Singapore approves driverless bus program after successful pilot
Following a successful pilot programme, Singapore will release a series of autonomous buses that will carry passengers between Nanyang Technological University and CleanTech Park, with an additional route to Pioneer MRT station still being considered. If the service remains successful, it is likely that other parts of the city will adopt the technology in order to improve road safety, reduce vehicle congestion and pollution, and address labour issues.

Driverless technology moved closer to becoming an everyday reality last week in the U.S. thanks to Tesla, but in Singapore it’s already expanding from testing with taxis to testing with full-size city buses in real-world situations.

The new bus program will see two electric hybrid buses begin to ferry passengers between Nanyang Technological University and CleanTech Park, and potentially even beyond to Pioneer MRT station.

You can see those respective trips in context in the Google Maps embeds below, but both are relatively short sprints. The route between the school and CleanTech Park has already been operating with a test involving smaller self-driving electric shuttles, since a pilot began there in 2013.

The route to the light rail station is longer and involves more navigation of everyday city traffic, however, and the test has the ultimate aim of “improv[ing] road safety, reduc[ing] vehicle congestion, alleviat[ing] pollution and address[ing] manpower challenges,” NTU VP of Research Lam Khin Long told ChannelNews Asia, so you can expect that if its successful trials in other parts of Singapore will follow.

–

Source: TechCrunch