Start of demonstration operation of autonomous driving EV bus in Wakayama City

Having been selected for the 2024 "Regional Public Transportation Assurance, Maintenance and Improvement Project (autonomous driving Social Implementation Promotion Project)" by Wakayama City, autonomous driving Prefecture (Mayor: Obana Masahiro), the NTT West Group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation: Wakayama Branch Manager, Iwamoto Toyoaki; NTT Business Solutions Corporation: Board Director Wakayama Business Sales Manager, Hayashi Masahiko) will utilize this to carry out the "Wakayama City Autonomous Driving Demonstration Survey Project" (hereinafter referred to as "this project").
Together with Macnica (Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara, hereinafter referred to as Macnica), the world leader in autonomous driving electric buses, we will be conducting a demonstration project for autonomous driving electric bus in Wakayama City for 12 days from Wednesday, January 29, 2025 to Sunday, February 9, 2025, to solve local issues such as "providing sustainable transportation services" in Wakayama City.

1. Background and Objectives
Social issues such as maintaining regional transportation and driver shortages in transportation are becoming more serious due to labor shortages caused by the declining birthrate and aging population, as well as the 2024 problem. 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 realizing autonomous driving transportation services in around 50 locations by fiscal year 2025 and in over 100 locations by fiscal year 2027, and is working toward this goal.

We aim to provide a sustainable transportation service by operating autonomous driving vehicles in order to address the shortage of drivers for route bus operators in Wakayama City, to secure a means of transportation as a secondary means of transportation for tourists, and to create a lively atmosphere in the city center.
 
2. Overview of this project
In this project, we will identify issues with driving on public roads in preparation for the future social implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving.
The purpose of this initiative is to conduct risk analysis, foster social acceptance of autonomous driving, revitalize local public transportation, and bring together the public and private sectors to advance research into solving transportation policy issues.
In addition, by verifying infrastructure integration such as traffic signal integration, road-vehicle coordination, and remote monitoring, this project will conduct demonstrations aimed at the future implementation of autonomous driving.

(1) Location of the event (Diagram 1)
Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture
(2) Implementation period (Figure 2)
From Wednesday, January 29, 2025 to Sunday, February 9, 2025
6 flights per day
(3) Demonstration vehicles and autonomous driving technology (Figure 3)
・Navya Mobility "EVO"
・Operates at Level 2 autonomous driving
- Passenger capacity: 12 people (9 people during demonstration experiment)
・Speed 18 km/h ・EV (Maximum driving time 9 hours, driving distance 100 km)
・Remote operation management system, infrastructure linkage (signal linkage), road-vehicle linkage

[Figure 1. Demonstration route]
A circular route (counterclockwise) of approximately 5.3 km starting from JR Wakayama Station, passing in front of Wakayama Castle Park and Oka Park, and ending at JR Wakayama Station.

[Figure 2. Operation schedule]
Six flights per day, operated on two schedules: Sundays, Mondays to Thursdays, and Fridays and Saturdays.

[Figure 3. autonomous driving EV bus]

[Remote operation management system]

3. Roles of each company
(1) Wakayama City
Operator of autonomous driving business, provision of driving routes, etc.
(2) NTT West Group
Project management, overall requirements and configuration review, field verification planning and coordination,
Acquiring data necessary for driving, setting up, operating demonstration test vehicles, etc.
(3) Macnica
Provision of autonomous driving electric buses and remote operation management systems,
autonomous driving EV bus engineering and support, operation system construction, etc.

4. Future developments
Based on the results of this project, we aim to conduct a demonstration operation of an autonomous driving service (Level 4) in Wakayama City, and will continue to conduct demonstration surveys and work to resolve various issues, such as building the operational system necessary for providing autonomous driving services.
Through these efforts, we aim to realize a safe and comfortable autonomous driving service that can be used with peace of mind by local residents of Wakayama City, the surrounding areas, and tourists.

*The information contained in the news release is current as of the date of the announcement. Please note that at this time, the information may differ from the information as of the date 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