New regulatory reform minister aims to make self-driving tech widely available

The new regulatory reform minister Hiroshi Nakatsuka speaks during an interview on Monday at the Children and Families Agency in Tokyo. New regulatory reform minister Hiroshi Nakatsuka has said he want to make self-driving technology and ride-hailing services more widely available. "I hope to accelerate the deployment of self-driving technology by removing various restrictions and collecting data," he said in an interview Monday. Regarding ride-hailing services, in which ordinary drivers use their own vehicles to transport passengers for a fee, Nakatsuka, who took office in a Cabinet reshuffle in September, cited resistance that tends to emerge when a system is changed. Securing sufficient transportation services is "the biggest challenge," Nakatsuka said, adding that the government plans to establish a related panel to promote discussions on the issue. Nakatsuka is the first Cabinet minister from the Japan Innovation Party, the coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.