The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore has signed agreements with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) to collaborate on a series of transport research projects.

The projects will include trials of two fully autonomous 12m buses, the first of their kind in the country.

NTU chief of staff and vice-president (research) Lam Khin Yong said: “NTU’s deep expertise in sustainability technologies, engineering and industry collaboration has contributed towards developing new solutions for public transportation, such as first-and-last-mile autonomous shuttles and buses.

"NTU’s deep expertise in sustainability technologies, engineering and industry collaboration has contributed towards developing new solutions for public transportation."

“Current efforts worldwide have been focused on cars so this autonomous bus trial is the first-of-its-kind in Singapore that will aim to improve road safety, reduce vehicle congestion, alleviate pollution and address manpower challenges.”

Research will be conducted at the LTA-NTU Transport Research Centre (TRC), which was built in November 2015 to conduct research and technical trials for innovative technologies in the transport industry.

As part of LTA’s Request for Information (RFI) on autonomous mobility concepts issued in June 2015, LTA will be associating with the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) to develop autonomous buses.

ERI@N will design, build and test their self-driving vehicle technology with two electric hybrid buses.

The organisation will also develop an autonomous system that can effectively navigate Singapore’s local road traffic and climate conditions.

The self-driving buses will feature new technology allowing them to be recharged at bus stops and depots.