The Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, recognizing that ITS is a promising solution to problems specific to Hokkaido, formulated the "Hokkaido ITS Promotion Plan" in December 2001. This plan is aimed at promotion of ITS in a smooth, efficient manner. This Plan divides the main Hokkaido-specific problems into five categories. For each of these categories, the plan also presents issues to be addressed and ITS services to be introduced. Given the harsh winter weather of Hokkaido, "Measures for winter roads" is by far the most important category. From January to February of 2002, "the Smart Sapporo Snow Information Experiment" was conducted. The objective of this experiment was to work towards reducing perennial winter traffic congestion in Sapporo by providing local residents with weather and road surface information.
Samenvatting