Abu Dhabi: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has started supervised testing of Chevrolet Bolt-based driverless vehicles in Jumeirah 1.
The testing comes after US self-driving tech company Cruise was issued with the first permit to trial autonomous vehicles (AV) in Dubai.
RTA has a partnership agreement with Cruise to operate autonomous taxi and e-hailing services in Dubai in future.
The testing is carried out with a safety driver present behind the steering wheel and follows previous tests of the vehicles on closed test tracks.
The trial is the next step in the RTA’s plan to become the first in the Mena region to offer autonomous transport.
The team plans to evaluate the autonomous technology’s performance during Cruise vehicle tests and demonstrations, particularly in critical traffic situations in Dubai.
Cruise’s technology utilizes Lidar sensors and cameras to create a high-resolution map of the physical environment in vehicles.
Cruise, has been operating driverless taxi services in the US since February. The RTA’s technical team recently visited San Francisco, where Cruise operates 24-hour robo-taxi services, to test and confirm its confidence in the technology.
The efforts are in line with achieving the vision set by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, to make 25 percent of trips autonomous by 2030.
