With this new service, the Cruise Origin, jointly developed by GM, Cruise and Honda and purpose built for a driverless ride service, will come pick up the customers at a specified location and drive them to the destination, entirely through self-driving. Customers will use a dedicated app on their smart phones to complete the entire process from hailing to payment.
The Cruise Origin is a self-driving vehicle with no driver's seat or steering wheel. It features a vast cabin space that can be as private as a personally-owned vehicle and that allows 6 people to ride simultaneously, facing-to-face.
“This driverless ridehail service will offer an entirely new kind of mobility experience in Japan and target a wide range of customers, including business people, families, visitors and more,” Honda writes in its media statement.
The three companies are planning to launch the driverless ride service in central Tokyo in early 2026. The service will start with dozens of Cruise Origins, and then expand to a fleet of 500 Cruise Origins. The three companies plan to subsequently expand and scale the service to areas outside of central Tokyo.
Source: Honda
