Launch of "Survey project for demonstration and implementation of autonomous driving in Nanjo City"

Nanjō City, Okinawa Prefecture (Mayor: Furuya Kageharu), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (Okinawa Branch Manager: Furue Kentaro, hereinafter referred to as NTT West), and NTT Business Solutions Corporation (Okinawa Business Sales Manager: Furukata Makoto, hereinafter referred to as NTT Business Solutions) have concluded the “Nanjō City autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project Consortium Agreement” and applied for and were selected for the FY2024 “Regional Public Transportation Assurance, Maintenance and Improvement Project Subsidy (autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project, hereinafter referred to as “this Project”).”
Based on this consortium agreement, the three parties, together with Macnica (Representative Director and President: Hara Kazumasa, hereinafter referred to as "Macnica"), a global leader in autonomous driving electric buses, will conduct a "Research Project for the Demonstration and Implementation of autonomous driving for local residents."

1. Background and Objectives
Social issues related to maintaining local transportation and driver shortages are becoming more serious nationwide. To solve these social issues, there is an urgent need to realize sustainable public transportation and logistics using mobility technologies such as autonomous driving. The national government has set a goal of more than 50 locations by fiscal year 2025 and more than 100 locations by fiscal year 2027, and is working toward this goal.

In addition, Nanjō City has a population of approximately 46,000 (as of the end of March 2024), and the number of visitors to major tourist destinations is approximately 420,000 (as of the end of March 2024), making it a region with a thriving tourism industry.The city is home to some of the country's leading tourist resources, such as Kudaka Island and Sefa-Utaki, a World Heritage Site.
Meanwhile, in Nanjo City, the main means of transportation for local residents and tourists is by car, so there is an urgent need to establish a smooth transportation system. For this reason, the city has established the Nanjo City Regional Public Transportation Network Formation Plan, and is promoting various initiatives over the 10-year period from 2017 (Heisei 29) to 2026 (Reiwa 8). However, in order to further revitalize the local community, the main issues are "maintaining sustainable transportation for local residents" and "expanding secondary transportation for tourists."

In response to these challenges, the four parties will utilize new forms of mobility while also introducing a real-time traffic management system (everfleet), which uses AI cameras and sensors to obtain and utilize traffic information in real time. This will connect tourist sites scattered throughout Nanjo City, improving mobility and creating a next-generation public transportation network that meets the transportation needs of local residents and tourists.

2. Overview of the survey project
In this project, we will conduct the following three research projects to confirm and verify the safety of autonomous driving, with a view to realizing year-round operation with Level 4 autonomous driving at the earliest possible date.
1) Demonstration of autonomous driving mobility on the demonstration route (public roads), identification of dangerous spots on the demonstration route, and implementation of risk analysis as countermeasures
②Acquire data using high-precision sensors to accurately determine the relative positions of surrounding objects and create a high-precision 3D map
③ Creation of route information based on the Road Traffic Act and requests from local residents

(1) Demonstration period
From Saturday, October 12, 2024 to Friday, October 18, 2024
(2) Location
Nanjō City, Okinawa Prefecture (running between Chinen Gymnasium Parking Lot, Ganjū Station, and Sefa Utaki Parking Lot, Figure 1)
(3) Vehicles and autonomous driving technologies used (Figure 2)
New EV bus NAVYA EVO
- Level 2 autonomous driving system compatible
- Passenger capacity: 12 people (10 people during demonstration experiment)
- Speed 19km/h
- EV (maximum 9 hours, range 100km)

Figure 1. Demonstration driving route

Figure 2. Image of autonomous driving EV bus

3. Roles of each party
(1) Nanjo City
Overall operation of the project, coordination with related parties, interview surveys of local residents and tourists, etc.
(2) NTT West
Research project supervision, project management, etc.
(3) NTT Business Solutions ^{* 1}
autonomous driving introduction engineering, autonomous driving driving route survey, etc.
(4) Macnica
autonomous driving implementation engineering (vehicles) and support,
Risk assessment for driving routes, etc.

*1 For details on NTT Business Solutions' "autonomous driving EV Bus Solution" service, please see the following URL.
　　　https://www.nttbizsol.jp/service/ev_autonomous_bus/

4. Future developments
Based on the results of this project, the four parties will continue to conduct demonstration studies and work to resolve various issues necessary for providing autonomous driving services, such as establishing an operation system, so that autonomous driving services (Level 4) can be implemented in society in FY2028.
Through these efforts, we aim to develop a next-generation public transportation network that connects tourist destinations scattered throughout Nanjo City, increasing mobility within the city and realizing a high-quality, safe autonomous driving service that can be used with confidence by local residents and tourists alike.

(Reference) Previous press releases related to this matter
●Cabinet Office: Start of demonstration and opening ceremony for the "Research Project on Data Collaboration for Development and Construction of Cutting-Edge Services and Implementation of Cutting-Edge Services (Second Call for Applications)" (February 22, 2024)

<Press releases from each party>
NTT West: https://www.ntt-west.co.jp/newscms/okinawa/13720/okinawa_n20240222a.pdf
Macnica: https://www.macnica.co.jp/public-relations/news/2024/144873/

Notification regarding the adoption of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's "Subsidy for the Regional Public Transportation Assurance, Maintenance and Improvement Project (Project to Promote the Social Implementation autonomous driving)" (July 10, 2024)
https://www.ntt-west.co.jp/newscms/okinawa_info/13932/okinawa_i20240710a.pdf

● Macnica and Fuyo Lease Group Form Business Alliance to Advance Social Implementation of autonomous driving- Jointly Develop a Service Program to Support Demonstration Testing of autonomous driving- (June 16, 2021)

The autonomous driving EV buses used in this project will be provided by the "autonomous driving Demonstration Test Support Service Program" jointly established by Macnica, Fuyo General Lease Co., Ltd., and Fuyo Auto Lease Co., Ltd. For details, please refer to the following URL.
https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/maas/news/2021/136501/

*The information contained in the news release is current at the time of announcement. Please be aware that the information at this time may differ from the information at the time of the announcement.

<Contact for inquiries regarding this matter>
Macnica Smart City & Mobility Division
TEL: 045-470-9118
MAIL: auto-solution@macnica.co.jp

<Contact for media inquiries>
Macnica://www.macnica.co.jp
Public Relations Office: Miyahara Email: macpr@macnica.co.jp
Macnica 1st Building, 1-6-3 Shin-Yokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, 222-8561