Abu Dhabi: Dubai will become one of the first cities to issue rules for the commercial use of self-driving vehicles by 2022, a senior official at the Roads and Transport Authority said on Wednesday.
In April 2021, the RTA signed an agreement with US-based autonomous car maker Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, to purchase 4,000 cars. The first batch of self-driving cars will hit Dubai’s roads in 2023.
Cruise origin cars are driverless and have no steering wheel. The 15-year agreement will start small before eventually expanding to include thousands of cars in Dubai.
“By 2023, it’s our responsibility as a government entity of Dubai to introduce rules that would allow these vehicles to operate here. It’s a commitment from us,” Gulf News quoted Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of the Public Transport Agency at the RTA.
“We are working with the Dubai legislation authority, Dubai Police and all our partners. We expect that by next year we will have the regulation in place,” he added.
On August 29, 2021, Dubai’s roads and transport authority (RTA) announced that five per cent of Dubai Taxi’s fleet will be converted into self-driving cabs by 2023. Also, Dubai aims to make 56 per cent of its total taxi fleet environmentally friendly by 2023.
Cruise deployment in Dubai will allow the company to operate a fleet of robotic taxis as early as 2023. It is part of Dubai’s plan to reduce pollution and save transport costs by using autonomous vehicles by 2030.