Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority and Careem are working on developing a driverless electric transportation method that can revolutionise the way people commute on public transport.
The “driverless electric modular pods” are electric-powered vehicles that have no driver, and can connect together and transport large number of people and people moving between pods during transit.
The Driverless Electric Modular Pods is a project in line with the announcement of His Highness Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, of the launch of the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy — a new initiative aimed at making 25 per cent of all transportation in Dubai, smart and driverless by 2030.
A inoperative model was on show at Gitex Technology week, in partnership with NEXT Future Transportation Inc.
Basil Al Nahlawi, vice-president of business development and government relations, said the pods are currently in the research and development phase. “We are currently working with the RTA on developing it and putting the regulations for driverless vehicles in place,” he said.
The pods, he said, will pick up residents from different locations, and then these pods can connect to other pods that are heading in the same direction. When the pods are connected, people can move to the other pods, which will later separate and head to different destinations.
When launched, people will be able to call the pods using the Careem app.
“The technology will first be tested with drivers until regulations for driverless vehicles are put in place,” he said, adding that this will reduce traffic congestion on the roads as, “instead of having 80 cars picking up 80 people, we can have 10 pods transporting 80 people”.
The project is expected to be tested in restricted areas within the next 12 months, as they currently only have smaller-scale functioning models of the pods.
Mousa Al Raisi, director of administrative services at RTA, said they are working on a strategy, starting next year, for implementing the government’s driverless plan.
The project is part of Dubai Future Accelerators, which is a government-supported accelerator programme established to develop a futuristic road map for key sectors of the Government of Dubai and to facilitate public-private partnerships that can expedite delivery of projects and ideas through design, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Next, a US-based company, is also part of the project, as they are providing the technology of the modular pods, while Careem will be using their app as a platform to facilitate this.
Al Nahlawi said that they have partnered with RTA on many projects, and people will soon be able to book RTA taxis through the Careem app.
Emmanuele Spera, Founder and CEO of NEXT Future Transportation, said, “We have invented the world’s finest autonomous mass transit solution, and as we look to operationalise, we need a partner that will provide operational depth and scale. Careem is a perfect partner from our perspective given their vision, credibility and success in transforming transportation across the Mena region.”
Spera added that they are looking forward to continuing their journey to bring advanced transportation technologies and practices to the region.
