Setting up highway lanes for self-driving trucks

TOKYO: The expressway linking Tokyo to Nagoya is soon to be equipped with a lane reserved for autonomous trucks.

The idea is to allow the first driverless trucks to operate on a dedicated stretch of road, in complete safety, and separate from other traffic.

According to Nikkei Asia, the project involves setting up a 100-km lane reserved for driverless trucks, but initially only at night.

The autonomous driving lane will run along a section of the Shin-Tomei Expressway, covering about 100km between Numazu and Hamamatsu. This section is relatively straight, with three lanes on each side, and therefore suited - in theory - to self-driving vehicles. It has not yet been decided whether the lane will also be open to human-driven vehicles.

The project is expected to be up and running by 2024. But in order to do so, it will be necessary to install sensors and cameras at regular intervals along the entire route, all connected in 5G, for real-time data transfer without latency. In this way, if obstacles are detected, approaching vehicles will be able to automatically slow down or even stop in the event of a serious risk of collision.

It should be noted that this is not the only project involving dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles.

A test will soon be carried out in Michigan, United States, with the creation of a 60-km-long corridor specifically for self-driving vehicles. Here too, all the necessary infrastructure will have to be installed to ensure optimal interconnectivity as well as a safe and fluid traffic.