Keikyu Bus and Tokyu Bus jointly launched a self-driving bus trial on May 28 in a bid to meet the region’s transportation needs amid a deepening bus driver shortage.

The demonstration experiment will be conducted until June 3 by the two bus companies and Tokyu in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture southwest of central Tokyo.

The aim is to support the region’s issues, such as shopping and hospital visits, by reducing facility costs and saving labor through joint efforts.

A control center was set up at the head office of Keikyu Bus, where one person can remotely monitor the two autonomous buses.

Although there is a driver on each bus in case of an emergency, the driver does not hold the steering wheel during the operation.

S/ User: it felt safer than I expected.

S/ Another user: I am concerned when passing through school zones. I would like to see what measures will be taken.

They plan to verify safety improvement and experiment with efficient operation in hopes of realizing an unmanned autonomous driving system in the future.