Upgrading information system for reporting road situation regardingsnow accumulation etc. on mountain passes

摘要

Tottori Prefecture is situated in the west of Japan, facing theJapan Sea, and it is the smallest prefecture in Japan with a populationof approximately 615,000. It has close associations with theKyoto-Osaka-Kobe region and the Sanyo region with respect to industrial,economic, and tourism activities. It is only via many of Tottori'smountain passes that these regions can be reached. In winter, thesepasses are subject to a considerable accumulation of snow. Many motorvehicles coming from the prefectures, which are either ill-equipped forsnow and ice, or driven by drivers unfamiliar with winter weatherconditions, become involved in traffic accidents caused by slipping orare held up by frequent traffic congestion. Due to this situation,information on road conditions at passes in winter is important, andthere is a strong demand for it among drivers. The Japan Road TrafficInformation Center provides this kind of information via TV and radiobroadcasts or via telephone. The Tottori Prefecture Road TrafficInformation Center of the Civil Engineering Department of TottoriPrefectural Government is central to the gathering of this kind ofinformation through its road information monitoring system, which makesuse of telemeters and other devices. There is a problem, however, withthe current system in that the information thus provided dose notnecessarily correspond to the actual road conditions. To deal with thisproblem, it is necessary to sophisticate and streamline informationcollection and transmission using personal computers. To that end, aroad information collection system is to be established