Kashiwa City is located 30 km northeast of Tokyo, at the intersection of radial and circular transportation arteries from central Tokyo, making it a major transportation hub. In addition, universities, national and other public research institutes, many companies, residential areas, and commercial facilities are located in the city, making it a hub of academia, industry, and culture not only in the city but also in the wider region.
In terms of the environment surrounding urban development centered on transportation in Kashiwa City, there are road traffic problems such as traffic accidents and traffic congestion around the Kashiwa Interchange on the Joban Expressway and the main arteries, mainly National Routes 6 and 16, as well as environmental load problems such as CO2 emissions from automobiles. In addition, new urban issues have arisen in recent years, such as the rapid aging of the population and the need to ensure mobility in response to changes in urban structure following the opening of the Tsukuba Express train service.
Under these circumstances, Kashiwa City was selected as an “ITS Demonstration Experiment Model City” on June 5, 2009 in a meeting of the “Accelerated Social Return Project: Realization of Safe and Efficient Road Transportation Systems Using Information and Communication Technology (Project leader: Naoki Okumura, an expert member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy)”, The city plans to develop various projects to realize a “low-carbon transportation city” and a “next-generation environmental city” by studying and verifying the possibility of safe and secure next-generation mobility, as well as initiatives aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption through the mutual coordination and complementation of automobile transportation, public transportation, and personal mobility. The company plans to develop various projects to realize a “low-carbon transportation city” and “next-generation environmental city.
The Kashiwa ITS Promotion Council will be established as a forum for cooperation and coordination among government agencies, private companies, and various organizations and individuals to promote research and development, and commercialization and practical application of various services in the Kashiwanoha area to realize a “low-carbon transportation city” and “next-generation environmental city” using ITS.
December 18, 2009
Kashiwa ITS Promotion Council Founders
- Oki Electric Industry Co.
- Kashiwa City
- Kashiwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Kashiwanoha Urban Design Center
- Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo
- Advanced Mobility Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
- Hitachi, Ltd.
- Fujitsu Limited
- Mitsui Fudosan Co.