Driverless taxis have been operating in Jumeirah 1 since October; residents will soon be able to access them

The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, declared on Thursday that the public would soon be able to ride in self-driving taxis after sharing a video of himself riding around a Dubai area in one. Alongside Sheikh Hamdan in the self-driving vehicle was Lt. Gen. Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, the chief commander of the Dubai Police; Mattar Al Tayer, the director general and chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA); and a human driver from Cruise, who was merely in reserve and whose hands were off the wheel. 

Since October, driverless taxis have been operating in Jumeirah 1, Dubai, during a trial period that began after the region was successfully digitally mapped. During the testing stage, the self-driving taxis, run by General Motors (GM) subsidiary Cruise, a US-based self-driving technology startup, are not currently accepting human passengers. However, by the end of this year, a limited number of people will be able to ride in Cruise taxis before it fully launches for business in the second half of 2024.

According to Al Awadhi, RTA and Cruise have finished digitally mapping the portion of Jumeirah 1 that is between the Dubai Water Canal and Etihad Museum. Every street, pedestrian crossing, signpost, and other road elemen, in Dubai's Jumeirah district,  has been incorporated into a computerised map that is easy for autonomous cars to navigate. 

The Chevrolet Bolt is an all-electric, zero-emission subcompact hatchback that is being utilised by RTA and Cruise. In order to measure the separation between things and people on the streets, it was outfitted with a variety of sensors, including as LiDARs (laser sensors that utilise near-infrared light to discern item forms), cameras, and radars.

Because of the Jumeirah area's strategic position and its historical tourism attractions, RTA selected it for its initial deployment phase. There will be restricted pick-up and drop-off locations for the first batch of self-driving Cruise taxis because they will only operate inside the Jumeirah region. In the Jumeirah region, autonomous taxis will likewise adhere to the same 70 kph speed restriction.

Three people can travel in a cruise cab at once. Al Awadhi stated that the RTA has not yet decided on the cost of the self-driving taxis, but he suggested it will be similar to the cost of limo taxis, which are typically 30% more expensive than standard taxis in Dubai.

Aiming to convert 25 percent of mobility trips in the city to smart and driverless journeys by 2030, the RTA's Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy calls for the addition of more autonomous taxis in the Jumeirah area starting in 2019 and gradually rolling out 4,000 of these vehicles throughout Dubai by that time.