Chinese autonomous driving tech company WeRide has officially launched Southeast Asia’s first fully driverless bus service in Singapore, operating without a safety officer on board.
The Robobus now runs on a fixed 1.2km route every 12 minutes, linking three hotels with The Galleria shopping mall on Sentosa Island. The bus is equipped with 360-degree sensors and can detect obstacles over 200 metres away, WeRide said in a statement on Thursday.
This launch comes after a successful year-long trial that began in June 2024, during which the vehicle carried tens of thousands of passengers safely under the supervision of onboard safety operators.
“All autonomous vehicle operators must first pass strict safety assessments before being allowed to remove human safety personnel from the vehicles,” said Lam Wee Shann, Deputy CEO and Chief Technology Officer at Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA). Once these requirements are met, companies may transition to remote monitoring systems.
The interior of WeRide’s fully driverless Robobus in Singapore.
WeRide’s Chief Financial Officer and Head of International Business, Jennifer Li, said the service rollout demonstrates that its technology is ready for large-scale deployment in public transport systems.
The announcement boosted WeRide’s stock, which rose 5.5% to close at US$9.26 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.
Headquartered in Guangzhou, WeRide operates an R&D center in Singapore. It first introduced autonomous street-sweeping vehicles to the city-state in November, expanding operations to Jurong Lake Gardens by March.
WeRide has secured testing approvals in five countries — China, the U.S., Singapore, France, and the UAE. In January, the company began testing driverless cars in Switzerland through a partnership with national railway operator SBB. That followed the launch of Europe’s first commercial autonomous minibus service at Zurich airport.
Founder and CEO Tony Han previously said WeRide is focusing on Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Japan, and South Korea to grow its international presence and boost innovation.
WeRide’s growing footprint abroad signals increasing global recognition of Chinese autonomous vehicle technologies. Other Chinese AV leaders such as Baidu and Pony.ai have also expanded overseas, with both partnering with Uber to test robotaxis in the Middle East.
