Statute Details
- Title: Active Mobility (Jurong Town Corporation — Exemption) Order 2025
- Act Code: AMA2017-S536-2025
- Type: Subsidiary Legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Active Mobility Act 2017
- Enacting authority: Acting Minister for Transport (exercising powers under section 66 of the Active Mobility Act 2017)
- Commencement: 19 August 2025
- Date made: 30 July 2025
- Legislative instrument number: SL 536/2025
- Key operative provisions: Section 3 (exemption); Section 2 (definitions); Schedule (Punggol Digital District map)
- Geographic focus: Punggol Digital District (as defined by the Schedule)
- Primary beneficiary entity: Jurong Town Corporation (JTC)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Active Mobility (Jurong Town Corporation — Exemption) Order 2025 (“the Order”) is a targeted regulatory exemption under Singapore’s Active Mobility Act 2017. In plain terms, it allows certain autonomous vehicles—used within a defined area and for defined purposes—to operate on pedestrian-only infrastructure without having to comply with specific provisions of the Active Mobility Act that would otherwise apply.
The Order is not a general authorisation for autonomous vehicles. Instead, it is carefully circumscribed: it applies only to a “specified autonomous vehicle” that meets technical and operational requirements, is authorised by JTC for use in the Punggol Digital District, and is used only for a limited set of purposes. The exemption also depends on insurance arrangements and on safety-related capabilities (including obstacle detection and the ability to stop when a stop mechanism is activated).
Practically, the Order supports controlled deployment of autonomous motor vehicles in a smart district environment—particularly for activities such as public cleaning, maintenance, transport of items, monitoring for emergencies/security threats, and standby/response functions. By carving out an exemption, the legislation balances innovation and operational flexibility with safety and risk management.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1. Citation and commencement (Section 1)
Section 1 provides the formal name of the instrument and states that it comes into operation on 19 August 2025. For practitioners, this matters for compliance planning, enforcement timelines, and determining whether any vehicle operation occurred before the exemption became available.
2. Definitions (Section 2)
Section 2 is central because the exemption turns on whether the vehicle and the operation fall within the defined categories. Key defined terms include:
- “JTC”: the Jurong Town Corporation established under the Jurong Town Corporation Act 1968.
- “Punggol Digital District”: the area bounded by the black-coloured line in the map in the Schedule. This is a strict geographic limitation; operations outside the mapped area would not qualify.
- “public cleaning work”: activity to clean or maintain cleanliness of any public area.
- “emergency”: an actual or imminent event causing harm/danger to life, health or safety of individuals, destruction/damage to property, or harm/danger to public health/safety.
- “specified purpose”: a closed list of purposes, namely:
- (a) carry out public cleaning work or maintenance works within the Punggol Digital District;
- (b) transport any thing within the Punggol Digital District;
- (c) monitor the Punggol Digital District for an emergency or a security threat;
- (d) stand by in case of, or to respond to, an emergency within the Punggol Digital District.
- “specified autonomous vehicle”: an autonomous motor vehicle that satisfies three cumulative conditions:
- (a) it is authorised by JTC for use in the Punggol Digital District for a specified purpose;
- (b) it is equipped with a mechanism allowing any individual to stop the vehicle from operating and moving when activated;
- (c) it is demonstrated to be able to:
- (i) detect and avoid obstacles in its path;
- (ii) stop operating and moving when the stop mechanism is activated;
- (iii) move within only a specific geographical area.
3. The exemption and its conditions (Section 3)
Section 3 is the operative provision. It states that Sections 15(1), 16(1)(b) and 17(1) of the Active Mobility Act 2017 do not apply to an individual who initiates the operation and movement of a specified autonomous vehicle on a pedestrian-only path, footpath or shared path within the Punggol Digital District—provided that all conditions in Section 3 are satisfied.
The exemption is therefore conditional and procedural. The individual must ensure:
- (a) Authorisation by JTC: the individual is authorised by JTC to initiate the operation and movement of the vehicle.
- (b) Programming constraints before operation: before initiating operation, the individual ensures:
- (i) the vehicle is programmed to be used only for a specified purpose; and
- (ii) the vehicle is programmed to move at a speed not exceeding 6 km/h.
