The autonomous taxi will arrive in Japan in 2026 thanks to three well-known automotive companies

We are still very far from the industrial application of autonomous driving, but there are already several projects to use it in public transport. The taxi is the means of transport chosen to use this autonomous system and carry passengers to their destination safely and sustainably. In the United States tests are being carried out in San Francisco and Las Vegas, among other cities, and in Japan a similar service will be established in 2026.

One of the companies that will take charge of this was announced this week. It is the alliance of Honda, GM and Cruise, which will be formalized in mid-2024. The union of these three companies will enable the use of autonomous vehicles to move autonomously through Tokyo, although this service will not start until 2026.

This service will begin operating in the centre of the Japanese capital, using an autonomous vehicle, the Cruise Origin. At first, only a few units will be deployed, although it is expected to reach a fleet of 500 units. It is also expected that it will expand to other cities and serve thousands of people in a relatively short time.

Cruise has been working with GM for several years to refine the Cruise Origin and has made several changes to its design and equipment to make it increasingly functional. This duo is carrying out tests in San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin. In these American cities, they have already accumulated more than five million kilometres of testing.

This vehicle has capacity for six passengers, in two benches of three seats each, facing each other.

Apparently, in Tokyo there is serious demand for taxi drivers, which cannot be alleviated. The arrival of these vehicles will help public transport improve its service and achieve a sufficient number of vehicles dedicated to this service that does not require the presence of a human driver.