Ride-hailing giant Grab disclosed on Saturday that it will collaborate with China’s WeRide to operate driverless shuttle routes, while Pony.ai announced a similar venture with Singapore’s ComfortDelGro, one of the country’s largest taxi and transport operators.
According to Grab, local authorities have selected the company to manage two autonomous shuttle service routes in Punggol, a fast-growing residential district. The initiative will begin with a testing phase to study the routes in detail, before opening to passengers in early 2026. WeRide’s five- and eight-seater autonomous vehicles will be deployed for the service. The partnership builds on WeRide’s growing international footprint—just this July, it secured a permit to operate robotaxi services in Shanghai.
Pony.ai, for its part, revealed that its collaboration with ComfortDelGro will also begin in Punggol before extending to nearby communities. The companies expect to start operations “in the coming months,” pending regulatory clearance. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) confirmed that the service will initially cover a 12-kilometre (7.5-mile) route.
The LTA praised both WeRide and Pony.ai for their global experience, noting their track records in deploying automated vehicles across multiple markets. Pony.ai, backed by Toyota, currently runs commercial robotaxi fleets in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The company, which raised $260 million in a Nasdaq listing last November, has ambitions to expand into South Korea, Luxembourg, the Middle East, and other markets, with plans to scale its fleet to 1,000 vehicles by the end of 2025.
Singapore has been actively exploring autonomous transport solutions as part of its smart mobility strategy. In June, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow visited leading self-driving technology firms in China, signalling the government’s interest in integrating advanced driverless solutions into its urban transport system.
The dual partnerships underscore Singapore’s determination to position itself as a hub for autonomous vehicle innovation in Southeast Asia, while giving Chinese firms a platform to showcase their technology in a highly regulated but forward-looking market.