Grab will grow its Singapore AV fleet fivefold and has certified 30 operators

Grab will grow its Singapore AV fleet fivefold and has certified 30 operators

14 September 2026: Grab plans to grow its autonomous vehicle fleet in Singapore fivefold, from 10 to 50 vehicles, within six months, and says it has certified 30 safety operators from its own driver and delivery partners to run them. The service is in Punggol, with the Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority involved.

Not yet independently verified. The headcount of certified operators rose between the two releases, from 23 graduates in August to 30 certified in September. All other figures are Grab's own. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

From 10 vehicles to 50

The first 10 vehicles are WeRide GXRs, which the company says have run fully autonomously in China and the Middle East. Grab will widen its service area within Punggol and aims to extend the service to other Singapore locations, pending regulatory approval. An autonomous vehicle depot is being set up in Punggol with government agencies.

With the authority's support Grab is also preparing an on-demand, point-to-point service at select Punggol locations, with more service points to follow in the coming months.

Approvals in two steps

After thousands of test runs, the Land Transport Authority approved Grab and WeRide for Community Rides, the AV shuttle in Punggol, in January 2026. Public Rides followed in April 2026.

Grab says the fleet has driven more than 110,000 km autonomously on Singapore roads and carried more than 12,000 unique riders, of whom 99% would recommend it. More than 1,000 people are on a waitlist.

Turning drivers into AV operators

GrabAcademy, a Registered Training Provider with the Skills and Workforce Development Agency, launched the AV Training Pathway about a year before the August release, with WeRide. The Safety Operator programme came first, and Remote Operator training was added earlier in 2026. Remote Operators monitor and manage the fleet from Grab's Operations Command Centre.

The pioneer cohort graduated at the Grab Driver Centre on 6 August 2026: 23 people, all of them Grab driver or delivery partners, six of whom also completed Remote Operator training. By the September release the number of certified Safety Operators was 30, six of them also Remote Operators, and a few had moved into supervisory and trainer roles.

A new Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification course, Health and Fatigue Risk Management for Autonomous Vehicle Operators, is strongly supported by the authority and eligible for agency funding. Alan Ong, Head of GrabAcademy, said, "Every partner comes to GrabAcademy with different stories and different goals."

Jobs and the 2030 goal

Grab expects hundreds of new AV roles and is developing talent in design, engineering and operations. It is exploring making Singapore its regional centre for AV localisation and deployment. Its stated goal is thousands of AVs across Southeast Asia by 2030, with the 50-vehicle target as a key step.

Hybrid Mobility

Grab calls its model Hybrid Mobility: AVs paired with human drivers so that each complements the other, with AVs adding network capacity as demand for point-to-point trips grows. In time the platform will dispatch trips to both AV and human-driven fleets, aiming for faster pickups and shorter waits. Alex Hungate, Grab's President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "Thanks to the trust of Punggol residents, Grab has the most experience operating AVs in Southeast Asia."

Company profile on TrustList: Grab

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Sources

• Grab: Grab expands autonomous fleet by fivefold and aims to broaden operations beyond Punggol to other locations in Singapore, 14 September 2026
• Grab: GrabAcademy celebrates pioneer cohort of certified AV operators, 6 August 2026