§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how much money has been spent on the RITA and the AWARE projects;
(2) how many people have been involved in the RITA and AWARE projects;
(3) for how many years research work has been carried out on RITA and AWARE;
(4) what is the nature of the RITA and the AWARE projects.
§ Mr. William RodgersResearch on RITA and AWARE has investigated systems for communicating to drivers on high-speed roads "in car" signals about changes in driving conditions, and warnings of hazards ahead. These are two possible ways of supplementing the limited range of external signals at324W present being installed on motorways. RITA (Road Information Transmitted Aurally) would involve oral messages from roadside radio transmitters. AWARE (Advanced Warning Equipment) is a system by which inductive loops in the road surface would activate visual symbols on dashboard-mounted panels.
Basic research on these systems was started in 1968–69 and 1972–73 respectively, but suspended in August 1975 on account of cuts in public spending. RITA involved 22 man-years' effort by research staff of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, and entailed costs of about £328,000, including internal overheads and extra-mural contract work. For AWARE the corresponding internal effort was 6½ man-years, and the total cost, including internal overheads, about £78,000.