Minivan equipped with sensors makes four round-trips a day on a busy stretch of road, picking up paying passengers

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A self-driving taxi has successfully taken paying passengers through the busy streets of Tokyo, raising the prospect that the service will be ready in time to ferry athletes and tourists between sports venues and the city centre during the 2020 Summer Olympics.

ZMP, a developer of autonomous driving technology, and the taxi company Hinomaru Kotsu, claim that the road tests, which began this week, are the first in the world to involve driverless taxis and fare-paying passengers.

The trial took place as Toyota and the transport giant Uber said they were intensifying efforts to develop a self-driving vehicle, pitting themselves against rival initiatives in Japan, the US and Europe.

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Toyota will invest $500m in the venture, which will develop vehicles based on the carmakers’ Sienna minivans, with a view to start testing in 2021, the firms said this week.

Uber's autonomous driving venture suffered a setback in March when one of its self-driving vans struck and killed a pedestrian during a trial in Arizona.

Nissan and the tech firm DeNa tested their Easy Ride robo-vehicle service along a 4.5km set route in the port city of Yokohama earlier this year.

DeNa and ZMP have also conducted trials of a driverless taxi using Toyota’s Estima minivans, shuttling dozens of residents from their homes to the local shops in the town of Fujisawa, near Tokyo, in March 2016.

In the latest trial in Tokyo, a minivan equipped with sensors made four round-trips a day on a busy 5.3km stretch of road between the Otemachi and Roppongi districts, according to Kyodo news.

The experiment, which ends early next month, has captured the imagination of Tokyoites, with 1,500 people applying to be passengers during the 96 planned journeys between the two destinations.

A driver and an assistant are on board to take control of the vehicle in case of any mishaps, but early journeys have passed off without incident.

Passengers unlock the door themselves and pay their one-way fare – about 1,500 yen ($13) – via a smartphone app.

One of the first passengers said his Monday morning journey felt “so natural that I almost forgot it was a self-driving car,” according to Kyodo.

Hinomaru Kotsu’s president, Kazutaka Tomita, said the test was a “precious step” towards the day when autonomous driving becomes fully commercial.

With one eye on the Tokyo Games, the firms will conduct follow-up tests later this year connecting Haneda airport and the city centre’s transport hubs.

As one of the fastest-ageing societies in the world, Japan is an ideal market for the introduction of self-driving vehicles as it contends with a shortage of drivers in depopulated rural areas and a rise in the number of accidents involving older motorists.

</s>Transcript

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> We wanted to help those who don't have transportation, we want people without access to public transportation to have easier access. So this was the idea behind our vision for the automatic taxi.

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>> The company's aim is to get the automatic taxis on the streets of Tokyo by the start of the 2020 Olympics. The city's taxi industry is already stressed with unprecedented levels of tourists and an aging population. The average age of Tokyo's taxi drivers is almost 60 and there's a shortage of suitable drivers, according to Hinomaru.</s>Deadlines linked to autonomous-car technology are tossed around like balls in a bingo spinner, with no one really sure when driverless cars will hit the streets in a meaningful way.

What is clear is that a huge global event can focus the minds of those developing such technology, with Tokyo-based robotics outfit ZMP and local taxi firm Hinomaru Kotsu determined to have a robot taxi service up and running in time for the Japan-hosted Olympics in 2020. Hinomaru inked a deal with ZMP last year, and the partnership is already producing results.

Earlier this week the team debuted its autonomous taxi service for paying passengers as part of a trial set to run for several weeks.

A demonstration in front of the media showed a young family boarding the robot minivan for a three-mile ride along some busy Tokyo streets. Passengers access the taxi using a smartphone and a QR code, and once everyone’s inside, a quick tap on a touchscreen begins the journey.

Footage shows the autonomous cab appearing to cope comfortably with the road conditions, though had the technology experienced any difficulties, a safety driver was on hand to take over.

Speaking to a TV crew after the ride, one of the passengers noted that a human-driven vehicle perceived to be “behaving strangely” prompted the safety driver to manually guide the robot car away from potential danger.

The self-driving taxi is making eight trips a day between two destinations in the city, each journey costing riders about $14. More road tests are planned for later this year once the results of the current trial have been fully assessed.

Hinomaru wants to have its service ready in time for the Olympics, which starts two years from now. Besides transporting sports fans around the sprawling city, the plan is to use the cars to run athletes between hotels and venues, too.

ZMP and Hinomaru say its robot taxi is the first in the world to accept paying passengers, though Lyft and Aptiv may have a word to say about that. The ridesharing firm has been working with tech firm Aptiv to develop its own robot taxi, and began taking fare-paying passengers in Las Vegas a couple of months back.

