Autonomous buses to be launched in Singapore

“Autonomous vehicles can help solve important labor challenges in the logistics and public transport sectors, where operators are finding it increasingly difficult to hire drivers,” the minister said at the opening ceremony of the International Transport Congress.

Self-driving cars are not new to Singapore. In 2016, the country was the first in the world to conduct open tests of driverless taxis in collaboration with the American startup NuTonomy, but for the moment its coverage is still limited to several sparsely populated areas in the north of the country. Now the authorities have decided to support the development of driverless buses. They are slower than taxis and follow a fixed route, making them safer for passengers and other road users.

In the first stage, driverless buses will be deployed on less congested routes and drivers will monitor the safety of the trip. Later, remote operators will control the buses.

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority plans to buy buses from Chinese company WeRide, which has permission to test driverless vehicles in China, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United States. Especially for the city-state, buses will be modified to take into account local climatic conditions, including long tropical rainy seasons and high humidity.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global autonomous vehicle market will grow to $13.63 billion by 2030, with most of this growth coming from the Asia-Pacific region.