{"id":"AIBD-1214","title":"Japan's Kanto District Transport Bureau approves Macnica's NAVYA EVO shuttle in Hitachiota as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver","summary":"On 25 March 2026 the Kanto District Transport Bureau confirmed that the EVO's automated operation device met the safety standards. It approved the shuttle as a Level 4 vehicle on about 200 m of road.","date_observed":"2026-03-25","date_basis":"source publication","date_precision":"day","benefit_status":"intended","source_collection":null,"source_entry":null,"account":"NAVYA EVO shuttles have run in regular service in Hitachiota, Ibaraki Prefecture, since 16 February 2024, with Macnica of Yokohama as the operator. Macnica applied to Japan's Kanto District Transport Bureau for the shuttle's automated operation device. On 25 March 2026 the bureau confirmed that the device met the safety standards of the Road Transport Vehicle Act. It attached operating environment conditions and approved the shuttle as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver. The approved section runs about 200 m of public road between a Cainz store and a childcare center, at up to 18 km/h. Macnica wrote that this was the first Level 4 approval for the EVO on a public road in Japan. It added that Level 4 running still needs a permit under the Road Traffic Act. The release says that the shuttle locates itself with sensors and detects nearby vehicles and pedestrians on a set route. NAVYA's product page said that the EVO interprets data from its lidar, cameras and other sensors with deep learning programs. The approval rests on a conformity check and reports no outcome from driverless service.","category":"benefit created","unexpected":false,"purpose":"NAVYA built the EVO shuttle to drive itself on set routes with no driver under specific conditions.","system":"Automated operation device (自動運行装置) on a NAVYA EVO shuttle","model_version":null,"developer":"Navya Mobility (NAVYA), maker of the EVO shuttle","deployer":"Macnica, Inc. (株式会社マクニカ), the applicant and operator","location":"Hitachiota, 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 shuttle 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 shuttle and the detection of vehicles and pedestrians. NAVYA's product page says that the EVO interprets its sensor data with deep learning programs, and the approval document does not describe the software."},"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). 自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました (Approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle). Press release, 25 March 2026.","title":"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/000370411.pdf","date":"2026-03-25","written_by":"independent","quote":"2026 年 3 月 25 日、道路運送車両法に基づく保安基準の適合性が確認されたことから、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。"},{"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). 自動運転車（レベル４）の認可を行いました (Approval of a Level 4 automated vehicle). Press release, 25 March 2026.","title":"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/000370411.pdf","date":"2026-03-25","written_by":"independent","quote":"この自動運転車は、あらかじめ決められたルート内を周囲の車両や歩行者等を検知しながら、特定 の条件下において自動運転することが可能です。"},{"kind":"press release","citation":"Macnica, Inc. マクニカ、茨城県常陸太田市にて定常運行中の自動運転EVバス「EVO」による自動運転車（レベル4）の認可を国土交通省より取得 (Macnica obtains Level 4 approval from MLIT for the EVO automated EV bus in regular service in Hitachiota). Press release via @Press, 25 March 2026.","title":"マクニカ、茨城県常陸太田市にて定常運行中の自動運転EVバス「EVO」による自動運転車（レベル4）の認可を国土交通省より取得","url":"https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/release/atpress/2096189.html","date":"2026-03-25","written_by":"deployer","quote":"自動運転EVバス「EVO」による一般道におけるレベル4の認可は国内初の事例となります。"},{"kind":"press release","citation":"Macnica, Inc. マクニカ、茨城県常陸太田市にて定常運行中の自動運転EVバス「EVO」による自動運転車（レベル4）の認可を国土交通省より取得 (Macnica obtains Level 4 approval from MLIT for the EVO automated EV bus in regular service in Hitachiota). Press release via @Press, 25 March 2026.","title":"マクニカ、茨城県常陸太田市にて定常運行中の自動運転EVバス「EVO」による自動運転車（レベル4）の認可を国土交通省より取得","url":"https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/release/atpress/2096189.html","date":"2026-03-25","written_by":"deployer","quote":"今後道路交通法による特定自動運行に係る許可を取得後、今回付与された走行環境条件内でシステムが全ての運転操作を実施する自動運転レベル4運行に向けて引き続き準備を進めていきます。","supports_benefit":false},{"kind":"other","citation":"NAVYA. Autonom Shuttle Evo, product page (Wayback Machine copy of 2022).","title":"Autonom Shuttle Evo","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/2022id_/https://www.navya.tech/?p=827","date":null,"written_by":"makers","quote":"Data from Lidar sensors, cameras, GPS RTK, IMU, and odometry is merged and interpreted by deep learning programs.","supports_benefit":false}],"replication":{"produced_by":["The shuttle finds its own position with sensors and follows a set route of about 200 m at up to 18 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 shuttle drives itself only on the approved section and under the conditions of the approval.","Level 4 running also needs a permit for specified automated operation under the Road Traffic Act, which Macnica says that it will seek."],"echoes":[]},"paired_incident":null,"headline":"Macnica's *EVO* shuttle may run with no driver on a Hitachiota road","metric":null,"comparator":null,"later":null,"learns_from_data":{"value":"shown","note":"NAVYA's product page for the Autonom Shuttle Evo, in a 2022 Wayback Machine copy, says that data from the shuttle's lidar, cameras, GPS RTK, IMU and odometry is interpreted by deep learning programs. The approval document does not describe the software.","quote":"Data from Lidar sensors, cameras, GPS RTK, IMU, and odometry is merged and interpreted by deep learning programs.","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/2022id_/https://www.navya.tech/?p=827"},"benefit_dimensions":["functional","societal"],"benefit_categories":["physical_health","operational_improvement"],"value":null,"developer_country":"France","deployer_country":"Japan","unrated_because":"The bureau approved the shuttle 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/000370411.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, the makers' other source and the deployer's press release. 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Macnica applied to Japan's Kanto District Transport Bureau for the shuttle's automated operation device. On 25 March 2026 the bureau confirmed that the device met the safety standards of the Road Transport Vehicle Act. It attached operating environment conditions and approved the shuttle as a Level 4 automated vehicle that needs no driver. The approved section runs about 200 m of public road between a Cainz store and a childcare center, at up to 18 km/h. Macnica wrote that this was the first Level 4 approval for the EVO on a public road in Japan. It added that Level 4 running still needs a permit under the Road Traffic Act. The release says that the shuttle locates itself with sensors and detects nearby vehicles and pedestrians on a set route. NAVYA's product page said that the EVO interprets data from its lidar, cameras and other sensors with deep learning programs. 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