Driverless cars on Dubai streets soon

dubai — Dubai is keenly studying deploying driverless cars to achieve its goal of becoming a smart city, said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

He was speaking at a panel discussion on Cities of the Future during the third Dubai International Project Management Forum (DIPMF) on Tuesday at Madinat Jumeirah.

Noting that the recent trial run of autonomous vehicles at Downtown Dubai has been successful, Al Tayer said: “We are working on providing first and last mile transport solutions that can easily connect with Dubai Metro and other modes of transport.

‘We have seen how the driverless car (which can carry up to 10 passengers) has been able to successfully navigate enclosed areas and we will be doing more trials with companies with different autonomous technologies soon,” he added.

“To have it on the road is a challenge but soon we are going to see driverless cars on Dubai streets. But we need to have the legislation for that in the place first,” Al Tayer underlined.

Al Tayer also noted that “the RTA has contributed to making Dubai a smart and happy city of the future by providing smart mobility network and integrated and sustainable transport, including the longest driverless Metro in the world which is 75 kilometres long and will be expanded by 15 kilometres more.”

In terms of sustainability and environmental protection, Al Tayer noted that the Dubai Metro has contributed to reducing carbon emissions by up to 306,000 tonnes in 2015, while Dubai Tram contributed reduce carbon emissions by about 2,800 tonnes last year.

Smart lighting project has also been put in place on the bridge over the Dubai Water Canal on Shaikh Zayed Road.

The RTA will also be implementing a unified control centre for all its transport services including the Dubai Metro, Dubai Tram, public buses and taxis.

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