As an initiative of the Smartway project under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, field operation tests have been conducted since May 2007 with the participation of private enterprises (nine automobile manufacturers and 17 electronics manufacturers) and other organizations. An advanced highway safety system was created that uses images and sound to enable safe, comfortable driving. Employing new on-board equipment for communications linking road and vehicles, the system was tested on the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo. Honda has been participating in the Smartway project with a view to practical application of information provision systems, as well as to verify the functionality of such systems and of the validity and acceptability of driver support.A symposium was also held in October 2007 in order to generate widespread publicity inside and outside Japan for advanced ITS services on the Metropolitan Expressway. This Smartway 2007 Demonstration, performed as a joint public and private sector (with 30 private enterprises) program, provided people the opportunity to experience Smartway through test drives, presented exhibition displays, and the like. In questionnaires administered after the test drive, respondents gave favorable ratings for service effectiveness, indicating that Smartway holds promise for collision reduction impact.
Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.20 No.2 (49 - 59)