Waymo plans to offer paid robotaxi rides in Singapore in 2028

Waymo will bring a fleet of Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles to Singapore in the coming months as the Alphabet unit expands internationally. (EPA Images pic)CALIFORNIA: Waymo plans to offer its robotaxi service in Singapore in 2028, the latest in a string of domestic and international expansions by the Alphabet unit.The Mountain View, California-based company will bring a fleet of Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles to the Asian city-state in the coming months, it said in a statement late Thursday in the US. Starting next year, its trained specialists will manually drive the vehicles to map and learn Singapore’s roads and monsoon weather patterns, it added.Waymo offers paid service in 15 US cities and has been preparing to launch internationally, including in London, Tokyo and Germany.

The company has also registered operations in France, the Netherlands and Spain, though it has yet to announce commercial plans. It has begun paid rides in several markets recently, including Las Vegas this week and Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, Florida, earlier this month.When it opens service to the Singaporean public in 2028, Waymo plans to make its vehicles available on its own consumer app. That’s a different approach from Chinese rivals like WeRide and Pony AI, which have launched small-scale services in the city-state by partnering with local ride-hailing apps, such as Grab Holdings and ComfortDelGro.It is unclear whether Waymo will operate limited routes in Singapore similar to ones offered by other robotaxi providers.

Waymo said in the statement that its service will complement that market’s public transit network by bridging “first-and-last-mile transit gaps across residential and commercial hubs.”The company plans to manually map all the regions of Singapore and collect the necessary data to seek Land Transport Authority approval for its autonomous driving system in 2027, a Waymo spokesperson said. Waymo plans to launch its robotaxi service in Singapore in 2028, giving the US company its first foothold in Southeast Asia. Fully electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles were due to arrive in the city state in the coming months, ahead of preparations for a commercial launch, the company said on Friday.

From 2027, trained autonomous specialists will manually drive the vehicles to help Waymo adapt its technology to Singapore’s road layouts, monsoon conditions and other local features.