Ride hailing and food delivery company Grab has inked deals with four global technology companies – Autonomous A2Z, Motional, WeRide and Zelos – to study the impact of autonomous vehicles in Southeast Asia.
Through the partnership, the Singapore-based company would assess various autonomous technologies for delivery and mobility, such as shuttles, buses, cars and bots, it said yesterday.
Autonomous A2Z is based in South Korea, while Motional is headquartered in the United States and WeRide and Zelos are from China.
Grab says its studies will focus on several areas, including safety and accident reduction. This includes assessing autonomous vehicles for their role in enhancing safety, reducing road accidents, minimising human error and improving traffic management.
The studies also would help analyse the type, scale and skillsets required for emerging jobs in the autonomous industry, and evaluate opportunities for drivers and delivery partners, according to Grab.
Perhaps most importantly, the company will determine if autonomous vehicles make sense for the bottomline. This includes exploring how to improve connectivity and analyse their cost structure for long-term viability.
“Autonomous vehicle technology is advancing rapidly, yet its impact on Southeast Asia’s transportation landscape remains largely unexplored,” said Anthony Tan, Grab’s group chief executive officer.
“Through these collaborative studies with leading autonomous technology companies, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of how autonomous vehicles can enhance our transportation ecosystem while maintaining the essential role of our drivers and delivery-partners,” he added.
It is unclear if autonomous vehicles, increasingly common in some United States and Chinese cities, will hit the roads in Southeast Asia’s urban areas. However, several trials have been carried out in the region in recent years and more are planned in future.
Next year, some of the first driverless buses in Singapore will ply several pilot routes that bring commuters from the west of the city-state to the central business district in the south.
