In-vehicle traffic information systems in Europe: Never mind the (band)width, feel the quality

The ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road has created a serious de mand for traffic information not only on the move but also at the planning stage of a journey. While on the move, the driver will be able to re-route his/her journey avoiding traffic congestion, but this information could be even more valuable before starting the journey. Today there are differences between the three main ITS markets (USA, Japan and Europe). Japan is leadi ng the way, with the introduction in 1995 of the Vehicle Information Commun ication System (VICS), which is a free service. Vehicles are equipped with VICS receivers taking information from a network of road beacons installed on main roads, transmitting traffic flows by infrared rays, wave beacons, a nd FM multiplex broadcast. Europe has been involved in driver information s ystems from the early '90s when RDS was developed, which is another free se rvice, and most of the car radios sold in Europe are able to process RDS si gnals. Since then, new free services have been developed - for example, RDS -TMC. In the UK, the private sector has been heavily involved recently, its major player being Trafficmaster. The Trafficmaster system is based on a n etwork of traffic detection sensors, which covers all major UK motorways an d most of the major A roads, with plans to expand into the continent. Traff icmaster collects road traffic flows and disseminates this information to i ts subscribers via a range of technologies, including GSM. The quality of t he information supplied by the free and subscription services can be improv ed by being fully integrated with on-board navigation systems and by provid ing more detailed and wider types of information. All current methods are d escribed/analysed and compared in this paper, with future enhancement highl ighted. One of the main limitations lies in current data transmission route s, which are not fast enough to support the data required for an optimal us e of the system. Some technologies available will potentially allow the man y service providers to transmit information.