Robot taxi services have emerged as the main focus for many companies currently developing the technology, with Toyota, for example, this week announcing a $500 million investment in Uber’s autonomous-vehicle development. Japanese car giant Nissan is also working on developing a driverless vehicle that it wants to have ready in time for Tokyo 2020 as part of a taxi service.</s>JAPAN (REUTERS) - This family in Japan is about to have the ride of their life.

Except they won't be driving themselves and neither is their chauffeur.

"It was just like a normal taxi. Just sitting there I would have forgotten it was an automatic. The car itself looks just like a normal one," said 45-year-old test drive volunteer Takeshi.

The model has been created by robotics developer ZMP, which has been working with Japanese taxi firm Hinomaru.

"We wanted to help those who don't have transportation. We want people without access to public transportation to have easier access. So this was the idea behind our vision for the automatic taxi," said managing director of ZMP Inc, Mr Akihiro Nishima.

The company's aim is to get the automatic taxis on the streets of Tokyo by the start of the 2020 olympics.

The city's taxi industry is already stressed with unprecedented levels of tourism and an aging population.

The average age of Tokyo's taxi drivers is almost 60 and there's a shortage of suitable drivers, according to Hinomaru.

Robot taxis could solve that issue, but it's not without its faults.

The 4.8km test drive was not completely automatic and still needed a driver in some parts of the route to control the wheel.</s>A venture firm and a major taxi company on Monday began a trial of passenger-carrying autonomous taxi services with an eye on launching the full service around 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and the Paralympics.

ZMP Inc, a Tokyo-based developer of autonomous driving technology, and Hinomaru Kotsu Co, said they are the first in the world to offer autonomous taxi services to fare-paying passengers in the test through Sept 8.

The initiative comes as automakers and other businesses at home and abroad compete in the development of autonomous vehicles. General Motors Co and Waymo, a spinoff of tech giant Google, have started tests on public roads in the United States, while Nissan Motor Co and DeNA Co conducted tests on a ride-hailing service in Yokohama in March.

In the trial by ZMP and Hinomaru, a minivan equipped with sensors and other autonomous technologies makes four round trips a day between commercial facilities in Tokyo's Otemachi and Roppongi districts, which are about 5.3 kilometers apart.

The autonomous technology will start, stop and turn the vehicle but a driver and an assistant will be on board to ensure safety. Passengers solicited in advance will unlock the door and make payments through a smartphone app, paying 1,500 yen for a one-way ride.

A 45-year-old male passenger from Tokyo's Toshima Ward who got on the first autonomous taxi on Monday morning said, "It was such a natural ride that I almost forgot it was a self-driving car. I felt the advancement of technology."

In a ceremony marking the trial, Hinomaru Kotsu President Kazutaka Tomita said, "We can take a precious step forward (for autonomous driving) today."

Autonomous driving services are viewed as a way to address the shortage of drivers in Tokyo and the increasing demand for taxis among foreign visitors to Japan.

The companies plan to hold test drives on a second route later this year, connecting Haneda airport and central Tokyo.

Hopes for self-driving taxis are also high in rural areas, where many taxi companies have been going out of business due to aging drivers as well as a decline in the number of people joining the industry, according to industry experts.

Hinomaru and ZMP said they plan to ask local taxi firms facing serious shortages of drivers to form a syndicate with them, a move aimed at reducing the cost of introducing the new system.</s>The Olympics are about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.

On Saturday, Tokyo, Japan, defeated Istanbul for the right to host the 2020 Olympics, even after concerns that the lingering affects of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster would cause contamination and safety concerns for athletes and spectators.

“Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more,” bid leader and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda said in the final presentation. “Our case today is simple. Vote for Tokyo and you vote for guaranteed delivery. … Tokyo is the right partner at the right time.” Tokyo had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. In the final presentation, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the IOC assurances that the Fukushima leak was not a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping the games safe. “Let me assure you the situation is under control,” Abe said. “It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.” (via AP)

Of course, this is a severe, hilarious red flag for anyone who has ever seen the classic 1988 anime Akira. In the film, Japan is set to host the 2020 Olympics (seriously) several years after an explosion destroyed Tokyo (seriously). At the time, that was in reference to the last time Japan hosted the games back in 1964, when the fallout from World War II was still fresh but the atomic bombing of Hiroshima had been more or less mind-wiped from the memories of the Japanese. Now it’s just eerily-prescient, and can replace “Chicago wins the World Series in 2015 in Back To The Future II” as our Nostradamus 80s movie prediction of choice.

I won’t spoil the film if you haven’t seen it (or the manga, if you haven’t read it), but if Japan starts building glorious new Olympic stadiums, we should really, really check to make sure what they’re hiding under it.

This is what Japan’s Olympic dreams look like in 2013 …</s>A major taxi company in Tokyo has recently begun testing autonomous, self-driving taxis with the hopes of being able to roll out a fleet before the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics taking place in the city. The project, a collaboration between robotics and autonomous driving technology firm ZMP and taxi company Hinomaru, will undoubtedly culminate in the 2020 Olympic pedestrian taxi-dodging gold medal event.

