Starting 2019, visitors to Sentosa, Singapore will be able to hail autonomous buses via an app on their smartphones or at kiosks along a 5km route on the island as part of a three month public trial. Two units of a 22-seater bus and two units of a 15-seater shuttle, all fully enclosed and air-conditioned, will be used during the trial.

Developed by ST Engineering, the autonomous shuttles are capable of sensing the environment and navigating without human input through technology such as GPS, radar, odometry and computer vision. A key feature is ST Engineering’s Autonomous 2 Vehicle Management System, which analyses passenger demand and optimises route management for ride-sharing services.

Dr Lee Shiang Long, President of ST Engineering Land Systems commented that “Developing our indigenous capabilities in autonomous technologies is necessary as Singapore looks to deploy and operate autonomous vehicles as a mode of public transportation. ST Engineering’s AV kit is platform-agnostic, and hence can be integrated onto other transportation platforms. The outcomes of the trials will provide valuable input and data on the performance of the vehicle under various road conditions, and allow us to fine-tune its responses to them.”

Signboards have been placed along the test routes to inform members of the public of the trial and all autonomous shuttles will have electronic signages to notify road users and pedestrians to raise awareness.