Full Speed Ahead

Having recently approved Dubai’s strategy to transform 25 percent of the emirate’s total trips into self-driving journeys by 2030, the RTA’s CEO of its licensing agency, Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan – the driving force behind the project – explains how the latest autonomous transport nnouncements will contribute towards the goal.

- Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan

When Carl Benz developed the first automobile in 1885, the concept of a self navigating car would have sounded like nothing more than fantasist drivel from the leading satirical poet and artist of the day, Wilhelm Busch.

However, the idea is quickly becoming reality, and Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is taking a number of steps to ensure it sets the pace in this evolution.

Amidst a series of recent announcements from the Authority regarding Dubai’s driverless strategy, it’s often easy to glaze over the fact that one of the major forms of public transport in Dubai is already driverless. In the first quarter of 2017 alone, the Dubai Metro served 51 million riders – up from 49 million in the same period of 2016. What’s more, when comparing the Metro to traditional rail systems, its compliance with journey timetables is higher by 6.4 percent, and runs at an operational cost lower by 7 percent.

The tail-end of 2016 saw trials continue for the driverless, 10-person shuttle vehicle that was stationed in Downtown Dubai, which over 1,500 curious residents tried and tested in its first month of operation.

In February, meanwhile, HE Mattar Al Tayer, RTA’s director general and chairman of the board of executive directors, unveiled the world’s first autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV), capable of carrying one passenger. The project, in collaboration with Chinese manufacturer EHANG, was announced at the World Government Summit, and sparked global recognition for Dubai’s proactive attitudes to such innovative technologies.

In addition, the Authority’s most recent announcement revealed plans to go even further than the one person AAV, after German manufacturer VOLOCOPTER announced its partnership with the RTA to introduce a two-person autonomous aerial taxi (AAT) into the emirate.