What happened
On 31 May 2024 the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau of Japan's transport ministry made Hokkaido's first Level 4 approval. It covers a NAVYA ARMA shuttle that BOLDLY applied for and operates in the town of Kamishihoro. The bureau confirmed that the shuttle's automated operation device met the safety standards of the Road Transport Vehicle Act. It set the driving environment conditions and approved the shuttle as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver. The route is about 630 m of the town's bus route, one way from the transport terminal to a certified early childhood center, at up to about 12 km/h. The bureau states that the shuttle finds its own position with sensors and drives itself while detecting vehicles and pedestrians. The release presents the approval as a step toward solving the shortage of bus drivers. Under Level 4 rules the vehicle must stop safely by itself when automated driving becomes difficult. The release gives no test results and does not say whether the device uses machine learning.
Sources
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Regulatory document, by authors with no tie to the system.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan), Hokkaido District Transport Bureau, Automotive Technology and Safety Department. 北海道初！ 自動運転車（レベル４）の認可について ～バス運転手不足の解決に一歩前進～ (First in Hokkaido: approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle, a step toward solving the bus driver shortage). Press release, 31 May 2024, paragraphs 1 and 2, table and attachment.
国土交通省北海道運輸局は、令和6 年5 月31 日、上士幌町内を運行する車両の自動運行装置について、道路運送車両法に基づく保安基準への適合性を確認し、当該車両に対し、走行環境条件の付与を行い、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。
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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The shuttle finds its own position with sensors and follows a set route of about 630 m. It detects surrounding vehicles and pedestrians while it drives. The bureau confirmed that the device met the safety standards and set its driving environment conditions.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The shuttle drives itself only on the approved route and under the specific conditions of the approval, at up to about 12 km/h. The operator also needs permission from the prefectural public safety commission to run it with no driver.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road vehicle automated driving.
- Purpose
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NAVYA built the ARMA shuttle to drive itself on set routes with no driver under specific conditions.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). NAVYA's ARMA gets approval to run with no driver in Kamishihoro (AIBD-1015). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1015.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)