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A shared shuttle bus service "Choisoko" system, developed by Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Aisin"), has been adopted as a regional vitalization initiative that is promoted in Inagawa Town, Hyogo Prefecture (hereinafter "Inagawa Town) by Netz Toyota Kobe Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Netz Toyota Kobe), which sells vehicles in Hyogo Prefecture, and it is planned that its trial operation will begin in next fiscal year.

The shared shuttle bus service "Choisoko" is a mobility support service aimed at the maintenance and promotion of health, mainly targeting elderly people, which has been implemented in Toyoake City, Aichi on a trial basis since July 2018. As Japan's population ages, the increase in shopping-challenged individuals and medically challenged individuals, who have difficulty in visiting medical facilities on their own, has become a social problem. To address this issue, this shared shuttle bus service is intended to provide mobility support for people in the community by offering access to medical institutions, public facilities, fitness opportunities, supermarkets and so forth.

In this service, multiple users share a bus to their destinations based on data of their destinations and arrival times calculated with a dedicated system. For route calculation on a map, car navigation technologies that have been cultivated by the Aisin Group are applied.

Inagawa Town, where the trial service will be implemented, is located in the northern part of the Hanshin metropolitan area in the southeast of Hyogo Prefecture, and has prospered as a comfortable residential town blessed with abundant greenery; however, recently the population has tended to decrease and some parts of the town lack sufficient public transport and residents have difficulty in moving around. To solve this issue, Inagawa Town and Netz Toyota Kobe plan to launch an on-demand shared transportation service on a trial basis in more than one area in the town in fiscal 2020.

This is the first time in Japan that a Toyota dealer, as a management entity, will operate an on-demand shared transportation service jointly with a municipal government, and the shared shuttle bus service "Choisoko" system will support the operation.

With the wide range of technologies that it has cultivated, Aisin will respond to changes in the automobile industry and help create the vehicle and mobility society wanted by people.

Meanwhile, the shared shuttle bus service "Choisoko" was honored with the Good Focus Award [New Business Design] in the Good Design Award ("G-Mark") for fiscal 2019 in October 2019, presented by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.