NTT Business Solutions press release (2024.10.04) NTT Business Solutions “Research project for demonstration and implementation of automated driving in Nanjo City” started Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture (Mayor: Kageharu Furusa), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (Okinawa Branch Manager: Kentaro Furue, hereinafter referred to as NTT West), NTT Business Solutions Corporation (Okinawa Business Sales Manager: Makoto Furuken, hereinafter referred to as NTT Business Solutions) has concluded the “Consortium Agreement for the Promotion Project for the Social Implementation of Autonomous Driving in Nanjo City” and will receive the “Regional Public Transportation Securing, Maintenance and Improvement Project Subsidy (Autonomous Driving Social Implementation Promotion Project, hereinafter referred to as the “Project”) in 2026. ” and was selected. Based on this consortium agreement, the three parties will work together with Macnica Co., Ltd. (President: Kazumasa Hara, hereinafter referred to as Macnica), a world leader in self-driving EV buses, to create a sustainable project for local residents in Nanjo City. From October 12, 2024 (Saturday) to October 18, 2024 (Friday), we will conduct a research project for the demonstration and implementation of automated driving in Nanjo City, with the aim of resolving regional issues such as “maintaining safe transportation methods.” ” will be carried out. 1. Background/purpose Across the country, social issues such as maintaining local transportation and driver shortages are becoming increasingly serious. As a solution to these social issues, there is an urgent need to realize sustainable public transportation and logistics using mobility technology such as autonomous driving. Efforts are underway in more than 100 locations with government targets set. In addition, Nanjo City has a thriving tourism industry with a population of approximately 46,000 people (as of the end of March 2024) and approximately 420,000 visitors to major tourist areas (as of the end of March 2024). It is a region with some of Japan’s leading tourism resources, such as Kudaka Island and Sefa Utaki, which is registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site. On the other hand, in Nanjo City, cars are the main means of transportation for local residents and tourists, so there is an urgent need to establish a smooth transportation system. For this reason, we have established the “Nanjo City Regional Public Transportation Network Formation Plan” and are promoting various initiatives over a 10-year period from 2017 (Heisei 29) to 2026 (Reiwa 8). In order to further revitalize the area, the main issues are “maintaining sustainable means of transportation for local residents” and “expanding secondary means of transportation for tourists.” To address these issues, the four parties will utilize new mobility and at the same time introduce a “real-time traffic management system (everfleet)” that uses AI cameras, sensors, etc. to acquire and utilize traffic information in real time. We aim to connect tourist spots scattered throughout Nanjo City, improve the ease of getting around, and create a next-generation public
transportation network that meets the transportation needs of local residents and tourists. 2. Overview of the research project In this project, we will conduct the following three research projects to confirm and verify the safety of automated driving, with the aim of early realization of year-round operation at automated driving level 4. 1. Demonstration of self-driving mobility on the demonstration route (public road), confirmation of dangerous spots on the demonstration route, and Implementation of risk analysis as a countermeasure 2. Acquisition of data with high-precision sensors and high-precision 3D maps in order to accurately determine the positional relationship with surrounding objects Creation 3. Creation of route information based on road traffic laws and requests from local residents (1) Demonstration period From Saturday, October 12, 2024 to Friday, October 18, 2024 (2) Place of
implementation Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture (running between Chinen Gymnasium Parking Lot – Ganju Station – Seifa Mitake Parking Lot, Figure 1) (3) Vehicles used and automated driving technology (Figure 2) New EV bus vehicle NAVYA EVO - Compatible with Level 2 autonomous driving system - Passenger capacity: 12 people (number of passengers during demonstration experiment: 10 people)
- Speed 19km/h - EV (maximum driving time 9 hours, driving distance 100km)
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/85099/97/85099-97-f727c8a58916e46f18a6413b788b6abe-1000×863.png
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/85099/97/85099-97-870fe35745c199cb6bad733ad7bd93f9-3900×1353.png Figure 2. Self-driving EV bus image 3. Role of each person (1) Nanjo City Management of the entire project, coordination with related parties, interview surveys with local residents and tourists, etc. (2) NTT West Japan
Investigation project management/project
management (3) NTT Business Solutions*1
Autonomous driving introduction engineering, autonomous driving route investigation
etc. (4) Macnica
Autonomous driving implementation engineering (vehicles) and support; Risk assessment for driving
routes &emsp ; etc. *1 NTT Business Solutions’ “Autonomous Driving EV Bus Solution” service For details, please refer to the URL below. https://www.nttbizsol.jp/service/ev_autonomous_bus/ 4. Future developments Based on the research conducted in this project, the four parties will continue to carry out empirical research in order to socially implement autonomous driving services (Level 4) in 2028, and will continue to conduct various demonstration studies to address the issues necessary to provide autonomous driving services (operation structure construction, etc.). Through these efforts, we will develop a next-generation public transportation network that connects tourist spots scattered throughout Nanjo City, improve the ease of getting around Nanjo City, and provide high-speed transportation that local residents and tourists can use with peace of mind. We aim to realize high quality and safe autonomous driving services. (Reference) Past press releases related to this matter ●Cabinet Office “Regarding the development and construction of advanced services and data linkage for the implementation of advanced services” Research Project (Second Recruitment)’ Demonstration Start and Opening Ceremony (February 22, 2024)
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/85099/97/85099-97-faae3ffea878149ae65747b74444a744-900×600.png ≪Press release materials of each person≫ NTT West:
https://www.ntt-west.co.jp/newscms/okinawa/13720/okinawa_n20240222a.pdf Macnica: https://www.macnica.co.jp/public-relations/news/2024/144873/ ●Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism “Regional Public Transportation Securing, Maintenance and Improvement Project Subsidy (Autonomous Driving Social Implementation Promotion Project)” Notice regarding the adoption of (July 10, 2024)
https://www.ntt-west.co.jp/newscms/okinawa_info/13932/okinawa_i20240710a.pdf ●Macnica enters business partnership with Fuyo Lease Group for social implementation of autonomous driving ~ Supporting demonstration experiments of autonomous driving Jointly building a service program (June 16, 2021) The self-driving EV bus used in this project will be manufactured by Macnica, Fuyo Sogo Lease Co., Ltd., and Fuyo Auto Lease Co., Ltd. Provided through the jointly developed “Autonomous Driving Demonstration Experiment Support Service Program.” For details, please refer to the URL below. https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/maas/news/2021/136501/ *The information contained in the news release is current at the time of announcement. Please be aware that the information at this time may differ from the information at the time of the announcement.