World's first Level 4 autonomous driving electric bus, Navya EVO, begins regular operation of two vehicles in Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture - Routes and distances expanded, with two routes around city hall, station, and eastern district available for free use -

Starting February 18, 2025, Macnica (headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Hara Kazumasa; hereinafter referred to as Macnica) will begin regular operation of two Navya EVO ^{* 1} autonomous driving in specific environments, on public roads in Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Kazumasa Hara: Miyata Tatsuo), for the first time in the world.

Hitachiota City is working to respond to diverse mobility needs, build an environmentally friendly transportation system, and promote the creation of an attractive city by incorporating next-generation technologies in the "Eastern District," where commercial and business land in the central city area is being developed. As part of this effort, the city conducted a demonstration experiment of an autonomous driving EV bus in collaboration with Macnica and related companies from February 17 to February 23, 2023, and began regular operation of Navya's autonomous driving EV bus "EVO" from February 16, 2024.
Now, one year after the start of regular operations, new bus stops have been added in the areas of Hitachiota Station and Kujiragaoka, which were particularly requested by residents, and the route and distance traveled has been expanded. In addition, a second vehicle has been added, providing an autonomous driving service that will serve as residents' "foot" and further improve transportation convenience, encouraging the use of public transportation.

autonomous driving EV bus "Joppy ^{* 2}"

For these regular operations, Macnica will provide services such as operating the autonomous driving EV buses, acquiring and setting up the data required for autonomous driving driving, creating technical documentation, coordinating with the relevant parties, and building an operation system. In addition, by linking the vehicle's driving data to Macnica 's remote operation management system "everfleet ^{* 3}," it will be possible to check autonomous driving EV bus's driving information in real time from a remote location.

In addition, the Hitachiota Digital Map, a digital map that centrally visualizes the real-time location information of the two autonomous driving EV buses, information on congestion inside the buses, information on bus stops and nearby stores, and more, will be provided to residents through the Hitachiota City administrative information app, Jozurusan Navi ^{* 4}.

Hitachiota Digital Map on "Jozurusan Navi"

Macnica Through the operation of two of the same vehicles in Hitachiota City, MARUTAKE, Inc. will collect more data, aiming for Level 4 operation in the next fiscal year. In addition, through the introduction of autonomous driving EV buses to each municipality, we will continue to contribute in various ways to the construction of sustainable urban development by linking with digital maps and municipal applications, providing information on the entire region, and actively engaging in MaaS business.

[Outline of regular operation]
■Date: Tuesday, February 18, 2025: Two vehicles will begin regular operation at the same time
■Number of services: 6 services per day (3 services each for the southbound and northbound routes)
■ autonomous driving bus: autonomous driving electric bus EVO
■Route: The route will travel around Hitachiota City Hall, Hitachiota Station, and the eastern area of Hitachiota City.

■How to board: Please arrive at the bus stop before the departure time (no reservation required, maximum capacity 9 people, free of charge)
*Please note that you may not be able to board the bus if it is fully booked.

■Operating schedule: Operates during the times shown in the table below.

*1: EVO autonomous driving electric bus (manufactured by Navya Mobility)
EVO is an autonomous driving shuttle bus equipped with an autonomous driving system. It is an EV (electric vehicle) and can run autonomously for about 9 hours (100km) on a single charge.

Overall length: 4,780mm
Height: 2,670mm
Overall width: 2,100mm
Weight: 2,690 kg
Total vehicle weight: 3,350kg
Number of passengers: Maximum 9
Power source: Electric motor
Maximum speed: 18km/h (average speed during operation: 15km/h)
autonomous driving level: Level 4 compatible
* Only when driving environment conditions are met
*Normal operations will be at Level 2.
Other: In the event of an emergency, an on-board operator will manually intervene

*2: "Joppy"
"Joppy" was the winner of Hitachiota City's autonomous driving vehicle nickname contest out of 131 applicants from across the country. The name was chosen with the combination of "Jo" from "Jozurusan" (Mr. Jozuru) and "ppy" from "happy," and since the bus color is pink, the "pi" from "pink" was also included.

*3: Everfleet
In order to put autonomous driving into practical use, it is necessary to monitor passengers in the vehicle and the situation around the vehicle from a remote location. everfleet integrates vehicle data such as vehicle speed, steering, and battery level in addition to the vehicle's location information and camera footage inside and outside the vehicle, and can also link with external data in coordination with traffic infrastructure such as traffic lights. This makes it possible to grasp the operating status in real time from a remote location and operate autonomous driving mobility safely and securely. Furthermore, since it is possible to simultaneously manage a wide variety of mobility in multiple regions and the system can automatically detect and notify abnormalities during operation, a single remote monitor can efficiently manage the operation of autonomous driving mobility, thereby reducing the number of operations and contributing to improving transportation profitability.

*4: Jozurusan Navi https://www.city.hitachiota.ibaraki.jp/page/page008796.html

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

*Company names and product names mentioned in this text are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macnica and each company.
*The information published in the news release (including product price, specifications, etc.) is current as of the date of announcement. Please note that the information may be subject to change without prior notice.