Unmanned taxis appear on Dubai streets

The first unmanned taxis have appeared on the streets of Dubai. Autonomous electric cars can be found in the Jumeirah area, on the 8-kilometre stretch between the Etihad Museum and the Dubai Water Canal.

At the moment, the unmanned taxis do not serve passengers, and only take to Dubai’s roads with drivers for now, as insurance. If the trials are successful, we can expect to see the early introduction of this environmentally friendly mode of transport.

Taxis in Dubai are always in high demand, especially during peak tourist periods. The Emirati government is constantly working to improve Dubai’s transport infrastructure by increasing road safety. Therefore, the introduction of autonomous taxis will bring the comfort of travelling around the city to a new level.

Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) officials said: “The driverless taxi trial is a huge step forward towards achieving the RTA’s strategic goals and establishing the first public autonomous transport network in the region.”

In addition, the introduction of driverless transport will minimise the likelihood of traffic jams, reduce accidents and cut down on harmful emissions.

As previously reported, the RTA plans to begin full commercial operation of autonomous taxis in the Jumeirah neighbourhood next year, and then expects to gradually introduce 4,000 driverless cars across Dubai by 2030.

The project is being carried out as part of the Smart Self-Driving Transport strategy, which aims to turn 25 per cent of journeys in the city into smart, driverless journeys. The fare for unmanned taxis has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be 30 per cent higher than the fare for a regular taxi.

Source: TimeOut

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