Kakao Mobility and Japanese Taxi Association Collaborate to Build Smart Taxi Infrastructure

Visit of "X Taxi" Association to Pangyo Headquarters
Collaboration on Platform and Autonomous Driving AI Innovation

The X Taxi delegation is inspecting Kakao Mobility's autonomous vehicles and listening to explanations about the applied technologies. Photo by Kakao Mobility

Kakao Mobility announced on April 20 that a delegation from the Japanese taxi association "X Taxi" visited its Pangyo headquarters on April 17 and signed a digital innovation business agreement to build smart taxi infrastructure.

Established in 2020, X Taxi is a general incorporated association created to drive innovation in the Japanese taxi industry, with participants from over 100 taxi companies across Japan, including Tokyo.

During this visit, more than 10 representatives from the Japanese taxi industry, including Susumu Kiyokawa, the head of X Taxi, received an explanation of the "KakaoT Taxi" business model, which is based on information and communications technology (ICT). This visit was arranged at the request of X Taxi, which had shown significant interest in the operational processes of Korea's taxi-hailing services.

Kakao Mobility shared its leading examples of digital transformation and operational expertise in Korea, including taxi company management software, unmanned dispatch kiosks, and app-based taxi meters. X Taxi, in particular, emphasized the necessity of digital transformation to address Japan's aging population and expressed strong interest in Kakao Mobility's autonomous driving technology. Kakao Mobility has previously conducted autonomous driving demonstrations in multiple regions, including Gangnam in Seoul, Sejong, Pangyo, Daegu, and Jeju, and has been selected as a private operator for Seoul's autonomous vehicle transport platform, currently operating "Seoul Autonomous Vehicles."

The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in the mobility sector and to jointly pursue digital innovation projects, including the digitalization of taxi company management systems, smart dispatch and demand forecasting, and providing foreigner-friendly ride experiences.

Susumu Kiyokawa, head of X Taxi, remarked, "I was very impressed by Kakao Mobility's platform operations and preparations for the autonomous driving ecosystem. If such operational models and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are applied to Japanese taxi services, it will greatly support digital transformation."

In response, Ryu Geungseon, CEO of Kakao Mobility, stated, "We will seek various collaboration opportunities for global expansion by leveraging our accumulated mobility data and AI-based technologies."