Internet-based information services on road traffic.

Despite heavy dependency upon roads for residents' daily lives and social activities, road infrastructure has not been well prepared in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, where it frequently suffered from disasters caused by unusual weather, e.g., heavy rain or typhoons, forcing it to restrict usage of many roads. Therefore, the prefecture has carried out a field experiment of road traffic information services via the Internet for local residents and tourists from outside the prefecture. This paper reports evaluations, issues to solve, and future visions of the services that have been conducted since January 2000.