Skip to main content

Singapore to start truck platooning trials

Driverless trucks are set to be trialled on the streets of Singapore under an agreement between the country’s Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) and PSA Corporation and automotive companies Scania and Toyota Tsusho. The two companies will design, develop and test an autonomous truck platooning system for use on Singapore's public roads. The platoon will use public roads while transporting containers between port terminals in Singapore. The aim is to organise convoys of four trucks, with three au
January 10, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Driverless trucks are set to be trialled on the streets of Singapore under an agreement between the country’s Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) and PSA Corporation and automotive companies 570 Scania and 1686 Toyota Tsusho.

The two companies will design, develop and test an autonomous truck platooning system for use on Singapore's public roads.

The platoon will use public roads while transporting containers between port terminals in Singapore. The aim is to organise convoys of four trucks, with three autonomously-driven trucks behind the lead truck, as well as to fully automate the processes for precise docking and undocking of cargo.

With vehicles in Singapore approaching one million, the initiative seeks to address the increasing travel demand and land constraints; 12 percent of Singapore’s total land is used for road and land transport infrastructure. Additionally, it faces a shortage of drivers.

It has therefore established Singapore as a “living laboratory” for new vehicle concepts that will increase productivity, road safety, optimise road capacity and enable new mobility concepts.

The truck platooning trials will take place in two phases. The first phase will focus on designing, testing and refining the truck platooning technology to adapt to local conditions. These will be conducted by Scania and Toyota at their respective research centres in Sweden and Japan, to leverage their existing development work. The second phase will consist of local trials and development of the technology in Singapore.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • USDoT looks at the costs and potential benefits of connected vehicles
    October 26, 2017
    David Crawford looks at latest lessons learned from the trials of connected vehicles in the US. The progress of connected vehicle (CV) technologies takes centre stage among the hot topics highlighted in the September 2017 edition – the first since 2014 – of the ‘ITS Benefits, Costs and Lessons Learned’ survey from the US ITS Joint Program Office (JPO). The organisation is an arm of the US Department of Transportation (USDoT).
  • Thales builds on Canadian connection for transit R&D
    June 20, 2016
    The Canadian province of Ontario is continuing to benefit from its ongoing investment in transit R&D. David Crawford looks at the impact of new investment. Developing the next generation of urban rail signalling solutions worldwide, with the emphasis on transit security and efficiency, is the goal of a recently-created business partnership between the government of the Canadian province of Ontario and Thales Canada. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the France-HQ'd global defence, aerospace and transportation
  • The role of GIS in climate change resiliency
    May 29, 2014
    Climate change will pose global and local challenges and that includes risks to the transportation infrastructure. Climate change adaptation and resiliency has captured the attention of the transportation community for some time now. Because transportation infrastructure is often designed to last for 30, 50, or 100 years or even longer, transportation professionals are concerned not only about the impact on our existing investments, but also how to design more durable transportation systems for the future
  • After two decades of research, ITS is getting into its stride
    June 4, 2015
    Colin Sowman gets the global view on how ITS has shaped the way we travel today and what will shape the way we travel tomorrow. Over the past two decades the scope and spread of intelligent transport systems has grown and diversified to encompass all modes of travel while at the same time integrating and consolidating. Two decades ago the idea of detecting cyclists or pedestrians may have been considered impossible and why would you want to do that anyway? Today cyclists can account for a significant propor