Driverless-car goal by 2030 gains momentum amid Smart Dubai initiatives

Driverless-car goal by 2030 gains momentum amid Smart Dubai initiatives

Published: Mon 8 Aug 2022, 12:17 PM

Two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles (EV) recently set in motion towards getting the 'smart' plan of an autonomous driving system on Dubai’s roads by mapping the streets for creating digital maps.

In a country which relies on motoring infrastructure, the two small cars from the General Motors-backed Cruise company herald a starting milestone of sorts and comes after a recent agreement signed by the Road Transport Authority (RTA) and GM to operate autonomous vehicles as taxi and e-hail services in Dubai.

The process is a prelude to the launch of the service next year, rendering Dubai the first city in the world to commercially operate Cruise self-driving vehicles outside the US, and whose operations are restricted to California.

On the occasion, Mattar Al Tayer, RTA's director-general and Chairman, said: "We’ve plans to increase the number of deployed vehicles gradually to reach up to 4,000 vehicles by 2030, and enhance Dubai’s pioneering role in self-driving transport (SDT)."

According to Al Tayer, Dubai has a smart SDT strategy that aims to convert 25 per cent of all vehicular traffic movements into driverless initiatives by 2030.

Global consultancy KPMG ranks the UAE among the top countries when it comes to readiness to