Dubai Moves Forward with Driverless Taxis

Dubai announced plans to create a high-resolution map of the environment to pave the way for the first driverless taxis, a major step in the emirate's drive towards making 25 per cent of total trips autonomous across various modes of transport by 2030.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced a new partnership with US company Cruise to operate its two electric vehicles to create the map and test new technology.

Two Chevrolet Bolt EVs, equipped with sensors and cameras, are to be used ahead of the wider introduction of high-tech taxis next year. Cruise’s technology uses a digital map of the physical environment, which is created using special vehicles equipped with sensors and cameras.

The agreement, which is the first of its kind worldwide between a government entity and a leading company in the field of autonomous vehicles, is a major step toward realising Dubai’s Self-Driving Transport Strategy,

the RTA said on Twitter.

Cruise's partnership with Dubai started in March, when the RTA announced plans to start testing driverless taxis as part of the partnership with Cruise. In April, Cruise agreed to launch its first international robotaxi service outside the US in Dubai.

By 2030, it is expected that 4,000 driverless taxis will be in operation in Dubai.