Development of self-driving cars in Malaysia is getting a huge boost as authorities have approved what appears to be Malaysia’s first autonomous vehicle testing route in Cyberjaya. This enables autonomous vehicles to be tested on public roads instead of being confined to private grounds.
The latest development was revealed by Futurise, a subsidiary of Cyberview Sdn Bhd under the Ministry of Finance. As shown below, there are signages which indicate the permitted route for autonomous vehicle testing.
The Malaysian Reserve has reported several months ago that Cyberview was targeting to get approval for the test route from the Ministry of Transportation and the Sepang Municipal Council by the end of this year. The approval is expected to attract more high-technology mobility firms to invest their expertise in providing advanced technology to the vicinity.
According to Cyberview Head of Business, City and Communications, Roni Shah Mustapha, these type of mobility can serve as the first and last-mile connectivity in Cyberjaya. He added that they are also talking to several players on having autonomous buses to be tested in the area as well as provisioning electric buses that can be operated cheaply. These modes of mobility could help connect more people to the Cyberjaya City Centre MRT station that’s expected to open in 2022.
The report also mentioned that a centre of excellence for future technology, which includes a testing facility for autonomous vehicles will be set up by the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), a unit under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). Roni said any autonomous vehicle that will be introduced or produced by a manufacturer in Malaysia must be tested and certified by MARii.
