Test operations are scheduled to start by March 1997, and we hope to have the entire system up and running by 1999. In November 1995, as part of AHS research, public driving tests were conducted at a test course owned by the Ministry of Construction. Optimization of Traffic Management Traffic control systems have been in use in Japan for some time to tackle the problems associated with heavy traffic flow. Now, Japan also seeks to enhance safety, comfort, and the environment through the use of the most appropriate means of traffic management, including signal controls, traffic information to in-vehicle units, priority to public transit vehicles, dynamic route guidance systems, monitoring commercial vehicles, better detour information, and controlling signals to reduce traffic pollution . 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.
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. 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.