LTA and A*STAR partnership to explore driverless vehicle technology

SINGAPORE — Imagine being able to hop on to a driverless car which will send you and your colleagues straight to work, and then having the car head back home to send other residents to the mall for grocery shopping? Or having such driverless pods ply an underground network like a personalised MRT system, taking you exactly where you need to go, reducing the need for car ownership?

These are some of the possibilities that could be explored, with the set up of the Singapore Autonomous Vehicle Initiative (SAVI), a new partnership between the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and A*STAR. The partnership will provide a technology platform with a joint programme office to oversee the research and development and test-bedding of autonomous vehicle technology.

Revealing this today (Aug 27), Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo also announced the setting up of a Committee on Autonomous Road Transport (CARTS), headed by Mr Pang Kin Keong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport to chart the strategic direction, study various opportunities and provide guidance on the research and deployment of autonomous vehicle technology.

Mrs Teo said that while it is too early to be able to deploy such technology massively now as the technology is not yet mature, the Government can explore it in a limited way in the short to medium term for an upcoming town, she said.

The LTA is also working towards a framework that will allow for the testing of such vehicles on public roads over the next year. As a start, routes connecting Biopolis, Fusionopolis and Mediapolis will be provided by JTC Corporation for testing purposes.