Skip to main content

Toyota and SoftBank to launch joint venture for mobility services in Japan

Toyota Motor and Softbank will launch a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business in Japan by April 2019. Called Monet Technologies, the company will combine Toyota's mobility services platform and information infrastructure for connected vehicles with Softbank's Internet of Things platform. Initially, Monet intends to deploy an on-demand transportation service as well as corporate shuttles. By the second half of the 2020s, Monet says it will launch an autonomous MaaS fleet using Toyota’s battery-ele
October 15, 2018 Read time: 1 min
1686 Toyota Motor and Softbank will launch a Mobility as a Service (8356 MaaS) business in Japan by April 2019.


Called Monet Technologies, the company will combine Toyota's mobility services platform and information infrastructure for connected vehicles with Softbank's Internet of Things platform.

Initially, Monet intends to deploy an on-demand transportation service as well as corporate shuttles.

By the second half of the 2020s, Monet says it will launch an autonomous MaaS fleet using Toyota’s battery-electric vehicles, called e-Palette. The vehicles will deliver meals with food prepared inside the vehicle and provide a hospital shuttle service where medical examinations can be carried out onboard. These vehicles can also serve as mobile offices, the company says.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • French companies launch rental solution for autonomous vehicles
    May 5, 2017
    French autonomous vehicle company Navya has signed an agreement with NEoT Capital to develop a rental service solution for the Navya Arma shuttle to enable public authorities and private operators to offer autonomous shuttle transport to consumers. As part of this partnership, NEoT Capital will buy the vehicle and then rent it to interested enterprises and communities. Founded by Électricité de France SA (EDF), battery solution maker Forsee Power Industry and French finance institute Caisse des Dépôts, amon
  • Michigan appoints new chief mobility officer
    August 1, 2023
    Justine Johnson pledges focus on 'people-centric mobility journeys'
  • Via brings microtransit service in Seattle
    April 29, 2019
    Via has deployed a microtransit service comprising of Toyota Sienna vans to connect residents living in Seattle with more public transport. Via says it is working with King County Metro, Sound Transit and the city to offer a first- and last-mile service in south-east Seattle and Tukwila, a suburb in King County, at no additional charge. Each van can carry up to seven passengers to five Sound Transit Link light rail stations: Mount Baker, Columbia City, Othello, Rainier Beach and Tukwila International Boul
  • ITS innovations – a change for the better?
    May 5, 2016
    Josef Czako takes a look at what the future developments may hold for both the transport sector and society. As the dust of the 2015 World Congress in Bordeaux settles, we can begin to see more clearly some of the most important future innovations in ITS are starting to be linked together: mobility as a service (MaaS), mobility pricing and autonomous vehicles. They all are based on global trends, like digitalisation, automation and servitisation.