Regional Workshop on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

A regional workshop on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) was held at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo, Japan from 8 to 10 March 2010. The workshop was organized in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB), ITS Japan, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, and CITYNET. About 120 representatives from central and local government and organizations concerned from 10 countries attended the workshop.

The workshop consisted of a series of thematic sessions covering the following topics and issues:

• Asia Infrastructure and Concept of ITS
• Identifying Common Road Transportation Issues in Asia
• Enhancing Dissemination and Standardization of ITS
• Capacity Development

Participants engaged in intensive discussions on approaches and strategies to develop and expand ITS and to systematically use it as effective means to address social and economic challenges at the national and municipal levels.

Governments and municipalities have started to recognize and introduce ITS as a vital tool to solve social, economic, and environmental problems caused by traffic congestion, air pollution, and increasing green house gas emissions. They are exploring effective ways to advance ITS and tailor it to local conditions. Although progress status of ITS differs country by country, it was found that a combination of ITS and other transport-policy means-such as modal shift to public transport, effective traffic regulation and law enforcement, and awareness raising of the public-are indispensable for effective functioning of ITS.

Formulating standards is a challenge as it requires vast knowledge on technical options, coordination among stakeholders, and a vision to achieve varying objectives by such standards. Adoption of international standardization process such as ISO helps countries to build national standards in an effective and fair manner.

Capacity development is a fundamental element in accelerating ITS deployment in developing countries. Although there are many forms of capacity development, emphasis should be placed on the need to combine bottom-up levels of awareness and expertise of urban and transport practitioners as well as broadening vision of policy and decision makers in amalgamating ITS strategy with broader transport and urban development policies.

The participants appreciated the opportunity to share country practices and experiences on ITS and confirmed their usefulness in providing traffic information in a timelier manner as well as in streamlining traffic procedures, such as toll collection, even though specific applications of ITS may vary from one country to another as they are designed to suit local conditions and needs.