WeRide and Grab have received approval from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) to deploy their full Ai.R (Autonomously Intelligent Ride) fleet for autonomous vehicle testing across the entire Punggol residential district, Singapore.
The testing began in mid-October, and with LTA clearance in hand, WeRide and Grab plan to quadruple the number of test runs on their shuttle service routes in Punggol by year-end. The Ai.R fleet comprises 11 vehicles — 10 five-passenger GXR units and one eight-passenger Robobus — operating as a public autonomous ride service under Grab in collaboration with WeRide.
These trials lay the groundwork for Punggol to become Singapore’s first residential neighborhood served by an autonomous shuttle route. The service is expected to open to public passengers in early 2026.
During testing, a safety operator is onboard each vehicle to supervise operations in real time. The shuttle routes will connect key local amenities, including Punggol Coast MRT station, the bus interchange at Punggol Coast Mall, nearby malls, and clinics.
The autonomous vehicles are gathering real-world data to adapt their AI driving systems to local conditions: Infrastructure layout, traffic patterns, pedestrian behavior and weather variations (including heavy rain and glare).
Performance calibration is underway, refining precise steering, smooth acceleration/deceleration, as well as navigation in narrow roads and car parks, and accurate pickup and drop-off maneuvers. The vehicles utilize a sensor suite (lidars and cameras) that offers 360-degree vision up to 200 meters, enabling prompt hazard response even in rain.
To support operations, Grab’s training arm, GrabAcademy, together with WeRide, is preparing more than 10 experienced Grab driver-partners to become Safety Operators. The first trainees have now moved from classroom and closed-circuit training into on-road practice.
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