Development of next-generation road services by public and private joint research

Infrastructure-vehicle cooperative system called Smartway is currently promoted in Japan. National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) plays a vital role to prompt the project under cooperation of public and private sector. Through the past experiences of ETC (Electronic Toll Collection System) and VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System), it is recognized that joint research scheme is an effective way to implement infrastructure-vehicle cooperative system so that current research and development project is also forwarded under joint research scheme. This paper covers some of the past ITS projects in Japan and current research and development of the next-generation road services.