Initiatives for autonomous driving

Run to the future.

Toward the age of autonomous driving, NEXCO CENTRAL is implementing various initiatives to create Expressway spaces that are safer, more secure, and more comfortable to drive on, including conducting vehicle-infrastructure cooperation demonstration experiments Expressway under construction and conducting demonstration experiments on priority lanes for autonomous vehicles on the E1A Shin-Tomei Expwy in cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies.

Autonomous Driving Image Gallery

The robot used in the video
Currently being tested as a cleaning robot in restrooms at service areas

Learn more

*Currently patented (Patent No. 7496334)

Initiatives for priority lanes for autonomous vehicles

As an early harvest project of the "Digital Lifeline Nationwide Comprehensive Development Plan"
Starting Monday, March 3, 2025, priority lanes for autonomous vehicles will be operational on the E1A Shin-Tomei Expwy between Surugawan-Numazu SA and Hamamatsu SA.

We will conduct demonstration experiments to realize Level 4 autonomous trucks through road-vehicle cooperation (providing merging support information, predictive information, etc.) in conjunction with vehicle development. We will proceed with the verification in cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies such as Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the National Police Agency.

Autonomous vehicle priority lane / Merging assistance information provision example / Merging assistance information provision example / Anticipatory information provision example

Infrastructure support required for autonomous driving services on Expressway

Demonstration experiment participants

Experimenter

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tourism, National Police Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

cooperation

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Shizuoka Prefectural Police, Central Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd.

Participants

Road to the L4 Theme 3 Consortium, T2 Inc.

Road-vehicle cooperation demonstration experiment using Expressway under construction

For approximately three months from Monday, May 13, 2024 to Friday, July 26, 2024, a demonstration experiment of vehicle-to-infrastructure cooperation using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications with autonomous vehicles was conducted on the under-construction section of Shin-Tomei Expwy.

For details, click here (Road-vehicle coordination demonstration experiment Shin-Tomei Expwy (section under construction))