Such services are expected to become a new means of public transit in regions facing population decline. In Eiheiji, where level 4 autonomous driving was approved for the first time in the country, a seven-seater electric cart developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and others runs on a section of a walking trail spanning about 2 kilometers. There is no operator in the cart, and one person in charge of remote monitoring manages up to three such electric carts. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.