Personal Mobility

The number of injuries in traffic accidents in Japan has exceeded one million for nine
consecutive years in 2007, and reducing the number of traffic accidents remains an important
issue. We believe that reducing situation which may lead to traffic accidents, is an effective
means of helping to reduce the number of traffic accidents. This study utilized a questionnaire
investigation to collect examples of traffic incidents which occur during ordinary driving, and
analyzed the driver behavior and driver’s mental and physical states immediately before
encountering the traffic incident. Based on this analysis, we clarified the driver characteristics
which tended to make traffic incidents more likely.
We also conducted a comparison with the regression analysis results from previous research
concerning subjective daytime sleepiness which is thought to be one of factors that is likely to
lead to serious accidents. Based on these results, we propose a direction for further research
concerning next generation driving support systems that detect information on driver’s
physiological signals in order to help prevent traffic accidents.

TOYOTA INFOTECHNOLOGY CENTER Co., LTD.

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Aichi Prefectural University

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Various driver assistance systems have been developed in recent years. Pattern recognition algorithms, using several kinds of sensors mounted on vehicles, have been applied to detect “overt hazards”. We have been trying hard to expand use of these systems to every vehicle on the road in order to reduce the number of traffic accident fatalities. Furthermore, we think that “covert hazards”, which cannot be detected by the existing systems, are more important than “overt hazards” in urban areas. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical architecture for assessing both types of hazard, combining causal knowledge with stochastic collision prediction capability. The knowledge base evaluates “covert hazards”, using expected risk values as temporal and spatial relationships for each object. The collision prediction takes account of “covert hazards” to calculate the expected risk value. This architecture is examined for several typical scenes, such as a vehicle passing alongside parked cars.

Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc.

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

Ride–sharing is a resource efficient mode of personal transportation. While the perceived benefits
of ride–sharing include reduced travel times, transportation costs, congestion, and carbon
emissions, its wide–spread adoption is hindered by a number of barriers. These include the
scheduling and coordination of routes, safety risks, social discomfort in sharing private spaces,
and an imbalance of costs and benefits among parties. To this extent, this paper describes implementation details of a system for ride–sharing that eliminates these barriers, in particular the
one relating to social aspects, by utilizing the concepts of social networks and social interest
groups. Realistic, city–wide simulations show that the proposed social ride–sharing system is
viable and effective.

Uppsala University

Aalborg University

Online Hungarian Forum for Mobility and Transport

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

INFORM was the first major Transportation Management System in NY, it is the largest in NY
and one of the largest in the country. We have been operating the INFORM system since the
Spring of 1987. It has more than doubled in size since its initial implementation and has become
an integral part of the New York Metropolitan Region’s daily operations.
INFORM currently monitors Long Island’s Northern and Southern corridors, consisting of the
Island’s major east-west highways and its busiest north-south connecting routes. The Corridor’s
roadways are monitored 24 hrs per day, 7 days/wk, in order to detect incidents and then
minimize their effects on traffic flow, both during peak and off-peak periods
Monitoring of the roadways is achieved through various methods. Vehicle detectors embedded
in the roadway as well as non-intrusive types, Closed Circuit TV, monitoring Police radios and
direct reports from various sources, including our Highway Emergency Local Patrol (HELP)
program. All these methods aid us in detecting incidents as well as monitoring changing traffic
conditions.

NYSDOT Region 10

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

This paper, using the short story format, illustrates the utility of a Reservation System to
efficiently allocate travelers to scarce transportation resources.  The story uses an analogy
with the passenger air transportation system, where a reservation system for allocating
travelers to seats in aircraft is used ubiquitously today, and shows the consequences of
switching the resource allocation mechanism from “advance reservations” to “first-come-first-
served”.  The traveler's “freedom” to go to the airport whenever he or she wishes, without first having to make a reservation, is shown to be hollow.  The implication for congested surface transportation links are left for the reader to imagine at the end of the story.

Consensus Systems Technologies (ConSysTec) & Chair, ITS America RITE Forum
and Thea D. Jaffe

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York