By Dhanusha Gokulan (Reporter )/Dubai www.khaleejtimes.com
Imagine a future, where you spend 25-30 minutes travelling to work in your car. However, you spend the travel time responding to important emails and Skyping with you colleagues on the tasks for the day.
With autonomous vehicles, this future is not wishful thinking, but a possibility by 2030.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched on Monday an ambitious strategy for smart self-driving transport as part of Dubai’s strategy to become the smartest city in the world.
In what can be called a step forward in this endeavour, Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, test drove Dubai’s first driverless car, which has the capacity to carry 10-12 passengers at the first day of the second edition of the UITP MENA Transport and Exhibiton Congress 2016.
Manufactured by Easy Mile/ Omnix Company, the driverless car was inaugurated by the Crown Prince on Monday at the Dubai World Trade Centre Exhibition Halls as it drove a few 100 metres. The vehicle is designed to travel short distances on pre-programmed routes and under various environments, making it capable the UAE’s harsh weather conditions.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roads and Transport Authority, confirmed that the adoption of Shaikh Mohammed’s strategy to move towards a self-driving future by 2030 is a very important step in Dubai’s future.
Al Tayer said that smart vehicles powered by electricity will significantly contribute to raising the level of traffic safety and reducing carbon emissions. More info
