Singapore has officially approved the region’s first autonomous bus to run without safety personnel on board. Chinese tech firm WeRide got the nod from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to operate its Robobus in Sentosa, a milestone in Southeast Asia’s push for smarter public transport. The Robobus has been in service at Resorts World Sentosa since June 2023, previously under the watch of an on-board safety operator. LTA regulations require all autonomous vehicles to undergo rigorous safety tests before removing that human presence.
“Once they pass the assessments, they may proceed to remove the on-board safety operator requirement and replace it with constant remote monitoring instead,” said Lam Wee Shann, LTA’s Chief Technology Officer.
Jennifer Li, WeRide’s CFO and head of international operations, called the approval a breakthrough.“It shows our vehicles are safe, reliable, and ready to transform public transport at scale.” The Robobus runs a 12-minute loop through key points in RWS, equipped with lidar, cameras, and sensors that detect obstacles up to 200 metres away. To date, the vehicle has had a spotless safety record.
The move comes as Singapore gears up for wider Autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption. Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow recently said autonomous vehicles could hit public roads in the next five years.
WeRide is also strengthening its local footprint with an R&D centre in Singapore, supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB).
