| Akio Kani | Total Solutions Div., |
| Takayuki Iino | Engineering Dept., Information and Communication Systems Div., |
| Shiro Horii | Car Information System Design Center Systems, Products Development Headquarters, |
| Norihiro Nakajima, Dr. Eng. | Hitachi Research Lab., |
Roads and highways, which provide a means of transport and distribution, occupy a very important position in terms of economic activities. A wide variety of road infrastructures have been created up to now to ensure safe, smooth road traffic. In recent years, ITS (intelligent transport systems) has seen significant advances as a result of improvements in IT and other related technologies, and its evolution is continuing. ITS provides a broad range of road application services aimed at improving the convenience, economy, and safety of road traffic society. Up to now, we have seen practical applications of systems designed for functions such as provision of road traffic information, automatic toll collection, and hazard warnings, and these systems are becoming increasingly familiar as time goes on. Hitachi, Ltd. is currently conducting activities targeting the development of ITS, based on technologies that it has cultivated over long years of experience in fields such as communication technology, security technology, control technology, and image application technology.
ITS, intelligent transport systems, ETC, electronic toll collection system, DSRC, dedicated short range communication, AHS, advanced cruise-assist hig
