On Monday (Jan 27), the agency launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) to seek industry proposals for the trial.
"Through this pilot, LTA aims to assess the technical feasibility of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology for public bus services and gain insights into the operational aspects of running autonomous buses at both the service and fleet levels," it said in a statement.
The pilot deployment will start with smaller buses with at least 16 seats and will operate with bus captains onboard as safety operators during the initial phase.
LTA said it will monitor the autonomous buses in real time to assess their self-driving performance and compliance with regulations.
The agency will also mandate additional safeguards, such as requiring all passengers to be seated and to wear their seatbelts.
"A customer service officer may be deployed onboard to assist commuters who require help," LTA said.
Six autonomous buses will be procured for the trial and will operate alongside existing manned buses.
LTA said Services 400 (Marina Bay/Shenton Way) and 191 (One-north) routes have been selected for the trial due to their shorter and simpler routes.
One-north is also part of an existing AV test-bed, where AV trials have been conducted since 2019.
The selected tenderer will work closely with SBS Transit Ltd, the current operator of Services 191 and 400, to develop operational concepts and plans for operating the autonomous public buses.
"The selected tenderer is expected to operate for at least six months to demonstrate the reliability of the autonomous buses' self-driving and remote operations capabilities, after which a remote safety operator can take over the supervisory role," it said.
LTA may also consider purchasing up to an additional 14 autonomous buses, depending on their performance, which would enable the pilot deployment to be expanded to two additional public bus services.
The RFP is expected to close by the second quarter of 2025, with the contract expected to be awarded by the end of the year.
-- BERNAMA
