As it stands Singapore has an efficient public transportation system..I have not faced any issues with private taxis too..Despite that they are looking at Driverless taxis..Looking futuristic has been a good trait of the Singapore Government!
Singapore Is Already Planning for a Future of Driverless Taxis
Officials see the technology as a way to make the city-state “even more sustainable and liveable.”
This summer, Google will begin testing its custom-made self-driving car on the streets of Mountain View, California. That’s a big step forward for autonomous technology, but there’s arguably a bigger one brewing in Singapore, at least as far as the future of cities is concerned. Officials there are expected to authorize an on-demand driverless taxi trial on public roads—a concept that could change the very nature of urban mobility, with shared autonomous vehicles operating as a sort of point-to-point transit system.
“For me, really the big benefit of this technology is essentially making car-sharing as convenient as private car-ownership, but also as sustainable and scalable as public transportation,” says Emilio Frazzoli, lead investigator for the urban mobility component of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), a research consortium that’s applied to run the taxi pilot.
The government seems to recognize the broad social benefits that a shared driverless vehicle network might deliver. Last year the Ministry of Transport formed a committee to study self-driving cars not just for safety reasons but “to make Singapore an even more sustainable and liveable city.” (Frazzoli is a member.) Just this month officials announced a desire to incorporate driverless technology into the city’s mass transit network, perhaps as autonomous buses.
Whereas U.S. regulators have largely stayed off to the side and followed the lead of technology companies like Google, Singapore’s hands-on approach recognizes that an advance this significant will require strong planning well before it arrives in perfect form. “It’s clear from the government why this is useful and why they should support it,” says Frazzoli. “This is perceived as more of a societal need—something that is strategic as they plan for the future.”
http://www.citylab.com/tech/2015/06/singapore-is-already-planning-for-a-future-of-driverless-taxis/396707/
Singapore Is Already Planning for a Future of Driverless Taxis
Officials see the technology as a way to make the city-state “even more sustainable and liveable.”
- Eric Jaffe
- Jun 25, 2015
This summer, Google will begin testing its custom-made self-driving car on the streets of Mountain View, California. That’s a big step forward for autonomous technology, but there’s arguably a bigger one brewing in Singapore, at least as far as the future of cities is concerned. Officials there are expected to authorize an on-demand driverless taxi trial on public roads—a concept that could change the very nature of urban mobility, with shared autonomous vehicles operating as a sort of point-to-point transit system.
“For me, really the big benefit of this technology is essentially making car-sharing as convenient as private car-ownership, but also as sustainable and scalable as public transportation,” says Emilio Frazzoli, lead investigator for the urban mobility component of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), a research consortium that’s applied to run the taxi pilot.
The government seems to recognize the broad social benefits that a shared driverless vehicle network might deliver. Last year the Ministry of Transport formed a committee to study self-driving cars not just for safety reasons but “to make Singapore an even more sustainable and liveable city.” (Frazzoli is a member.) Just this month officials announced a desire to incorporate driverless technology into the city’s mass transit network, perhaps as autonomous buses.
Whereas U.S. regulators have largely stayed off to the side and followed the lead of technology companies like Google, Singapore’s hands-on approach recognizes that an advance this significant will require strong planning well before it arrives in perfect form. “It’s clear from the government why this is useful and why they should support it,” says Frazzoli. “This is perceived as more of a societal need—something that is strategic as they plan for the future.”
http://www.citylab.com/tech/2015/06/singapore-is-already-planning-for-a-future-of-driverless-taxis/396707/
