Waymo to Launch Robotaxis in Singapore by 2028

Waymo announced a fully autonomous, all-electric ride-hailing service for Singapore by 2028, marking its first entry into Southeast Asia.

On September 18, Waymo announced it will bring its fully autonomous, all-electric commercial ride-hailing service to Singapore in 2028, bookable through the Waymo app. The Alphabet subsidiary is partnering with Singapore's Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority, and the move marks the company's first foray into Southeast Asia. Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana called Singapore's transport ecosystem 'one of the safest, most efficient and most forward-thinking in the world,' saying the city's focus on reliability and sustainability mirrors how Waymo built its technology.

This is not an overnight rollout. Waymo says an initial fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will arrive in the coming months as it establishes local operations. During a readiness phase in 2027, trained autonomous specialists will manually drive the vehicles while the Waymo Driver adapts to local road geometry, monsoon weather patterns and other conditions unique to the island. The public commercial launch is targeted for 2028, subject to regulatory approval. According to CNA, testing and deployment preparation will begin in western Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area, including new use cases such as commuting, weekend travel and serving industrial areas with fewer transport options.

Waymo arrives with numbers it says justify the leap: more than 20 million fully autonomous rides and more than 300 million fully autonomous kilometres driven, with a reported 94% reduction in injury-causing crashes compared with human drivers in the U.S. cities where it operates fully autonomously. Its sensor suite of lidar, radar and cameras provides a 360-degree view designed to detect pedestrians, cyclists and other road users for cautious, predictable interactions on dense urban streets. The company also says its 100% electric fleet supports the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and currently prevents an estimated 480 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from road travel every week.

What makes this entry striking is that Singapore is already one of the world's most crowded autonomous vehicle markets. Fortune reports that last September Chinese robotaxi firms WeRide and Pony AI announced partnerships with Grab and ComfortDelGro to bring self-driving vehicles to the city, with both operators running autonomous shuttle services in Punggol, which the government has designated a test bed for physical AI. Just days before Waymo's announcement, Grab said it will expand its own AV fleet from 10 to 50 vehicles over the next six months, according to CNA.

The rapid international robotaxi expansion has unnerved drivers who fear losing work. Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow offered a pointed statistical rebuttal during a July parliamentary address, noted by Fortune: Singapore has over 70,000 taxi and private-hire car drivers, while only around 20 AVs currently run on its roads — and even gathering every AV in the world today would amount to roughly 7,000 cars, under 10% of the taxi and private-hire population. The Ministry of Transport and LTA say new roles in fleet management, remote operation, maintenance and data analysis will be created, with training programmes available and the government subsidising up to 90% of salaries during retraining, according to CNA.

Siow said the country's total autonomous vehicle fleet will grow to several hundred over the next two years, and authorities plan to deploy AVs in one or two more Housing Board towns further from the city, such as Tampines North and Tengah. For enthusiasts, the stakes are high: success in Singapore's dense, monsoon-soaked streets could validate Waymo's technology for broader Asian markets, while the LTA has pledged to work closely with Waymo to ensure deployments meet safety and regulatory requirements before riders ever open the app.