Loading
Search
▼ Autonomous Taxi Unveiled in Tokyo Ahead of Test
- Category:Other
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — An autonomous taxi was unveiled to media in Tokyo on Saturday ahead of the launch on Monday of a test service in the capital.
The test will mark the world’s first self-driving taxi service to carry passengers on public roads.
Taxi operator Hinomaru Kotsu Co. and robotics start-up ZMP Inc., the developer of the autonomous taxi, are involved in the test.
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to provide the two companies with ¥10 million in total financial assistance to support the development of autonomous driving technologies.
Saturday’s event involved a 30-minute drive using part of the route in central Tokyo covered by the test.
In the test that will last until Sept. 8, a Hinomaru Kotsu driver will sit in the driver’s seat of the taxi and a system operator will be in the front passenger seat to deal with possible emergency situations.
Five seats will be available for passengers in the service that will travel between the Otemachi and Roppongi districts. A one-way fare is set at ¥1,500.
Taxi demand is growing in the nation due mainly to a rise in the number of visitors from abroad, making shortages of drivers an increasingly serious issue.
“We aim to make taxi services driverless as early as 2020,” Hinomaru Kotsu President and Chief Executive Officer Kazutaka Tomita said at the event, seeking government action to make autonomous taxis legal.
The test will mark the world’s first self-driving taxi service to carry passengers on public roads.
Taxi operator Hinomaru Kotsu Co. and robotics start-up ZMP Inc., the developer of the autonomous taxi, are involved in the test.
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to provide the two companies with ¥10 million in total financial assistance to support the development of autonomous driving technologies.
Saturday’s event involved a 30-minute drive using part of the route in central Tokyo covered by the test.
In the test that will last until Sept. 8, a Hinomaru Kotsu driver will sit in the driver’s seat of the taxi and a system operator will be in the front passenger seat to deal with possible emergency situations.
Five seats will be available for passengers in the service that will travel between the Otemachi and Roppongi districts. A one-way fare is set at ¥1,500.
Taxi demand is growing in the nation due mainly to a rise in the number of visitors from abroad, making shortages of drivers an increasingly serious issue.
“We aim to make taxi services driverless as early as 2020,” Hinomaru Kotsu President and Chief Executive Officer Kazutaka Tomita said at the event, seeking government action to make autonomous taxis legal.
- August 27, 2018
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)