Google sister company Waymo plans to test its autonomous taxi service on the streets of Tokyo in 2025, with the goal of resolving a severe cabdriver shortage in Japan.
Waymo will work with Japanese partners Go, the taxi-hailing platform, and taxi operator Nihon Kotsu. The three companies will test the Waymo Driver autonomous driving system with 25 vehicles in early 2025, the Alphabet-owned company announced on December 16.
The test will capture mapping data for a commercial robotaxi service. Such a service would be capable of Level 4 autonomy, which is one tier short of full automation and will require human intervention in a few circumstances.
The tests will take place on public roads in seven wards in central Tokyo: Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Shinagawa, and Koto.
Waymo will use electric vehicles made by Jaguar Land Rover. When the battery runs low, the vehicles are able to drive to charging stations.
EVs are still limited in the distances they can travel on a single charge. Waymo chose Tokyo because of its dense urban environment, which means that it is relative easy to find users in a small area.
Conditions are ripe for an autonomous taxi service in Japan due to the severe labor shortage in the cab industry. The sector is undergoing a period of transformation with the legalization of what is known as the “Japanese version” of ride-hailing.
In that setup, only licensed taxi companies are allowed to deploy gig drivers. Those services are offered during certain times of the day, in certain areas where there is a lack of fully staffed taxi drivers.
“Japan is several years behind the US and China when it comes to implementing autonomous driving technology in the real world,” said Go president Hiroshi Nakajima.
“Waymo possesses technology that is among the best in the world, including in the number of rides,” Nakajima added. “We’re intent on making driverless taxi dispatch a reality with Go.”
Consumer trust, as well as safety improvements, will be needed heading toward commercialization of driverless taxis. This month, General Motors announced that it will exit the robotaxi business after self-driving subsidiary Cruise shut down its driverless taxi service last year following reports of pedestrian injuries involving the company’s vehicles.
In February, an empty Waymo vehicle was vandalized and set on fire by a crowd in San Francisco.
Alphabet, the parent of Waymo and Google, is focused on developing artificial intelligence that would contribute to improved safety. AI could generate simulations based on real traffic data to further train robotaxis to avoid accidents.
“We’ll have to overcome various challenges before we can bring this to the real world,” said Nakajima. “However, we won’t launch a service that’s still in a precarious state. We will proceed carefully.”
Mai Niizoe, a research officer at Sompo Institute Plus who studies autonomous driving, says taxis are likely the only way of achieving “sustainable, profitable operations” using self-driving tech.
“Waymo’s track record in autonomous driving is top-level,” said Niizoe. “It will be a ‘black ship’ [foreign disruptor] for companies developing autonomous driving technology in Japan.”
In 2020, Waymo launched a driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona. The company later expanded to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Waymo has announced plans to expand to the US cities of Austin, Atlanta, and Miami.
In areas where Waymo’s taxis are available to the general public, riders can use an app to summon a vehicle, enter the destination and unlock the doors. Payment is made with a credit card through the app. In the event of an emergency, the vehicle will connect the user to an operator.
Waymo’s paid service is used around 100,000 times per week across all cities. The company looks to expand its service area to build up more data on mobility. Japan will be first place outside the US that will host testing by Waymo.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.