Assesses the appropriateness of the original vision and mission of the National Automated Highway System Research Program, the National Automated Highway System Consortium's (NAHSC's) results and the effectiveness of the approach taken by NAHSC in carrying out its charge, and the role of the consortium in future research on intelligent vehicles.

This document contains project updates for the Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) Institutional and Legal Issues Program. Through focused research, the department hopes to find solutions to specific problems facing IVHS participants and policy makers. The department is taking a careful look at lessons learned in IVHS operational tests and models for IVHS deployment. Analysis is underway to understand the impact and bvenefits IVHS deployment could have on air quality, privacy, user acceptance, and other areas of concern to society at large.

Describes IVHS projects underway in the United States which are sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration or the Federal Transit Administration.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the development and application of intelligent vehicle and highway systems (IVHS), more commonly known as smart highways, as a means of reducing traffic congestion. The following questions were addressed: What have the major studies concluded about the potential effects of IVHS, and to what extent are these findings empirically based? What additional information can be learned from IVHS field tests under way? What major obstacles could impede the realization of transportation benefits possible through IVHS technologies? In brief, GAO found that the empirical basis for judging the effects of IVHS is limited but nonetheless positive and promising.