Enoshima: In a major attempt to tackle labour shortage ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, Japan is testing a self-driving bus in the country's beach city of Enoshima for the sailing events, hopes to prepare residents to the possible introduction of autonomous transport.
The bus is a joint project between the railway company Odakyu and multinational conglomerate SoftBank.
The head of Robot Town Sagami, Mitsutoshi Sato said that projects like this will help with Japan's labor crisis. Robot Town Sagami is an initiative to promote robotic solutions across 12 Japanese municipalities.
Sato said, "We're trying to help people's daily lives. By facilitating the implementation of robotics, we aim to help solve the challenge of Japan's various labor shortages. That being said, for this self-driving event, we're looking at the issue of not having enough bus drivers. This is the subject our company is currently examining."
The vehicle runs a set route between a parking lot on Enoshima's mainland and Enoshima Yacht Harbor on Enoshima Island, the site of the future 2020 Olympic Sailing event.
The route takes approximately twenty minutes round-trip and hopes to make transportation smoother for those wanting to view the event.
The bus can hold eight passengers at a time, and since the system is in a testing phase, each run is accompanied by a bus driver who makes sure everything is running smoothly and is ready to take over in case anything goes wrong.
The self-driving system works by being connected to the signals on the route and is able to determine whether the light ahead will be red or green, as well as how long until the signal changes colors.
The bus is also equipped with several sensors and cameras, both inside and outside the bus.
The sensors on the outside of the bus allow the onboard system to recognize cars and pedestrians around it, allowing it to keep a safe distance from vehicles in front of it, as well as telling the bus when to stop if a pedestrian crosses its route.
The sensors and cameras inside the bus tell the system how many people are on the bus, as well as whether they are standing, sitting, or moving.
There is also a worker back at Odakyu's office in Tokyo who monitors the interior of the bus live, keeping an eye on passengers and making sure that everything is running smoothly.
In the case of an emergency, such as a medical situation involving one of the passengers, this worker is able to contact the passengers and can access the bus to deal with the situation.
Japan is currently facing a labor shortage that is expected to only grow.
According to a 2018 report from The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, "Transport and postal activities" is one of the categories hit hardest by this labor shortage, seeing some of the highest rises in overtime amongst workers.
If the current test plays out well, the bus is expected to make another show during the 2020 Olympic games.
The current test run started on August 21st, however, the bus only started accepting passengers on August 26. The test run ends on August 30th.
Read also: Pak Minister predicts Indo-Pak war in 'October or following month'
