Tokyo Subsidizes Bus Drivers ¥10,000/Month Even as Industry Advances Autonomous Driving Trials东京巴士司机每月补贴1万日元,行业却同步推进自动驾驶试验
S 1.5T31 sources1 个来源R1-money-or-metal
On June 25, 2026, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched the "Bus Driver Retention Support Special Allowance Subsidy," paying eligible drivers in their 1st through 10th year at operators running scheduled route services ¥10,000 per month (¥120,000 per year).
The article argues the raise is unlikely to meaningfully boost recruitment, since bus driver pay nationwide is already widely seen as unsatisfying for the workload, and a recent job ad promising "full weekends off" caused an uproar because bus operators run 365 days a year with shift-based days off unrelated to weekdays or weekends.
The author calls this a policy contradiction: while local government scrambles to retain drivers through subsidies, the bus industry is simultaneously advancing autonomous driving trials, exposing misaligned priorities between short-term labor support and the shift toward automation.