[SINGAPORE] In five years, self-driving vehicles could ply Singapore’s roads and eventually change the dynamics of driving, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are part of plans to improve the country’s public transport system, which the newly minted politician has declared as his priority.
In an interview with the local media, he admitted that, despite having a background in public transport, he had not expected to be given this portfolio when the Cabinet line-up was announced.
“I wasn’t expecting to have to do something that I’ve done before,” he said in an interview on Jun 11. “I thought it was more likely I’d be doing something else that I’ve not done before.”
From 2012 to 2017, Siow was a director in the Ministry of Transport and was involved in the planning of the Thomson-East Coast MRT line. Later, he was second permanent secretary in the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, before joining politics ahead of this year’s general election on May 3.
After being elected as a Member of Parliament for Chua Chu Kang GRC on the People’s Action Party ticket, he was appointed as acting transport minister in Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s new Cabinet.
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While the content of the role is familiar, the “political part” is still something he is learning, said Siow. “The transport job is not easy… It’s politically intense, it’s public-facing.”
Automatic for the people
He sees AVs as an important means of expanding public bus services. Ranging from minivan-like shuttles to full-sized buses, AVs can navigate from place to place without the need for a driver.
Since testing its first AV in 2015, Singapore has been ramping up its AV capabilities with trials in places such as the National University of Singapore, Punggol, Tengah and the Jurong Innovation District.
From mid-2026, autonomous public buses will be tested for the first time in Singapore, plying two existing bus routes in a pilot by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
At an event earlier this month, Siow noted the importance of buses in commuters’ first- and last-mile journeys. A higher bus density would improve the connectivity of towns farther from the city, such as Tengah, Punggol and Pasir Ris – but Singapore has a shortage of bus drivers.
“Introducing bus services is not straightforward. It takes time, but AVs remove the key constraint of manpower,” he said in the media interview.
He is therefore accelerating Singapore’s longstanding plans to adopt AVs, so that more public buses can be put on the roads.
“I have no doubt, in five years, you will see many AVs in Singapore,” he said.
This may start with fixed routes in public housing estates, probably to and from transport nodes, he said. AVs might next start plying routes to places such as polyclinics, perhaps during off-peak hours.
Beyond buses, Singapore’s roads may include smaller AVs with flexible routes. These could eventually operate like private-hire cars, thus changing the dynamics of private driving.
“It may make less sense for you to drive your own car if you can call a car, (and) the car arrives within five minutes. You pay for it on a pay-per-use basis, and then get to where you want to go,” he said.
If this is achieved, there will be “interesting implications” for how Singapore thinks about private vehicles and the Certificate of Entitlement system, he said, without elaborating.
“That’s maybe a bit further down the road, but I think it’s really worth thinking about it.”
Existential issues
While public attention often focuses on land transport, the “fast-changing and existential” issues are in air and sea transport, which contribute 5 per cent and 6 per cent to Singapore’s economy, respectively, said Siow.
He warned against complacency: “Every time we do something, the competitors follow, or sometimes they even come up with new things. And then we have to figure out how we can compete.”
The completion of Changi Airport Terminal 5 will be a “big part” of his job as acting transport minister, he added.
In the maritime arena, the major project is the ongoing development of Tuas Port. But beyond boosting port capacity, Siow wants to create more awareness of the sector’s success and its role as a “job engine” for the Republic.
Singaporeans already feel pride in the country’s aviation status, he said, and while more awareness is needed around maritime achievements, “we’re doing really great in terms of our port”.
“But (on) the public transport side, I think we can do a lot more – and we will do a lot more.”
This includes improving rail resilience, which in turn entails opening more lines – such as the Cross Island Line (CRL), which he described as “absolutely critical”.
Now under construction, with its first stations set to open in 2030, the CRL is a so-called orbital line that connects all existing lines and provides alternative routes in case of a breakdown.
With transport being a part of daily life, “everybody has an opinion on whether you’re doing things right”, he said.
His aim: To bring back Singaporeans’ pride and love for our transportation system.
“It does mean, of course, we must make sure that on the public transport side, we run the system well – as well as we have run the air and the sea systems – so that Singaporeans can take pride in it,” he said.
