今後は、狛江市をパイロット地域とし、地域公共交通会議等を通じて交通事業者や住民の理解を深め、2027年度の社会実装を目指す。また、このモデルを他自治体へ展開し、乗務員不足などの地域交通課題の解決をはかる。On the 25th, Unerry <5034> announced that a consortium consisting of the companies located in Komae City, Tokyo, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT East Japan), Tier4, Map4, and Meiyo Keikaku Research Institute, is progressing with a demonstration of remote autonomous driving using local 5G and other technologies starting from April 2024, under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' FY2023 supplementary budget 'Regional Digital Infrastructure Utilization Promotion Project (Level 4 self-driving verification type).'
The purpose of the demonstration experiment is to verify the applicability of remote autonomous driving buses and smart poles installed on roads in an environment where pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, and other traffic coexist, aiming to build mobility services coexisting with various modes of transportation.
The demonstration will conduct technology verifications aimed at achieving smooth autonomous driving in areas with congested communication or weak signal strength by utilizing communication technologies like local 5G and smart poles.
In the future, Komae City will be the pilot area, aiming for social implementation in the fiscal year 2027 by enhancing the understanding of transportation operators and residents through the Regional Public Transportation Council and others. Additionally, this model will be expanded to other local governments to address regional transportation issues such as driver shortages.