Over the past two years a variety of European IVHS initiatives have emerged, quickening the pace set by earlier development work such as Autoguide and LISB.
Migration from early conceptual development to tangible technologies, almost ready for large-scale exploitation is well underway.
In particular, the EC DRIVE Programme and the European vehicle manufacturers PROMETHEUS Programme have acted as catalysts in generating interest in the application of the new technologies.
The complete range of European IVHS initiatives is wide and varied. However it is not our intention to offer a comprehensive overview in this paper.
Instead, this paper covers an outline of current European IVHS applications and develgpments, focusing on those technologies that are, or likely to be, implemented on a significant scale, over the next 5 years.
The impending implementation of such technologies promises to have a dramatic impact on almost every facet of society including the travelling public, commercial organisations and central/local government.
The likely impact on such organisations is only now being defined and assessed. This is discussed in context with the observed responses from such organisations to date.
The final section of this paper, deals with the way in which IVHS technologies may be utilised in the medium to long term, with the likely impact on travel and society.
