VP witnesses world’s first driverless Pod test

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended initial tests of the world’s first driverless pods in Dubai on Tuesday. The test, which took place on the sidelines of the World Government Summit, was also attended by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. —

dubai — The Roads and Transport Authority will be hosting the Dubai World Congress of SelfDriving Transport next year in October to exchange ideas on laws that can be put in place, ultimately helping governments to start operations of self-driving transport.

The winners of the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport 2017 will also be awarded at the Congress. Prizes for the winners are up to $5million.

Mattar Al Tayer, the director general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA, said: “The Congress aims to raise the public awareness of modern and future technologies of transportation, assess the extent of its impact on the investment sector, and examine various mobility strategies.

“This initiative is undertaken as part of supporting Dubai Smart Autonomous Mobility Strategy launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aimed to transform 25 per cent of total journeys in Dubai into autonomous journeys by 2030. It is also part of RTA’s efforts to enhance the leading role of Dubai Government in advocating autonomous mobility.”

The challenge is also being held as a means of a global platform for companies, universities, R&D centres and start-ups to engage in various scenarios and technological applications for autonomous mobility on Dubai roads.

The challenge targets giant companies and startups, as well as local and foreign universities. The Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport is a global competition aimed to broaden the use of autonomous mobility at various levels and encourage pioneering companies in the field.

“It will be focused on tackling the existing challenges such as traffic bottlenecks, the drop in public transport ridership, and the last & first-mile challenge for reaching final destinations.” Applications for this year’s challenge opened on February 13 and are available on the RTA’s website.