When will driverless cars be available in Singapore?
Autonomous cars are expected to be fully deployed in Singapore by 2022, according to the timeline released by the country’s Land Transport Authority (LTA). In addition, a pilot program will be rolled out by 2021 on select streets. The LTA is currently taking applications from companies that want to participate in this pilot program.
The first driverless service is expected to launch in 2023 and will cover public bus routes.
The LTA said that it “will progressively introduce autonomous services on more public bus routes over time, including those serving new residential towns such as Tengah, Bidadari, and Punggol Northshore.”
The LTA also said that it will work with ride-hailing company Grab to develop a fleet of driverless vehicles for its users by 2022. Some self-driving vehicle pilots have already been conducted with the help of Grab during their development phase.
Safety is a key concern for driverless vehicles.
The first and most obvious concern would have to be its safety. Self-driving cars are machines, and the people who build them are human, so there’s always going to be a risk involved. Thankfully, safety is also a top priority for all parties involved in making this technology a reality.
Safety is not only a key concern for the driverless cars themselves but also their passengers. The Straits Times reported that NuTonomy recently rolled out self-driving taxis that take you from one place to another in Singapore, but it’s being done as part of a trial run rather than full implementation. The trial seeks to see how people react to this new form of transportation, and if there are any unforeseen issues with it (traffic jams because of too many autonomous vehicles on the road at the same time?) that need rectifying before its widespread use becomes viable.
To ensure the safety of road users, driverless vehicles will be required to have a qualified safety driver onboard. The test is currently done on closed-circuit tracks in a controlled environment, but the Land Transport Authority will gradually release them for testing on public roads.
To ensure the safety of road users, driverless vehicles will be required to have a qualified safety driver onboard. The test is currently done on closed-circuit tracks in a controlled environment, but the Land Transport Authority will gradually release them for testing on public roads.
Additionally, driverless cars are expected to launch in Singapore by 2022; allowing the public to hail these self-driving taxis and book them via an app.
The Land Transport Authority has also said that it will provide a regulatory framework to govern the rollout of autonomous vehicles.
The Land Transport Authority will also be drafting legislation to govern the rollout of driverless cars, and it will seek public feedback in late 2018 on the use of autonomous vehicles. A body will also be set up to oversee their deployment and implementation.
It’s hard to predict exactly when driverless cars will be released, but it will be soon!
It’s hard to predict exactly when driverless cars will be released in Singapore, but it will be soon! Some experts believe that we can expect them to be around by 2022.
