The City Transition Summer Course for International Student 2025 was held on August 4-5, 2025, with the collaboration of the Association for Planning and Transportation Studies ((一社)計画・交通研究会), International Studies Unit for Next Urban Planning, Design and Management (NTT EAST & UTokyo), Transport Innovation Research Center (UTokyo), the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS, 政策大学院大学), and all the lectures from expressway and automobile companies.

On the first day, the lectures were held on the Hongo campus of UTokyo. On the second day, we went on a field tour of Tomei and Shin-Tomei Expressways. The program is available here.

Participants included 13 students from 8 countries and 9 universities in Japan joining in person, and 11 students and researchers from 8 countries online.

On the first day, two keynote lectures, six lectures from expressway companies, and a commemorative lecture are provided. Also, the proposals from students are presented. Prof. Takamasa Iryo of the University of Tokyo began the lectures by introducing the history and recent trends of collecting and utilizing traffic data. Also, Toyota Motor Corporation introduced “Toyota’s Initiatives Toward Zero Traffic Accidents.” Then, the specialists from six expressway companies presented their efforts in disaster response and restoration, maintenance, and renewal of the expressway systems. After the lectures, the students discussed and presented their own proposals for designing or renewing a service area in the autonomous driving era. The commemorative lecture by ISUZU MOTORS Cooporation talked about the history and the future of the automobile industry.

On the second day, a field trip led by NEXCO Central is held. We went to the Kawasaki Highway Control Center and three construction sites on the Shin-Tomei Expressway. Also, the autonomous experiments on the Shin-Tomei Expressway are introduced. The specialist explained how they monitor the safety of expressways every day. Also, it is very exciting to learn about the construction background of large-scale tunnels, bridges, and earthworks.

In this summer course, participants gained a broad understanding of expressways and automobiles from history to the future from the specialists. It is also nice to see students discussing with specialists even after the lectures.