Dubai’s Vision of Self Driving Cars is becoming a reality.Read to know more.

Women reading in a self driving car - TripJohn

Boston consulting group did a survey and found out that 79 percent of consumers in the United Arab Emirates are willing to have self-driving cars and ready to pay more when they become available. The question is when shall these high tech cars become commercially available?!

Let’s dive deeper and find the answer to this question.

In 2016, His Highness Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Makhtoum – Vice president and prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai – announced that 25 percent of the car journeys will be driverless by 2030.

Envisioning Dubai smart self-driving vision, He said:

“Dubai is surpassing cities of the world and achieving unique transport by using artificial intelligence to serve human kind”

In 2016, a 10-seater driverless vehicle went on a trial run in the emirate. The autonomous car travels short distances on pre-programmed routes. This car can’t be labelled as a fully self-driving car but this development can be viewed as a baby step in achieving the complete vision of self-driving cars in the United Arab Emirates.

Trial run of Driverless pod in Dubai - TripJohn
Courtesy: RTA

In pursuance of its dream to achieve 25 percent fully autonomous transportation, the RTA has announced a $5 million challenge for self-driving cars.

The challenge is aimed to raise awareness about modern and future self-driving car technologies. The competition will attract global auto industry players, research and development centers, universities to come up with ideas, plans, and projects to realize the dream of self-driving cars in Dubai.

In this regard, RTA director Mattar Al Tayer said:

 “The aim of the challenge is to encourage companies to address issues like traffic congestion, low public transport usage, and first and the last mile connectivity.”

The purpose of this challenge goes perfectly in line with the UAE’s vision of having 25 percent autonomous transportation by 2030.

Not only for public and private transport, but UAE has also planned to incorporate self-driving cars in government services too. Dubai police having signed a deal for self-driving cars is an indication of that.

Dubai police cars - TripJohn

Dubai police have recently signed a deal with driverless technology start-up Acacus Technologies to produce self-driving cars for the department.

The collaboration aims to use artificial intelligence, Machine Learning software and other high-tech technologies to realize the execution of self-driving cars that are reliable and efficient.

Dubai police aim to convert existing cars into self-driving cars by 2020! So, are we just 2 years far from having self-driving cars on the roads of Dubai? Let’s find some more details.

This year Elon Musk’s Tesla made the first delivery 50 cars of a 200 vehicle deal with the United Arab Emirates. All cars are equipped with Tesla’s Autopilot software. The cars are semi-automatic which means they are not fully self-driving but can travel some distance without your assistance.

However, drivers driving these cars can put them in a self-driving mode and relax for some time. These cars are already available in the commercial market of Dubai.

Explaining the deal, Mattar Al Tayer said:

Tesla vehicles procured by the RTA of Models (S) and (X) are equipped with the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level greater than that of a human driver. Tesla’s Autopilot is designed as a hands-on experience to give drivers more confidence behind the wheel, increase their safety on the road, and make highway driving more enjoyable by reducing the driver’s workload.”

That was just a beginning!

This deal reveals how aggressively UAE is pursuing its self-driving cars vision. And it is quite obvious that UAE plans to bring self-driving cars sooner than expected.

Research suggests that self-driving cars will reduce accidents by about 90 percent across UAE. This will improve safety, lifestyle, and economy for sure.

We went through a lot of facts. Now, can you answer the question we had asked at the outset? Are you able to come up with a rough figure? Let’s make things simpler by recognizing a pattern in the above facts.

25% transportation will be fully autonomous by 2030.

Dubai has already started autonomous 10-seater vehicles capable of going driverless on pre-programmed routes.

UAE raising awareness about self-driving cars and pursuing companies aggressively to realize fully autonomous cars.

Dubai police already planning to have driverless cars by 2020!

Tesla has exported semi-autonomous cars into UAE market.

Given the facts above, what do you think?

What I can deduce from all this is that we will be having self-driving cars within the next 10 years. Yes! Within the next 10 years, self-driving cars will a normal sight in Dubai!

All departments including public, private, and car rental agencies in Dubai will incorporate self-driving cars into their list in the next 10 years. The future is surely going to be exciting!