Self-driving taxis to hit Dubai streets next month

RTA has yet to determine the fare for these cabs, although official hints it may be 30% higher than regular prices
Fully-automated self-driving taxis will ply the streets of Dubai next month following the successful digital mapping of Jumeirah 1 area, a senior official from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) confirmed on Tuesday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the 3rd Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, Khaled Al Awadhi, RTA director of Transportation Systems, Public Transport Agency at RTA, said a total of five driverless taxis will be deployed along the 8km stretch of Jumeirah Road between Etihad Museum and Dubai Water Canal in the first week of October.
The autonomous taxi — operated by US-based self-driving technology company Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM) — will take no human passengers yet during the trial phase. But select individuals will be able to take Cruise taxis by end of this year, before its full commercial operations by second half of 2024.

The complete operation of driverless taxi and e-hail services will make Dubai the first city in the world to commercially operate Cruise self-driving vehicles outside the US.
“The launch of autonomous vehicles will bring a positive impact on Dubai’s transportation landscape and wellbeing. The rollout of autonomous vehicles will alleviate traffic congestion, lower the number of traffic accidents, and cut harmful emissions,” RTA said in a previous statement back in April announcing the road data collection.

Digital mapping done
Al Awadhi said RTA and Cruise have completed the digital mapping of Jumeirah 1 area, between Etihad Museum and Dubai Water Canal. Two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles (EVs)

KhaleejTimes.com