Oral Reply by Senior Minister of State for Transport Ms Sun Xueling to Parliamentary Questions on AVs

Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     how will Punggol residents' safety be prioritised when autonomous vehicles (AV) are trialed in the fourth quarter of 2025;

b.     how does the Ministry ensure that rides offered by AVs are affordable and accessible to residents; and

c.     how will the Ministry involve public transport workers and ensure they have a role to play when AVs are rolled out.

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     what key performance indicators will be used to measure the success of autonomous vehicle trials;

b.     what safety benchmarks are in place; and (b) how legal liability and system security risks will be addressed.

c.     what system-level benefits such as

i.     improved accessibility

ii.    reliability of public transport and

iii.   congestion and emissions reductions, Singapore anticipates from autonomous vehicle (AV) deployment; and

d.     whether such efficiencies may enable more affordable public transport in the future.

e.     how will the Government’s autonomous vehicle (AV) strategy affect driving-related jobs;

f.     what new job opportunities are expected; and

g.     how the Ministry plans to support workers in transitioning to AV-related roles.

Reply by Senior Minister of State Sun Xueling: 

1.     Mr Speaker Sir, may I have your permission to take questions 6 to 9 together.

2.     Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can enhance connectivity and create good jobs for Singaporeans.  

3.     AVs will add to our public transport network without running up against fundamental manpower constraints. We will start by deploying autonomous shuttles to operate scheduled, fixedroute services within our towns. These shuttle services can directly connect residents to key transport nodes and amenities such as the market and polyclinic. There are three pilot routes in Punggol. If successful, we intend to expand the service to other towns that are further away from the city, such as Tengah. Besides AV shuttles, we will be piloting AV buses as public buses, starting with SBST bus services 400 and 191, which serve Marina Bay and one-north respectively. 

4.     MOT and LTA have put in place safeguards to ensure safe AV deployment in the regulatory sandbox as provided for in the Road Traffic Act. Every AV must pass a safety assessment before it is authorised to operate on public roads. The vehicle must be able to respond safely to the behaviour of other road users and adhere to traffic rules. For a start, a safety operator will be on board the AV at all times. All AVs deployed on roads must have third-party liability insurance, covering death, bodily injury and property damage. Third parties would be compensated in the event of accidents, similar to conventional vehicles.  

5.     The AV industry will bring new job opportunities for Singaporeans, including for our transport workers.  There will be roles such as safety operators, remote operators, engineers, and technicians.   

6.     As the supply of AV vehicles will be limited at the start, there will be no displacement effect for our taxi and private-hire vehicle drivers in the short term. That said, we recognise their anxiety.  The Government and AV operators will roll out training and reskilling programmes to help drivers to take on opportunities in the AV sector, or to move into other sectors if they prefer.  We will put these programmes in place early to provide drivers with options, and time to go for reskilling.