Alphabet's Waymo to launch driverless ride-hailing service in Singapore in 2028
Waymo will begin testing and preparing for deployment in western Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area.
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SINGAPORE: Waymo, the autonomous driving company owned by Alphabet, will launch a fully driverless ride-hailing service in Singapore in 2028, its first foray into Southeast Asia.
On Friday (Sep 18), Waymo said it was partnering the Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority to introduce an all-electric commercial ride-hailing service that commuters can book through its app.
Its first vehicles, an initial fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE cars, are expected to arrive in Singapore in the coming months as the company sets up local operations.
During a "readiness phase" next year, trained specialists will manually drive the vehicles while Waymo adapts its autonomous system, known as the Waymo Driver, to Singapore's road conditions.
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This includes familiarising the system with local road geometry and monsoon weather conditions.
The company aims to begin offering fully autonomous rides to the public via its app in 2028, subject to regulatory approval.
FULLY ELECTRIC FLEET
Its Singapore fleet will be fully electric, which Waymo said would support the country's sustainability goals and could reduce reliance on private cars.
Waymo's autonomous system uses lidar, radar and cameras for a 360-degree view of its surroundings, letting vehicles detect and predict the movements of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
The company said it has provided more than 20 million fully autonomous rides and driven more than 300 million autonomous kilometres, with a 94 per cent reduction in injury-causing crashes compared with human drivers in the US cities where it operates.
"Singapore has built one of the safest, most efficient and most forward-thinking transportation ecosystems in the world," said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.
"Their focus on reliability, sustainability, and human-centric progress directly mirrors how we have built Waymo's technology and service.”
She added that the company would work with local authorities and communities as it rolls out the technology, and that it plans to create skilled operational jobs in Singapore.
NEW TRANSPORT OPTIONS
While trains and buses remain the most efficient, affordable, reliable and environmentally friendly way to get around Singapore, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said autonomous vehicles will add to the capacity of taxis and private-hire fleets and fill some gaps.
For example, they could serve areas where human drivers are reluctant to go, and operate after hours when public transport has stopped running, he said.
Mr Siow said Waymo will begin testing and preparing for deployment in western Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area. This will include new use cases such as commuting to work, weekend travel and serving industrial areas with fewer transport options.
He said Waymo's entry into Singapore marks a new phase in the country's journey towards driverless vehicles.
In the next phase, Mr Siow said authorities plan to deploy autonomous vehicles in one or two more Housing Board towns further from the city, such as Tampines North and Tengah, which would benefit from more transport options.
“For these initial deployments to happen, we will need more autonomous vehicles. Today, we only have 16 passenger vehicles all in Punggol,” he said, adding that existing operators are planning to expand their fleet.
On Monday, Grab said it will expand its AV fleet from 10 to 50 vehicles over the next six months, as it looks to take its services beyond Punggol to other parts of Singapore.
The Land Transport Authority approved Grab and autonomous driving technology company WeRide for community rides on the autonomous vehicle shuttle service in Punggol in January, before public rides began in April.
Grab is preparing to launch an on-demand, point-to-point service across selected locations in Punggol, with more service points to be rolled out in the coming months.
With Waymo also bringing vehicles into Singapore, Mr Siow said the country's total autonomous vehicle fleet will grow to several hundred over the next two years, though this would still be a small fraction of the more than 70,000 taxi and private-hire car drivers currently on Singapore's roads.
"As the industry grows, new jobs will be created. We will need people to manage the vehicle fleets, operate vehicles remotely, maintain sophisticated systems, test new applications, analyse data, and ensure that the services run safely and reliably," he said, adding that some of these jobs will be open to taxi and private-hire car drivers.
Operators have launched training programmes for drivers interested in taking on these roles, Mr Siow said, adding that the government will subsidise up to 90 per cent of salaries during training.
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