SINGAPORE, Dec. 12 -- Starting early next year, residents in Punggol will be able to book a ride in ComfortDelGro (CDG) five-seater self-driving shuttles through its Zig app under the new "Zig Driverless" option.

The move comes after the Land Transport Authority approved CDG to begin testing its autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads, following mandatory assessments by Nanyang Technological University's Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of Autonomous Vehicles, known as Milestone One, Singapore newspaper The Straits Times reported yesterday.

The Milestone One tests check that the shuttles can safely stop for moving and stationary obstacles, perform emergency stops, and obey traffic rules before being allowed on public roads....