Opening Remarks by Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow at Waymo’s Launch Event

Ms Tekedra Mawakana,

Mr Sanjay Gupta,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen.

1.          Every major technological advancement in transportation has transformed lives.

a.          The invention of cars, trains, ships, and planes closed distances and divides.

b.          For Singapore, these changes shaped the country that we have become.

i.          Our seaport, now fully automated, connected our island to global supply chains.

ii.          Our airport, best in the world this year, made Singapore a global passenger hub.

c.          On land, our widely debated decision to build a mass rapid transit system four decades ago gave our growing city the means to transport millions of people every day.

i.          More recently, sustainable technologies like electric cars and buses are helping us to travel more cleanly and healthily.

d.          We can scarcely imagine Singapore, a global city, without these technologies now. Yet each of these destinations began with a choice to invest in technology ahead of time, building for a future that did not yet exist.

2.          This morning, I want to imagine with all of you how far we can go with the transport innovation of our times – driverless vehicles. This technology is on our doorstep.

3.          I took my first ride in a driverless vehicle, in June last year.

a.          I remember that first ride vividly. I watched how the vehicle turned. How it detected an obstacle. How it responded when a pedestrian or a cyclist approached.

b.          But when I took my second ride, I had already left behind all that anxiety. I had stopped watching the vehicle, and was engrossed in talking to the person next to me.

4.          Afterwards, I reflected on this.

a.          The measure of success for driverless technology, and perhaps any technology, is when we stop thinking about how it works, and start thinking about what it allows us to do.

5.          Singapore has been preparing for driverless, or autonomous vehicles, for more than a decade.

a.          The Government set up a testing facility, CETRAN, at Nanyang Technological University in 2015. I was working at the Ministry of Transport  then, as a public officer. At that time, we were already confident that driverless technology was going to happen.

b.          In the interim years, the technology continued to evolve, but driverless vehicles did not seem ready for the complex demands of a city.

c.          Singapore therefore focused on deploying autonomous vehicles in closed environments – in our airport, our seaport, and our factories.

6.          In more recent years, advances in artificial intelligence, computing and sensor technology have made driverless vehicles a reality.

a.          Autonomous vehicles are now carrying passengers on public roads in cities across the US, China and the Middle East.

b.          Production capabilities have also grown. In a year’s time, the world’s total number of autonomous vehicles is projected to grow from around 7,000 today, to several times that.

c.          So when I came on board as Transport Minister mid last year, I was certain that autonomous vehicles could add to the range of mobility options that Singaporeans already had.

d.          They would complement public transport.

i.          Public transport like trains and buses would remain the most affordable, efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly way to travel around Singapore.

ii.          Autonomous vehicles would add to the capacity of our taxi and private hire car fleet, and fill some gaps, for example, to go to places where human drivers are not keen to go, and to provide service after hours, when public transport is not operating.

7.          But before we made this decision to deploy driverless vehicles, we needed to develop a deeper knowledge of the technology and how it would apply in our context.

a.          And so we studied driverless vehicles in action in other cities.

b.          We set up a steering committee, comprising industry and academic experts, to guide us on this journey.

c.          We started a small-scale trial of driverless vehicles in Punggol, so we could understand better how they worked on our roads and more importantly, socialise Singaporeans to their use.

8.          We also visited companies that were at the frontier of the technology.

a.          One company I particularly wanted to see, was Waymo.

b.          In March this year, this finally happened. I met Tekedra for the first time, at the Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View. We had an exceptionally productive meeting.

c.          I shared with Tekedra that Singapore’s attitude towards driverless vehicles had changed. We were serious about driverless technology, and determined to move beyond the small-scale testing of our earlier years.

d.          And therefore, we wanted the best driverless vehicle companies in Singapore.

9.          I also explained what Singapore had to offer.

a.          First, Singapore is well known for our good governance. We have rigorous standards and trusted institutions.

b.          Second, Singapore is a reference customer for many global companies. We may not be the biggest market, but we get things done. What we say, we will do.

c.          And third, Singapore is where new technologies are protected and can flourish. We take pride in our ability to safeguard data and intellectual property. Singapore is a place where you can turn technological promise into trust.

d.          Finally, we have the ability to bring stakeholders together –regulators, companies, researchers, workers. We discuss problems honestly and openly at the same table, so that we can achieve common outcomes.

