{"id":"AIBD-1212","title":"Japan's Kanto District Transport Bureau approves an Ibaraki Kotsu bus on the Hitachi BRT as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver","summary":"On 26 November 2024 a Japanese transport bureau confirmed that a Hitachi BRT bus's automated operation device met the safety standards. It approved the bus as a Level 4 vehicle on about 6.1 km.","date_observed":"2024-11-26","date_basis":"source publication","date_precision":"day","benefit_status":"intended","source_collection":null,"source_entry":null,"account":"Advanced Smart Mobility of Tsukuba applied to Japan's Kanto District Transport Bureau for the automated operation device of an Isuzu Erga Mio bus. Ibaraki Kotsu runs the bus on the Hitachi BRT, a bus rapid transit line in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture. On 26 November 2024 the bureau confirmed that the device met the safety standards of the Road Transport Vehicle Act. It attached operating environment conditions and approved the bus as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver. The approved section runs about 6.1 km on the BRT's dedicated road, at up to 40 km/h. The bureau wrote that this was the longest section approved for any Level 4 vehicle. The release says that the bus locates itself with sensors and detects nearby vehicles and pedestrians on a set route. A 2 October 2025 presentation by Advanced Smart Mobility lists AI and high-precision maps under obstacle avoidance control. On 24 January 2025 Ibaraki Kotsu announced that commercial Level 4 service on the section would begin on 3 February 2025. The approval rests on a conformity check and reports no outcome from service.","category":"benefit created","unexpected":false,"purpose":"Advanced Smart Mobility built the automated operation device to drive the bus on a set route with no driver under specific conditions.","system":"Automated operation device (自動運行装置) on an Isuzu Erga Mio bus for the Hitachi BRT","model_version":null,"developer":"Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd. (先進モビリティ株式会社), the applicant","deployer":"Ibaraki Kotsu Co., Ltd. (茨城交通株式会社), the operator","location":"Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan","domain":"Road vehicle automated driving","segment":null,"benefit_type":"Increased Product Safety","work_activities":["4.A.3.a.4","4.A.1.a.2"],"taxonomy_note":null,"registry_ids":{},"ratings":[{"group":"societal","depth":null,"reason":"The bureau approved the bus for service with no driver on a conformity check, and no outcome for riders or other road users is reported."}],"ai_role":{"status":"unassessed","statement":"The bureau confirmed that the device met the safety standards and gives no comparison with a human driver. The release describes sensors that locate the bus and the detection of vehicles and pedestrians. The maker's 2025 presentation names AI in obstacle avoidance control, and no source shows that the device on this bus learns from data."},"evidence":[{"kind":"regulatory document","citation":"Kanto District Transport Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省関東運輸局). 茨城県初！自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました (Ibaraki's first approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle). Press release, 26 November 2024.","title":"茨城県初！自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました","url":"https://wwwtb.mlit.go.jp/kanto/content/000336532.pdf","date":"2024-11-26","written_by":"independent","quote":"2024 年 11 月 26 日、道路運送車両法に基づき保安基準の適合性が確認されましたので、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。"},{"kind":"regulatory document","citation":"Kanto District Transport Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省関東運輸局). 茨城県初！自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました (Ibaraki's first approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle). Press release, 26 November 2024.","title":"茨城県初！自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました","url":"https://wwwtb.mlit.go.jp/kanto/content/000336532.pdf","date":"2024-11-26","written_by":"independent","quote":"これまで認可された自動運転車（レ ベル４）の中で最長の運行区間（約 6.1km）となります。"},{"kind":"press release","citation":"Ibaraki Kotsu Co., Ltd., with Michinori Holdings, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Advanced Smart Mobility, the Japan Automobile Research Institute and the Japan Research Institute. 国内最長距離＆国内初の中型バスでのレベル4自動運転の営業運行 (Japan's longest and first mid-size bus Level 4 commercial service). Press release, 24 January 2025.","title":"国内最長距離＆国内初の中型バスでのレベル4自動運転の営業運行","url":"https://img.jari.or.jp/files/user/img/information/20250124_PR_ibako.pdf","date":"2025-01-24","written_by":"deployer","quote":"本認可を受けて、特定自動運行旅客運送による営業運行 を 2025 年 2 月 3 日より開始します。"},{"kind":"other","citation":"Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd. 先進モビリティの取組 (Advanced Smart Mobility's initiatives). Material 2-4 for a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications meeting, 2 October 2025.","title":"先進モビリティの取組","url":"https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/001034209.pdf","date":"2025-10-02","written_by":"makers","quote":"障害物回避制御  AI・高精度地図の活用","supports_benefit":false},{"kind":"other","citation":"Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd. 自動運転バスの概要 (Outline of the automated driving bus). Material 3 for a Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau meeting, describing 2017 test runs.","title":"自動運転バスの概要","url":"https://www.hkd.mlit.go.jp/ob/douro_keikaku/fns6al000000d0mf-att/fns6al000000d0uv.pdf","date":null,"written_by":"makers","quote":"○Lidarとﾃﾞｨｰﾌﾟﾗｰﾆﾝｸﾞ画像認識による車両および歩行者認識","supports_benefit":false}],"replication":{"produced_by":["The bus finds its own position with sensors and follows a set route of about 6.1 km on the BRT's dedicated road at up to 40 km/h.","It detects surrounding vehicles and pedestrians while it drives.","The bureau confirmed that the automated operation device met the safety standards and set its operating environment conditions."],"must_hold":["The bus drives itself only on the approved section and under the conditions of the approval.","Level 4 service also needed a permit from the Ibaraki Prefectural Public Safety Commission, which Ibaraki Kotsu reports that it received on 18 December 2024."],"echoes":[]},"paired_incident":null,"headline":"*Automated operation device* lets a Hitachi BRT bus run with no driver","metric":null,"comparator":null,"later":{"status":"persisted","date":"2025-01-24","note":"Ibaraki Kotsu announced that commercial Level 4 service on the 6.1 km dedicated section would begin on 3 February 2025, after a permit from the prefectural Public Safety Commission on 18 December 2024 and a transport branch approval on 24 January 2025.","quote":"本認可を受けて、特定自動運行旅客運送による営業運行 を 2025 年 2 月 3 日より開始します。","url":"https://img.jari.or.jp/files/user/img/information/20250124_PR_ibako.pdf"},"learns_from_data":{"value":"not shown","note":"Advanced Smart Mobility's presentation of 2 October 2025 lists AI and high-precision maps under obstacle avoidance control in its automated bus configuration, and a Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau document on the company's 2017 test bus describes deep learning image recognition of vehicles and pedestrians. No source shows that the device on the Hitachi BRT bus learns from data.","quote":"障害物回避制御  AI・高精度地図の活用","url":"https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/001034209.pdf"},"benefit_dimensions":["functional","societal"],"benefit_categories":["physical_health","operational_improvement"],"value":null,"developer_country":"Japan","deployer_country":"Japan","unrated_because":"The bureau approved the bus on a conformity check, and no outcome from service with no driver is reported.","brief_notes":null,"brief":null,"revisions":[{"date":"2026-11-01","change":"Added the record from the finding of the Kanto District Transport Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.","source":"https://wwwtb.mlit.go.jp/kanto/content/000336532.pdf","editor":"AIBD"},{"date":"2026-11-01","change":"Placed the benefit under its broad categories.","source":null,"editor":"AIBD"}],"confidence":"found","shade":"high","claim_status":"Found by a regulator","claim_basis":"Sources: one independent regulatory document, two other sources from the makers and the deployer's press release. 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