Driverless Taxis to Hit Japan's Public Roads

Ever fancied hailing a taxi to get to your destination, only to find out that it’s completely driverless? According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Japan will start testing autonomous vehicles in Kanagawa prefecture's public roads, servicing 50 passengers from their home to local grocery stores and vice versa.

The "robot cab" experiment is a joint effort between Japan's cabinet office, Kanagawa prefecture and Robot Taxi Inc. The announcement, released on Thursday, states that the robot taxis will run about three kilometers or two miles, driving a part of which along major avenues. Bloomberg Business notes that during the test drive, two co-pilots will be present in case of an emergency. The driverless cabs are "retrofitted versions" of Toyota's hybrid minivan.

“There are a lot of people who say it’s impossible, but I think this will happen faster than people expect,” says Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a vice minister in the current government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who attended the said announcement.

The news outlet further states that Japan hopes to show off this technology by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This move is to encourage local companies and businesses to join the growing list of manufacturers who are said to be developing their own autonomous vehicles, such as Google, Uber Technologies and Apple.

PC Magazine notes that there is still no confirmation on the number of vehicles that will be released during the testing period. If everything turns out right, Robot Taxi Inc. expects its driverless taxis business to be in full swing in five years.

According to Robot Taxi's official website, as translated by the Wall Street Journal, the company aims to service travelers and residents who are in hard-to-reach areas where public transportation is not easily accessible. Marketed with the tagline, "Your personal driver," Robot Taxi is the product of a joint venture between DeNA, a mobile internet corporation, and ZMP, a developer of vehicle technology.

However, as per Bloomberg Business, this cutting-edge transportation technology is still facing some bumps on the road before it can be legalized. Japan's Road Traffic Act states that there should always be an occupant in the driver's seat.

“We can’t stick to the way we do business here in Japan, which is to unite everyone in the industry and work together. The government should create a competitive environment and welcome everyone to participate," said Koizumi.