Last month, Singapore made international news when autonomous vehicle software startup nuTonomy announced the world’s first public trial of self-driving taxis right here in Singapore. However, this trial service was only confined to a select group of 10 people who’d use the company’s native app to get around the One-North business district. But now, they’ve partnered up with Grab to expand the public trial to a bigger audience.
The expansion will help with collecting more data on users’ all-round experience, from booking a self-driving taxi to the ride itself. There is now a special “Robo-Car Trial” icon on the Grab app to book a ride, which will be free-of-charge. But as great as that sounds now, there’s a catch—at the moment, customers can only travel within the One-North business district and nearby neighborhoods, but any further than that, the safety driver takes over. Also, you’ll have to register online first before trying out the service.
The trial will be conducted for the next two months, and we may see more companies partnering up with nuTonomy in the near future. Eeee! Welcome to the 21st century.
