Scottish government Transport Minister Kevin Stewart said: "This is an exciting milestone for this innovative and ambitious project, and I very much look forward to seeing Project CAVForth take to the roads next month.

KAMISHIHORO, HOKKAIDO – The town of Kamishihoro, Hokkaido, began testing a driverless bus service on Saturday. The test by the Kamishihoro Municipal Government is designed to study technical issues that may arise on roads that traverse hilly and mountainous terrain in the area. "We hope that driverless bus services will be put to practical use and work to help the mobility of residents," Kamishihoro Mayor Mitsugi Takenaka said during a ceremony to mark the occasion. The test made use of a French-made Navya Arma autonomous bus built by SB Drive Corp., a unit of SoftBank Group Corp. Equipped with eight sensors and GPS, the bus ran at a speed of 10 kph near the municipal government office on a 600-meter road that was closed to traffic for the test. Some 120 residents are expected to try the bus during its three-day test run.

DeNA Co., best known as a mobile video game maker, said on Thursday it will launch a driverless bus service at a park in Chiba Prefecture from next month. The Tokyo-based firm said it has partnered with EasyMile S.A., a French startup that manufactures self-driving buses. There are not many firms that can provide "completely driverless vehicles that can be used for actual services," said Hiroshi Nakajima, who heads DeNA's automotive business, explaining why his company chose to partner with EasyMile. DeNA's new service will employ the company's EZ10 bus, an electric vehicle that can accommodate 12 people. The limited-time service, dubbed Robot Shuttle, will begin on a yet-to-be-determined date in August inside the 21,000 sq.-meter Toyosuna Park in Chiba's Makuhari district, adjacent to vast Aeon shopping complex.