All About Japan

Autonomous Buses Planned for Olympic Village

Technology Bus 2020 Olympics Tokyo

Toyota Motor has conducted a demonstration of e-Palette self-driving buses planned for the Olympic village next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhju4lzP-9Q

The vehicle is ranked at the second-highest level, Level 4, in terms of driving automation, capable of operating without a driver within a fixed area. The bus runs automatically on a preset route and halts at bus stops. It comes to a stop when it detects a pedestrian trying to cross the road. The vehicle waits until another bus in its passageway moves away.

Staff monitors the buses from this control center. They can increase or decrease the number of buses running depending on how many people are waiting at bus stops. Toyota aims to commercialize self-driving buses by around 2025.