Dubai To Begin Trial Runs For Self-Driving Vehicles Later This Year

Trial runs of autonomous vehicles autonomous vehicles are set to begin in Dubai later this year, according to a new agreement. Field preparations for the pilot phase are already underway, led by Uber and WeRide, with strategic support and supervision from Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

In the initial phase, the vehicles will operate with a safety driver on board, with plans for a full-scale commercial rollout of driverless services in 2026. RTA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uber Technologies and WeRide, as part of which the pilot operations will commence via the Uber app.

“The introduction of autonomous vehicles in Dubai represents a significant leap towards a smart and sustainable future for mobility , in line with the vision of our leadership to transform Dubai into the world's smartest city,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA.

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“It also supports the objectives of Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy, which seeks to convert 25 per cent of all mobility journeys in the emirate into autonomous trips across various transport modes by 2030.”

In April, RTA had announced that the self-driving taxis will be rolled out by 2026.

Last month, the authority had revealed that over 60 vehicles will be deployed to carry out road mapping, data collection , and route scanning in the first phase of the operations and that pilot operations will be launched in up to 65 designated zones across the emirate.

According to Frans Hiemstra, Regional General Manager, MEA at Uber the future of transportation is“autonomous, electric, and shared” and the partnership they have formed is significant.“This strategic collaboration anchors our commitment to make autonomous vehicles more accessible to people around the world and we are excited to bring this experience to thousands of riders in Dubai later this year," he said.

In Abu Dhabi, Uber and WeRide rolled out a trial service of their self-driving taxis late last year. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Mohamad Jardaneh, Head of Autonomous Mobility at Uber Middle East had explained how UAE residents could maximise their chances of being assigned one of the self-driving taxis by altering the settings of the Ride Preferences options on Uber app.

Jennifer Li, CFO and Head of International at WeRide, said that the groups was accelerating its international expansion plans with the cities in the Middle East as a“strategic priority”. "Last month (May), we expanded our partnership with Uber to roll out Robotaxis in 15 additional cities over the next five years, with cities in the Middle East under consideration,” she said.“Now, [we] formalised our collaboration with Uber and the RTA to bring autonomous vehicles to Dubai through this MoU.”

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