Japan will begin testing autonomous taxis-carrying human passengers-on public roads next year, and hopes to show off its technology by the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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The promotional video for the upcoming Robot Taxi Inc. driverless taxi service.
Announced Thursday by the Japanese government and Robot Taxi Inc., the trial will initially serve about 50 residents in the Kanagawa prefecture, shuttling them between their home and local grocery stores, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company said that it is working with authorities to hash out the details of the program.
“There are a lot of people who say it’s impossible, but I think this will happen faster than people expect”, Shinjiro Koizumi, one of Japan’s vice ministers, stated on October. 1 during a promotional event for the unmanned taxis.
Toyota’s Estima hybrid minivan has been selected for a retrofit to house the driverless technology, which will hit the streets in 2016. The taxis will be driving automatically, but an attendant will still be in the driver’s seat in case of issues.
There is no word on how many vehicles will be deployed during the testing phase.
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Robot Taxi plans on launching a fully commercial robotic taxi service by 2020 if the tests are successful, the idea is to fill the gap in areas where public transport doesn’t reach and even to aid tourists in getting around town. Japan is now the most elderly populated country in the world with 33 percent of its population age 60 and older.