10.          Since Tekedra and her team are here in person today – I think you can infer that they were persuaded.

Waymo

11.          Friends, I am delighted to announce today that Waymo is coming to Singapore.

a.          Waymo began more than 15 years ago, as Google’s self-driving car project. Today, it operates fully autonomous passenger services at scale in the United States, using its own proprietary, integrated system of artificial intelligence, cameras, radar and lidar.

12.          It is apt that we are making this announcement at their sister company, Google’s office.

a.         Google and Singapore have built a deep relationship that spans digital infrastructure, research and development, and now artificial intelligence. Autonomous mobility adds a new dimension to that already strong partnership.

b.         Waymo of course has a special relationship with Google too. because of this, the first group of people who get to take Waymo rides will probably be Google employees working here at Mapletree.

c.         By the way, MOT is just next door. So Tekedra and team, let me just say for the record – my team would be happy to join in your tests!

Expanding beyond Punggol trials

13.         Waymo’s entry will mark a new phase in our journey for driverless vehicles.

a.         In Punggol, where we began our small-scale trials, about 20,000 Singaporeans have already taken rides on driverless vehicles.

b.         The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

i.         99% of passengers say that they would recommend that experience to someone else.

ii.         It’s rare to see 99% of people agree on anything in this world!

c.         In fact, many Singaporeans have been asking me: when are the vehicles coming to my neighbourhood? When can I see them in other towns?

d.         And residents in Punggol where the trials are being held, they ask: when can I have service to other places in Singapore, outside of Punggol?

e.         After nine months of trials, we now have data and feedback, and we are ready to answer some of these questions.

14.         Our key priority is safety. Singapore’s roads are safer than many other cities, but there is still one fatal road accident every three days.

a.         In theory, driverless vehicles should improve safety on our roads.

i.         After all, they do not drink-drive, they do not road rage, they do not speed.

ii.         In Singapore, our vehicles have gone more than 160,000 km without a major accident, albeit only on fixed routes.

iii.         Globally, the safety record of driverless vehicles is even more promising.

(1)         Data indicates they are significantly safer than human drivers, including in mixed environments, and the technology is still improving.

b.         Nevertheless, we will still expand the deployment of autonomous vehicles carefully, only when we are confident that it is safe.

15.         What will happen in this next phase of deployment?

a.         Within Punggol, we will start trialling point-to-point service within the whole estate, without the need for fixed routes. This will be done progressively, by adding more pick-up and drop-off points, including to more places that people want to go, for example the Sengkang General Hospital.

b.         Beyond Punggol, we plan to deploy autonomous vehicles in one to two more HDB towns that are further away from the city, which will benefit from more transport options, like Tampines North and Tengah.

c.         With Waymo, we will begin testing and preparations for their deployment in the western part of Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area. This will include new use cases such as travelling to work, weekend travel, and serving industrial areas which have fewer transport options.

16.         For these initial deployments to happen, we will need more autonomous vehicles.

a.         Today, we only have 16 passenger vehicles, all in Punggol.

b.         Our existing operators are planning to expand their fleets. Recently, Grab announced their plans to have 50 vehicles in the next six months.

c.         With Waymo also bringing vehicles into Singapore, we expect to increase our total fleet in Singapore to several hundred vehicles in the next two years.

d.         This would still only be a small fraction of the over 70,000 taxis and private hire car drivers in Singapore today.

17.         As the industry grows, new jobs will be created.

a.         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.

b.         Some of these jobs will be open to taxi and private hire car drivers.

i.         Our operators have launched training programmes to help drivers who are interested in these roles.

ii.         In addition, the Government will subsidise up to 90% of salaries during training, because we are committed to supporting any driver who wishes to take on new opportunities.

18.         I should add that Waymo will be opening a local office here as well – so if there are any young and talented Singaporeans here who wish to join them, you can give George and Alexis your resumes today!

Conclusion

19.         Driverless technology sits at the intersection of some of the most important technologies of this decade: AI, robotics and the application of intelligence to the physical world.

a.         I believe that Singapore will be one of the best places in the world to design and deploy such technologies. 

b.         We have a track record for translating inventions into everyday life – across sectors like transport, advanced manufacturing, healthcare and finance.

c.         Our experience is that progress does not depend on technology alone. It depends on safety, it depends reliability, and it depends on ultimately trust. These also happen to be Singapore’s strengths.

d.         Singapore is a place where companies know their ideas will be protected, where regulators and innovators can solve problems together, and where technologies can prove themselves and become part of people’s daily lives.

20.         Once again, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Waymo on board as Singapore’s latest partner.

a.         Congratulations to Tekedra, Sanjay, and the wonderful team at Waymo and Google on this event.

b.         Thank you, everyone.