"Consortium for Station Hubs with Direct Connections to Expressways" Launches Full-Scale Operations

AOI Pro. Inc., Obayashi Corporation, JFE Engineering Corporation, Dynamic Map Platform Co., Ltd., Daifuku Co., Ltd., Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., T2 Co., Ltd., Nitto Kogyo Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Mitsui-Soko Logistics Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., and Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd. established the "Expressway-Connected Station Hub Consortium" (the "Consortium") in May 2025 to study the development of a next-generation mobility hub network directly connected to expressways. Since its establishment, the Consortium has been preparing for its activities, including recruiting members and defining its scope. In March 2026, it commenced full-scale studies toward practical implementation.

The establishment of this consortium will bring together the knowledge that has been studied, developed, and demonstrated independently in each field, such as logistics, automated driving, real estate, and energy infrastructure. By doing so, the Consortium aims to build a sustainable model while optimizing private investment and ensuring the business viability of each operator, and to develop next-generation station hubs (Note 1) that can be presented globally as a "Japan model."

Background of Establishment

In recent years, society has faced a number of challenges, including improving regional profitability amid population decline, achieving decarbonization of companies and communities including Scope 3 (Note 2), and maintaining sustainable transportation networks as exemplified by the "2024 problem." In particular, the concept of a "Mobility Hub" (Note 4) has been proposed as key infrastructure to address these issues under the "National Comprehensive Development Plan for Digital Lifelines" (Note 3) led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
In response to these trends, the Consortium will collaborate across industries to create new value for the region centered on station hubs and the mobility and infrastructure connecting them.

Main Activities

Specifically, the Consortium will focus on the following themes.

• Development and feasibility study of station hubs that coexist with local communities in areas serving as hubs for passenger and freight flows, leveraging direct connections to expressways.
• Examination of functions to be implemented that create local vibrancy by leveraging the characteristics that attract people and goods, contribute to solving regional issues, and enhance well-being.
• Study of station hub facilities, including autonomous vehicles, systems, and automated warehouses that move between locations.
• Study of building an environmentally symbiotic city equipped with a circular ecosystem that promotes local production for local consumption of resources and provides carbon-neutral energy supply and infrastructure for station hub users.

What We Aim to Achieve

• Realize and expand the optimization of human and logistics flows, regional revitalization, and environmental sustainability by connecting people, goods, services, and information through hubs across Japan.
• As an immediate goal, we will operate as an open consortium based on collaboration with a wide range of partners. First, we aim to develop station hubs directly connected to expressways.

Participating Companies and Organizations (Entities marked with (Note) serve as observers, providing advice and participating as appropriate depending on the matters considered by the Consortium.)
AOI Pro. Inc.
Obayashi Corporation
JFE Engineering Corporation
JTB Corp. (Note)
Dynamic Map Platform Co., Ltd.
Daifuku Co., Ltd.
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.
T2 Co., Ltd.
Tokyu Land Corporation
Toyota City (Note)
Nitto Kogyo Corporation
Fujitsu Limited
Hekinan Unso Co., Ltd. (Note)
Mitsui-Soko Logistics Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd. (Secretariat)
UNETRANS Co., Ltd. (Note)
Logistics Network Co., Ltd. (Note)
etc.

(Note 1) station hubs
A hub facility directly connected to expressways for vehicles (private cars, trucks, buses, and other commercial vehicles) equipped with the latest technologies, such as articulated vehicles and autonomous driving
(Note 2) Scope3
Greenhouse gas emissions by other companies related to the company's business activities
(Note 3) National Comprehensive Development Plan for Digital Lifelines
A roughly 10-year plan that compiles efforts to develop, as a digital lifeline, hardware, software, and rules that conform to common specifications and standards, through intensive large-scale investment by both the public and private sectors, in order to ensure that the benefits of digital technology—such as solutions to social issues and industrial development—are delivered across the country amid a declining population.
(Source)Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "National Comprehensive Development Plan for Digital Lifelines," materials from the "Phase 2 National Comprehensive Development Realization Conference for Digital Lifelines" (Japanese only)(February 27, 2026)
(Note 4) Mobility Hub
In the National Comprehensive Development Plan for Digital Lifelines, it is described as "a hub that, by utilizing digital technologies, enables the maintenance of infrastructure in areas with declining populations, and carries out route selection for logistics optimization and facilitates coordination among regions and businesses, while minimizing and automating human processes as much as possible, and provides functions such as the transfer and transshipment of people and goods, as well as the charging and parking of mobility."