Automobile Navigation Technology: Where is It Going?

During the 1980s, numerous automobile and electronic manufacturers have become active in the development of sophisticated navigation, route guidance, and information systems that will provide unprecedented convenience and benefits to drivers in the 1990s and beyond. The potential of these systems for improving traffic management and for efficient and safe utilization of road transport has also prompted the formation of national programs such as the Caltrans/FHWA/General Motors Pathfinder Project in the United States, RAGS and AMTICS in Japan, and international programs such as PROMETHEUS (see the APPENDIX) and other EUREKA projects in Europe. Both commercial and public sector organizations are already beginning to use some of the same technologies to monitor vehicle location and control fleets used for distribution and delivery of goods, courier and postal services, law enforcement, ambulance service, etc.