Self-Driving Public Shuttles to Hit Punggol Roads by Fourth Quarter

Safety to be priority; hope is that vehicles can start taking passengers by end-2025

- Kok Yufeng

GUANGZHOU - Self-driving shuttles will hit the roads in Punggol by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025, as Singapore looks to kick-start a major autonomous vehicle push.

Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow made this announcement on June 27 during a working visit to Guangzhou, China, weeks after he laid out broad plans to ramp up self-driving vehicle deployments in the next five years to strengthen Singapore's public transport network.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling, who was also in Guangzhou, said a couple of initial routes in Punggol are being considered, based on feedback from residents.

"There are residents who live in Punggol West who would like to be able to more conveniently have access to amenities in Punggol East, for instance, the wet market (and) the polyclinic," said Ms Sun, who is an MP for Punggol GRC.

"At the same time, we know there are residents who live in the eastern side of Punggol who want to have more convenient access to transport hubs like the bus interchange," she added.

The exact details about the type of vehicles that will be deployed, the routes they will ply and the charges for each ride are still being worked out.

Mr Siow said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) is in the midst of holding talks with potential operators and autonomous vehicle makers.

These include public transport operators in Singapore, some of which have partners in China, as well as US self-driving taxi firm Waymo, whose executives Mr Siow and his colleagues will meet soon.

"We have many options, and because of the way we are doing it, I think there will be options for more than one operator to be able to come on board," he said.

The goal is to get the first vehicles on the road by the start of the last quarter at the latest, he added.