LTA inks agreement with St Kinetics to develop and trial autonomous buses

As part of efforts by the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS) to catalyse the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to enhance Singapore’s land transport system, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has signed a partnership agreement with ST Kinetics to develop and trial autonomous buses. This is the fourth such agreement signed, in addition to LTA’s ongoing partnerships with the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) to develop and trial autonomous bus technology, as well as with Delphi and nuTonomy to conduct autonomous mobility-on-demand trials.

The proposal from ST Kinetics, the land systems and specialty vehicles arm of ST Engineering, had been shortlisted under LTA’s Request for Information (RFI) issued in June 2015 on how AV technology can be harnessed as part of mobility concepts such as mobility-on-demand and autonomous buses.

Deploying autonomous buses for public transport

To encourage more people to walk, cycle and take public transport, we have to provide convenient, comfortable and efficient 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 LTA to explore if AV technology can meet this need.

ST Kinetics will develop and integrate the AV technologies onto two 40-seater electric buses that can be deployed to serve fixed and scheduled services for intra- and inter-town travel in the future. To navigate autonomously, the buses will use a satellite-based Global Positioning (GPS) System and a suite of sensors to scan and determine their location and immediate surroundings. The buses will also have radars and sonars that are able to detect other vehicles and pedestrians up to 200m ahead. In addition, ST Kinetics is also working to improve the autonomous buses’ ability to navigate in heavier rain conditions, up from the current 10mm/h to 30mm/h. For more information on ST Kinetics’ autonomous bus prototypes, please refer to the Annex.

The three-and-a-half year project will see the autonomous buses being tested in various environments. LTA is working with stakeholders such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) as well as JTC to look at suitable trial locations, which can potentially include Jurong Island and NUS’ campus. The initial testing will be conducted during off-peak periods at an industrial area where the road infrastructure is less complex. As the autonomous buses are gradually equipped with more advanced capabilities, they will be progressively introduced to more complex trial sites.

The development and testing of the autonomous buses will aim to cover as many scenarios faced by bus feeder services as possible, to deepen understanding on the current state of the technology and to prepare for eventual full-scale operations in the future when the technology matures. In the longer term, it is envisaged that the trial could be extended to public roads in towns to enhance intra-town travel.

Said LTA’s Chief Technology Officer, Mr Lam Wee Shann: “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. 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.”

The Signapore Land Transport Authority

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is responsible for planning, operating, and maintaining Singapore’s land transport infrastructure and systems.

Our aim is to make public transport and other mobility forms come alive so travellers of all ages will look forward to their daily journeys. We want to make daily travel a way of life that is healthier, greener and more sustainable.