ITS Australia Japan Study Tour 2026

An ITS Australia delegation of senior leaders from government, industry and academia travelled to Tokyo from 21–23 April on a focused study tour on next‑generation intelligent transport systems. Led by CEO Susan Harris, the group included representatives from road agencies, technology providers, OEMs, universities and industry bodies from Australia and New Zealand, alongside Japanese counterparts from MLIT, ITS Japan, NEC, Toyota, Sumitomo Electric, NEXCO East and others.

The program opened on Tuesday with a visit to NEC’s Future Creation Hub to explore cutting‑edge digital and data‑driven transport solutions, followed by a Japan–Australia bilateral roundtable hosted at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo and featuring speakers from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and senior officials and experts from both countries sharing policy and technical perspectives on road traffic management, ITS deployment and future mobility, before a VIP networking dinner in Ginza.

On Wednesday the delegation turned to connected and automated vehicles and infrastructure use cases through an “ITS Connect – Toyota Experience”, combining a formal meeting at Toyota’s Tokyo offices with technical briefings and demonstrations. In the afternoon, participants visit Sumitomo Electric’s Tokyo headquarters to examine advanced sensing, communications and expressway technologies that underpin safer, more efficient networks.

Thursday focused on automation pilots and expressway operations resilience. The group met at Tier IV in Shinagawa for an automated bus demonstration and discussion on AV deployment in mixed urban environments, before travelling to NEXCO East’s Iwatsuki Control Centre in Saitama to see real‑time expressway control and traffic management in action. Across three days, the study tour provided  a structured mix of briefings, site visits, demonstrations and roundtable dialogue designed to deepen Australia–Japan collaboration on ITS innovation, policy and implementation