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Self-driving public buses will ply the neighbourhood of Punggol by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025, as Singapore looks to kick-start an autonomous vehicle push.
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow made this announcement on 27 Jun during a working visit to Guangzhou, China, weeks after he laid out broad plans to ramp up self-driving vehicle deployments in the next 5 years to strengthen Singapore’s public transport system.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling, who was also in Guangzhou, said a couple of early routes in Punggol are being considered, based on feedback from residents.
Why was Punggol chosen for the pilot scheme?
Mr Siow said Punggol was chosen as the launch pad as it is a relatively new estate with “mature” travel patterns and road infrastructure.
If the Punggol routes are successful, the authorities will then look to deploy the vehicles in other estates at the start of 2026, with Tengah the next location in mind.
Mr Siow said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) is in the midst of holding talks with potential operators and autonomous vehicle makers and finalising of the details of the pilot scheme.
These include public transport operators in Singapore – some of which have partners in China – and American self-driving taxi firm Waymo, whose executives Mr Siow and his colleagues will meet soon.
Self-driving bus scheme to be implemented in phases
In the short term, the self-driving buses will provide short, fixed-route services to various points within Housing Board estates. This will help supplement regular public bus services.
In the medium term, this could be expanded to include services constrained by labour today, such as night buses, which can be run more frequently with driverless vehicles.
The Acting Minister added that the deployment of the shuttles will be done in steps and the vehicles will not ferry any passengers until residents and road users are more comfortable.
Mr Siow and Ms Sun emphasised that safety will be the priority. Hence, the autonomous vehicles will have a safety officer on board and be clearly identifiable by a bright colour.
The vehicle speed will also be “manageable” and not “super fast”, added Mr Siow.
The hope is that the autonomous shuttles can start taking passengers by the end of 2025.
