Gunma University, NTT Docomo Co., Ltd., Kobe Autonomous Driving Study Group *, and Japan Research Institute Co., Ltd. have been conducting "Last Mile Autonomous Driving Mobile Service" in Tsukushigaoka, Kita-ku, Kobe City for about two months from November to December 2017. ”Implementation of the demonstration experiment. "Last mile autonomous driving mobility service" is a new mobility service that utilizes IoT such as autonomous driving technology for traveling within a short distance from home (nearest station / bus stop, shops, hospitals, etc.).
In the demonstration experiment, local residents experienced a transportation service from their home to the nearest bus stop, shop, hospital, etc. by a manned and low-speed self-driving vehicle for a certain period of time.In addition to confirming the application and the number of users, we will grasp the appropriate investment cost and verify the technology related to autonomous driving.
Tsukushigaoka, Kita-ku, Kobe City, where the demonstration experiment will be conducted this time, is one of the new towns where the reduction and withdrawal of public transportation is an issue due to the declining population, declining birthrate and aging population, and aging facilities.About 2,000 households and about 6,000 people live in the area, which was created by carving out hills, but 40% of the population is 65 years old or older, and it is expected to reach 5% in five years.While the number of residents who give up their own cars by returning their driver's license is increasing, there are increasing calls for securing transportation because there are many slopes in the area.
So far, the Tsukushigaoka Autonomous Society has been studying ways to solve the mobility problems of residents, and has been discussing with Minato Kanko Bus, the representative of the Kobe Autonomous Driving Study Group.Among them, the concept of the Japan Research Institute, which is a short-distance transportation service that utilizes autonomous driving by the self-help and mutual assistance of residents, improves the convenience of public transportation users, and contributes to the highly efficient management of transportation companies. Gunma University, which is promoting research on a new mobile transportation system using fully autonomous driving technology, will also participate in a demonstration experiment while linking NTT Docomo's "AI-operated bus" technology.
In addition, Kobe City has positioned this demonstration experiment as part of the activities to demonstrate the ICT business cooperation agreement with Docomo, providing information on traffic issues facing the area in the city and effectively utilizing the data obtained in this demonstration experiment. Examine the method.
* The Kobe Automatic Driving Study Group is a voluntary organization of transportation companies in Kobe City that studies the introduction of automatic driving as a solution to the problems of driver shortage and aging.The founder is Minato Kanko Bus Co., Ltd., and the members as of November 2017, 11 are Kinki Taxi Co., Ltd., Rokko Sangyo Co., Ltd., and Arima Automobile Co., Ltd.
