Driverless vehicles could hit local public roads as early as January 2015

From January 2015, fully autonomous cars might ply around buildings in the one-north area for a year-long trial while a separate trial involving driverless buses would see workers being ferried between Fusionopolis and Biopolis by 2016, reported The Straits Times.

The two schemes were set up by a new 17-member committee formed by the Transport Ministry and headed by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Pang Kin Keong.

The committee will research, develop and implement driverless technology on the island with members comprising international experts, industry players and personnel from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Singapore is still in the preliminary stages when it comes to the use of driverless vehicles, with such vehicles being tested by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart).

The English daily revealed that two driverless golf buggies could be available for public trials in the Jurong Lake District later this year.

Senior Minister of State for Transport and Finance, Josephine Teo, revealed Singapore is about 10 to 15 years away from full deployment of such vehicles. Although she admitted the timeframe to be a relatively long wait, she revealed that when the vehicles eventually hit our roads, the neighbourhoods will be clean, green and car-free.

"For longer intra-town commutes, commuters can just hop onto a pod that runs through an underground network, almost like a personalised MRT," added Ms. Teo, akin to Milton Keynes in Britain, where 100 electric-powered driverless pods ferry people around town.

Moreover, a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that shared driverless vehicles could reduce passenger vehicle ownership here by a third - from the current 900,000 to 300,000. However, experts believe introducing driverless technology in Singapore might arise in complications too, including getting commuters to feel safe in driverless vehicles, and setting out regulations.

Additionally, anyone interested in providing feedback to the committee can visit this link.