What is Ureshino City?

Ureshino City is a tourist city famous for tea, hot springs, and pottery.

Ureshino City is located in the southwest of Saga Prefecture, on the border with Nagasaki Prefecture, and has a population of 24,449 (as of November​ ​30, 2024). It was established on January​ ​1, 2006, when Shiota Town, with its rural landscape, and Ureshino Town, famous for its tea, hot springs, and pottery, merged. 

The city is rich in a variety of tourist resources, including Ureshino Onsen, known as one of Japan's three great hot springs for beautiful skin, and the townscape of Shiotazu, which still retains the atmosphere of a post town on the Nagasaki Kaido road. The city is promoting town development that people can be proud of and feel attached to, while making effective use of resources such as hot springs, agricultural products, pottery, nature, and traditions.

In September 2022, the JR Nishikyushu Shinkansen "Ureshino Onsen Station" will open, attracting many tourists from inside and outside the prefecture, and the town continues to develop into an even more vibrant and attractive place.

Macnica conducted a demonstration experiment of an autonomous driving EV bus at Ureshino Onsen Station and the surrounding area​ ​for 20 days from October 5th to 28th, 2024 (with service suspended on the 16th, 17th, 23rd, and 24th).

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the customers who test drove the autonomous driving EV bus during the demonstration experiment, as well as all the related parties, and to the local residents who were considerate and cooperated with the bus's operation on public roads. We would also like to thank the customers who test drove the autonomous EV bus during the demonstration experiment, as well as the local residents who were considerate and cooperated with the bus' operation on public roads. They provided us with valuable opinions and support.

In this column, we will report on the details of the demonstration experiment conducted in Ureshino City.

Background of the demonstration experiment

Ureshino Onsen Station, the starting and ending point of the demonstration experiment, opened in September​ ​2022.

Ureshino City has established the "Ureshino City Future Technology Regional Implementation Council" in cooperation with private businesses and others to work on the practical application of autonomous driving vehicles. This will be the second demonstration experiment on public roads, following the one in 2023, and more than 80% of participants in the first one responded that they would like to continue riding in the vehicle, so concrete consideration has been underway.

As with the first time, we will conduct a demonstration experiment on public roads to verify operational issues and social acceptability, assuming the social implementation of autonomous driving EV buses. We hope that the demonstration experiment will increase mobility within the city and revitalize local industries such as inns and shopping districts.

Furthermore, during the event, we operated autonomous driving vehicle at night for the first time in Ureshino City. We grasped nighttime demand and verified the economic effects of stopping at restaurants and other establishments.

Overview of the demonstration experiment

We notified local residents that a demonstration experiment would be conducted by erecting banners and other means.

This demonstration experiment was conducted at Ureshino Onsen Station and its surrounding area.

<overview>
schedule: 2024 year 10 month 5 Sunday (Saturday) ~ 10 month 28 Of the days (Mondays) 20 days (16, 17, twenty three, twenty four (No service on Sundays)
Vehicle used: autonomous driving EV bus" ARMA” (Navya Mobility Company)
Capacity: 8 given name
autonomous driving level: Level 2
Speed: maximum 25km/h (During the demonstration operation 19.8km/h (Implemented at
Size: Total length 4.75m, overall width 2.11m, total height 2.65m
Fare: Free
How to board: Boarding procedures upon arrival or at the official Ureshino Onsen Tourist Information Center LINE Boarding procedure (no prior reservation required)

ARMA has a maximum speed of 25km/h (20km/h or less is recommended in Japan) and can travel autonomously for about 9 hours (100km) on a single charge. It does not have a steering wheel, accelerator, or brakes, and is designed to be capable of Level 3 autonomous driving only when the driving environment conditions based on the Operational Design Domain (ODD) are met.

In this demonstration run, the vehicle was driven on public roads at Level 2 autonomous driving. Starting and ending at Ureshino Onsen Station, the route took about an hour to travel through eight stops, with six trips per day (eight trips including nighttime service on Fridays and Saturdays only).

<Route>

<Timetable> Departure and arrival at Ureshino Onsen Station

In this demonstration experiment, a gift voucher for "Ureshino's Specialties" was also implemented, exclusively for those who rode the autonomous driving EV bus, allowing them to choose their favorite product from among the "Ureshino Hot Springs Skin Beauty Set," "Yuttsura-kun Grooming Set," and "Ureshino Sweets Assortment."

