In the summer of 2001 and the winter of 2002, the Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido conducted information-provision experiments as part of a joint research group. In the experiments, the XML-based Road Web Markup Language (RWML) was employed for information provision. The experiments proved that information provision by RWML is able both to increase demand for circular touring in local regions and to alleviate winter transportation problems in cities. The tests also demonstrated that use of XML as a data format of RWML enables the information provider to efficiently construct systems that collect data from information sources distributed on the Internet, compile the collected data according to user needs, and provide users with the compiled data. This affords flexibility in adapting to specification upgrades. In light of these results, we propose the development of a comprehensive mobility-support service that incorporates the web service concept.
Abstract