LTA, ST Kinetics to roll out autonomous buses in S'pore soon
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has signed a partnership agreement with ST Kinetics, the land systems and specialty vehicles arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering, to develop and conduct trial of autonomous buses. This move is a part of efforts by the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS) to catalyze the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to enhance Singapore’s land transport system.
According to LTA, to encourage more people to walk, cycle and take public transport, it had provided convenient shared transport options for commuters. This includes higher-capacity vehicles, such as buses, to ferry people to their destinations in a timely manner, especially during the morning and evening peak hours. ST Kinetics’ proposal to develop and trial autonomous buses will enable it to explore if AV technology can meet this need.
“Currently, most AV technology developers are focusing their efforts on developing self-driving cars. Singapore’s need for high-capacity vehicles to address commuters’ peak-hour demands presents an opportunity for companies such as ST Kinetics to develop autonomous buses to address this latent demand,” said Lam Wee Shann, Chief Technology Officer, LTA.
“This is also in line with the whole-of-government effort to explore and apply smart technologies to improve our lives. We are excited to partner ST Kinetics to develop autonomous electric buses, that if successfully deployed, will benefit commuters and greatly change the way we travel,” Shann added.