You call a taxi. Hurriedly sit inside. Then tell the driver where he needs to take you. Only thing - there's no driver! Surprised? Perhaps that will be close to Dubai's driverless car experience in 2030: A taxi ride where you don't have to deal with aggressive driving, language barriers, misjudging road movements, so on and so forth. This video by the Dubai Future Foundation is the closest it can get to how public transport will evolve in the UAE by 2030. Take a look: Earlier this week, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced that a quarter of all vehicle traffic in Dubai will be comprised of self-driving vehicles by 2030. "By 2030, 25 per cent of all transportation trips in Dubai will be smart and driverless. The strategy is projected to generate economic revenues and savings of up to Dh22 billion a year," Shaikh Mohammad said on his official Twitter account. "Dubai is leading cities of the world and making a qualitative paradigm shift to harness artificial intelligence in the service of the humanity and set a world unparalleled model for future cities, and is evolving into a global laboratory for technology and R&D," he added. "Today, we lay down a clear strategy with specific goals for smart transportation to form one of the key drivers for achieving sustainable economy in the UAE."
Today we launched Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy, by 2030, 25% of all trips in Dubai will be driverless pic.twitter.com/Ux72qhz8Ge - HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 25, 2016
The strategy will help increase traffic efficiency, productivity, reduce traffic congestions and pollution & save millions of driving hours - HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 25, 2016
We've also launched the Autonomous Transportation Challenge, the world's biggest RFP to global R&D centers to apply this technology in Dubai - HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 25, 2016
Dubai offer's a global unique model for the city of the future & turns itself to the world largest R&D lab for driverless transportation - HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 25, 2016
Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council took a 10-seater driverless vehicle for its maiden trail run at the UITP MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 2016. Once implemented, the strategy will reduce transportation costs by 44 per cent - or Dh 900 million - and will save Dh 1.5 billion through reductions in environmental pollution, Dh 18 billion through a 20 per cent improvement in transport efficiency.
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