What happened
On 31 October 2024 Japan's Hokuriku-Shinetsu District Transport Bureau approved a TIER IV minibus in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, on TIER IV's application. The bureau confirmed that the vehicle's automated operation device met the safety standards of the Road Transport Vehicle Act. It set the driving environment conditions and approved the bus as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver. The bus runs about 1.2 km from Shiojiri Station to Shiojiri City Hall at up to 35 km/h. The bureau states that it drives itself on the set route under specific conditions while detecting vehicles and pedestrians. The Shiojiri City Promotion Corporation operates it. TIER IV calls the system AI Pilot and states that this was Japan's first Level 4 approval for up to 35 km/h on roads shared with pedestrians and general traffic. TIER IV's project page says that the bus runs its regular service at Level 2 while the city works toward Level 4. It adds that a permit to operate at Level 4 followed in January 2025. The release gives no test results.
Sources
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Regulatory document, by authors with no tie to the system.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan), Hokuriku-Shinetsu District Transport Bureau, Automotive Technology and Safety Department. 北陸信越運輸局管内初！！自動運転車（レベル４）の認可について (First in the bureau's area: approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle). Press release, 31 October 2024, paragraphs 1 to 3 and table.
北陸信越運輸局は、長野県塩尻市を運行する車両について、道路運送車両法に基づき、運転者を必要としない自動運転車（レベル４）として認可しました。
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Press release, by the makers.
TIER IV. TIER IV's AI Pilot system certified for Level 4 autonomous bus service in Nagano Prefecture. PR Newswire, Tokyo, 31 October 2024, as republished by TNGlobal (archived copy).
This certification marks the first-ever Level 4 certification in Japan to operate up to 35 km/h on public roads shared by pedestrians and general traffic, specifically along the route between Shiojiri Station and Shiojiri City Hall.
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Other, by the makers.
ティアフォーが開発するMinibusを自動運転バスとして使用し、現在は自動運転レベル2で自動運転バスの定常運行を実施しながら、将来的な自動運転レベル4の実装を目指しています。
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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The bus finds its own position with sensors and cameras and follows a set route. It detects surrounding vehicles and pedestrians while it drives. The bureau confirmed that the automated operation device met the safety standards and set its driving environment conditions.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The bus drives only on the approved route of about 1.2 km between Shiojiri Station and Shiojiri City Hall. It drives itself only under the specific conditions of the approval, at up to 35 km/h.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road vehicle automated driving.
- Purpose
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TIER IV built AI Pilot to drive vehicles such as its Minibus on set routes with no driver under specific conditions.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Japan approves AI Pilot to drive a Shiojiri minibus with no driver (AIBD-0951). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0951.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)