Demonstration operation of autonomous driving EV bus in Mitoyo City

Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture (Mayor: Yamashita Akifumi) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation, Kagawa Branch (Branch Manager: Tokunaga Hisao, hereinafter referred to as "NTT West") have concluded the "autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project Consortium Agreement" (hereinafter referred to as "this Consortium Agreement") and applied for and were selected for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's fiscal year 2024 "Regional Public Transportation Assurance, Maintenance and Improvement Project (autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project)."
Based on this consortium agreement, autonomous driving EV buses together with Macnica (Representative Director and President: Hara Kazumasa, hereinafter referred to as "Macnica"), which has a track record of conducting numerous demonstration experiments in a variety of environments and use cases across Japan.

Purpose of the Demonstration
In Mitutoyo City, rapid demographic changes have made it an urgent issue to secure means of transportation for the elderly and other people with mobility difficulties, and the city is also facing a critical shortage of drivers due to the decline in the working-age population. Therefore, we aim to solve regional issues through collaboration among Mitoyo City, NTT West, Macnica, and others, with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of citizens' lives and compensating for the shortage of workers including drivers by establishing a public transportation system that incorporates autonomous driving technology.

2. Overview of the demonstration operation
(1) Implementing body: autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project Consortium (Mitoyo City x NTT West Japan)
(2) Demonstration content: Aiming to achieve Level 4, this project will conduct demonstration operations at Level 2
(3) Operation area: Takuma Town, Mitoyo City ^*
(4) Demonstration period: From Monday, January 27, 2025 to Friday, February 7, 2025
On Monday, January 27th, there will only be the opening ceremony and test drives for related parties.
(5) Demonstration vehicle: autonomous driving EV bus, Macnica Navya EVO
Maximum 10 passengers, slow speed operation (less than 20km) *When autonomous driving

3. Roles of each party
(1) Mitoyo City: Overall oversight towards the social implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving
(2) NTT West: Research project supervision, project management, network provision
(3) Macnica: Engineering and support for the introduction of autonomous driving systems (provision of autonomous driving EV buses and remote operation management systems), and establishment of operator member systems

4. Future developments
Based on the results of this demonstration, we will continue to conduct demonstration surveys in order to realize the social implementation of autonomous driving services (Level 4) in 2028, and work to resolve issues necessary for providing autonomous driving services.
Through these efforts, we aim to maximize the use of local resources such as people and things, and to introduce cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous driving where necessary. By introducing new mobility services in conjunction with urban development, we aim to realize Mitoyo City's vision for the future of local public transportation: "A town where you can go where you want, when you want."

*The information contained in this news release is current as of the date of publication. Please note that it may be subject to change.

<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

*Operating area: Takuma Town, Mitoyo City