Dubai gears up to launch trial of driverless taxis

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced it will begin the trial of 50 driverless taxis in the coming months, paving the way for the official roll-out of the autonomous service in 2026.

An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked between RTA and Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service Apollo Go.

Under the agreement, Apollo Go will deploy its sixth generation RT6 model, which is equipped with 40 sensors and detectors to ensure the highest standards of automation and safety.

The data collection and testing phase will commence with 50 vehicles in the coming months, gradually expanding to 1,000 autonomous taxis over the next three years.

This marks Apollo Go's first international expansion outside China and Hong Kong. To date, the company has logged over 150 million km of safe driving, enabling large-scale self-driving taxi services across multiple cities in China, in addition to the roll out of 100% driverless operations. It has also completed more than 10 million autonomous trips.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said they are "committed to enhancing Dubai’s global leadership in autonomous mobility by trialling various types of autonomous vehicles, air taxis, and marine transport, with the ultimate goal of achieving the objectives of Dubai’s Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy", which aims to convert 25 per cent of all trips in Dubai into autonomous journeys across various modes of transport by 2030.