Tokyo – SoftBank and Mitsubishi conducted an press conference in Marunouchi Naka Dori district. Two AUTONOM SHUTTLE were operating within this district to transport people, press and professionals.

On December 22th, two AUTONOM SHUTTLE were operating in the Marunouchi Naka Dori district. This venue was chosen as a test site, where high-rise office buildings are located. An experimentation hold by SoftBank and its subsidiary, SB Drive, in partnership with Mitsubishi

SB Drive, a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. its an entity created in 2016 to develop autonomous vehicle technology for public transport. SB Drive conducts social trials of self-driving technologies

<u>A very first in Japan</u>

Journalists, professionals and curious gathered around two AUTONOM SHUTTLE to test these new mobility solutions and to work through an empirical investigation in order to market an autonomous driving bus at the end of March.

It was the first time in Tokyo as an Autonomous vehicle was operating on public roads

During the experimentation, AUTONOM SHUTTLE experienced a case where pedestrians jumped out in front of the vehicle. When the pedestrian was detected, the AUTONOM SHUTTLE stopped, and let him  crossed the street.

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A future application in March ?

The SB drive wants to operate an autonomous driving bus and wish to lead people who are difficult to move and to eliminate driver's shortage. Through demonstration experiments in the downtown area, SB Drive aims for the early commercialization of automatic driving buses.

Mr. Yasuyuki Imai, vice president and COO of Softbank said “Opportunities for collaboration with the government are also increasing with the use of the latest technology for building social infrastructure