Driverless rides expand in Punggol as Singapore drafts rules for autonomous vehicles

Singapore has steadily widened public access to driverless shuttle rides in the north-eastern town of Punggol through 2026, even as regulators prepare a dedicated legal framework meant to govern autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the country's roads.

Public rides on autonomous shuttles in Punggol opened on 1 April 2026, as announced by Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow at the Ministry of Transport's Committee of Supply debate. The public launch followed a by-invitation phase that began on 12 January 2026; by early March, about 740 people had taken a ride and 99 per cent said they would recommend the service, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

The service runs across several routes connecting residents to amenities and transport nodes. Grab operates the shuttles on Routes 1 and 3, while ComfortDelGro runs Route 2, which was still in a familiarisation phase as the rides opened. Online sign-ups for the Grab-run routes opened on 25 March 2026.

Rides were free for an initial period, with the LTA expecting revenue service on Routes 1 and 3 to begin from the middle of 2026 at a flat fare of $4 per passenger. The authority said the shuttles could cut public-transport travel times for Punggol residents by up to 15 minutes, and noted that Grab's vehicles had logged more than 25,000 km of autonomous driving as of late February 2026.

A national push

The Punggol deployment is one piece of a broader national roadmap. Singapore has set a target of deploying between 100 and 150 self-driving vehicles by the end of 2026, spanning shuttles and buses, as it tests how AVs could supplement public transport in a country facing labour constraints and an ageing population.

Before any vehicle carries passengers on public roads, operators must clear safety assessments at the Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous Vehicles at Nanyang Technological University, where the vehicles are checked on their ability to stop safely for obstacles, perform emergency stops and obey traffic rules.

New rules in the works

On the regulatory side, the Ministry of Transport opened a public consultation on 4 May 2026 on a proposed legal and regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, inviting feedback on key issues across several areas that would form the framework's foundation. The consultation closed on 30 June 2026, and the ministry has said it plans to table the relevant legislation in Parliament in 2027.

The push toward wider deployment has not been without setbacks. Earlier in the year, operations were paused after a 17 January incident in which an autonomous vehicle struck a road divider; the LTA and the operator subsequently revised protocols governing the transition between autonomous and manual driving and imposed additional mileage requirements before trials resumed, according to reports.

New entrants

The sector is also drawing larger players. In September 2026, the US firm Waymo announced plans to enter Singapore in partnership with the Ministry of Transport and the LTA, with coverage indicating an initial focus on the west of the island — starting around Labrador and HarbourFront — and a launch targeted for 2028.

Officials have framed the cautious, staged rollout as a deliberate balance between innovation and safety. On the shuttles now serving Punggol, a safety officer has been present on board to take over if needed, and the LTA has said it will continue to monitor the vehicles' performance against safety and operational standards as rides expand and paid service begins.

For residents, the near-term question is practical: whether the driverless shuttles can reliably shave minutes off daily journeys at a modest fare. For regulators, the larger task is to put a durable legal framework in place before autonomous vehicles become a routine part of Singapore's transport network rather than a closely watched experiment.