The Land Transport Authority (LTA) held the third edition of the Land Transport Industry Day today, bringing together leaders across the land transport industry to exchange views and share best practices. The event was held at the Singapore EXPO Max Atria and graced by Minister for Transport, Mr S Iswaran.
2 To grow the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and build a forward-looking land transport sector, a series of announcements were made on these fronts.
Growing the EV ecosystem
3 The revised national EV charging standard released in March 2022, Technical Reference (TR) 25:2022, includes standards for newer charging technologies such as battery swapping for motorcycles. To assess the potential of such technologies, LTA today announced it will approve two electric motorcycle and battery swapping regulatory sandbox applications by Gogoro and MO Batteries respectively.
4 Gogoro will partner Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) to conduct trials using their electric motorcycles and battery swap stations for last mile deliveries. MO Batteries will work with SingPost and Prosegur to conduct pilots using their electric motorcycles as well as a combination of centralised charging and battery swap and storage. The trials will be implemented in the next few weeks and will run for 12 months.
5 LTA also launched new skills training courses today as part of a broader effort to build a pipeline of skilled workers equipped to work on the safety and maintenance of electric vehicles. This effort was informed by the Land Transport Jobs and Workforce Study (LTJWS), which serves as the Jobs Transformation Map for the land transport sector. This was developed by LTA with support from Workforce Singapore (WSG) and the Ministry of Manpower, with the objective of understanding the impact of technology and social trends on the future needs and skills of the land transport workforce. It provides high level recommendations for upskilling and training a local workforce, for the use of our industry and technological partners.
6 With the help of insights from the LTJWS, LTA has launched the National Electric Vehicle Specialist Safety (NESS) certification in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). This certification will be recognised under the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) national credential system. Certificate holders would be equipped with skills and knowledge to safely conduct electric vehicle and hybrid electric vehicle servicing in a high voltage environment. These industry-recognised certifications will pave the way for automotive technicians to subsequently receive further specialised training in electric vehicles.
7 Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and ITE are the first training providers to introduce new courses with the NESS certification. Information on these training courses and registration details will be uploaded progressively and can be found on the respective schools’ websites as well as on MySkillsFuture portal. Up to 70% of the course fees will be subsidised by SSG through the WSQ certification framework. More training providers are also expected to offer NESS certification courses in future.
8 LTA has also partnered WSG to launch a new Career Conversion Programme (CCP) for Sustainability Professionals (EV Specialists) to upskill the workforce in EV maintenance roles. Under this CCP, companies will receive up to six months’ salary support for eligible employees when they undergo structured On-the-Job Training and the NESS certification. Interested companies may approach WSG for more information and submit their applications.
A forward-looking land transport sector
9 LTA today launched a new Land Transport Innovation Portal to spur co-creation and innovation with the industry. The new portal serves as a one-stop platform for industry and technology partners to access latest information on LTA’s research and development grant calls and innovation challenges. For more details on the Land Transport Innovation Portal, please visit https://go.gov.sg/ltip.
10 Two innovation calls have been published in tandem with the launch of the Land Transport Innovation Portal.
11 The first is the Xcite joint innovation call by LTA and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), in collaboration with IPI Singapore. It aims to co-create innovative solutions with industry partners to enhance the capabilities, efficiency, and responsiveness of Singapore’s land transport industry. This is the third year that LTA and EnterpriseSG have conducted an Xcite joint innovation call. This year’s problem statement is titled “Enhancing Safety in Parked Electric Vehicles”. LTA, SCDF and EnterpriseSG hope to work with start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop innovative solutions such as novel sensing, materials or automated firefighting system that can supplement current fire protection system in existing carparks to better mitigate and manage EV fires[1]. Please refer to Annex A for more information on the EV safety problem statement.
12 The second joint innovation call is the inaugural collaboration between LTA and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Open Innovation Platform to launch a dedicated Land Transport Innovation Challenge. The challenge will consist of the following four problem statements, with LTA and IMDA offering up to $200,000 of prize monies for technology solvers to propose innovative solutions to address these problem statements:
a. Enhancing Inspection Process for Better Road Tunnel Maintenance
b. Optimising Route Planner for Oversized Vehicles to Ensure Road Safety
c. Monitoring Bus Capacity to Enhance Commuter Experience
d. Monitoring Train Capacity to Enhance Commuter Experience
13 Please refer to Annex B for more information on the Open Innovation Platform and on the problem statements. For more details on the Land Transport Innovation Challenge and for proposal submissions, visit https://www.openinnovation.sg/challenges.
