nuTonomy, a developer of software for self-driving cars, said Monday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Boston and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that authorizes nuTonomy to begin testing its growing fleet of self-driving cars on specific public streets in a designated area of Boston.

nuTonomy will begin testing its self-driving Renault Zoe electric vehicle before the end of the year in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in the Seaport section of the city.

The testing in Boston will enable nuTonomy to build on the knowledge it has gained from the public road tests and public trials it has been conducting in Singapore’s one-north business district. nuTonomy plans to launch its self-driving mobility-on-demand service in Singapore in 2018.

During the Boston road tests, nuTonomy’s software system will learn local signage and road markings while gaining a deeper understanding of pedestrian, cyclist, and driver behavior and interaction across a complex urban driving environment. nuTonomy plans to work with government officials to expand the testing area to other parts of the city in the near future.

 “These tests in the City of Boston will enable our engineers to adapt our autonomous vehicle software to the weather and traffic challenges of this unique driving environment,” said CEO and co-founder of nuTonomy, Karl Iagnemma. “Testing our self-driving cars so near to nuTonomy’s home is the next step towards our ultimate goal: deployment of a safe, efficient, fully autonomous mobility-on-demand transportation service,” he added.

The City of Boston will be able to carefully monitor the effects of autonomous vehicles, and will further identify how autonomous vehicles will further the safety, access, and sustainability goals of Boston’s transportation plan, Go Boston 2030.