Navya to operate autonomous shuttles in Japan 

Navya is to deploy autonomous electric shuttles in the Japanese city of Sakai in April.
By Ben Spencer February 24, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Left to right: Henri Coron (Navya chief business development officer), Atsushi Sato (Macnica president),  Masahiro Hashimoto (Sakai Mayor), Yuki SAJI - SB Drive (president). Source: Navya

The company says this is to address a shortage of bus and taxi drivers. 

Henri Coron, chief business development officer at Navya, says deployment comes only six months after obtaining permission to operate on public roads in Japan and is part of an agreement with Softbank subsidiary SB Drive.

Navya says the city will use SB Drive’s fleet management system to remotely monitor the Autonom shuttles. The vehicles will be operated by digital solutions group Macnica on routes that connect medical facilities, post offices, schools and banks. 



 

Mass Transit & MaaS

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Will interoperability prevent progress?
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford examines the political and industrial background to the tolling technology debate. Saving the US State of California ‘millions of dollars’ in tolling infrastructure costs by encouraging new technologies is the professed aim of a legislative Bill, SB 242, which is currently moving through the State’s Senate (upper house) process. According to its sponsor, Republican State Senator Mark Wyland, permitting alternatives to the current FasTrak-branded radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based sys
    Read More
  • Pandemic ‘proves value’ of emerging world’s informal public transport
    June 9, 2020
    Networks of minibuses fill gaps left by reduced 'formal' services
    Read More
  • Transport agencies need driver-centric strategies, says Optibus
    March 6, 2025
    New report suggests safety concerns are also paramount
    Read More
  • New York launches electric taxi pilot
    April 23, 2013
    To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the Nissan Leaf, putting six Leaf taxis into service to help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets. As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during
    Read More

Highlighted Content