- (c) Insurance in force: at any time the vehicle is used in connection with a specified purpose, there must be a policy of insurance in force insuring against:caused by or arising out of the use of the vehicle.
- (i) death of or bodily injury sustained by any person; and
- (ii) any property damage suffered by any person,
- (d) Insurer eligibility: the risk under the insurance policy must be assumed by an insurer lawfully carrying on an insurance business in Singapore at the time the policy is issued.
4. What the exemption does (and does not do)
Although the Order does not reproduce the text of the exempted provisions of the Active Mobility Act 2017, its structure indicates that the exempted sections impose baseline requirements for operation of autonomous vehicles on pedestrian infrastructure. The Order relieves the individual from those specific statutory requirements, but only within the narrow corridor defined by: (i) vehicle type and demonstrated capabilities; (ii) JTC authorisation; (iii) speed and programming limits; (iv) insurance; and (v) operation within the Punggol Digital District.
Importantly, the exemption is triggered by the act of an individual initiating operation and movement. This suggests that compliance duties are operationally anchored to the person who starts the vehicle, not merely to the vehicle manufacturer or the operator in a broad sense. For legal practice, this affects how responsibilities are allocated in internal governance documents, training records, and audit trails.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Order is structured in a conventional Singapore SL format:
- Section 1 sets out the citation and commencement date.
- Section 2 provides definitions that determine the scope of the exemption, including the geographic boundary (via the Schedule) and the technical/operational characteristics of the “specified autonomous vehicle”.
- Section 3 contains the exemption clause, specifying which provisions of the Active Mobility Act 2017 are disapplied and under what conditions.
- The Schedule contains the map defining the Punggol Digital District boundary (the black-coloured line).
There are no additional parts or complex sub-schedules in the extract provided; the legal effect is concentrated in the definitions and the conditional exemption in Section 3.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Order applies to individuals who initiate the operation and movement of a specified autonomous vehicle on pedestrian-only paths, footpaths, or shared paths within the Punggol Digital District. It is not framed as a general authorisation for the public or for all autonomous vehicle operators.
In practice, the Order is closely linked to JTC because the vehicle must be authorised by JTC for use in the district for a specified purpose, and the individual must be authorised by JTC to initiate operation. Accordingly, the compliance model is likely to be JTC-led: JTC authorises the vehicle and the authorised persons, while the individual must ensure programming limits and maintain insurance in force at the time of use.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Order is significant because it demonstrates how Singapore’s regulatory framework for active mobility can accommodate autonomous technology through risk-managed exemptions. Rather than removing regulatory oversight entirely, the exemption is conditional on safety features (stop mechanism, obstacle detection, geofencing to a specific geographical area) and on operational constraints (speed cap of 6 km/h, use only for specified purposes).
For practitioners advising JTC, autonomous vehicle operators, insurers, or compliance teams, the Order highlights several practical legal issues:
- Scope control: the Punggol Digital District boundary is defined by a map in the Schedule. Any operational drift outside the boundary could undermine the exemption.
- Operational governance: the exemption is tied to the individual who initiates operation. Internal authorisation processes and training records should be robust to show that only authorised persons initiate movement.
- Technical compliance evidence: the definition of “specified autonomous vehicle” requires that the vehicle is “demonstrated” to detect/avoid obstacles, stop when the stop mechanism is activated, and move within only a specific geographical area. Legal teams should ensure that demonstration/testing evidence is documented and retained.
- Insurance as a continuing condition: insurance must be in force “at any time” the vehicle is used for a specified purpose. This creates an ongoing compliance obligation rather than a one-off pre-launch requirement.
Finally, the Order’s targeted nature suggests that similar exemptions may be used to support other smart district deployments, but only where the statutory conditions can be met. In that sense, it is both a legal instrument enabling specific operations and a template for how exemptions may be structured under the Active Mobility Act 2017.
Related Legislation
- Active Mobility Act 2017 (including Sections 15(1), 16(1)(b), and 17(1) as disapplied by this Order; and the authorising power under section 66)
- Jurong Town Corporation Act 1968 (establishing JTC)
- Punggol Digital District (as defined by the Schedule to this Order)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Active Mobility (Jurong Town Corporation — Exemption) Order 2025 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.