Driverless vehicle prize,
Designers have the chance to win US$5 million (Dh18.4m) for coming up with the best autonomous vehicle concept in time for a summit on driverless cars in Dubai next year.
The Roads and Transport Authority and Khalifa University want ideas on how Dubai can achieve its goal to have a quarter of all journeys in the city made by autonomous transport by 2030.
A panel of expert judges selected from the industry will scrutinise the entries in October next year, and award cash prizes to the winners of the Global Autonomous Initiative.
John Rossant is chairman of the non-profit New Cities Foundation, which assesses the effect of technology and its disruption on cities.
“Dubai has taken a position at the cutting edge of mobility. It is emerging as one of the leaders in this industry. North America and the UAE will emerge as the global hubs of mobility and self-driving transport,” he said.
“This challenge is very important and will reward some of the companies and institutions already working in this area. The best solution will be all about scalability.”
Competition details will be posted on the RTA website.
Also yesterday, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid attended initial tests of the world’s first autonomous transport pods. The project has been developed by the Roads and Transport Authority, in co-operation with Next Future Transportation.
The autonomous pods are designed to travel short and medium distances in dedicated lanes. They can be coupled together in as little as 15 seconds or detached – depending on the riders’ destination – in five seconds.