٨A Case of Utilizing Results

Use of draft technicalspecifications forthe mobility support system



KANEKO Masahiro, Head KOZUKA Kiyoshi, Senior Researcher
ITO Katsuhiro, Guest Researcher
Advanced Road Design and Safety Division, Road Department

1. NILIM’s role in the mobility support system
By developing ubiquitous information infrastructureusing IC tags, etc., the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism is promoting a project formobility support. The aim of this is to build anenvironment in which anyone, at any time and in anyplace, can access information needed in varioussituations (e.g. transit routes, means of transport,
destinations, nearby facilities, etc). Following
demonstration trials all over the country since FY2004,a model project has been in progress since FY2009, theultimate goal being a transition to a permanent service.
 To achieve this transition, it will be important toensure the compatibility of equipment between
different districts, and to set rules for uniformly
gathering and accumulating the data needed forservices. The National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management (NILIM) is responsible forstudying various technical issues in this project, incollaboration with a variety of members including
academic and professional experts, private companies,NPOs, the central government and local authorities. InMay 2008 NILIM published its findings in the form of“Technical specifications for the mobility support
system (draft)”.

for the basic data composition, content, etc.
At the same time, based on user opinions of the data
actually produced, we constantly need to update thedata content while confirming the usefulness of the data,
reflecting user needs in the data content, ranking theinformation provided in order of priority, and so on.
To this end, we conducted a monitor survey in which
we enlisted the help of wheelchair users, visually
impaired and other volunteers in the area around Ueno
Station, where the development of data was at a moreadvanced stage. We provided the monitors with
network data on the pedestrian area as they actually
made their way around it, and asked them to complete aquestionnaire during and after their tour.
Based on the results, we identified issues in the draft
technical
specifications,while also proposing data
content that would allow
more useful information for
the users to be provided atlow cost. We plan to refer tothese survey results toproduce
evenmoreadvanced
technical
specifications in future.

2. Outline of the mobility support system The mobility support system consists of equipment
fitted with geopositional identification codes andcommunication functions installed in various places,
configured so that users can use mobile terminals toaccess information managed separately by a server, etc.
The system is characterized by the speed with which it
updates constantly changing information, since theinformation is managed separately by a server, etc.

Table: Examples of Data items that should be added, based on
the survey results

3. Development of pedestrian network data andimplementation of monitor survey
From FY2010, we started developing pedestrian
network data including information on barriers inpedestrian spaces, an indispensable element of themobility support system, in the centers of the three big
urban spheres (Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya). Data weredeveloped by the various regional development
bureaus in line with technical specifications prescribed

Level of pedestrian traffic
Level of obstacles on road
Number of dropped kerbs
Structural format ofsidewalks

Taxi stands
Information boards
Time duration of green traffic
signals
Length of sections with longgradient of 5% or more(References)
1) NILIM journal 532, Technical specifications for themobility support system (draft), May 20092) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism: Draft specifications for the development ofpedestrian network data, Sept. 2010

A Case of Utilizing Results

(Keywords) Mobility support, ubiquitous, technical specifications, pedestrian space network data