Sakaimachi, Ibaraki Prefecture (Mayor: Masahiro Hashimoto), in cooperation with SB Drive Corporation (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tomoki Saji; hereinafter "SB Drive"), a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. Corporation, and Macnica (Head Office: Kohoku-ku, Yokohama; President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter "Macnica"), will operate the autonomous bus "NAVYA ARMA The autonomous bus will be the first autonomous bus in Japan to be put into practical use on public roads* by a local government.

Sakaimachi will first use SB Drive's licensed "NAVYA ARMA" and SB Drive's autonomous driving vehicle operation platform "Dispatcher", which can manage and monitor the operation of multiple autonomous driving vehicles simultaneously from a remote location. Using this, we will begin operating autonomous buses on routes connecting medical facilities, post offices, schools, banks, etc. in the town.
After that, Sakai Town will purchase three of the same vehicles from Macnica, which has a distributorship agreement for NAVYA ARMA with France's Navya company, and plans to switch to operation with these vehicles around summer.

SB Drive will open a satellite office in a shared office in the town, and in the early stages, SB Drive employees will train the drivers of bus operators in the satellite office. We will support the operation management of
AI (artificial intelligence) is used to detect when passengers start before they are seated or when they move inside the vehicle, which can lead to accidents involving rollovers. For this reason, the "Dispatcher" is equipped with a function that allows you to check the location and number of times such events have occurred in the past on a map, and a function that specifies the departure point and destination and issues driving instructions to the vehicle from a remote location. It is used for operation management.
SB Drive also sets routes for autonomous driving and sets sensors that detect obstacles.

Macnica will provide Sakai Town with NAVYA ARMA, an autonomous vehicle that recognizes and judges the surrounding autonomous driving environment based on information acquired from various sensors installed for autonomous driving, and will provide software support so that Sakai Town can operate buses stably even after purchasing the vehicle.
In addition, in addition to performing maintenance of various sensors based on the knowledge we have gained from providing autonomous driving solutions, we will fully support the operation of autonomous buses in Sakaimachi in cooperation with local vehicle maintenance shops for the vehicle itself.

Sakai Town is facing issues such as an increase in the number of people surrendering their driver's licenses due to the aging population, a lack of railway stations, and a shortage of bus and taxi drivers, so expanding transportation options has become an urgent issue.
With the cooperation of SB Drive and Macnica, Sakai Town aims to create an environment where residents can travel conveniently by operating autonomous buses.
In addition, Sakaimachi, SB Drive, and Macnica have entered into a partnership agreement to revitalize the region and industry and improve services for townspeople through new mobility services. We plan to work on this.

The General Secretariat for Japan's Economic Revitalization, Cabinet Secretariat, has organized the patterns of driving environments and conditions in each region for the purpose of utilization by companies and local governments considering the use of autonomous driving autonomous driving. 2020 model) was formulated on December 25, 2019.
In this model, SB Drive aims to create a model case for the introduction of autonomous driving services in environments and conditions similar to Sakaimachi, and serve as a reference for other local governments.

* This is the first time that a vehicle with a capacity of 11 or more people has autonomously traveled most of the sections without a limited period as a means of transportation for the general public (according to research by SB Drive).

■ Appearance of "NAVYA ARMA" (image)

■ Running image of "NAVYA ARMA" in Sakaimachi

■ Assumed service route in Sakaimachi

■ Image of "Dispatcher"

• Dispatcher is a trademark of SB Drive Corporation.
• The company names and product/service names mentioned in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.
• The contents, prices of products and services, specifications, contact information and other information described in this press release are current as of the date of the announcement. These information are subject to change without notice.

【本件に関する報道関係者からの問い合わせ先】
株式会社マクニカ　経営企画部　広報企画課
Tel：045-470-9851　E-mail：macpr@macnica.co.jp