Decision on Driverless Taxis in Singapore
Ministry of TransportSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the progress of nuTonomy’s driverless taxi trials and the benchmarks for their wider implementation across Singapore. Ms Sun Xueling inquired about the trial’s status and the projected timeline for a larger rollout. Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan noted that trials at one-north have expanded to 12-kilometre routes and generally proceeded smoothly. He highlighted significant safety challenges regarding mixed traffic and low visibility, stating that industry experts expect widespread deployment to take 10 to 15 years. The Land Transport Authority will continue to work with participants to progressively increase the area and complexity of these trials.
Transcript
75 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for Transport how is the trial operation of nuTonomy driverless taxis progressing and what benchmarks will the Ministry use to determine when driverless taxis can be rolled out in more parts of Singapore and its associated timeline.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: nuTonomy is one of four organisations, besides the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Alliance for Research and Technology and Delphi Automotive Systems, that is testing self-driving vehicles at one-north. nuTonomy started trialling on a six-kilometre test route in April 2016, and since January this year, they have expanded their testing to a 12-kilometre route. I am told that their trials have generally been smooth except for an incident last year. nuTonomy's aim is to gradually expand their trials into larger and more complex environments.
Significant challenges have to be overcome before self-driving technology is ready for widespread deployment. Self-driving vehicles need to be able to co-exist safely with a high volume of human-driven vehicles, cyclists, people on personal mobility devices, and pedestrians. They will need to be able to deal with unexpected situations, like fallen tree branches or jaywalkers. In Singapore, they also need to function effectively under low visibility conditions, such as during heavy rain or haze. Industry experts expect the technology to reach that state in about 10 to 15 years. In the meantime, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will continue to work with the participants to expand the area and complexity of their trials progressively.