This shuttle is shown here in this Asahi article video driving on a reserved pavement. That is not so impressive. The other day it was shown on Japanese TV. It pulled in front of a building in a plaza with many pedestrians walking around and milling around. It drove slowly among the pedestrians without hitting anyone or scaring anyone. It picked up people and then slowly drove through the crowd again, back to the reserved pavement. I think it changed course and threaded its way past people who were taking pictures of it, and standing around in the way.
There are automatic cars at airports driving on reserved pavements, switching from one road to another. There have been for years. These are horizontal elevators with their own tracks. That is much less of a challenge than this new shuttle. As far as I know, this is the first self-driving vehicle put to practical use. - Jed
