Singapore Plans Punggol Self-Driving Shuttles for Late 2025, With Tengah and Public Buses Next

Punggol to Begin Singapore's Next Transport Trial

Self-driving shuttles are planned for Punggol by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025, the first step in Singapore's five-year strategy to bring autonomous vehicles into everyday public transport. The services would connect homes with amenities and transport hubs while helping the country manage a shortage of transport workers.

Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow announced the plan during a working visit to Guangzhou, China. As of June 30, 2025, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) was finalising vehicle types, routes and fares, drawing on feedback from residents and discussions with local and international operators, including US company Waymo and China's WeRide.

Punggol represents Singapore's most ambitious effort yet to integrate autonomous vehicles, or AVs, into its public transport network. Earlier local trials took place in business parks, university campuses and other settings outside residential estates. The new pilot would bring the technology closer to people's daily journeys through a Housing Board (HDB) town.

The initial services would follow short, fixed routes and supplement buses, taxis and private hire vehicles. They are intended to make local trips easier, rather than require residents to change how they travel across the entire island.

Singapore is pursuing the project as cities such as Guangzhou and San Francisco already operate commercial autonomous services. Its own rollout will proceed in stages: vehicles first running without passengers, then carrying people with a safety officer aboard, and potentially operating without that officer later.

The government's ambitions extend beyond a single estate. Tengah is the next likely location in 2026 if the Punggol pilot succeeds, while a separate trial of autonomous public buses is planned from mid-2026.

Why Punggol Residents Want Better Connections

Punggol was selected because it is a relatively new estate with established travel patterns and robust infrastructure. Those characteristics give transport planners a setting in which they can identify regular journeys and design services around them.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling said feedback from residents helped shape the initial routes. People living in Punggol West wanted easier access to amenities in Punggol East, including the wet market and polyclinic. Residents in the east wanted more convenient connections to the bus interchange and MRT station.

These are practical journeys: getting to a medical appointment, buying food or reaching the train for a longer trip. A connection that looks short on a map can still be inconvenient if the available public transport requires a lengthy detour or wait.

The pilot targets what transport planners call the first and last mile. This is the part of a journey between a person's home or destination and a main transport connection, such as an MRT station. Improving that link can make the whole public transport journey more useful.

The resident input also gives the project a specific purpose. Its success will depend on whether the shuttles serve the places people need to reach, alongside the technical task of operating safely on estate roads.

How the Shuttles Would Operate

The first vehicles are expected to be multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) or minibuses. Their size and flexibility would allow them to use existing infrastructure while providing connections between residential clusters and important amenities.

The shuttles would be marked in bright colours so residents and other road users could identify them easily. They would travel at manageable speeds, with safety guiding their introduction.

Fixed routes give each service a defined path between destinations. For residents, that means a predictable local connection. For operators, it provides a limited operating area in which to assess how the vehicles handle regular traffic conditions.

The first stage would involve vehicles running without passengers. This would allow residents, pedestrians and other road users to become familiar with their presence before passenger services begin.

Passengers would be introduced once public comfort and confidence had developed, initially with a safety officer on board. That officer would monitor the vehicle and intervene when necessary. Removing the officer would be considered at a later stage as the technology and public trust mature.

Safety Tests Before Wider Deployment

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and MOT have made safety the priority. Autonomous vehicles must undergo rigorous testing and certification, and initial deployments will be limited to fixed routes and controlled environments.

Singapore has conducted AV pilots since 2015 at locations including one-north business park, university campuses and Resorts World Sentosa. Those trials have provided information about technical feasibility, operational difficulties and how people respond to the vehicles.

Punggol brings a different setting. Singapore's dense urban environment, heavy traffic and varied mix of road users create demanding conditions for automated driving. The country also has high compliance with traffic rules, while limited undeveloped space, often called greenfield space, restricts opportunities for unrestricted testing.

Daniel Chow, principal at consulting firm Arthur D Little Southeast Asia, described Singapore's deliberate approach to deployment:

Singapore is not the first to deploy autonomous vehicles, but it may be one of the first to get it right.

The gradual rollout is intended to build public confidence while allowing authorities and operators to check that vehicles can work reliably within the wider transport system. Lessons from overseas services will inform that process, alongside the experience accumulated through local trials.

Guangzhou and San Francisco have moved further into everyday autonomous transport, with robotaxis and autonomous buses already operating. Singapore's approach places greater weight on introducing services step by step before expanding their reach.

Which Companies Are Involved?

MOT is speaking with established public transport operators in Singapore, some of which have partnerships with Chinese autonomous vehicle companies. Waymo and WeRide are among the international companies being considered for collaboration.

WeRide already has an autonomous shuttle service at Resorts World Sentosa and operates similar services in more than 30 cities worldwide. Its Robobus is a Level 4 autonomous minibus. In this context, Level 4 describes a vehicle capable of handling driving within its defined operating conditions without a person continuously controlling it.

The company's Robobus has demonstrated safe and reliable operations in complex urban environments, including Guangzhou and several European cities. Its experience includes operating at night, in poor weather and in mixed traffic, where automated vehicles share roads with other users.

During the Guangzhou visit, Singaporean officials observed WeRide's Level 4 Robobus service on routes charging fares in the city's downtown core. The visit offered a view of how autonomous services work beyond a trial setting, including their technical demands, regulation and public acceptance.

ComfortDelGro, Singapore's largest taxi operator, and Pony.ai are also involved in autonomous vehicle trials locally and overseas. Several consortia are competing for pilot projects, including groups led by Malaysian operator Causeway Link and Singapore startups such as MooVita.

The range of interested operators gives Singapore several potential routes to deployment. The final choices will need to bring together vehicle technology, local operating experience and the requirements set by transport authorities.

Tengah and a Separate Public Bus Pilot

Tengah is the next likely estate for autonomous services in 2026, provided the Punggol pilot succeeds. The town is being developed with reduced reliance on cars and a strong focus on public transport, making it a suitable setting to test autonomous connections.

LTA is also preparing a separate autonomous public bus pilot from mid-2026. It would start with six buses, each offering at least 16 seats, on selected routes in Marina Bay, Shenton Way and one-north.

Those routes were selected for their relative simplicity and because they are already within areas used to test autonomous vehicles. The buses would initially carry safety operators, with a possible move to remote supervision after demonstrating operational reliability.

Remote supervision would allow staff to oversee operations from outside the vehicle. The proposed transition would follow assessment of how reliably the buses perform, rather than happen at the beginning of the trial.

LTA may procure up to 14 additional autonomous buses, depending on the results, and extend the pilot to more routes. Together with the first six buses, that would allow a fleet of up to 20 under the proposed expansion.

The planned sequence is:

• Since 2015: Singapore has tested autonomous vehicles at locations including one-north, university campuses and Resorts World Sentosa.
• By the start of the fourth quarter of 2025: Punggol is expected to begin its autonomous shuttle deployment, starting without passengers.
• In 2026: Tengah is the next likely estate for services if the Punggol pilot succeeds.
• From mid-2026: A separate pilot would introduce six autonomous public buses on selected routes in Marina Bay, Shenton Way and one-north.

Both programmes will assess technical performance, operating requirements and public acceptance before services grow. The estate shuttles focus on local connections, while the bus pilot tests autonomous vehicles in another part of the public transport network.

Why Manpower and Journey Times Matter

Singapore's transport workforce is a central reason for the push. Recruiting and training bus drivers takes time and money. Expanding conventional bus services also requires investment in depots and other infrastructure.

Autonomous shuttles and buses offer a possible way to introduce services more quickly and run them more frequently, particularly outside peak hours or in places that conventional public transport serves less well.

Siow has highlighted the potential to improve the first and last parts of a commute. Easier links between homes and major transport routes could make public transport more attractive and reduce reliance on private cars.

The project fits Singapore's wider goals of a "45-minute city" and "20-minute towns". The first aims for most journeys during peak hours to take less than 45 minutes. The second aims for local trips to take no more than 20 minutes.

For Punggol residents, the practical change would be a more direct way to reach amenities or transfer to another service. Shortening a local connection can help reduce the time spent on a longer journey, even when the MRT or main bus route stays the same.

What Passengers Might Pay

Fares for the new autonomous services are expected to sit between conventional public transport prices and taxi or ride hailing prices. The services would target journeys that are less attractive to taxi and private hire drivers, especially during peak periods.

That proposed position gives the shuttles a role between a standard bus journey and a more expensive car trip. The ministry was still finalising the fare structure as of June 30, alongside vehicle and route details.

The government may provide funding for a limited period to help operators expand. The longer term aim is for services to become commercially sustainable, meaning operators can continue running them on a workable financial basis.

Autonomous buses and shuttles cost more to buy and maintain than conventional vehicles, and profitability may take years. Their business prospects will depend on careful management of costs, supportive policies and cooperation among operators, technology providers and regulators.

Punggol will therefore test a service as well as a technology. Running a vehicle safely is one requirement; providing a useful connection at a fare passengers will pay is another.

How Transport Jobs Could Change

Professional drivers face a change in roles as autonomous services develop. Siow and union leaders have pointed to potential jobs in fleet management, remote operations, maintenance and customer service.

Safety officers will be central during the early stages. These positions may be filled by retrained bus drivers who monitor the vehicles and are ready to intervene. Some roles could later move towards remote supervision or technical support.

The government and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) have committed to supporting workers through training that develops new skills and updates existing ones. Their stated aim is a fair and smooth transition as the technology changes the work required.

NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng said the benefits of autonomous transport should extend to workers:

Not only will AVs allow for quicker introduction of new bus routes, the technology could potentially also support workers working in areas currently underserved by public transport. Nonetheless, at NTUC we believe innovation must go hand-in-hand with productivity gains and progress for our workforce.

Workers could be affected both as transport employees and as passengers. New services may change driving jobs while also helping people reach workplaces in areas with fewer public transport connections.

Public Trust Will Shape the Pace

Public acceptance remains a major challenge even as autonomous driving technology improves. Surveys and expert assessments suggest that trust has not kept pace with technical capabilities, partly because of prominent incidents and misconceptions about safety.

Singapore's plans address that concern through visible vehicles, gradual passenger introduction, safety officers and testing requirements. Transparent communication about operations and safety will also be important to building confidence.

Experience in Guangzhou and San Francisco offers lessons about technical problems, regulation and how passengers respond to autonomous transport. Singapore is adapting those lessons to its own roads and travel patterns.

The view that successful deployment in Singapore could be adapted to many other cities rests on the complexity of its urban environment. For the immediate pilot, however, the concrete task is local: connect Punggol residents to markets, healthcare and transport hubs safely and reliably, while establishing a service that operators can sustain.

Key Points

• Punggol is expected to begin deploying autonomous shuttles by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Vehicles would first run without passengers, then carry passengers with a safety officer aboard.
• Resident feedback has identified connections between Punggol West, amenities in Punggol East and major transport hubs.
• Tengah is the next likely estate in 2026 if the Punggol pilot succeeds.
• A separate pilot from mid-2026 would start with six autonomous public buses, each with at least 16 seats, with an option for 14 more.
• Fares are expected to fall between public transport and taxi or ride hailing prices.
• Safety, public trust, workforce training and commercial sustainability will shape expansion.