The government will allow autonomous driving services on at least 25 public road routes by March next year and on 100 routes at an early date, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday.
In that time period, Level 4 driverless vehicles — those that are fully autonomous — will also be seen traveling under specific conditions on some 10 routes after going through a screening process shortened to two months, Kishida told reporters in Taki, Mie Prefecture, where he viewed digital technology-based community development efforts and took a test ride on a self-driving bus.
At a ceremony in the town, the prime minster vowed to increase government subsidies to push ahead with a "Digital Garden City" initiative involving Taki and some other towns in the prefecture.
Earlier in the day, Kishida visited Kameyama, also in Mie Prefecture, to watch the drilling survey at a candidate location for a station on the planned Nagoya-Osaka section of the Chuo Shinkansen magnetic levitation train line.
After the inspection, he said the transport ministry and maglev train operator Central Japan Railway, or JR Tokai, will officially join a group formed by the three western prefectures of Mie, Nara and Osaka to promote the construction of the section.