A New Public Transport System that Bridges the Gap between Cars and Rail: IMTS

While the spread of automobiles in the 20th century has brought fullness and comfort to the lives of people, it has also given rise to serious social problems such as traffic accidents, congestion, environmental destruction, and energy consumption. ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) technology, which has become a focus of attention as a means of alleviating these traffic problems, is gradually becoming more widespread and established. ITS aims to increase safety and comfort, and facilitate the smooth flow of vehicle traffic, carrying out vehicle control and vehicle traffic management impossible with a single vehicle, by linking vehicles with other vehicles and with infrastructure through communication and allowing them to share information relating to vehicles, the surrounding environment and so forth. Familiar examples are ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) and VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System). Here at Toyota Motor Corporation too, we have become engaged in developing ITS technology, however without limiting the application to a vehicle traffic framework, the technology is also being applied to the field of public transport, with particular progress in the development of next generation public transport. This is known as IMTS, which we will introduce here.