October will see five Cruise AV robotaxis from GM autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise begin rolling on the streets of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, as a test for a larger deployment in the future.
The first five Cruise AV units are the vanguard of a planned fleet of 4,000 self-driving taxis in the city by 2030, and will initially be confined to just five miles of roads in the elite Jumeirah district, CNN reports.
Dubai is the first location outside the U.S. where Cruise will operate, though the city’s fleet of 12,000 human-driven taxis will continue to offer their services alongside Cruise for the time being. Cruise has obtained a contract with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority granting it a 15-year monopoly on robotaxis in the metropolis.
Once that contract expires, other driverless taxi companies will be allowed to compete. The deployment of Cruise AVs is a live test of the concept under Dubai’s conditions, including the heat and aridity of the local climate. The head of the Transport Authority, Ahmed Bahrozyan, remarked the city has “weather conditions that are certainly different than the US.”
At least one other company is operating autonomous vehicle tests elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates, outside Cruise’s exclusive turf in Dubai itself. Chinese robotaxi enterprise WeRide has brought its AVs to the capital of Abu Dhabi and may be involved in eventual plans to partner with a Saudi company to operate self-driving buses to bring pilgrims to Mecca.
The plans of Cruise to bring AVs to Dubai are already several years old. Back in 2021, the company planned to deploy its ground-up robotaxi design, the Cruise Origin, in Dubai by early 2023. However, the Cruise Origin is still awaiting NHTSA approval for production, even though the subsidiary’s CEO is confident that go-ahead is just around the corner.
A pair of Chevy Bolt EV test vehicles arrived in Dubai to conduct mapping and testing in summer 2022, collecting data to prepare the way for the eventual deployment of fare-taking robotaxis. The Dubai Transport Authority says its main reason to pursue robotaxi use is to reduce traffic congestion and accidents.
The authority also says it will not compromise on AV safety. While the U.S. has seen a litany of complaints about the robotaxis, Cruise CEOÂ Kyle Vogt maintains the criticism is “sensationalized.”
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Comments
I will be impressed if they can do (they won’t) do testing in northern Alaska or Canada.
But I still believe that these cars was the spawn of Satan.
Bomb delivery. I can see these being used as weapons’ at some point in some cities.