SINGAPORE, Sept 18 — Alphabet’s autonomous‑driving company Waymo said today it will launch a fully driverless ride‑hailing service in Singapore in 2028, marking its first entry into South‑east Asia.

CNA reported that Waymo is partnering the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to introduce an all‑electric commercial service that commuters can book through its app.

Waymo co‑CEO Tekedra Mawakana said Singapore has built “one of the safest, most efficient and most forward‑thinking transportation ecosystems in the world”.

She said Waymo will work with local authorities and communities as it rolls out the technology and plans to create skilled operational jobs in Singapore.

Waymo said its initial fleet of Jaguar I‑PACE electric vehicles will arrive in Singapore in the coming months as the company establishes local operations.

The company will begin a readiness phase next year, during which trained specialists will manually drive the vehicles while Waymo adapts its autonomous system, known as the Waymo Driver, to Singapore’s road geometry and monsoon weather conditions.

Waymo said it aims to offer fully autonomous rides to the public in 2028, subject to regulatory approval.

The company said its Singapore fleet will be fully electric to support national sustainability goals and reduce reliance on private cars.

Waymo said its autonomous system uses lidar, radar and cameras to provide a 360‑degree view of surroundings and detect the movements of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.

The company said it has provided more than 20 million fully autonomous rides and driven more than 300 million autonomous kilometres, with a 94 per cent reduction in injury‑causing crashes compared with human drivers in the US cities where it operates.

Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said autonomous vehicles will complement existing public transport and add capacity to taxi and private‑hire fleets.

He said autonomous vehicles could serve areas where human drivers are reluctant to go and operate after hours when public transport has stopped running.

Siow said Waymo will begin testing in western Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area, covering use cases such as commuting, weekend travel and serving industrial zones with fewer transport options.

He said Waymo’s entry marks a new phase in Singapore’s driverless‑vehicle development.

Siow said authorities plan to deploy autonomous vehicles in one or two more Housing Board towns further from the city, such as Tampines North and Tengah.

He said Singapore currently has 16 autonomous passenger vehicles operating in Punggol.

Grab said on Monday it will expand its autonomous‑vehicle fleet from 10 to 50 over the next six months as it prepares to extend services beyond Punggol.

LTA approved Grab and autonomous‑driving firm WeRide for community rides in Punggol in January, before public rides began in April.

Grab is preparing to launch an on‑demand point‑to‑point service across selected locations in Punggol, with more service points to follow.

Siow said Singapore’s autonomous‑vehicle fleet will grow to several hundred over the next two years, though it will remain small compared with the more than 70,000 taxi and private‑hire drivers on the road.

He said the industry will create new jobs in fleet management, remote operations, system maintenance, application testing, data analysis and service reliability.

He said operators have launched training programmes for drivers interested in these roles and that the government will subsidise up to 90 per cent of salaries during training.