Demonstration experiment (daytime)

During the trial period, many customers rode the train. (Photo center: Ureshino Mayor Daisuke Murakami)

In this demonstration experiment, the total distance traveled was significantly increased from last year's 3.4 km, and the route traveled was 5.4 km, looping around the hot spring town from Ureshino Onsen Station via the Ureshino Onsen Bus Center. The number of bus stops was also increased from two last year to eight, including in front of Fukuda Hospital, Wataya Besso, and Banshokaku Shikishima, improving convenience.

Additionally, yellow bus stop posts have been installed at bus stops to make them more visible to those around.

A yellow bus stop post is installed on the road.

Many customers waited at the bus stop to board the autonomous driving electric bus.

In the demonstration experiment, the vehicle was able to drive stably at a speed of less than 20 kilometers per hour while recognizing the surrounding road conditions.

Demonstration experiment (nighttime)

​Twelve night runs were conducted over the weekend.

During last year's demonstration experiment, we received requests for nighttime operation as well as operation from the city to the suburbs. As a result, we implemented two nighttime operations on Fridays and Saturdays during the period, starting at 19:25 and 21:00. In addition to understanding the demand at night, we also decided to verify the economic impact on restaurants and other businesses around the bus stops.

Even at night, many customers took test rides from Ureshino Onsen Station.

Even at night, there were many test drives by relatively young customers.

The Wataya Besso-mae bus stop is busy with people even at night and on weekends.

Many tourists enjoyed sightseeing during the day and returned to their inns in the evening and at night, so many passengers got on and off at stops close to the inns, such as Ureshino Onsen Bus Center and Wataya Besso. While the operation rate for passengers during the day was about 85%, the operation rate at night was a high 92%. This result demonstrated the high demand for autonomous driving EV buses at night.

Nighttime demonstration experiments will continue in the future.

Results obtained from the demonstration experiment

Thanks to the understanding of local residents, the service was able to operate safely without any major issues.

​A total of 732 people rode the bus during the demonstration test. Of these, 10% were from Ureshino City, but 2 % were from within Saga Prefecture, outside the prefecture, and overseas, accounting for half of the total. In addition, 38 % of those who lived outside the city visited for tourism or leisure purposes, while 23 % came to experience autonomous driving driving vehicle, showing that autonomous driving EV bus is likely to continue to attract tourists.

In addition, in the aforementioned voucher giveaway campaign, approximately 44% of autonomous driving EV bus users used the vouchers, and of those, approximately 52% used the vouchers as a trigger to visit the store, confirming that this leads to increased customer traffic to the store.

Approximately 80% of users responded that they would like to use the autonomous driving EV bus again, and they also responded that they were "satisfied" with the safety and comfort of the ride.

Vehicle operation information and infrastructure information are visualized using Macnica 's remote monitoring system, "everfleet." This remotely monitors the operation information of autonomous driving EV buses in real time, enabling accurate and safe operation.

The rate of autonomous driving tended to be lower near the rotary at Ureshino Onsen Station and in front of Fukuda Hospital. On roads with many parked vehicles, when there were pedestrians leaning over the shoulder, or when an oncoming vehicle was approaching, autonomous driving autonomous driving be switched to manual mode to ensure safe driving.

Future prospects

We will continue to conduct demonstration experiments to ensure the regular operation of autonomous driving EV buses.

In this demonstration experiment, which started and ended at Ureshino Onsen Station, many people came from outside the city and also from within the city, and it was effective in attracting tourists. In addition, many customers boarded the train to get gift vouchers, so we can expect an economic effect on the surrounding stores.

In the future, we will aim to improve convenience by enabling push notifications to users via LINE and other services regarding delays and cancellations of autonomous driving EV buses, and by making operation information available through the Ureshino City Tourism Association and at the tourist information center "Maruku Eyes" at Roadside Station Ureshino Maruku in front of Ureshino Onsen Station.

In addition, we are considering providing information on vacant seats on Maruku Eyes and enabling centralized management of boarding and operation of autonomous driving EV buses. We will also proactively incorporate integration with social networking systems such as LINE, which was used this time.

If autonomous driving EV buses can be fully operated in Ureshino City, they will not only support the mobility of local residents living in the city, but also provide convenience and comfort when traveling to visitors from outside the city.

Macnica and Ureshino City will continue to work together to develop mobility services that support the movement of visitors. With the autonomous driving EV bus, we will strive to further promote the attractions of Ureshino City and increase the number of visitors.

Inquiry

Macnica supports the realization of smart cities using next-generation mobility, including autonomous driving, and urban industries. If you have any questions or concerns about autonomous driving, please feel free to contact us using the form below.