Testing of driverless vehicles on public roads has begun in Dubai after US self-driving tech company Cruise was issued with a trial permit.
The country's Roads and Transport Authority and Cruise began supervised testing of Chevrolet Bolt autonomous vehicles in Jumeirah 1 area.
The tests include a safety driver present behind the wheel and follows up on previous trialling of the vehicles on closed test tracks.
The trial is the next step towards the authority's plan to be the first in the Mena region to offer autonomous transport.
Self-driving taxis
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has entered into a public-private partnership with Cruise to introduce self-driving taxis.
Cruise’s technology uses a high-resolution map of the physical environment, which is created using vehicles equipped with sensors and cameras.
Under the latest testing phase, the RTA and Cruise will assess the driving safety and performance of the vehicles including in traffic.
Cruise has been operating driverless taxi services in the US since February 2022. The RTA's technical team recently visited San Francisco, where Cruise operates 24-hour robotaxi services, to test and confirm its confidence in the technology.
Safer roads
The transport authority previously heralded the deal with Cruise as a major step in its goal to integrate self-driving transport in the emirate's road network.
Ten automated taxis are expected to begin to carry passengers by the end of the year in Dubai.
The launch of driverless taxis is part of a long-term vision to make 25% of total trips autonomous across various modes of transport by 2030.
It is hoped wider adoption of autonomous vehicles will greatly reduce road accidents.
