T2 Achieves Japan's First Automated Toll Gate Passage by Autonomous Truck

T2 Corporation (Chiyoda City, Tokyo; CEO: Masutomo Kumabe, hereinafter "T2") has successfully completed a demonstration experiment using its self-developed Level 2 autonomous truck to pass through highway toll gates in fully autonomous mode. This achievement, conducted under technically challenging conditions, marks the first such success in Japan for an autonomous truck.

For this experiment, T2 utilized not only "TransGate Ayase" in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, but also the newly established "TransGate Nishinomiya-Kita" near Nishinomiya-Kita Interchange on the Chugoku Expressway in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture. These locations are part of T2’s dedicated switching stations (hereinafter "switching hubs") called "TransGate," strategically placed near expressway interchanges to transition between driverless and manned operation as T2 advances toward Level 4 autonomy.

T2 aims to launch trunk-line transportation services using Level 4 autonomous trucks from fiscal year 2027 onward. Since 2025, the company has already begun commercial operations using Level 2 autonomous trucks on select highway sections between the Kanto and Kansai regions. The number of commercial users—primarily logistics companies and manufacturers who have verified the safety and transport quality of autonomous trucks through demonstrations—has expanded to 17 companies.

Interviews with commercial operation users are available here: https://note.com/t2_auto/m/m536222e3ab17

Parallel to building this service infrastructure, T2 has accelerated vehicle technology development toward Level 4 autonomy. In March 2026, the company achieved a milestone by completing a roughly 500-kilometer stretch of the main highway connecting Kanto and Kansai entirely in autonomous mode, without a single temporary manual steering intervention by the driver—the first such achievement in Japan.

Building on this success, T2 launched experiments in May 2026 to pass through toll gates in autonomous mode, targeting the Ayase Smart Interchange on the Tomei Expressway in Atsugi City, Kanagawa (Kanto region), and the Nishinomiya-Kita Interchange on the Chugoku Expressway in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo (Kansai region). Both experiments were successfully completed within the same month.

Toll gate lanes present significant technical challenges: while T2’s autonomous trucks are approximately 2.5 meters wide, the narrowest lanes are only about 3 meters wide. Additionally, curbs and other structures are in close proximity during passage, requiring far more precise vehicle localization and control than on regular highway driving.

To address this, T2’s system performs real-time alignment between pre-prepared high-precision 3D point cloud data and live data collected by LiDAR sensors mounted on the truck during operation. This enables centimeter-level localization accuracy and fine-grained vehicle control. Furthermore, by developing and implementing technology that allows various sensors to accurately detect ETC gates and determine whether it is safe to proceed, T2 successfully cleared the entire sequence of toll gate passage.

This experiment also considered future operations under Level 4 autonomy, utilizing the "TransGate" switching hubs where drivers board and disembark to transition between driverless operation (on highways) and manned operation (on general roads connecting interchanges to customer logistics facilities).

Specifically, T2 designated both "TransGate Ayase," located near the Ayase Smart Interchange on the Tomei Expressway in Atsugi City, Kanagawa, and the newly established "TransGate Nishinomiya-Kita," near the Nishinomiya-Kita Interchange on the Chugoku Expressway in Hyogo, as departure and arrival points for the trucks involved in this experiment, focusing intensively on automated toll gate passage.

"TransGate Nishinomiya-Kita" consists of two nearby spaces—one in Kobe City and the other in Nishinomiya City—strategically located close to the entrance and exit of Nishinomiya-Kita Interchange. These spaces are respectively used for departures toward Kanto and arrivals from Kanto. Both locations utilize existing premises owned by Kuramoto Unyu Co., Ltd. (Nishinomiya City, Hyogo), and together can accommodate up to eight trucks simultaneously.

Name

TransGate Nishinomiya-Kita

Location

Two locations: Kita-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo (departure space for Kanto) and Yamaguchi-cho, Nishinomiya City (arrival space from Kanto)

Total Area

Approximately 350m²

Truck Capacity

8 trucks

Nearest IC and Distance

Approximately 500 meters from Nishinomiya-Kita Interchange on the Chugoku Expressway

Building on the success of this toll gate passage, T2 will continue advancing technology development to enable seamless autonomous driving between TransGates in Kanto and Kansai. This includes autonomous operation on general roads connecting toll gates and TransGates, as well as automated vehicle entry and exit at TransGate facilities.