AHMED BAHROZYAN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DUBAI PUBLIC TRANSPORT AGENCY ( DUBAI RTA )

Ahmed Bahrozyan has both the fortune and the pressure of overseeing transport operations in one of the most visionary and futuristic cities on earth. Given the ambitions of Dubai and the UAE’s rulers, this is no easy task. An example of this is the present drive towards autonomous taxis, as Dubai strives to be the first city to facilitate such an innovation.

With regards to this, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority in partnership with self-driving technology company Cruise, has announced that they have initiated data collection and testing of its technology for Dubai’s traffic signals, signage, and drivers’ behaviour, among other attributes using five Chevy Bolt-based autonomous vehicles in Jumeirah 1 area. This initiative marks a fundamental step toward the launch of self-driving ride-hailing services in the city.

Mr Bahrozyan said: “Data collection and testing is a crucial phase in Dubai’s quest for excellence in smart mobility and advanced technology. The work being done will ensure Cruise’s advanced generalisable AI and autonomous driving systems safely adapt to Dubai traffic conditions. The aim is to obtain the best readings and data through on-board lidars, radars and cameras that capture data and images within a 360-degree field of vision.”

And this isn’t the only taxi-based innovation in the works, perhaps even more unbelievably, Dubai is aiming to introduce air taxis in the next three years. Mr Bahrozyan stated: “We believe that the air taxis will work like an air limousine service targeting high spenders in its initial days and will potentially attract tourists who want to see the city of Dubai from the sky.”

The pricing for the flying taxis “… will be in the range of a limousine service in Dubai, maybe slightly higher,” according to Bahrozyan. The RTA describes limo services rates as “at least 30% higher than taxi fares” in the city. Taxis have a minimum fare of around US$3.25 and charge $0.50 a kilometre.

As well as being extremely ambitious, which is in keeping with Dubai, autonomous taxis – both in the air and on the ground – offer the value of being much more. There’s also the desire to move away from carbon-belching gasoline and diesel vehicles as the UAE will host the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate talks later this year. That’s even as the Emirates hopes to expand its production of crude oil ahead of a promised “carbon-neutral” future by 2050.

Meanwhile, Dubai hopes to have a quarter of all cars on its roads be driverless by 2030 green, and this will be a major selling point at the upcoming COP28 in Dubai. On this note, Dubai aims to have a quarter of all cars on its roads be driverless by 2030, presumably with that being offset by taxi services.