CHIBA – A compact driverless bus on Tuesday slowly shuttled a dozen passengers on public roads near the Makuhari Messe convention center in the city of Chiba to give them a sense of the steering wheel- and pedal-free future of transport. One of the passengers, Noriyuki Sakayanagi, was amazed at the distance the bus traveled without a human driver. "It wasn't scary" to ride the bus on a public road, said Sakayanagi, who was attending the first day of CEATEC 2019, one of Japan's biggest international digital trade shows that this year marks its 20th anniversary. Sakayanagi, a 39-year-old company worker, added, "I thought more improvement in detecting traffic lights may be needed and the brakes were not so smooth." CEATEC organizers said this year's four-day event has brought together 787 exhibitors from a broad spectrum of sectors -- not only information technology and electronics but also finance, housing, travel and health care -- with a vision toward a supersmart society designed to further economic growth and solve social problems.