Computer-controlled Vehicle System

The Computer-controlled Vehicle System, almost universally referred to as CVS, was a personal rapid transit (PRT) system developed by a Japanese industrial consortium during the 1970s. Like most PRT systems under design at the same time, CVS was based around a small four-person electric vehicle similar to a small minivan that could be requested on demand and drive directly to the user's destination. Unlike other PRT systems, however, CVS also offered cargo vehicles, included "dual-use" designs that could be manually driven off the PRT network, and included the ability to stop at intersections in a conventional road-like network.

Work on CVS started in the late 1960s as a demonstration system for a "traffic game" at Expo '70. This demonstration was successful and led to a further development project in 1970, which expanded several times and eventually produced a large test track outside of Tokyo. However, in 1978, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport declined to grant CVS a license under existing safety regulations, citing issues with the short headway distances. As other proposed CVS deployments also dried up, work on the project ended some time that year.