Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car project, recently announced plans to start testing its autonomous vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025, partnering with local taxi operator Nihon Kotsu and popular taxi-hailing app GO.
The company rolled out its commercial robo-taxi service, Waymo One, this June in San Francisco and now operates a growing fleet of fully autonomous taxis in US cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin. Anyone in these cities can download the Waymo One app and hail a ride.
Utilising manned Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, Waymo in Japan plans to collect data and train the company’s self-driving system on the nuances of driving on narrow Tokyo streets and in left-hand traffic. During the initial test, Waymo plans to run 25 vehicles on public roads in Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinagawa and Koto wards. The cars will be operated by Nihon Kotsu drivers.
While Waymo has not yet announced any plans to provide actual rides in Tokyo, the company told CNBC that this is the ‘first phase’ of its partnership with the local firms and that it expects to remain in Japan for ‘an extended period’. With the Japanese government’s renewed push over the summer to allow for fully autonomous driving on more public roads as a way of tackling challenges associated with the ageing society and an impending shortage of taxi drivers, seeing self-driving cars on Tokyo roads seems closer to reality than ever. Let’s just hope the robot cabs you may be able to take in Tokyo soon are well-prepared for the capital’s pedestrian-filled streets.
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