The transport ministry will launch priority lanes for autonomous vehicles on a roughly 100-kilometer section of the Shin-Tomei Expressway to conduct test runs of self-driving trucks, starting on March 3. The trial is expected to last about one year. The move is part of a plan to create a road network that can handle so-called Level 4 autonomous driving, or unmanned driving under certain conditions, amid labor shortages in the logistics industry. The lanes will run from the Surugawan-Numazu rest area to the Hamamatsu rest area, both in Shizuoka Prefecture. One of the three lanes in both the eastbound and westbound directions of the expressway will be designated priority lanes between 10 p.m. on weekdays and 5 a.m. the following morning.

TOCHIGI – A test of self-driving bus services organized by the transport ministry kicked off at a michi no eki roadside rest area in Tochigi Prefecture on Saturday. The ministry hopes to launch the autonomous bus services in fiscal 2020, aiming to provide a means of transportation for elderly people living in hilly and mountainous areas with dwindling populations. On Saturday, a ceremony to mark the launch of the test and a test-ride event were held in the city of Tochigi. Among the participants was transport minister Keiichi Ishii. According to the ministry, 80 percent of michi no eki rest areas in Japan are in hilly and mountainous areas.