TOYAMA, Nov 8: A trial of new puncture-proof airless tyres developed by Bridgestone Corp. began Saturday, with a ceremony in the central Japan city of Toyama held to mark their first use on a local electric bus.
It was the first time the bus, fitted with AirFree tyres developed by the Japanese tyre giant, drove on a public road with passengers on board.
The tyres use recyclable resin spokes to help reduce maintenance and improve efficiency.
The first bus departed Toyama Station carrying residents on Saturday morning, with officials from the city and Bridgestone in attendance.
The bus, named Boule BaaS, travels at less than 20 kilometres per hour and can carry nine passengers.
Bridgestone said that the blue spokes of the tyre are designed for high visibility even in low light, which it believes will be a safety improvement over conventional tyres.
Head of Bridgestone’s AirFree development division Yoshinori Iwabuchi said the company hoped to gather information from the trial and use it to roll out the technology over the next year.
— BERNAMA-KYODO