Hamdan bin Mohammed visits display of Origin autonomous vehicle on sidelines of World Government Summit 2022
DUBAI, March 30th, 2022 – On the margins of the World Government Summit 2022 hosted at Expo 2020 Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, inspected the presentation of a model of the Origin autonomous car built by Cruise Inc, USA.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has signed an agreement with Cruise Inc. as part of its plans to provide driverless taxis and e-booking services.
Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority’s Board of Executive Directors, and Jeff Bleich, Cruise’s Chief Legal Officer, briefed His Highness on Origin’s autonomous vehicle, which was developed by Cruise Inc., USA, in collaboration with General Motors and Honda.
To assure rider safety, the vehicle is equipped with cutting-edge technologies and advanced sensors and systems. The automobile will be displayed for the first time outside of the United States in Dubai.
“Dubai will serve as the global launch platform for Cruise’s Origin driverless vehicle. Until the end of the year, RTA and Cruise are conducting experiments and developing digital maps for these cars.
A trial run for BOLT vehicles will take place in October this year, paving the way for the autonomous vehicle service’s official launch in 2023 with a limited number of Origin vehicles.
The goal is to increase the number of vehicles progressively until they reach 4,000 by 2030. “Dubai will be the first city outside of the United States to use Origin vehicles,” Al Tayer added.
He said, “Operating self-driving taxis contributes to achieving the integration of mobility and transportation systems by facilitating the movement of public transport riders to their final destinations.”
“This initiative further strengthens Dubai’s pioneering role in self-driving transportation and is a significant milestone in achieving Dubai’s Self-Driving Transport Strategy, which aims to convert 25% of total mobility journeys in Dubai to self-driving journeys on various modes of transportation by 2030,” Al Tayer added.
“It also backs RTA’s attempts to connect public transportation systems and run a short-trip service (first and last-mile) that assists riders in getting to their ultimate destinations. The use of self-driving vehicles represents a quantum leap in public transit, as it delivers creative mobility solutions, decreases city congestion, and enhances road safety “Al Tayer came to a conclusion.
Designed to provide shared transport, Cruise’s Origin can operate fully without human intervention. It doesn’t have a steering wheel or a control system like ordinary vehicles and uses more than 80 highly advanced sensors that include cameras, LiDAR systems, and radar to create a 360-degree view. It uses high-definition 3D maps to locate the vehicle at all times and pinpoint its exact location with respect to other road users with a precision of up to one centimetre.
When riders board the vehicle through the sliding doors and fasten their seat belts, they have to press the Start/Stop button in the passenger compartment. They can ask the vehicle to terminate the trip at any time, before reaching their destination, by pressing the Start/Stop button. The vehicle will assess the nearest suitable parking space to end the journey smoothly and safely. To ensure high safety levels, the fleet of autonomous vehicles is monitored round the clock, and there will be communication with passengers in the event of any emergency or technical failure
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