The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) (27 Jan 2025) to seek industry’s proposals to pilot autonomous public bus services. 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 service and fleet levels.

The pilot deployment will start with smaller buses with at least 16 seats.  It will commence with Service 400 (Marina Bay/Shenton Way), followed by Service 191 (one-north). These two services were selected for their shorter and simpler routes; one-north is also part of an existing AV test-bed, where AV trials have been conducted since 2019. Please refer to Annex A https://bit.ly/40ITzWG for the route maps of Services 191 and 400.

The selected tenderer will work closely with SBS Transit Ltd (SBST), the current operator of Services 191 and 400, to develop operational concepts and plans for operating the autonomous public buses. During the initial phase, the buses will operate with bus captains onboard as safety operators. The autonomous buses must meet operating requirements, including safe pick-up and drop-off at all designated stops.  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. The autonomous buses will be monitored real-time by LTA to assess self-driving performance and compliance to regulations. LTA will also mandate additional safeguards such as requiring all passengers to be seated and wear their seatbelts. In addition, a customer service officer may be deployed onboard to assist commuters who require help.

LTA will procure six autonomous buses for a start for the pilot. These autonomous buses will operate alongside existing manned buses and will be deployed from mid-2026 for an initial period of three years. Depending on the performance of these autonomous buses, LTA may consider purchasing up to an additional 14 autonomous buses, which will enable the pilot deployment to be expanded to two additional public bus services. This phased approach allows for a thorough assessment of the feasibility and reliability of AV technology while ensuring public safety.

The proposals must include the proposed bus models, fleet management and remote operations systems, electric charging infrastructure, hardware and software needed for AV operations, and associated maintenance and support services. LTA will assess the merit of the proposals based on the maturity of the AV technology, the AV developer’s track record in local and/or overseas deployments and capability to meet the operational needs of public bus services. The comprehensiveness of the proposed supporting infrastructure such as AV fleet management and charging systems will also be considered.

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.