout the nation's expressways.

This is a joint effort of the Ministry of Construction, which is in charge of expressways, and the National Police Agency, which looks after surface streets. The approximately 250 kilometers of metropolitan expressways contain a total of 2,077 vehicle detectors to measure the number of passing cars and their speeds, 862 television cameras, and 456 information or graphics displays. Information is updated every minute on the metropolitan expressways. We must consider how to combine this existing system with new systems that will be developed in the future.

Future Directions

ITS is at last finding practical application in the United States, Europe, and Japan. People the world over will benefit from the transportation revolution. We must encourage greater international cooperation than we have seen to date, to enable effective development of new systems and to ensure their compatibility, as well as to create large markets by sharing knowledge. Working in cooperation with other countries, Japan aims to develop and deploy its ITS through technical development, formulation of international standards, and technological aid to developing countries.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the United States in this international effort to provide these important new systems to our respective nations.

Hideo Tokuyama is the deputy director of the Planning Division of the Road Bureau in the Japanese Ministry of Construction. He graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in civil engineering and joined the Ministry of Construction in 1979. He is currently working on a one-year assignment with the Federal Highway Administration at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center as part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between the United States and Japan.