The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore has announced that it has begun working with both Grab and ComfortDelGro to enhance existing autonomous shuttle services before revenue operations commence in Punggol.
Feedback from preliminary trials has thus far been ‘overwhelmingly positive’, with 99% of roughly 900 respondents indicating they felt safe during the ride and that they would recommend it to others.
However, elsewhere riders have stated that the current fixed-route shuttle modality ‘cannot fully meet residents’ diverse travel needs’, with post-ride surveys consistently indicating residents’ preference for greater convenience and flexibility in the form of more direct routes to their destinations and being able to choose their preferred pick-up and drop-off points.
Amongst those surveyed, of which around 270 are Punggol residents, almost 60% indicated that they preferred being able to choose where they board and alight, while around 40% said they preferred more direct routes to their destinations.
In an effort to respond to these statements, Grab will begin piloting an enhanced on-demand service that allows riders to book an AV to travel directly between any of the existing pick-up and drop-off points served by Grab’s Route 1 and Route 3. Instead of following a fixed route, the AV will take the most direct route between the rider’s selected pick-up and drop-off points.
This pilot is expected to commence in the next few months, and marks a step towards on-demand, direct-routing services across more pick-up and drop-off points in Punggol, with additional points expected to be added progressively based on feedback.
Revenue service will commence once this service opens to the public, with more details set to be announced shortly.
