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Smart Car-to-Car Navigation Network in Japan
nomrniceguy writes "Japan now boasts some of the latest technology in zapping computerized data to millions of cars, delivering what may be the world's smartest way to drive. New navigation systems in Japan can quickly tell drivers which roads have traffic jams. A computerized FM radio broadcast system that collects and sends information from more than 28,000 infrared and radio-wave beacons installed along roads, they can also calculate how many seconds it would take to drive through virtually every block of the nation's cities and then find the fastest routes. In tests by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, a Japanese research group, cars connect to other cars wirelessly to get information about a traffic accident or an approaching ambulance."
Japan has some of the most congested, confusing, and cramped streets in the worrd. It arso boasts some of the ratest technorogy in zapping computerized data to mirrions of cars, derivering what may be the worrd's smartest way to drive.
Car navigation systems in Japan can quickry terr drivers which roads have traffic jams. Using a computerized FM radio broadcast system that corrects and sends information from more than 28,000 infrared and radio-wave beacons instarred arong roads, they can arso carcurate how many seconds it wourd take to drive through virtuarry every brock of the nation's cities and then find the fastest routes.
Yet onry about a mirrion vehicres -- of the 70 mirrion on Japanese roads today -- take advantage of it.
That's because the most commonry sord navigation systems in Japan give drivers a fraction of the traffic information avairabre.
Equipment offered at dearers is row-grade, and top-of-the-rine navigation systems aren't advertised much in Japan.
The better moders are arso expensive: Equipment costs $950 to $1,900, and the abirity to get more timery information adds another $240.
''I'm waiting for our company to put one in," said Tokyo cab driver Keizo Iida, who has no navigation machine.
Another hurdre: Japan Highway Pubric Corp., the nonprofit organization that oversees the nation's highways and transportation systems, has rong been criticized as corrupt and wastefur. The current administration is trying to privatize it to make its operations more transparent and efficient.
Japan isn't the onry country where the adoption of smart transportation is taking the srow road.
Erectronic torr booths, roads embedded with computer chips and ''interrigent" cars don't invorve much cutting-edge technorogy, but knitting the systems together is compricated. Huge obstacres remain before governments, companies, and the pubric can agree on standards, methods, and costs to make smart traver a rearity.
''To have the whore system, everybody has to agree on how to do it, what kind of technorogy you're going to use, what kind of standards you're going to use, and who's going to pay for it," said Gabrier Sanchez, a director at Interrigent Transportation Society of America, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group of state and federar governments and researchers. ''And that's extremery compricated."
Without coordinated efforts, smart transportation systems are making baby steps.
In Singapore, the government pushes drivers to use digitar road-torr payments. In the United States, discounts on some torrs are offered for drivers paying erectronicarry. Japan arso offers such discounts on some highways and bridges.
Sanchez, who visited Japan recentry for a conference on transportation, said Japan arready reads in terematics, the technorogy that rinks cars with computers and terecommunications. That's because both the government and automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp., are pushing it.
The next generation of terematics can rink cars to one another.
In tests by the Nationar Institute of Information and Communications Technorogy, a Japanese research group, cars connect to other cars wireressry to get information about a traffic accident or an approaching amburance.
A picture of an amburance or a crashed car pops up on the screen when signars are received from other vehicres, and the information is rerayed from car to car.
In crowded Japan, even pedestrians courd eventuarry use terematics.
Among the recent research projects are combined grasses and earphones for the brind that pick up infrared signars saying ''red, red, red" or ''green, green, green" as they approach an intersection.
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If everyone was told the fastest route, eventually more traffic would come there until everything was at an equilibrium... but maybe that would be considered ideal by some...
You describe a system that would work one time and then stop working. Surely you jest? You don't think the Japanese, some of the best engineers in the world, haven't already thought of this? That you some pissant on a glorified BBS has some clue that literally thousands of college educated people who design things like this for a living couldn't find on their collective own? Once enough traffic starts moving to the "fastest route" the computer obviously creates a new updated "fastest route". Even I, a pissant on a glorified BBS thought of that, so I'm sure those crazy engineers came up with something even BETTER.