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Potential road safety improvements due to Intelligent Road Transportation Systems (IRTS; Advanced Road Traffic Systems in Japan; Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems in the United States) are quantified through comparison of road transportation conditions in Japan and the United States. Due to the unavoidable use of numerous assumptions and projections, the results of the quantification exercise are subjective. In spite of this shortcoming, gross-level insights from the exercise indicate that 1) IRTS have the potential of increasing safety, 2) the monetary valuation of the safety benefits potentially gained through IRTS is substantial, and 3) the safety benefits of IRTS increase with diminishing returns over time. More importantly, the process of quantification can be used as an exploratory tool and as a framework for discussing values and negotiating desires.

The potential impact of Intelligent Road Transportation Systems (Advanced Road Traffic Systems in Japan; Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems in the United States) on road safety is discussed through comparison of road transportation in Japan and the United States. The resulting insights show that IRTS should 1) focus on regional needs, emphasize road safety, and respond flexibly to uncertainty in accident trends in order to reduce the magnitude of the road safety issue, 2) adapt to roadway architecture and traffic conditions, be perceived as effective and automatic, and handle any detrimental higher order systems effects in order to be effective, and 3) be compelling, receive government support, and manage uncertainty from countervailing marketplace trends in order to gain market penetration. The potential safety benefit of eliminating alcohol from roadways is identified as greater than the analogous benefit of IRTS.

Rapidly increasing demand for transportation combined with limited ability for expansion of facilities has led to recent degradations in the quality of transportation systems. Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) represent a promising effort toward enabling more effective and efficient use of current capacity thus in essence expanding the roadway. As the concepts and technologies utilized by IVHS are new to much of the transportation community there is a need for an educational initiative in this area. In 1990 the University of Michigan (UM) responded to this need by creating the first, and to date the only, university program in IVHS education. The IVHS Education Program is receiving initial multi-year support from the U.S. Department of Transportation with matching support from the University of Michigan.