The future nears, folks. Will they actually have safe and reliable self-driving taxis on the road by the Olympics in 2020? That remains to be seen. The answer is no though. We're just not there yet. Remember: as quick as an autonomous car can brake, I can jump from the roof of another car in front of that car even quicker. "Why would you do that?" To prove a point. "Which is?" I should be a Hollywood stuntman.

Thanks to v, who agrees being able to make out in the back of a car without your Uber driver watching would be nice.</s>Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, under direction from Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, is exploring whether to bring in daylight saving time as a way to avoid competition being held during the hottest times of the day.

Concerns regarding the climate in Tokyo during the Olympics and Paralympics have grown after the heat was blamed for the deaths of more than 130 people.

The heatwave in July was declared a natural disaster amid the rising death toll.

Sprinklers, mist showers and special pavements are among other possible solutions, with Tokyo 2020 claiming they would implement "detailed heat countermeasures with three targets; for spectators, for workforces and for athletes".

Events such as the marathons and long-distance race walks were brought forward by Tokyo 2020 in an attempt to combat fears over the high temperatures.

Japan is among a handful of major economies that does not use daylight saving time during the summer months and Mori said that was unacceptable for a country of its stature.

"Among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and G7 countries, Japan is only one that doesn’t have daylight saving time," Mori, a former Japanese Prime Minister, told the Japan Times.

"This is an international standard.

"It is not acceptable that Japan doesn't have it.

"I know many people are against this idea, but it also contributes to creating a low-carbon society.

"Japan should show the world that we are making an effort to make it happen.

"If we try, introducing daylight saving time can become one of the legacies of the Tokyo Games.”

Mori said he had "no concerns" with Tokyo 2020's preparations, which have come into the spotlight in recent weeks following the two years to go milestones until the start of the Olympics and the beginning of the Paralympics.

The 81-year-old conceded, however, that organisers had a "lot of issues to solve".

"Look at the highways - most of them were built for the 1964 Tokyo Games," he said.

"The population increased and our economy expanded.

"It is impossible to use those roads without building new ones.

"There will be traffic jams here and there during the Olympics and Paralympics.

“We also have to establish an anti-terrorism policy.

"Since recently, we have to worry about cyberterrorism, too.

"It is difficult to predict how it will happen but we have to deal with it.”</s>A self-driving cab has successfully ferried passengers across the busy streets of Tokyo in a trial that has been billed the world’s first demonstration of a public taxi ride by an autonomous vehicle.

Passengers paid to be carried across the city in a driverless minivan supplied by ZMP, a robot technology company, and Hinomaru Kotsu, a taxi firm, which collaborated to develop the service. A 5.3km route was mapped out to take them from Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward to the Roppongi Hills, a popular entertainment district.

The Japanese companies claim the experiments, which started this week and have been partially funded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, are aimed at the development of a commercial autonomous...</s>The deal enables the company to recruit Torchbearers and conduct promotional activities using the Olympic Torch Relay emblem.

Tokyo 2020 President Yoshirō Mori, welcomed the support of the soft drink giant - a sponsor of the Olympic Games since Amsterdam 1928.

Coca-Cola is now a member of the International Olympic Committee's TOP sponsorship scheme.

"We are delighted to welcome Coca-Cola as the first presenting partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay," Mori said.

"Coca-Cola has supported the Olympic Torch Relay as a presenting partner at 12 previous editions of the Games and leveraging their deep experience, we plan to make the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay a successful event that will help get everyone fired up before the Games."

The Relay is due to commence its journey across Japan on March 26 in 2020 in Fukushima Prefecture.

It will start its journey southwards.

The Torch is likely to traverse the inland prefectures of central Japan against the backdrop of Japan's famous cherry blossoms, which typically bloom there in early April.

The Relay is then scheduled to proceed southwest until it reaches the islands of Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan, in early May.

It will make its way back up to the north of the country, passing through Kyoto in late May, all the way up to Hokkaido, where it is set to arrive in mid-June.

The Relay will then turn southwards again and complete its long journey in Tokyo after spending three days in each of the four prefectures outside of the capital that are hosting events during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The torch will traverse Japan for a total of 121 days.

Jorge Garduño, the President of Coca-Cola Japan, mirrored the excitement of Mori, adding: "We are tremendously proud to be the longest continuous partner of the Olympic Games, with a relationship that started back in 1928.

"And we have also been deeply involved in the Olympic Torch Relay since 1992.

"Today, we are extremely excited to announce that we have become the first presenting partner for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay.

"Our goal is to spread the excitement of the Olympic spirit by offering once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of the Olympic Movement.

"We are sure that this will be an unforgettable and special experience."
The world's first autonomous taxi service begins operating in Tokyo, Japan. The pilot project will run until September 8, with full commercial operations expected to start in 2020, when the city hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics.