From FY2021 to FY2022, as part of the Field Operation Tests (FOTs) in the Tokyo Waterfront area, an information delivery system that uses a public long range network (V2N) was set up and used to perform verification testing for four types of traffic environment information: rainfall information, lane-specific road traffic information, mock emergency vehicle information for vehicles on emergency calls, and predictive SPaT (Signal Phase and Timing) information. A total of 22 organizations from Japan and abroad participated in these FOTs. These included motor vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, venture companies, and universities. The participants evaluated the effectiveness of delivering traffic environment information via V2N and identified the issues that were involved. PUSH and PULL methods of information delivery were set up, to be used as appropriate given the characteristics of the information to be delivered. Participants evaluated the impact of increased communications traffic volume and the impact of delays caused by the network, looking towards future practical implementation. The results of the tests were evaluated and verified by test participants in FOTs working group meetings, and information regarding the effectiveness of traffic environment information and the issues involved were summarized.

From the viewpoint of improving reliability and availability, three requirements for SPaT (Signal Phase and Timing) information for automated driving were identified: (1) the error between SPaT information and actual light color should be less than ±300ms, (2) errors in SPaT information should be detected and the vehicle should be notified of the errors, and (3) the provision of SPaT information in various signal control systems should be achieved. First, for the V2I system, the technical specifications for SPaT information provision infrastructure using V2I were decided on by FY2020. Next, from the viewpoint of reducing maintenance costs, etc., we started studying the V2N system using mobile lines in FY2019, and by FY2021, through FOTs (Field Operational Tests) in Saitama Prefecture, we worked on the establishment of SPaT information provision technology using the V2N method. We also studied the social functional requirements of the SPaT Information Center, which constitutes the core of the social implementation model envisioned in the study of the V2N method. Based on these studies, in FY2022, we conducted FOTs integrating a series of components from SPaTs at 17 locations to simulated on-board devices, and verified the effectiveness of the three SPaT information provision methods and of the overall system configuration.

Autonomous automated vehicles operate based on a limited range of information. If there is an accident or other traffic congestion ahead then they may need to decelerate suddenly, and if there is heavy traffic then they may be unable to change lanes smoothly. At such times, allowing the traffic situation ahead to be known in advance for each lane (anticipatory information) would make it possible for automated vehicles to drive more safely and smoothly; for example, by decelerating earlier or changing lanes in a more prepared and relaxed way. With the spread of connected vehicles, a data acquisition environment for generating such anticipatory information is becoming available, but not in a format that enables direct lane-by-lane understanding of traffic conditions. This project aims to develop technology for lane-level traffic information, which would be considered highly useful for the safe and smooth driving of automated vehicles. As an element of this goal, the project established an FOT (Field Operational Tests) environment to confirm the level of lane-by-land data that can be generated from the probe information from vehicles currently on the market and then offer centralized aggregation and distribution of the generated data together with other road traffic environment data.

Merging on expressways is one particular use case in which automated vehicle controls are difficult to achieve, as the vehicle must merge by selecting and moving into a space between other vehicles that are being driven at high speeds on the main lane. In particular, expressways in urban areas, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway, provide little distance to merge. As such, vehicles must merge into gaps between other vehicles on the main lane after accelerating to their speed in just a short merging area. We believed that smooth merging in this area could be realized by using a vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication system to share vehicle location information with automated vehicles to assist with their automated driving. In this study, we built concepts and evaluated system feasibility by using a simulator to test a "lane merging assistance system," assisting merging using a V2I communication system. Specifically, we acquired tracking data for actual traffic patterns based on the outbound Higashi Ikebukuro Entrance of the Metropolitan Expressway Route No. 5 Ikebukuro Line, and then developed a traffic flow simulator that recreated it. Using this simulator, we compared and analyzed the impact of changing merging assistance system factors such as communication and sensing area on the main lane traffic flow and merging vehicle behavior, both with and without assistance.

Held over three years from fiscal year 2020, this research aims to improve the precision of traffic regulation information data managed by the police department that is required to establish a traffic environment in which automated vehicles are able to drive safely and securely. In order to enhance traffic regulation information precision, we deliberated issues and improvement plans for the standard format of existing traffic regulation information and prepared a new expanded standard format and its manual. Through the FOTs (Field Operational Tests), based on the model system requirements definition (proposal) prepared in fiscal 2020, we developed and tested a model system to confirm consistency between the traffic regulation information and the information conveyed with traffic signs and marks and to link these information, and also the image recognition technology was evaluated, In fiscal 2022, we used the technology and expanded standard format developed the previous year to construct a prototype system, conduct FOTs related to improving traffic regulation information data precision and effects verification, and organized a requirement definition (proposal) for the system implementation.

Currently, traffic signal priority control for public transit buses and emergency vehicles is mainly provided by a system using optical beacons installed on the roadside, however we have developed a system using GNSS (location information) and mobile phone communication networks. The GNSS enables the service to be provided even in locations where optical beacons are not installed. In FOTs (Field Operational Tests) of traffic signal priority control, it was demonstrated that the non-passage rate of buses during extended green signal periods was reduced by 88.9% compared to that of optical beacons by continuously obtaining location information and travel speed using GNSS, and that finer traffic signal priority control was possible. In addition, FOTs were conducted in the Tokyo waterfront area using the mechanism developed in this technology development to distribute information on emergency vehicles (simulated) to automated vehicles. By providing the location information of emergency vehicles such as ambulances to the automated vehicle, it is possible to recognize their presence from a greater distance. We expect that the results of this technological development will be implemented in society as soon as possible with the goal of realizing "practical application of advanced automated driving with infrastructure cooperative system" as indicated in the SIP Roadmap of V2X Communication Methods for Cooperative Driving Automation.

This project was conducted to formulate the roadmap for the timing of social implementation of communication technologies necessary for the realization of an automated driving society, based on the study, verification, and field tests of the technical feasibility of wireless communication, including specific requirements for wireless communication technologies, for the use-cases for cooperative driving automation utilizing the V2X as formulated by the Task Force on V2X communication for cooperative driving automation, system implementation working group. Specifically, we examined the communication requirements for use-cases; verified whether the wireless communication cellular V2X system could be used, formulated measures to solve any problems that arose, and then verified their effectiveness; verified whether the existing wireless 700 MHz band Intelligent Transport Systems could be used, formulated measures to solve any problems that arose, and verified their effectiveness; and developed the roadmap of communication requirements for cooperative automated driving as necessary for the realization of an automated driving society.

In this study, based on the road map, which describes specific requirements for wireless communication technologies applied to the cooperative automated driving use cases developed through R&Ds in the 2nd phase of SIP-adus, we proposed a specification of wireless devices including communication protocol requirements for implementation of the V2X system with radio wave in 5.9GHz band, in order to accelerate to solve relevant issues and to proceed study for the realization of cooperative automated driving.

There are a number of issues that will need to be addressed in order to make automated driving ubiquitous in the future. One of these is the fact that automated vehicles cannot themselves perform adequate sensing in complex environments such as intersections, forcing these vehicles to stop or slow down in front of intersections in order to safely proceed through intersections, potentially interrupting the flow of traffic. As part of research and development conducted in fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020, preliminary research and field tests were conducted involving core technologies concerning the collection of data on objects such as vehicles and pedestrians from sensors, etc. in the vicinity of intersections, as well as data distribution control technologies for automated vehicles. In fiscal 2021, steps were taken to support a broader range of data such as emergency vehicle data and traffic signal schedule information, as well as steps to support information distribution in mid-scale network for a variety of use cases. Meanwhile, tests were run to gauge server load in mid-scale network area and data transmission efficiency, in addition to assessing the usefulness of information distribution system in mid-scale network, with the goal of practical application of these technologies. The results of this research and tests led to the creation of the Mid-Scale Network Server Implementation Guidelines for business operators considering V2N information distribution in mid-scale network.

As automated driving systems become more complex, there is a need to ensure the safety of countless driving environments. However, safety validation on current automated vehicle relies on comprehensive results evaluations in real driving environments and are quite costly in terms of people, material, money, and time. It is also difficult to test the physical perception and recognition performance limits of camera, radar, LiDAR, and other such external sensors with respect to physical phenomena that occur in the real world. In other words, there is the issue of how far to go in constructing systems to guarantee safety (How safe is safe enough?) Against this backdrop, this research project will build an assessment platform for virtual simulations that can achieve "highly consistent modeling of driving environments, spatial propagation, and sensors" with real phenomena, as is needed to conduct automated driving safety assurance. The goal is to enable detailed and efficient safety assurance for automated driving systems under a large number of scenarios.

Automated driving equivalent to Level 4 in urban areas requires advanced and autonomous recognition functions using on-board AI, as well as road facilities, communication facilities, and other infrastructure to support these functions. At the same time, the installation of road and communication facilities throughout Japan requires massive budgets, so it is necessary to study the minimum necessary infrastructure and recognition technologies. Therefore, in this project, for the purpose of advancing discussions of future cooperative areas, we conducted research and investigations on the recognition technologies and infrastructure that will be essential for automated driving systems through public road tests of automated vehicles, chiefly through universities and other organizations that are capable of publishing a certain amount of acquired data and the technologies used to acquire that data. Based on the knowledge gained from the public road tests, we investigated the factors and issues that cause recognition failures in (non-cooperative) automated driving systems, and evaluated the effectiveness of road traffic environment data provided by the infrastructure.

As connected cars and automated driving systems develop and spread, a lot of information of advanced maps and the vehicles, people, and infrastructure facilities mapped onto them is transmitted to vehicles via external networks. This situation causes cybersecurity issues. Furthermore, since the introduction of UN-R155/R156 to the safety standards for road vehicles—agreed-upon regulations for cybersecurity and software updates—it is also necessary to take countermeasures against cyberattacks from a legal perspective. To solve these issues, this study focused on intrusion detection systems (IDS) as a new countermeasure technology against cyberattacks after shipment, and developed IDS evaluation guidelines to serve as a baseline for evaluation and testing when introducing IDS. During the current fiscal year, we are studying methods of collecting and accumulating threat information on connected cars and conducting collection experiments using methods such as honeypots, seeking to create a mechanism to support an initial response when an incident actually occurs.

This paper outlines the activities of "Research and Development of Knowledge that Drivers and Pedestrians Should Acquire and Effective Educational Methods (Task C)" of the second phase of SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services). In Task C, based on the main research objectives, we have set three research themes for further developing educational methods: (1) proposal of an educational method based on individual characteristics, (2) proposal of a motivational method, and (3) development of complete educational materials that can be modularized with partial education in mind. In addition, using prototype teaching materials, we verified the effectiveness of providing general knowledge about automated driving in advance using a driving simulator.

Aimed at addressing societal problems such as facilitating mobility for vulnerable road users, alleviating a lack of drivers for transportation and logistics services, and reducing costs, technologies are currently being developed for low-speed automated transportation and logistics service vehicles, and FOTs (Field Operational Tests) are being done in rural regions. In contrast to traditional driver-operated vehicles, low-speed automated service vehicles need to see a number of issues addressed, including safety, security, and traffic efficiency, through better communication with traffic participants, including pedestrians and other drivers. In order to achieve safe and reliable communication between low-speed automated service vehicles and traffic participants, we analyzed communication characteristics observed during the FOTs, and conducted experimental studies concerning communication methods (vehicle behaviour, external HMI (eHMI), etc.) for relaying to traffic participants the intent and status of automated service vehicles. Furthermore, through the field operational tests, we tested communication methods through eHMI identified based on experimental studies, and confirmed the effectiveness of design recommendations for communication methods.

This paper outlines the efforts in "Development of evaluation methods of driver’s OEDR (Object and Event Detection and Response) and HMI for enhancing driver’ takeover in a transition from automated to manual driving (Task B)" in the second phase of SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services). In Task B, we considered evaluation indices for the driver's peripheral monitoring status before a takeover from automated to manual driving, and the effects of HMI on the driver's understanding of the system. We conducted driving simulator experiments to study a method for the quantitative evaluation of the driver's OEDR in preparation for driving in a system-initiated driver takeover from Level 3 automated driving. From the experiment results, we identified an evaluation index for the driver's OEDR and determined the time required for appropriate OEDR. In driver-initiated driver takeover situations from Level 2 automated driving, we found that eye tracking are effective in evaluating the driver's attention state during Level 2 use. We also clarified the HMI requirements so that the driver can understand the functional limits of the system appropriately and respond appropriately before the functional limits are reached.

This project aims for social implementation of automated driving services, which have been started in limited areas, in multiple areas throughout Japan for the purpose of permanent implementation of automated driving mobility services, by examining the sustainability of the project, updating the manual on automated driving mobility services as needed, and contributing to the expansion of examples of social implementation of mobility services with automated driving. First, we will address issues related to social implementation, such as securing road space and operation management, in rural areas where there is little other traffic, as areas where automated driving mobility services can be introduced on prefectural and municipal roads at the current technological level. Four areas that have been socially implemented and one experimental area where a long-term field operational tests (FOTs) was conducted were selected as the target areas for verification. These target areas will sequentially begin offering automated driving mobility services from November 2019, and are implementing measures such as collaboration with other businesses and improving the acceptance of local residents that will contribute to the sustainability of the business. This paper outlines the purpose of introducing automated driving mobility services, the areas selected for studies for practical application, the vehicles to be used, the definition of requirements for social implementation, and the initiatives being taken in each of the social implementation sites and long-term FOTs sites.

In the social implementation of automated driving technology, it is essential to foster public acceptance in addition to the development of the technology and regulatory system. A correct understanding and a flexible and appropriate response by consumers will promote the early and effective use of the technology and ensure the safety of the new road traffic system. The author, in cooperation with related ministries and agencies, has conducted consumer awareness surveys on automated driving for several years, following up on the changes in awareness and exploring what information in which areas, and how to provide it, will lead to the fostering of public acceptance. Based on the focus on ADAS in the interim report, this paper looks closely at automated driving as a passenger transport service vehicle in local communities, and examines the relationship between the degree of acceptance of "lifestyle change," "learning," "cost," and "inherent characteristics and technological limitations," which are considered to constitute public acceptance, and awareness within the community. This paper then discusses action evaluation in fostering public acceptance and presents hints for fostering public acceptance of automated driving and the importance of a co-creation system.

The evaluation of the social and economic impact of automated driving is extremely important in terms of fostering social acceptance, government policy making, and application to corporate management regarding automated driving. Based on this recognition, the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of "Study of socioeconomic impacts of automated driving including traffic accident reduction" and its successor project, "Research on assessment of the impact of automated driving on society and the economy and on measures to promote deployment." This paper first introduces two models (dynamic model and static model) of the "diffusion simulation" of automated vehicles, which is the basis of the socioeconomic impact assessment, following overview of the impact assessment on road traffic, transportation services, and industry and society, which were conducted using the results of the diffusion simulation.

Japan faces a mountain of issues related to mobility, including lack of transportation options in isolated areas as the population becomes older as well as a shortage of drivers in the logistics industry. As such, there are rising expectations that social implementation of automated driving technology can solve these issues. One priority for social implementation is the R&D of automated driving technology and the fostering of public acceptance along with constructing the system infrastructure. Therefore, as an activity to foster public acceptance, SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services), form its first phase, have taken efforts to promote proper understanding of automated driving in society through communication and dialogue related to automated driving with citizens, local government officials, and business operators in the traffic industry. We also widely shared the activities of local governments and businesses related to social implementation of automated driving and promoted cooperation across Japan to learn about issues and successful case examples. This document provides an overview of these activities.

Our aim is to realize a "Cohesive Society" in which people with disabilities, who until now have not necessarily been able to fully participate, can actively participate and contribute to society. In the 1990s, Low-floor busses appeared on the market, and measures such as electric ramps for wheelchair access have been studied. In the near future, automated driving is expected to reduce traffic accidents and ease traffic congestion. Even in a world where automated buses are widely used, however, it is necessary to aim for automated buses that can be used by people with disabilities or reduced mobility and orientation including elderlies, rather than simply leaving them behind. We therefore conducted a research to identify design requirements and considerations in order to achieve such automated buses. The research was conducted basically with participation of people with such reduced mobility, including behavioral observation of participants and bus drivers when they have troubles and a review meeting after making and testing mockups. As a result, as recognized problems, something related to getting in and off the bus, locking the wheel chair, among others are reported. For these, we clarified requirements and considerations necessary to implement and put into practical use devices such as automatic ramp, wheelchair locking devices, and others

The data collected for automated driving, such as high precision map data, road traffic data, and vehicle probes, are expected to be used as road traffic environment data in various other industries as well as the automotive industry. In order to realize a mechanism to allow this, we constructed and released "MD communet^®," a portal site for road traffic environment data that aggregates data in the mobility field and links it with other fields. Aiming for the continued operation of MD communet, we have also promoted activities to spread the service, such as acquiring more member companies, increasing awareness through various promotion, and creating offline/online matching opportunities. In addition, we have developed service examples that effectively use road traffic environment data, which is the key to social implementation of this system, in combination with information from other fields, and have studied the support functions necessary for service development.

From the perspective of creating use cases to solve transportation-related issues in urban areas by utilizing road traffic environment data, we held a contest (an App Contest to Solve Tourism and Transportation Issues (the "Kyoto Raku Mobi Contest") to solicit applications and ideas to solve social issues related to tourism and transportation faced by Kyoto City, a world-class tourist city with many tourist resources. The contest was conducted with the cooperation of the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau and businesses involved in transportation, logistics, and tourism, and organized and provided data including data on stations, stops, routes, schedules, and fares of buses, trains, and other public transportation systems; data on services and stores for temporary baggage storage and delivery services in the logistics sector; and information on tourist facilities and locations, past congestion statistical data and future congestion forecast data, and map APIs in the tourism sector. Through the implementation of the contest, we raised awareness of the portal site for road traffic environment data, and through discussions and coordination with the various involved parties, we realized the collection and utilization of data to be posted on the portal site (MD communet^Ⓡ).

This study conducted FOTs (Field Operational Tests) on data acquisition and utilization for three use cases: (1) ascertaining the occurrence of waiting time and sharing with related parties, (2) checking daily inspection items using vehicle data, and (3) measuring load weight and tire data to ensure legal compliance and safety, and identified the issues towards implementation and considered countermeasures, with the aim of utilizing various types of data related to vehicle and probe information to improve operational efficiency and ensure safety in truck logistics. Through the verification of the hypotheses via the FOTs and discussions with carriers and related businesses based on the results of the FOTs, each use case was evaluated highly from the perspective of its usefulness in improving the efficiency of trucking operations and ensuring safety. On the other hand, since each use case is still at the concept level and the considerations towards implementation are still in their infancy, it will take a considerable period of time before practical application, as there are various technical, business, and legal issues to be addressed in the detailed considerations. In order to create the environment and momentum towards practical application, it is necessary to promote awareness of each use case and to create related organizations and businesses that will serve as promoters.

This project was conducted for the purpose of studying potential generation of data that can be utilized in road maintenance and management, as well as information useful in automated vehicle driving, such as information related to poor weather and road conditions, based on probe vehicle data. As probe vehicle data used for studies, we take up data that can currently be acquired, such as ABS, traction control systems, Electronic Stability Controls, and windshield wiper operation data, and data that may be acquired in the future, such as road grip level data and water film thickness estimates. By grasping the correlation between probe vehicle data and various meteorological data that can grasp the precipitation and organizing in along the same units for each category, we plan to consider the potential for data generation and the effectiveness of this data in automated driving support and road maintenance.

SIP-adus Workshop 2022 was held in Kyoto on October 11. It was the ninth workshop since 2014, and the last workshop of SIP-adus. The event saw researchers meet face-to-face and discuss issues for the first time in three years. This international conference, organized by Japan and established to communicate information and research results to stakeholders in Japan and overseas, to build networks with overseas researchers, as well as to develop leaders capable of acting in an international capacity, has seen its profile increase with every iteration and has served to facilitate SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services) international cooperation activities. Cooperative ties formed through this workshop among researchers in Japan and overseas, and newly developed connections with younger generations, will be carried on in the future development of automated driving technologies and the process of their social implementation.

As intergovernmental international cooperation activities in the second phase of SIP-adus, collaborative activities with the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) and Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG-RTD) of the European Commission were conducted by receiving offers for joint research through the frameworks of Japanese-German cooperation and of EU funded project. In the Japanese-German cooperation, a steering committee that made decisions on collaborative research activities in the field of automated driving, approved joint research plans in the four research fields of human factors, socioeconomic impact, safety assurance, and cybersecurity related to automated driving technology, and collaborative activities were conducted. In the Japanese-EU cooperation, offers were received to cooperate with projects under Horizon 2020, an European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation funded by the European Commission, and cooperation activities with mainly three projects under Horizon 2020 were conducted.

International cooperation activities for dynamic maps are based on the results of SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services) research and development in Japan. Their main purpose is to make the activities and R&D results related to SIP-adus , especially dynamic maps, known to the world, to obtain feedback on them, and to ensure consistency with international standards.Our activities can be broadly broken down into presenting our work at international conferences etc., international standardization activities, industy-wide alignment activities, and Japan-USA-Europe trilateral cooperation activities. Our activities during the second phase of SIP-adus had included presenting our work at several international conferences, including the ITS World Congress; establishing four international standards, ISO17572-1, 4 (location reference methods) and ISO20524-1, 2 (geographic data file); formally participating as a steering member of the OADF (Open AutoDrive Forum), an industry standardization activity related to digital maps; and achieving results in the implementation of SIP-adus FOTs (Field Operational Tests) based on specifications from ADASIS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Interface Specification Forum), another organization participating in the OADF.

Human factors in automated driving are important factors related to public acceptance and safety of automated driving. Understanding humans can be positioned as foundational research in the cooperative area. During the first and the second phases of SIP-adus (Cross-ministerial strategic Innnovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving for Universal Services), Research questions, methods and results were actively shared anddiscussed through the international collaborations. The results were also brought to international standardization. This article introduces such activities.

As automated vehicles are expected to be put into practical use and be deployed in order to realize a safer, more efficient, and freer mobility society, there is an urgent need to develop safety assurance standards that ask what kind of concepts should be employed to make safety judgments that are acceptable to the public, as well as safety assurance methods that seek to comprehensively assure safety in diverse traffic situations. In Japan, DIVP^Ⓡ,(1) which is supported by the Cabinet Office in its efforts to build a safety assurance virtual environment, and SAKURA,⁽²⁾ which is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in its efforts to build a safety assurance scenario database, have launched, and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc. (JAMA), while presenting a technical strategy across these projects, is collaborating with industry, government, and academia to build safety assurance foundational technologies to support safety assurance standards and methods. Many research projects on safety assurance have been launched in various countries, and it is important to establish and operate a cooperative system that provides a lever for establishing international standards and criteria and common foundational technologies through close cooperation among such projects, both domestic and international.

Participation in SIP-adus workshops and related international conferences in the context of connected and cooperative automated driving technologies not only promoted overseas trend survey but also contributed to outreach activities from SIP- adus and building networks with overseas experts. In particular, the SIP-adus Workshop introduced SIP-adus activities to overseas experts to deepen understanding and about the status of overseas activities from the experts themselves. At international conferences held in Europe and the United States, a wide range of information on government initiatives and business activities in each country has been obtained. This article introduces an overview of these efforts.