Driverless Buses Will Become A Reality In Singapore By 2020, And Trials Are In The Works

These buses will be rolling out before you know it.

Source: Artist’s impression of autonomous bus prototype

By 2020, driverless buses could be a common sight on our roads, thanks to the collective effort of Land Transport Authority (LTA) and ST Kinetics. Today (Mon, 10 April) marks the day where the two partners signed an agreement to develop and trial Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technologies on two 40-seater electric buses.

Source

The two buses are likely to be tested in areas like the National University of Singapore and Jurong Island. If all goes well, the buses will be introduced to other trial sites and eventually extended to public roads.

This project is expected to take three-and-a-half years, as LTA explores the possibility of deploying AVs on a regular basis in the future.

According to president of ST Kinetics Dr Lee Shiang Long, the project will tap on cybersecurity experts from A*STAR, NUS and SUTD. Vulnerability analysis and penetration testing will be conducted to ensure that key components of the system are protected, thereby ensuring the safety of passengers.

For those of you wondering how the AV works, here’s a breakdown on its functions:

Credit: Channel News Asia

We can’t wait to see how these autonomous buses perform on the roads, taking us one step closer towards our goal of being a Smart Nation.