Yutorito Line

The line grew out of plans to serve the Shidami Science Park being developed in the Shidami district of Moriyama Ward, and the planning sequence stretched back to the mid-1980s. In March 1985 the Construction Ministry began developing a guideway-bus system, and study of its introduction in Nagoya followed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Nagoya Guideway Bus Company was established on 1 April 1994, and on 25 October 1994 it obtained a track licence under the Tramways Act. The entire Ōzone–Obata Ryokuchi guideway was built as an elevated viaduct, partly so that it could later be converted to a conventional new-transit (AGT) system if desired; the track was laid to a minimum curve radius of 100 metres (30 metres at the Ōzone approach) and a maximum gradient of 60 per mille so that other new-transit vehicles could run on it in future. The construction cost exceeded 5.4 billion yen per kilometre, somewhat high for a guideway bus.

On 15 November 2000 the operating vehicles were unveiled and the nickname "Yutorito Line" — a portmanteau of yutori ("relaxed") and "street" — chosen by public competition was announced. The guideway section opened on 23 March 2001. At opening the running of the buses was contracted not only to the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau but also to Meitetsu Bus and JR Tokai Bus, making it in effect a three-operator joint operation.

On the morning of 15 November 2007 a northbound car derailed on the curve just before Ōzone Station; a subsequent investigation found that the guide wheels needed for elevated running had become retracted from about 1.6 kilometres before the accident site, and the Japan Transport Safety Board published an accident investigation report on the derailment in October 2008. On 1 October 2009 Meitetsu Bus and JR Tokai Bus withdrew from operating the line, after which the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau became the sole operator and all vehicles were consolidated at its Ōmori depot.

In the years that followed the line saw a series of smaller changes. The manaca IC card was introduced on 11 February 2011, and on 12 March 2016 the line joined the nationwide IC-card interoperability service, allowing cards such as manaca to be used. On 1 April 2013 Moriyama-shimin-byōin Station was renamed Kanaya Station. On 30 May 2022 a private vehicle intruded onto the dedicated elevated guideway — the first such intrusion since the line opened — driving on despite staff attempts to stop it.

The elevated guideway carries trains-of-buses at roughly ten-minute intervals during the daytime, with services stopping at every station before continuing onto ordinary roads to reach destinations such as the Shidami transport plaza and Kōzōji; ridership on the elevated section rose from about 5,300 passengers per day in fiscal 2001 to over 12,000 by the late 2010s. Looking ahead, the city has studied converting the elevated section around 2026 from a Tramways-Act guideway into an ordinary bus-only road — effectively turning it into a bus rapid transit (BRT) route — and introducing automated driving, with demonstration tests of self-driving operation planned for the dedicated viaduct.

• 1985March: Japan's Construction Ministry begins developing a guideway-bus system.
• 19941 April: the Nagoya Guideway Bus Company is established; on 25 October it obtains a track licence under the Tramways Act.
• 200015 November: the operating vehicles are unveiled and the nickname 'Yutorito Line', chosen by public competition, is announced.
• 200123 March: the Ōzone–Obata Ryokuchi guideway section opens; at first the buses are run jointly by the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau, Meitetsu Bus and JR Tokai Bus.
• 200715 November: a northbound car derails on the curve just before Ōzone Station; an investigation finds the guide wheels had become retracted from about 1.6 km before the site, and the Japan Transport Safety Board issues an accident report in October 2008.
• 20091 October: Meitetsu Bus and JR Tokai Bus withdraw from operating the line; the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau becomes the sole operator.
• 201111 February: the manaca IC card is introduced on the line.
• 20131 April: Moriyama-shimin-byōin Station is renamed Kanaya Station.
• 201612 March: the line joins the nationwide IC-card interoperability service, allowing cards such as manaca to be used.
• 202230 May: a private vehicle intrudes onto the dedicated elevated guideway, driving on despite staff attempts to stop it — the first such intrusion since the line opened.
• 2026(Planned) The city is studying converting the elevated section from a Tramways-Act guideway into an ordinary bus-only road — effectively a BRT route — and introducing automated driving; self-driving demonstration tests are planned for the dedicated viaduct.