Cruise Origin debuts at WGS 2022
Cruise Origin debuts at WGS 2022
Dubai's RTA shows off Cruise Origin model at WGS 2022
Dubai moved another step towards its dream to provide the city's residents with driverless ride-hailing services this week, with the regional unveiling of the first Cruise Origin at the World Government Summit 2022 (#WorldGovSummit). No surprise then that Dubai's Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum was keen to inspect the automomous vehicle. The Crown Prince was the first to announce the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority deal with the General Motors driverless vehicle subsidiary in April last year.
This is the first time that the Origin AV has been exhibited in the Middle East and Dubai will be the first city outside the U.S. to operate the autonomous electric vehicle. RTA's goal is to make the first driverless taxi services available in Dubai by the end of 2023, ultimately building up a fleet of 4,000 self-driving taxis by 2030.
The Origin is a driverless, zero-emissions, electric vehicle designed from the ground up to operate without a human driver, without human-centred features, such as a steering wheel foot pedals or wing mirrors. Each vehicle is equipped with 80 sensors, cameras and LiDAR systems, and will be able to comfortably accomodate four passengers.
The RTA announced late last year that it had completed an extensive smart infrastructure study, paving the way for a detailed roadmap to support connected and self-driving vehicles in a 'mixed road traffic' scenario (i.e. accomodating both autonomous and human drivers). The authority is currently developing digital maps for use with autonomous vehicles and it seems likely that we'll see some AV trials in Dubai before the end of this year.
The RTA is developing its strategic transportation plan to align with the Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan and aims to become the world leader in seamless and sustainable mobility. Dubai plans to make 25% of all mobility journeys in the city driverless journeys by 2030.
Find out more about this story:
Read the Emirates News story on Origin.
Read the Emirates News summit story.
See my Linkedin post about the April 2021 announcement.