Singapore, 11th Dec, 2023 — WeRide has announced that it has obtained the Milestone Testing Regime Level 1 License for Autonomous Vehicles (AV) on Public Roads (referred to as “M1 License”) and the T1 Assessment License for AVs on Public Paths (referred to as “T1 License”) from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore. With these licenses, WeRide’s Robobus will be able to conduct tests on a larger scale on public roads in Singapore. This includes covering important areas such as One North and the National University of Singapore.
The company has also secured permits in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore.
It is reported that the conditions for obtaining the M1 License in Singapore are extremely stringent. The assessment covers multiple dimensions. These include basic autonomous driving functions, static obstacle recognition, dynamic obstacle avoidance, redundancy in vehicle control by safety driver, overall vehicle safety performance, and more. Vehicles must accurately and flawlessly complete the mentioned tasks. These tasks are within test facilities that highly replicate the urban road traffic scenarios in Singapore. Additionally, the Singapore authorities have exceptionally high safety requirements, making this license highly prestigious.
From the arrival of WeRide’s Robobus at the Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of Autonomous Vehicles in Singapore (CETRAN) on August 28th to the successful acquisition of both M1 and T1 licenses, WeRide accomplished this feat in just three months. This achievement sets a record for the speed at which an autonomous driving company obtained licenses in Singapore. It highlights the company’s international leadership in the Level 4 autonomous driving field.
Over the past decade, Singapore has experienced a staggering 66% increase in total domestic travel. This has led to persistent challenges for the local government in terms of road network congestion and parking issues. Additionally, more than 30% of Singapore’s urban transportation workforce is over 50 years old, indicating a rapidly aging population.
The development of high-density autonomous public transportation has become a crucial focus for the sustainable development of Singapore. The need for efficient and eco-friendly transportation solutions drives this emphasis. This aligns seamlessly with WeRide’s positioning as a provider of autonomous driving technology solutions. It also aligns with their role as an operator of autonomous driving transportation services. In October of this year, WeRide signed strategic cooperation agreements with two Singaporean companies. These companies are Woodlands Transport Services and EZ Buzz, further expanding its network of local partners.
Looking back at the year 2023, WeRide has made remarkable progress both domestically and internationally. On July 3rd, WeRide achieved the first autonomous driving license in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after nearly two years of dedicated efforts operating the Robotaxi fleet. This announcement was made by the UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This is the first national-level autonomous driving license in the Middle East and even globally. It signifies that all of WeRide’s autonomous driving vehicles can undergo road tests and operations on public roads. This is applicable throughout the entire UAE.
On November 17th, WeRide received the notice to launch a commercial operation of fully driverless Robotaxi from Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Piolt Zone, which is called “driverless inside the vehicle and remote monitoring outside the vehicle” stage. This means WeRide can provide a fare-charing service of Robotaxis with no safety driver on board to the public in Yizhuang, Beijing. Moreover, this marks a significant acceleration in the company’s large-scale commercialization.
In the future, WeRide will continue to overcome various challenges, bringing the company’s high-quality autonomous driving technology, products, and services to more countries and regions, effectively transforming urban living with autonomous driving.
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