RTA Conducts Field Testing in China for 2025 Dubai Self-Driving Transport Challenge
The visit had four main objectives: To carry out technical and operational assessments of autonomous vehicles based on challenge criteria and international safety standards. To evaluate each company's technology and readiness through direct observation. To inspect operational environments, including factories and control centres, and establish potential strategic partnerships. To define the next phase of the Challenge by reviewing test results and deployment readiness for Dubai.
Five autonomous vehicle types were tested: a Robotaxi, two Robobuses, a Roboboat, and an autonomous logistics vehicle. RTA developed a structured methodology for the trials, which were divided into three categories: Standstill Tests: These assessed safety systems, sensor coverage, emergency response features, and mobile application integration while vehicles remained stationary.
These assessed safety systems, sensor coverage, emergency response features, and mobile application integration while vehicles remained stationary. Mixed Traffic Tests: Conducted on public roads and port environments, these examined real-time functions such as speed adjustment, traffic signal handling, and navigation.
Conducted on public roads and port environments, these examined real-time functions such as speed adjustment, traffic signal handling, and navigation. Dedicated Tests: Focused on controlled scenarios like pedestrian interaction, start-stop capability, and remote operation features.
The evaluations were led by RTA's nine-member technical team and advisory jury, in collaboration with consultants FEV and Arthur D. Little.
This initiative is part of the build-up to the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, scheduled for 24–25 September 2025. The event will bring together global experts in mobility and autonomy, aligning with Dubai's target of transforming 25% of all city trips into autonomous journeys by 2030.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Uber partnering with Saudi-backed Lucid and Nuro to launch robotaxis in 2026
Uber Technology has teamed up with Saudi Arabia-backed electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors and US robotics company Nuro to launch a global robotaxi programme, as the race towards self-driving transport accelerates. San Francisco-based Uber will be making 'multi-hundred-million dollar investments' in both Lucid and Nuro for the robotaxis, with the first service to be launched in a 'major US city' in the latter part of 2026, Uber said on Thursday. Uber plans to use at least 20,000 Lucid vehicles equipped with the level-4 Nuro Driver platform through six years, it said. The first Lucid-Nuro robotaxi prototype is already operating autonomously on a closed circuit in Las Vegas. Level 4 refers to the second-highest of the six levels of vehicle autonomy, which run from 0 to 5, in which vehicles do not require human intervention under most circumstances. Level 5, the highest, requires no human attention and vehicles under this status may not even have steering wheels or pedals. Nuro Driver is able to 'mimic safe natural driving behaviour, integrating an end-to-end AI model with reliable safeguards for precision and reliability', according to its website. 'Autonomous vehicles have enormous potential to transform our cities for the better,' Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, said. Driverless, or autonomous, vehicles, are seen as the future of transport, and major companies are racing to make advancements in its technologies, trying to perfect their platforms. These vehicles, in which billions of investments have been poured into, are meant to support the sustainable transport agenda countries are aiming for. However, there has been a lot of debate on when fully autonomous vehicles will become roadworthy. A number of reports have shown that it may take quite a while, with a 2023 study from GlobalData suggesting it would take 20 years to achieve this level of innovation. The Uber-Lucid-Nuro partnership would be 'the start of our path to extend our innovation and technology leadership into this multi-trillion-dollar market', said Marc Winterhoff, interim chief executive of Lucid, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The National has reached out to the companies seeking comment on whether the service would be brought to other regions, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Uber said its operations in 70 countries and an average of 34 million trips per day will give it the resources necessary to 'make the benefits of self-driving vehicles accessible … to people everywhere'. Nuro, meanwhile, will lead the development and validation of comprehensive safety cases across dozens of categories using simulations, closed course testing and supervised on-road testing to verify that the robotaxi will operate safely, it said.
Zawya
5 hours ago
- Zawya
Uber to invest $300mln in EV maker Lucid as part of robotaxi deal
Uber will invest $300 million in electric vehicle maker Lucid in a robotaxi deal that aims to start with one major U.S. city late next year, the companies said on Thursday. Over six years starting in 2026, Uber will acquire and deploy over 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs that will be equipped with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology from startup Nuro, the three companies said in a statement. The agreement illustrates the renewed plans and push for financing for self-driving cabs years after a first wave of autonomous driving investment produced only a limited number of vehicles. Tesla has recently launched a robotaxi trial in Austin and Alphabet's driverless taxi unit Waymo is speeding up its expansion. As part of their announced deal, Uber will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro, which supplies self-driving technology to automakers, the joint statement said. Of that, $300 million will go to Lucid, the EV maker said in a separate filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Uber's latest move underscores its renewed push into the robotaxi space after exiting in 2020. Since then, Uber has pivoted to partnerships with several technology developers, including Waymo and Aurora. The deal with Lucid follows Uber's robotaxi agreement in April with Volkswagen that will supply its vans for commercial service planned for Los Angeles next year. But commercializing AV tech has been much harder than anticipated with high costs, tight regulations and federal investigations forcing many, including General Motors' Cruise, to shut down. Some still in the race include Zoox, which is testing a robotaxi without manual controls and plans to launch commercial services in Las Vegas this year. After years of missed promises, Tesla started a restricted trial with about a dozen of its Model Y SUVs in Austin, Texas, last month. CEO Elon Musk has said it will expand the service rapidly to other U.S. cities this year. Waymo has been growing cautiously for years and operates in several U.S. cities with about 1,500 vehicles. It crossed 100 million miles of autonomous driving this month. A prototype of the Lucid-Nuro robotaxi is already operating autonomously on a closed circuit at Nuro's testing facility in Las Vegas, the companies said. "We are expanding beyond our traditional EV technology leadership and working on partnerships and going now into areas that in the past we have not really focused on," Lucid's interim CEO Marc Winterhoff told Reuters. Nuro, co-founded and led by former Waymo engineers, has expanded from making last-mile delivery vehicles to providing its self-driving technology for commercial and passenger vehicles. "We have other very active conversations going on the personal vehicle side ... where we would integrate Nuro driver into vehicles that will get sold to end consumers," Dave Ferguson, Nuro's co-founder and president, said. Nuro will still need to apply for state-level operating licenses though it holds some licenses from their previous delivery operations, he said. (Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Zawya
9 hours ago
- Zawya
Egypt: EGP strengthens against USD on Wednesday
Arab Finance: The Egyptian pound (EGP) strengthened against the US dollar on Wednesday, as the USD reached EGP 49.37 for buying and EGP 49.47 for selling at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE). The exchange rate recorded the same value at Banque Misr and the Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB). The USD registered EGP 49.39 for buying and EGP 49.49 for selling at the Suez Canal Bank. Meanwhile, the dollar traded at EGP 49.38 for purchasing and EGP 49.48 for selling at the United Bank. © 2020-2023 Arab Finance For Information Technology. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
