Japan suffers 12 trillion yen lost every year due to traffic congestion, yet currently large-scale road maintanence is hardly to be expected. We are doing our best to help Japan move towards the right way of creating new products and information service business, while efficiently utilizing the current roads with ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems).

In this consortium, we aim at realizing dynamic route guidance system, which full utilizes probe-vehicle data obtained from Nagoya area. In addition, we develop the algorithm, collect probe information, deliver dynamic route guidance information, update map information, and develop techiniques that provide intelligent mobility information.

Various traffic issues, such as traffic congestion, parking violation or traffic accidents happen since car attracts the highest mode share in Nagoya city. In recent years, global warming caused by large CO2 emissions from transport sector has drawn wide attention. We propose transport eco-point system to induce changes in attitudes toward public transit and self-initiated changes in behavior, which will result in a transition to more regular usage of public transit, and lead to the reduction of CO2 emissions.

E-ITS

Transportation is one of the key points of CO2 emissions reduction efforts. Great effect may emerge if individual travel behavior changes. For instance, the CO2 emissions can be reduced by avoiding traffic congestion, or change travel mode to those other than cars.

ITS (Intelligent Transport System) being a new transport system, which solve traffic issues via the most advanced technology, well assists the transition to eco-friendly travel modes. "E-ITS" (Environmental ITS) is the general term for this kind of ITS policies. The validity has been verified by the experiments conduceted in Nagoya City and Toyota City area in Aichi prefecture in the year 2007. As one of the national environmental policies, "E-ITS" will be further promoted all over Japan.

Road Pricing as one of the most effective policies for alleviating global envrionmental issues or traffic congestion in city center area, is implemented in many cities such as Lodon and Singapore. However, in Japan, since people have a strong feeling to the approach of penalty, road pricing is hard to be promoted with low social acceptability. Therefore, our lab is investigating an alternative policy named "Parking Deposit System" (PDS) to manage the traffic flow in urban center area, which is soft, world first, and of high social acceptance.

Mobility Management

Mobility Management being one of the methods to reduce CO2 emissions from transport sector has drawn world-wide attention. A demonstration experiment was conducted in 2006. The web virsion of Mobility Management System (iMM), which was developed by our lab was used, and the participants of EXPO Eco-Money and those from enterprises were chosen to be the monitors.

EXPO Eco-Money Project

EXPO Eco-Money is an experimental project for environmental currency which is friendly to people and the Earth. It was implemented in the year 2005 during the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan. Citizens who demonstrate environmentally responsible behavior, such as the reduction of shopping bag use or the use of public transport, could earn Expo Eco-Money points that could be exchanged for benefits or goods in the same way as mileage points. They could also use their points to make donations to environmental conservation projects, such as tree-planting schemes.

Joint Study on Collaboration of Regional Entities in Nagoya City Area, Aichi Prefecture

Under the requirements of Joint Study on Collaboration of Regional Entities in Nagoya City Area, Aichi Prefecture and Ministry of Education, our lab conducted a five year project named "Basic Techniques Development for the Construction of a Recycling-Oriented Environmental City". As one of the six actions, we made a proposal of concept town being the recycling-oriented environmental model city, and analyzed the environmental load reduction effects based on basic techiniques.

Case Study of Recycling-Oriented Environmental City