Test bed for driverless vehicles ramped up at one-north

There will be more space for driverless vehicles to be tested in one-north, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Tuesday (Oct 18). The trial area is being expanded, and more infrastructure will be installed.

In September, the test route was doubled from 6km to 12km, allowing researchers to put their driverless vehicles through longer distances and more challenging terrain at one-north, said LTA. It is working with JTC to identify more roads round the area where testing can take place.One-north is host to the first trials of driverless vehicles on public roads in Singapore. So far, four organisations have been conducting trials in the area since January, 2015.

More infrastructure has also been installed since July to better support the on-road trials. For example, CCTVs have been put in place at 20 locations along the test route. LTA said this allows authorities to identify where potential challenges lie, especially at traffic junctions and bends in the road. The footage can also serve as evidence in an investigation if an incident occurs.

Sensor beacons that transmit information to the driverless vehicles are also being installed at 10 road junctions at one-north. These broadcast information like traffic light signals and traffic conditions to the driverless vehicles, allowing them to better navigate the roads.

On the backend, a system housed at LTA’s Intelligent Transport Systems Centre analyses the driverless vehicles’ performance from the data that is generated. The system also sends out alerts if the vehicles travel in driverless mode outside the test area.

LTA said the information will help it decide if more infrastructure needs to be installed at the test-bed.