Japan plans automated cargo transport system to relieve shortage of drivers and cut emissions
Japan is planning an automated cargo transport corridor between Tokyo and Osaka to make up for a shortage of truck drivers.
The amount of funding for the project is not yet set. But it’s seen as one key way to help the country cope with soaring deliveries.
A computer graphics video made by the government shows big, wheeled boxes moving along a three-lane corridor, also called an “auto flow road,” in the middle of a big highway. A trial system is due to start test runs in 2027 or early 2028, aiming for full operations by the mid-2030s.
“We need to be innovative with the way we approach roads,” said Yuri Endo, a senior deputy director overseeing the effort at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Apart from making up for a shrinking labor force and the need to reduce workloads for drivers, the system also will help cut carbon emissions, she said.
“The key concept of the auto flow-road is to create dedicated spaces within the road network for logistics, utilizing a 24-hour automated and unmanned transportation system,” Endo said.
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Osaka (Japanese: 大阪市, Hepburn: Ōsaka-shi, pronounced [oːsakaɕi]; commonly just 大阪, Ōsaka [oːsaka] ⓘ) is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan, and one of the three major cities of Japan (Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya). It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 million in the 2020 census, it is also the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan[4] and the 10th-largest urban area in the world with more than 19 million inhabitants