On Sept 20, ComfortDelGro announced that its autonomous shuttle service, Zig Driverless, will begin in Punggol later this year. The service will be available for booking via ComfortDelGro’s Zig app. The autonomous shuttles were developed in partnership with Chinese tech firm Pony.ai and will feature advanced sensor fusion systems, including LiDAR, radar and cameras, supported by high-precision mapping with centimetre-level accuracy, said ComfortDelGro at the time.
ComfortDelGro maintains that the vehicles will go through “rigorous testing protocols, including extensive validation across diverse scenarios and real-world trials, before deployment.”
In an April interview with The Edge Singapore, ComfortDelGro’s group CEO Cheng Siak Kian explains the work with AVs was a crucial solution to help boost the limited driver pool, especially in China, Singapore, Australia and potentially the UK — all of which are countries with similar demographic challenges.
“When you have gentrification of the population in general, drivers who’re willing to drive very long or fixed hours to ensure consistency of supply throughout the day, that is increasingly under pressure. That’s what we’re seeing, and it’s the same probably throughout all the markets we’re operating in,” said Cheng at the time.
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In a November 2024 interview, Cheng also noted that AVs were a capability that ComfortDelGro wants to build up for its point-to-point business in the long term.
According to ComfortDelGro, it aims to begin road testing its AVs in Punggol as part of the familiarisation phase. The pilot will initially cover the Punggol East shuttle route, which links key lifestyle and transit nodes.
Upon the completion of the familiarisation, ComfortDelGro plans to launch its AV shuttles in Punggol in early 2026. Five vehicles will serve the route and rides are available by invite only. Fares will be subject to discussion and approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA). The timeline for AV services for taxis will also depend on the assessment from the LTA and the Ministry of Transport.
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On Dec 10, ComfortDelGro said it obtained the Milestone Testing Regime Level 1 (M1) licence for AVs on public roads, allowing the group to conduct live trials on the Punggol route. ComfortDelGro says it plans to conduct its trials in 1Q2026, where it will be taking passengers after mapping and live road testing.
To develop its AV capabilities, ComfortDelGro first signed an MOU with Pony.ai in August 2024 to commercialise robotaxis in China. The Guangzhou-based company was founded in December 2016 by two former software developers who had worked at China’s internet search giant Baidu. In April 2022, Pony.ai became the first autonomous driving company to obtain a taxi licence in China and is set to enter the markets of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. The company was listed on the Hong Kong exchange in November and has a market cap of around US$6.4 billion ($8.2 billion) as of Dec 11.
Through the collaboration, ComfortDelGro launched its first commercial robotaxi pilot programme in Nansha, Guangzhou, in March, focusing on developing the operational capabilities needed to deploy robotaxis at scale, a company spokesperson says. The company plans to introduce autonomous vehicles in key markets such as Australia and the UK once regulatory frameworks are in place and commercial viability supports wider deployment.
Asked why it chose Pony.ai over other AV players, the spokesperson said the firm’s technology maturity was the “right fit” for ComfortDelGro’s pilot projects in Guangzhou and Singapore. The company is also not ruling out working with other AV players, depending on project suitability.
In a further sign of ComfortDelGro’s expanding AV ambitions, the group’s China subsidiary signed a separate MOU with Hello Robotaxi on Nov 25 to deploy robotaxis domestically and overseas.
On the road to AVs, ComfortDelGro will need the right team. Operating a fleet of five Pony.ai AVs on a seven-day shuttle service will require 11 safety operators (SOs), plus at least one AV electrical technician for day-to-day maintenance.
Candidates training to be SOs must pass a driving skills test and complete four weeks of training. The programme covers one week per module: theory, basic operation, hands-on practice, scenario-based defensive driving skills and local road adaptation, the spokesperson says.
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So far, ComfortDelGro has sent three batches of three to four SOs to complete the same training curriculum, with the first two batches graduating on Oct 30 and Nov 30.
On key performance indicators (KPIs) such as safety, availability, average wait time and cost per trip, ComfortDelGro says safety is paramount, with zero safety incidents as the top priority. Other metrics include the number of manual interventions per kilometre.
Discussions about autonomous driving often involve ethical considerations. A commonly cited scenario asks: What should an AV do if a cyclist suddenly enters its lane? Should it swerve into oncoming traffic and risk a collision, or strike the cyclist? ComfortDelGro acknowledges these concerns and emphasises that its immediate focus is on ensuring absolute safety and achieving zero safety incidents.
From a market perspective, Eric Ong of Maybank Securities is “generally positive” on ComfortDelGro’s collaboration with Pony.ai. “This will effectively supplement existing transportation infrastructure, while providing critical last-mile services especially during off-peak hours, which have been consistently constrained by driver shortages.”
“Overall, we think the move is part of ComfortDelGro’s long-term strategy to further expand its AV offerings,” he adds, noting that the partnerships with both Pony.ai and Hello Robotaxi will help accelerate the large-scale commercial deployment of AVs in China and overseas markets. For ComfortDelGro, Ong has a “buy” call with a target price of $1.70.
At the same time, John Cheong of UOB Kay Hian notes that AVs are still a “very competitive space” and that Grab appears to have a stronger edge in terms of its platform, mapping system and users. As such, investors shouldn’t expect to see the tie-up between ComfortDelGro and Pony.ai to yield immediate results. UOB Kay Hian’s Heidi Mo and Tang Kai Jie have a “buy” call and a target price of $1.76.
Chee Zheng Feng of DBS Group Research, who has a “buy” call and target price of $1.80, does not expect robotaxis to contribute significantly to ComfortDelGro’s revenue in the near term, given that significant regulatory hurdles are likely to remain before widespread adoption in Singapore. “While we are excited about the new developments, it is still in a very early stage. As such, we have not yet issued a detailed report on this topic,” he says.
Chee believes ComfortDelGro’s collaboration with Pony.ai will help the transport operator gain “valuable insights” into the day-to-day operations of robotaxis, which can eventually be applied when robotaxis become more prevalent in Singapore.
He adds that ComfortDelGro’s more recent partnership with Hello Robotaxi reflects the former’s strategy to “hedge its bets” by working with multiple partners and deepen its expertise in operating robotaxis.
Analysts from CGS International, Citi Research, OCBC Investment Research and RHB Bank Singapore also have “buy” calls with target prices of $1.70, $1.84, $1.74 and $1.75, respectively. Macquarie has an “outperform” call with a target price of $1.69, while Phillip Securities and CLSA both have “accumulate” calls with target prices of $1.62 and $1.80, respectively.
Meanwhile, The Edge Singapore visited Pony.ai’s office in November, and our team rode in one of its robotaxis. The experience was surprisingly natural; it genuinely felt as if it could have been driven by an experienced taxi driver. The vehicle moved through traffic with smooth acceleration, confident lane changes and assured braking. If the future of transport feels this seamless, ComfortDelGro’s autonomous ambitions may be closer to reality than many expect.
