Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving technology unit, said it would enter Singapore in partnership with the Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority, with a fully autonomous, all-electric ride-hailing service via the Waymo app planned for 2028.

Waymo said its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles would arrive in the coming months. In 2027, trained autonomous specialists would begin manual driving to adapt the Waymo Driver to Singapore’s road geometry and monsoon weather patterns.

“We are honoured to bring our safety-first technology backed by insights from over 20 million fully autonomous rise and over 300 million kilometers driven to complement Singapore’s mobility ecosystem with a safe, convenient, and reliable option,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said at its launch event.

“As we begin our journey here, we are committed to creating high skilled local operations jobs right here in Singapore,” she added.

The firm also plans to open an office in Singapore.

The move will mark Waymo’s first entry into Southeast Asia, following more than 20 million fully autonomous rides in its existing markets and came after the company said earlier this week it would roll out commercial rides in Tokyo in 2027.

Singapore is not a blank slate for robotaxis. WeRide, a China-based autonomous driving company, and Grab said they achieved the first autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service in the city-state.

Singapore Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said Waymo’s entry would add transport options in Singapore and help build local capabilities and jobs.

The country current has 16 passenger driverless vehicles operated between Grab and Zig Driverless, the unit under transport giant ComfortDelGro.

With Grab’s plans to increase the size of its fleet to 50 over the next six months and Waymo also bringing vehicles into Singapore, Siow said he expects Singapore’s total driverless vehicle fleet to increase to several hundred vehicles in the next two years.

“In Punggol, where we began on a small scale trials, about 20,000 Singaporeans have already taken rides on driverless cars. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – 99% of passage passengers say that they would recommend experience to someone else,” he said.

He added that across autonomous vehicles in Singapore have gone more than 160,000 kilometers without a major accident.

🔗 Source: Waymo

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