Interest in Driver-less Taxis

An Indonesian student studying in Singapore read my blog posting about the driverless taxi and expressed interest to know more about it.

She said that the public transport system in Jakarta needs to be improved. Some commuters are worried about taking taxis due to security. They would love to have a driver-less taxi, if this is possible through technology.

I planned to visit Paris in November to study the driver-less electric vehicle that is being developed and tested in a few cities in Europe.

I believe that this system can operate as follows:

a) provide local transport within a distance of 3 km
b) bring commuters to the train station, bus terminus, or shopping mall
c) can be called by SMS
d) operate on green energy, i.e. electricity
e) be on call most of the time; reduce need for parking space
f) can be cheaper than taxi, as there is no need to pay the driver
g) can be safer than a human driver

I hope that this type of vehicle and driver-less taxi service can be implemented in Singapore to provide local transport. The current taxis can continue to provide long distance transport.

Tan Kin Lian