Japanese Government Puts "Automated Driving" On Track

08/20/96

Kyodo reported that Japan's Construction Ministry has begun developing the first stage of an "intelligent transport system" that seeks to fully automate driving in Japan by the year 2010. According to ministry officials, Japan will implement the plan in stages, and expects to create a 50 trillion yen demand in such industries as information transmission, telecommunications and automobiles over the next 20 years.

The first stage of achieving automated driving, said the ministry, is an adequate navigation system, which is already underway. Conventional navigation systems show drivers the shortest route between places, by distance. The new system will show the best route by time, considering traffic information such as traffic rules, traffic jams, and parking. The Japanese are already using the advanced traffic navigation system on major streets in the Tokyo metropolitan area and on highways within a 100-kilometer radius of midtown Tokyo.

The ministry plans to expand the system's scope to include major streets nationwide by the year 2005, and the Japanese government has allocated 41.8 billion yen for the new transport system this fiscal year. Development should concentrate specifically on a more advanced traffic navigation system. More than one million of the car navigation systems had been shipped in Japan by the end of fiscal 1995, which ended in March. As the technology advances, an increasing number of motorists are expected to have the systems installed in their cars.

The second facet of the automation plan is a "nonstop automatic payment system" for toll highways. Sensors at toll gates will monitor vehicles with some sort of user-identification, without requiring cars to stop. Motorists will later be billed for distances they drove. Traffic jams at toll gates are responsible for 55% of all traffic congestion on highways. The ministry projects starting pilot positioning of sensor gates by the end of 1998 and expects the system to be fully in place by the year 2000.

The final goal of the "intelligent transport system" is nothing less than the total automation of the task of driving. The Ministry sees the first step toward that goal as the automation of a warning system whereby roadside sensors will indicate warnings if cars travel too close together, for instance. The second step is an assisted driving system that will be able to control a vehicle by automatically braking, accelerating or slowing, turning, and changing lanes. The ministry says it can achieve both of those steps by the year 2000.

The ministry expects the last step toward automated driving to be implemented by 2010. A sensor on the vehicle would monitor the overall driving situation and coordinate every aspect of driving--acceleration, braking and maneuvering of a steering wheel-- to match it.

The Construction Ministry expects fully automated driving to become a key solution to such problems as auto accidents and traffic jams. It will also promote the use of cars among the aged, the officials said.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel