Introduction Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) & the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) R&D
(a)Studies on the magnetic lane marker were started 14 years ago as a system which enables high function control and is practical at the same time. Studies were also carried out on Vision (image processing) at the same time, but because the magnetic lane marker is inexpensive and practical, studies are being carried out jointly with CATLRANS and National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC).
[Outline of magnetic lane marker]
• Lateral positional accuracy: 5 mm
• There are two types of markers.
Ferrite type (Diameter 2.4 cm x length 10 cm) (2.5 cm x 4, $0.9) applicable to general places
Rare earth type (Diameter 2.5 cm x length 2.5 cm, below $10) special places such as bridge
• The distance between markers is 1.2m.
(b)As costs are low, B/C is possible even for systems for control vehicles.
(c)Applications to snowplows are already underway. The system will be constructed on eight miles of actual road this winter and test implemented.
(d)The system will first be applied to trucks and buses then passenger cars later. Mechanisms to support accurate stopping of buses are also being developed currently (to be completed in a few years time).

(a)Magnetic lane markers are considered the best in terms of high accuracy, high reliability, and safety.
(b)GPS may serve as a complementary means. However, it may be paired with maps. It is doubtful if high precision maps can be realized in the US.
(c)White lane detection by Vision (image processing) may not always be possible.
(d)Lane departure warning by lane markers may be possible due to the following reasons.
• Warning must be given before vehicles depart from lanes.
• It is not possible for vehicles to run along the edge of lanes constantly.
• Marker detection records can be used.
(e)Support for infrastructures is required for vehicle safety.
(f)For automatic cruising, fuel saving in unanticipated situations is an important problem. In studies, high performance results are obtained, but when actual installation is considered, it is vital to guarantee safety. Therefore making automatic cruising for general drivers difficult. Automatic cruising in intermixed traffic is not possible, so physical barriers are required.

US Framework and NHTSA Opinions
(a)Since NHTSA is a safety research department, they made it clear they were not in a position to talk about practical application and deployment.
(b)The NHTSA aims at safety in collision prevention (intersection crashes and road departure crashes) of trucks and cars.
(c)The NHTSA has three programs regarding trucks and cars.
• Standards (rules)
• Traffic Safety Programs based on laws and regulations
• R&D on Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI)
(d)The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) has a focus on development of public organizations centering around traffic signal control, buses, and trucks.
• Installation and control of operation Mutual Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD) (signals and signs)
• Research Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) IVI
(e)Other than the NHTSA, there is the Federal Transit Administrating (FTA) (bus IVI, $4m annually) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) (truck IVI, $8m annually).
(f)The NHSTA is in charge of passenger vehicle IVI. The budget for IVI is 60% of the annual $30m research budget. ($18m for the year)
(g)The ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) is in charge of the infrastructure and vehicle cooperative system.
(h)With regard to R&D on coordination of road and vehicle, the priority order will be set and traffic intersections will first be studied. Lane departure has a low priority order due to the very small number of crashes.
(i)Currently planning and implementing several field operation tests (FOP). Surveying accident-causing distractions to drivers.
• Safety systems of traffic intersections
• Currently implementing tests on crash prevention (rear-end) (collect data on various sensors and driver image with general cars)
• Lane change
• Starting tests on road departure. Position identification is done by image + GPS
(j)Working with an advisory group consisting of three universities, four suppliers, and six car manufacturers.
The target level of six is long-term for universities, mid-term for suppliers, and short-term for car manufacturers.
(k)Questions on the targeted time for practical application of IVI (AHSRA) -- forward collision prevention: Since automatic cruise control (ACC) has been applied, practical application should be imminent. That should take five to eight years. After high precision maps and Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) have been established properly, application for lane departure and traffic intersection collision should be possible. Distance communication between vehicles is important.
(l)DSRC has many problems related to shadowing, handover, and multi-path, plus new on-vehicle antennas are required.

(a)Due to strong state autonomy in the US, it is difficult to consolidate the whole country. Therefore it is not realistic to construct lane markers on all roads.
(b)It is also difficult to consolidate by truck, car, and infrastructure, plus coordination between road and vehicle is even more difficult.
(c)As there are no organizations studying coordination of roads and vehicles in the US, it is first important to establish a framework.
(d)The establishment of infrastructure is under the authority of the government (FHWA, state government). Resolving confusion is also a problem relative to the infrastructure. Lane keeping is related to mobility.
(e)GPS is used for complementing drawbacks of Vision.
Projects have been launched to raise the accuracy of maps on a $24m budget.
[Members: GM, Ford, Nissan, Navigation Technologies Co. (NAVTECH)]

(a)Within the IVI project a field test is being planned on lateral guidance in poor visibility conditions such as snow, rain, fog, etc.
(b)The University of Minnesota is carrying out studies on the HMI (Human Machine Interface) which draws and displays driver assistance for snowplows using computer graphics (CG) at to align position on actual roads by using transmissive displays (vertical display). Experiments are currently being implemented on whether drivers can cruise on a test course with the windshield blocked. The driver can drive looking at a transmissive display.
It provides warning when cars depart from lanes.
For road alignment display, map databases up to several hundred feet ahead are used.
Miliwave radar is used for forward detection: It detects up to vehicles 30 feet ahead. For HMI, apart from the display afore mentioned, handle and seat vibration, plus sound are currently being studied.
Equipment mounted on snowplows (three), patrol cars (one), and ambulances (one).
Field tests will be implemented on the TH9 route between October 2001 and the end of 2002.
[Outline of Test]
• Evaluations are carried out on two types of position identification systems at the same time: magnetic lane marker (made by 3M) and high precision map+DGPS (University of Minnesota).
• Experiments are carried out on special cars only.
• In experiments, sensing is carried out as much as possible including human factors.

(a)Lane markers
Though it is costly to imbed the magnetic mails, the magnetic tapes are inexpensive, $16,000/km.
In the US, magnetic field noise of bridges, etc. is large like Japan, therefore detection on bridges is done using two inch-wide tapes.
As magnetic tape is continuous, noise is easily removed by filtering. It may also be used in weak magnetic fields.
Magnetic tapes are arranged at the same position (both sides) as partition lines on roads (both sides): Asphalt roads and concrete roads.
Magnetic sensors measuring 50 x 20 x 600 mm are placed on the left and right sides of cars.
PATH magnetic nails crack easily when drilled in cold areas and move in warm areas. Magnetic tapes are placed under roads in cold areas.
There are opinions that the magnetic tape sensor system will also become popular for general vehicles in ten years time.
(b)GPS
The accuracy of high precision maps is 2 cm.
Precision road maps are drawn by running Real Time Kinematic (RTK)-GPS mounted cars on actual roads.
Data can be accumulated at car speeds of 60 km/h. The vehicles of truck companies are being utilized as they travel large distances at 60 km/h.
In the near future, the accuracy of GPS will be raised by establishing base stations: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has the patent.
Position detection accuracy of 2 cm in cities is secured at five base stations.
Costs are low with GPS. It should become very popular in the next two to three years. In five years time, GPS should be mounted to all vehicles.
(University of Minnesota)
(c)Vision (image recognition)
The NHTSA says that the Vision system is good. However, when attempts were made to display information captured by (AHS) vision on image displays such as CRT, these may be invisible to tired eyes in some cases. The NHTSA does not have its goals set in this area.
In Japan, partition lines are drawn clearly, but in the US, some roads do not have them. In such areas, Vision cannot be used. The combination of the magnetic tape and GPS is considered optimum. The system operates even in tunnels and valleys where GPS does not work (Minnesota University). In cities, since car speed is low, no lane departure warning is required. On the contrary, this is required between cities. The aim is the backup system of the driver.
Automation of steering should take more than ten years. In particular, interface such as behavior of the driver towards a sudden operation is a problem. Automatic cruising should not be possible in 10 to 15 years. For the support level, control is not considered to the warning level.

Development Situation
(a)The product department is developing milliwave radar ACC and image recognition lane departure warning.
(b)The research department is participating in the IVI project which is carrying out the following studies.
• Safety systems based on GPS+MAP data
• Studies on safety such as survey of load on drivers of navigation and telematix equipment
• Focuses on experimental environment recognition systems, not interested anything other than GPS+maps.
(c)Infrastructure is an issue which the government should consider; it is not an issue of automobile manufacturers. In the US, even budgets differ by state, so it is difficult to conform infrastructures. Vehicle manufacturers are not focusing much on infrastructure cooperative systems (budget, etc.).
(d)There is no detailed contact between PATH which focuses on infrastructure and the University of Minnesota and FORD.
(e)There is no participation in the development of an infrastructure cooperative system.
(f)There are plans to start talks on vehicle development and infrastructure development from 2002.
(g)Traffic light applications are being considered as collision prevention at traffic intersections using GPS (notify drivers of signal information).
(h)In terms of percentage of accidents, accidents at traffic intersections are about the same as accidents caused by lane departure plus accidents occurring when changing lanes.

(a)Lane departure warning is by Vision and radar
(b)The requirement of lane markers depends on whether users are satisfied with their cost effectiveness. In order for practical appication of systems providing information to users, the controlling systems need to be error-free. There are no prospects for realization of information provision systems.
(c)Reliability of detection is important.
(d)The lane marker is a future technology and must be discussed over a very long period of time.
(e)In the US, there is opposition to the idea of taking vehicle control away from the driver.

Development Situation
(a)Regarding infrastructure, no strong interests in anything other than GPS+ map database currently.
(b)Though coordination of roads and vehicles at intersections may be effective, GM is currently undertaking only on-vehicle equipment.
(c)If infrastructures are made by the state government and FHWA, then questions arise on how to deal with them unless details are shared about what can be done. Therefore only the trends are being observed.

(a)GPS + map D/B is the method of collaboration with IVI regarding prevention of forward collision.
(b)If accuracy is below 5 cm, the GPS system may also be used for lateral control.
(c)Currently, GPS accuracy differs from Japan. The hour rate is about 90% with an accuracy of about one to two meters. In order to cover the remaining 10% or improve accuracy further, the inertia navigation and D-GPS, RTK (Real Time Kinematic)-GPS are added.
(d)GM is inquiring into the requirements of the next generation GPS (10-5 years in the future).
(e)The Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS) based on the Vision base system has such limits as poor weather-resistance and no markers at some places, so a problem exists on how it will be accepted on the market.
(f)Though lane markers can be used 100% for LDWS, they are unrealistic because they must be installed on all roads.
Especially considering high maintenance cost since markers are installed on the surface making them difficult to maintain.
(g)It is also expensive to install six sensors on cars.
(h)A detection height of about 60 cm is required for large cars in the US.

(1)Outline of INRIA
(a)INRIA is a research organization with two missions: computer science and creating new industries.
(b)80% of its budget comes from the French government (Ministry of Financial Affairs, Industry) and 20% from the EU and private sector. Its scale is 88M Euro.
(c)INRIA is run by 87 project teams evaluated every four years. There are four broad research areas.
• Network and systems
• Software engineering and symbolic computing
• Human-computer interaction, image processing, data management, knowledge systems
• Simulation and optimization of complex systems
(d)As INRIA is responsible for transferring technologies to industry, there have been many companies have spun off independently.

(2)ITS project
(a)The New Road Transportation System is one of the research areas of INRIA.
(b)INRIA is in charge of an automated cruising project using vehicles based on electric golf carts called PRAXICARTE. The first phase has been completed.
(c)The project of developing the vehicles is being carried out with Yamaha, Japan.
(d)Platooning is being developed which tracks the vehicles ahead by on-board sensor. The aim is to accumulate dropped off vehicles for sharing. The maximum deceleration rate of tracked vehicles is 0.7G.
(e)In sharing, positional information is sent to the center using cell phones. GPS is used for detecting positional information.
(f)Automated cruising at low speeds (about 20 km/h) has already been realized.
(g)A Cyber Car project is scheduled to begin. Its aim is to apply and develop the current ITS technology with a budget of 10M Euro from the EU for three years. Twelve cities including Rome and Amsterdam are interested.
(h)For positional information, several methods like wires, magnets (every 2m), and reflectors (every 15m) will be used.
(i)INRETS will be in charge of R&D on safety enhancement.
(j)The following methods are being considered for introducing automated cruising.
• Realizing low speed automated cruising in facilities
• Realizing low speed automated cruising using specific lanes in cities (intermixed traffic). Manual driving between cities.
• Realizing high speed automated cruising. In this case, special infrastructures will be required. Example: Special lanes, lane markers for automated cruising
(k)By taking traffic into consideration, INRIA plans to ease congestion and transportation for the handicapped in addition to safety.

(a)Various technologies have been studied until now such as D-GPS, wire, nail, magnetic tape, but have not found the best solution. It is expected that these methods will be fused.
(b)Automated cruising under restricted conditions is possible, and it has been put to practical application in some cases. However, switching between manual and automated cruising is expected.
(c)New exclusive infrastructures will be necessary for full automation.
(d)Expansion should start with automated cruising based on vehicle sharing in cities, after which it will be expanded to automated cruising between cities, and eventually the two will be integrated into one.
(e)Renault is testing lateral control for its bus (CIVIS).
(f)The Paris Metro M14 has the same full automation system as Japan's Yurikamome.

Introduction of lane keeping projects in the Netherlands
(a)Use more of existing infrastructures for roads for cost consideration.
(b)With regard to safety, the aim is to reduce accidents by 25% before 2010.
(c)With regard to traffic, the aim is to increase the current average speed of less than 30 km/h to 60 km/h.
(d)Cruise assistance in the Netherlands is called Advanced Driver Assistant (ADA). It utilizes information obtained by on-board sensor, digital map communication, and transmission of information by visuals and sounds, and active control of throttle, brake, and steering are aimed.
(e)A plan exists to introduce ADA flexible lanes to relieve congestion at traffic jams. This method dynamically changes the number of lanes at congested points, and plans are to change two lanes to three. The white line displays of lanes are dynamically changed according to the traffic state at the traffic surveillance center using a device called the intelligent road marking system.
(f)Introducing flexible lanes for improving traffics makes roads narrower and safety for busses and trucks. To complement this, lane keep assistance is considered essential.

Left diagram: If traffic volume is slight and off-peak, the usual lane width is set and no road shoulders are used. (Left two lanes are used)
In traffic congestion: Lane width is made small to enable more cars to pass. In this case, as lane maintenance becomes difficult, a lane maintenance device is required. (Set three lanes)
(g)The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management participates in various ADA projects in Europe such as ROSETTA, ADASE (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe) 2, PROSPER, RESPOBSE, HASTE).
(h)The Netherland's pilot project "Lane Keep Assistance" is considering two demos; Lane Departure Warning Assistant (LDWA), and CHAUFFER Assistant.
(i)The Lane Departure Warning Assistant system recognizes white lanes on roads with on-board cameras, and operates the Human-Machine-Interface as necessary.
(j)The aim of the LDWA pilot project is to obtain information on the risks and advantages of LDWA expansion in order to draft effective policies and build issue awareness through demos and public relations. The project will last from the summer of 2001 until March 2003.
(k)The Lane Departure Warning System targets trucks and buses, but it is the LDWA of the Netherlands. For passenger vehicles in the US, IVI Roadway Departure Warning System (RDWS) is used. With regard to the Active Lane Keeping System, the CAUFFER Assistant targets trucks and buses. For passenger vehicles, it is an option in the Netherlands' LDWA pilot project.
(l)To enhance safety, they are considering the intelligent speed adaptation (ISA).

(a)The Dutch MOT does not have lane keeping technology and is looking for usable systems.
(b)Their requirement is to keep lane width within 2.7 m (passenger cars) in the use of flexible lane systems.
(c)They are thinking of applying lane keeping in special areas separated into public transportation and general transportation.
(d)The TNO, a research and development organization in the Netherlands, is currently surveying GPS, magnetic nails, and transponder (electric wave tags) technologies.
(e)The Netherlands is carrying out developments according to market needs. The keypoint lies in whether this business can be established. They have the same views for lane departure prevention and lane keeping.

(1)Introduction of R&D of DaimlerChrysler
(a)The project group is composed of four units (FT1 to FT4). The FT3 unit is in charge of automobile information technologies like automated system and pattern recognition (chief: Metzler).
(b)DaimlerChrysler described the importance of the R&D area substituting driver actions with systems. The "eye" is the camera and the "ear" is the microphone. The output of these two is received by the "brain" (neutral net), which causes the "muscles" (car operations, warning) to operate. The safety evaluation of quality, standards, and system is related to this.
(c)There are seven R&D themes.
1. Image Understanding
2. Speech and Language Understanding
3. Driver Assistance Systems
4. Machine Learning
5. Interior Information Systems
6. Recognition and Robotics
7. System Safety

(2)Lane keeping using Vision and map information
(a)This area consists of mechanical system for busses, guiding cables in tunnels, magnetic nails and transponder, vision based system, robust lane recognition and sensor fusion, and recognition of highway state.
(b)R&D is being conducted on lane keeping systems cruising at 180 km/h currently. Dynamic models and measurement equation using Kalman filters are being considered.
(c)To date, R&D has been conducted on warning systems using stereo vision (1995, commercialized from July 2000), lane keeping at highways (1992, 120 km/h), and DEMO2000 at Tsukuba (2000, no problems even with 85 km/h r=140 m bank).
(d)To enhance lane keeping performance, a system has been developed combining map information using GPS (road curve rate) and image information and it is currently being evaluated. Navtech provides maps accurate up to 1m.
(e)For forward car tracking, a radar and a system combining radar and vision (white lane recognition) has been developed and each is being evaluated currently. Combining digital map information with these is very effective for improving reliability and lane identification.
(f)With the current ACC, forward car tracking does not function smoothly in some cases (for example when starting from curves, etc.).
(g)The Vision system can not only be used for white lines but for obstacle recognition of road speed signs and pedestrians as well. It can also identify signals.
(h)Stereo vision is used for obstacle recognition. Real-time processing of the five to 100 m range using Pentium is carried out.
(i)An automatic steering function for image processing and avoiding vehicles which stall in storms is being developed.
(j)Use of the vehicle in snow and heavy rain is being studied. Robustness, redundancy, and comfort are being taken into consideration. The basic idea lies in "learning from driving by humans". For example, humans have maps in their heads, etc. They have added GPS-based maps and milliwave laser to cars.
(k)Introduction of examples of simulation of poor environment:
• Field of vision 15 m. Simulation of driving around a curve (curve radius: 300 m, relaxed curve of 80 m at curve). The car position is tracked by GPS. By using visible image data, the car can be driven along the curve.
• Experiments were conducted on actual roads, and participants were allowed to test-drive.
• There is a need for measures when GPS is unable to track by satellite.
(l)Humans tend to follow the car in front in bad weather, hence a function was added which tracks cars in front.
Humans drive slowly when there are no cars ahead in bad weather, hence a similar function is added.
(m)Images (including radar) can be used in various ways because not only the roads are observed, but speed signs, signals, and colors are recognized. Currently, Daimler adopts a 3-beam method with broad beam angle. (Difficult to take out image data).
(n)Application of image data at streets
• Stereo vision: Monitoring of five to 100 m with 8 ms for processing speed.
• Stop and go system: Performing experiments on actual roads.
• Detection of pedestrians: Detects with neutral network using silhouette and shape.
• Detection of obstacles appearing suddenly: Detection of moving objects
(o)In the future, the vision system will become indispensable, and it will provide all sorts of support in every situation. Costs will decrease exponentially. Functions are expected to evolve continuously.

(3)Demo
(a)Toured the lane keeping technologies currently being developed by DaimlerChrysler. Participants were briefed on the technologies while driving along actual highways in the test cars.
(b)The automobile situation is identified by the lane recognition and forward recognition using a camera, and automatic lane keeping is by steering is maintained.
(c)By combining GPS and map information, positions of speed signs are identified. No demos were given for identification of signs by camera.
(d)No problems with the delay in the calculation of positional information by GPS.

Outline of INRETS/LIVIC
(a)LIVIC is a unit researching interaction between automobile, infrastructure, and driver with the aim of creating proposals for improving the capacity and safety of road networks based on the Advanced Driving Assistance System (ADASE).
(b)LIVIC belongs to two organizations; INRETS and LCPC (Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chauss es). The former is a national research institute of traffic and safety, while the latter is a national research institute on roads and bridges. Both institutes have a scale of about 650 employees and annual budget of 40M Euro.
(c)LIVIC has the following four research programs.
1. Concept and precursor analysis....Targets automation and ADASE systems. The road map to automated cruising is:
ACC  =>  Stop & Go  =>  lateral supported Stop & Go  =>  driver support in suburbs  =>  driver support in cities  =>  autonomous driving.
They have an agreement with European car manufacturers on this.
2. Development of perception means....Targets visibility (during fog), road marking detection, tracking of objects and road marking, detection of road characteristics, detection of stereo vision, and fusion of several sensors.
3. Vehicle dynamics/modeling and control....Targets trajectory control support, emergency situation support, and automated cruising at low speeds (below 50 km/h). If low speed in intermixed traffic, there is no need for maps and GPS, and automated cruising is possible only with images. They are thinking of conducting experiments on actual roads.
4. Prototype development and experimental evaluation
(d)Started to consider what is required for infrastructures.
(e)Leads the two projects; ARCOS2003 (seven services of the AHSRA and four similar services) and LVA (speed restriction).

(a)Too much costs are required if sensors and other equipment are arranged continuously on roads.
(b)Support services should be provided for the whole travel from the place of departure to the destination.
(c)Many of the main projects current being considered in Europe (CARSENSE, ARCOS2003, LACOS, ROSETTA), only white lines are required on the roads. However, the ARCOS2003 just started and no decisions have been made. The lane markers used in the FROGS project by the Netherlands may be used.
(d)Position information being considered include their original technology moving differential GPS (Global Positioning System).
(e)They are considering the introduction of special radios for providing information to drivers. They are also considering the use of 433MHz wireless modems. The DRSC has limited communication range.
(f)They will not introduce technologies exclusive to roads. They will introduce inexpensive technologies.
(g)Applications requiring positional accuracy from 100 m to 10 m include logistics control and navigation, and specific information services. These are realized by GPS and digital maps.
Applications requiring positional accuracy of 1 m include vertical direction control, identification of obstacle position, prevention of sudden appearance at curves, etc. These technologies are still considered to be in the research stage. Applications requiring positional accuracy of about 10 cm include lateral direction control. This technology is also still in the research stage.
(h)Car speed adjustments and lane departure warning will be commercialized within three years in Europe. Research on low speed automated cruising will be completed within five years. Commercialization will depend on the car manufacturers.
(i)Cruise assistance for trucks will start within ten years. In Europe, problems of trucks and passenger cars are differentiated. Autonomous driving is aimed at for trucks.
(j)Lane markers should be useful when advanced positional information is required or when other means such as GPS and on-vehicle cameras do not work.
(k)LIVIC highly rates the Phillips transponder as a lane marker.
(l)They are carrying out research on electric wave tags (passive transponder).
• Bury 10 cm from the ground.
• Water film thickness can be up to 2 cm.
• For 125 kHz tags, large antennas are used, and communication is possible up to 140 km/h.
• For 13.56 MHz tags, communication is possible up to 50km/h. Conducting development to allow use at even higher speeds.
• 64-bit information is provided.

(a)Explanation of the results of a user survey on AHS (Automated Highway Systems) which will be presented at the IEE International Conference.
• Three stages are being considered for AHS: Safety and Warning  =>  Driver Support  =>  Complete Automated Cruise.
• For Safety and Warning, 50% of the drivers use a system of some sort (RDS, Tachographs, Trafficmaster), and 70% think it will be useful. They preferred voice information rather than visual.
• For Driver Support, 40% of the drivers use a system of some sort (CruiseControl, ACC, Headway Control, Traction Control). The Stop and Park system is the most popular. Headway control is also popular, with especially the young drivers showing interest in some of its features. Speed control was not that popular. Driver support increases driver confidence, sense of safety, and comfort, but is difficult to measure. Many of the drivers prefer to select their own systems than to be forced to use one.
• For Complete Automated Cruise, 60% of the drivers answered that they will probably use AHS (all cars drive at the same speed, with no steering and braking by the driver). Its reputation was poor amongst young drivers. Drivers think Benefit has no delay, improves travel schedule, and stabilizes speed. Little interest was shown in operations and office features at high speed.
(b)It has been confirmed that speed cameras installed on the roads to restrict speed help save lives. By implementing rigid control, drivers will buy on-vehicle devices providing restricted speed information.
• The truck version ACC anti-collision system is popular in the U.S.
(c)With the aim to secure road throughput and safety, they are considering a project to introduce speed advice systems to drivers. They are also planning to incorporate a system which dynamically switches speed signs to control speed, and at the same time display speed restriction information on on-board displays using the 5.8 GHz DSRC.
(d)The Highway Agency is in charge of installing DSRC. They are thinking of opening it to other applications for sharing, but there is the problem of budget.

(a)There is interest in GPS, but in the current situation, there are no plans on installing lane markers. The lane keeping system using white line recognition will probably be realized first.
(b)Beacons can be used as positional information reference. It is highly accurate.
(c)If autonomous systems are the cause of accidents in lane keeping, the blame will be on the cars.
(d)Infrastructures will continue to be improved for improved cruising. For example, road lamps will be installed first in difficult areas and then increased.
(e)They show interest in the AHS trends of Japan.
(f)Members of AHSRA described the R&D progress of lane markers and the magnetic markers and electric wave markers developed. There is the problem of high costs and little information regarding the lane markers. There are limits to white line recognition. The English side is also aware of the problems met in bad weather.
(g)Discussions occurred regarding comparison with other position detection technologies and future prospects.
(h)For GPS, the English showed interest in RTK-GPS. Information was exchanged on the European version GPS Galileo project. Consensus is gradually being obtained from ach country for practical application in two to three years time.
(i)The time-related problems of position detection technology are recognized to be public acceptance problems instead of technical problems.

Explanation of ITS project by EC
(a)Japan, Europe, and the US all face the same tasks in terms of improving safety and efficiency. While Japan and the US place importance on infrastructure, Europe has focused on cars until now. This is because 15 countries in Europe have different road conditions, and standardization is difficult.
(b)Europe has 42,000 deaths and 1,680,000 injuries from accidents every year. However with the increasing use of the passive safety device, the number of deaths has decreased and is staying flat. However accidents are on the increase.
(c)To enhance safety, comfort, and efficiency in Europe, they are carrying out research on active safety and driver assistance systems.
(d)A priority order is set for research. In the 2001 proposal, high priority was given to ITS and Integrated Vehicle Infrastructure System, etc., and these were included in the projects inviting participants.
(e)There are 15 projects running on active safety on a budget of 73M Euro.
(f)To reduce traffic accidents to 0, autonomous driving is essential. Can it be realized between 2015 and 2030?
(g)The concept of a system in which cars detect transponders worn by pedestrians and drivers (something like a wrist watch) was described by members of AHSRA.
(h)They will be starting research on infrastructure/automotive cooperative systems from 2002.

(a)There are more or less no projects on lane markers in Europe.
(b)Automated cruising should be realizable in about three years time technically. However it should take a longer time to realize due to problems of reliability, responsibility, laws, and so on.