In this article “Singapore revs up engines for autonomous vehicles race”, Noble (2019) states that a temporary national standard called “Technical Reference 68 (TR68)” plays an important role in developing autonomous vehicles (AVs), which advocates the safety of fully deployable AVs. Noble states that TR68 has established 4 key areas for AVs placement which are vehicle behavior, vehicle functional safety, cybersecurity, and data formats. Noble also wrote about a statement made by Loh Ngai Seng, chairman of the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS) “in the early 2020s, we hope that TR68 will guide AV industry players in the safe and effective deployment of AVs in Singapore”. As stated by Fitch Ratings, with the implementation of TR68, it will improve Singapore's establishment and acceptance of AVs. In addition, it will entice overseas “autonomous technology” organization to Singapore.
I agree with this to some extent with Nobles' main point, and I feel that AVs could be vital to Singapore's economy. But still, the employment rate decrease with the increased usage of AVs.
From the second article, Graham stated that even though the new technology could radically re-shape plenty of jobs, AVs will likely only raise the United States of America (US) unemployment rate by a tenth of a percent, according to the report from Securing America's Future Energy. However, even with the job losses, which only affect a small percentage of the total employed US population, the economic benefits easily make it worth it. Therefore, with this trend happening in the US, it can also relate to the future of Singapore in both the employment rate and the economy from the increasing deployment of AVs.
The third article talks about bus drivers turning into operators for AVs. The article states that Dutchman Bram Moelker, 51 years old, a bus driver for 20 years, now operates 6 self-driving buses from behind a set of computer monitors. This tells me that now 1 person is handling 6 individual jobs. The article also states that when autonomous buses and taxis eventually take over the roads, those who drive for a living will be displaced. Adrian mentions that experts in Singapore agree that driving jobs will inevitably have to go if AVs are proven to be safer, more reliable and resource-efficient. Experts also say that the negative impact of driverless cars on jobs has to be weighed against the gains to commuters, including groups who now struggle to access public transport.
In this last article, although it's main focus is on the unemployment rate of the people age between 20 to 24 years old in Singapore, it also mentions AVs play a role in contributing to the unemployment rate in Singapore. Jake states that more youths are getting into the gig economy. Whereas, as many as 50,600 applicants for the private-car hire vocational license versus the Government's earlier estimates of about 10,500 private-car drivers. There are significant numbers of youths, fresh out of school, working full-time as an Uber driver, and aren't finding opportunities while working as Uber drivers to upgrade and pick up some other skills, because there really isn't much in the way of career progression for Uber drivers. Which brings to the point where the article states that with the advances in technology, where there might have AVs plying the street soon, the career lifespan of private-car hire drivers might not be that long
In conclusion, I agree to a certain extent that the implementation of AVs has more pros than cons presently. But in the long run, more and more unemployment rates will rise to not just the youths but everyone else regardless of any age categories.
References:
1) Noble, L W (2019, July 8). Singapore revs up engines for autonomous vehicle race. Retrieved from https://sbr.com.sg/transport-logistics/exclusive/singapore-revs-engines-autonomous-vehicle-race
2) Graham, R (13 June 2018). Self-driving cars could wipe out 4 million jobs. Retrieved from https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/self-driving-cars-could-kill-4-million-jobs-economic-impact-worth-it-2018-6-1026937775
3) Adrian, L (14 May 2016). Job loss looms but this bus driver has changed gear. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/job-loss-looms-but-this-bus-driver-has-changed-gear
4) Jake, K (26 September 2017). Alarming jump in Singapore's youth unemployment rate - to worry or not? Retrieved from https://www.unscrambled.sg/2017/09/26/alarming-jump-in-singapores-youth-unemployment-rate-to-worry-or-not/
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