6-seater cars will begin transporting passengers in central Tokyo in 2026
Honda Motor Company has announced that it plans to launch a self-driving taxi service in Japan along with Cruise and General Motors (GM). The joint venture will be created by the partners in 2024, and the driverless taxi service itself should start operating in 2026. First, driverless taxis will transport passengers in the center of Tokyo, and then beyond.
To transport passengers, a Cruise Origin car will be used without a driver’s seat and steering wheel; the interior of this vehicle can accommodate up to 6 people. At first, the service will be launched with several dozen cars, and then their number will increase to 500. Passengers will be able to order an unmanned taxi using a mobile application and pay for the service there.
Honda and General Motors will launch self-driving taxis in Japan
It is known that Cruise Origin cars have level 4 autonomy, that is, they can move without a driver if a number of conditions are met. According to international standards, there are 5 levels of car autonomy: the first involves only a little automatic assistance to the driver – this could be, for example, an autonomous emergency braking system; Level 5 is a fully self-driving car. In April of this year, a law came into force in Japan allowing the movement of driverless cars with Level 4 autonomy in some cases.
