The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, declared on Thursday that the public will soon be able to ride in self-driving taxis after sharing a video of himself riding around a Dubai neighborhood in one.
Alongside Sheikh Hamdan in the self-driving vehicle was Lt. Gen. Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, the chief commander of the Dubai Police; Mattar Al Tayer, the director general and chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA); and a human driver from Cruise, who was merely in reserve and whose hands were off the wheel. Everybody had a seatbelt on.
Since October, driverless taxis have been operating in Jumeirah 1, Dubai, during a trial period that began after the region was successfully digitally mapped.
During the testing stage, the self-driving taxis, run by General Motors (GM) subsidiary Cruise, a US-based self-driving technology startup, are not yet accepting human passengers. However, by the end of this year, a limited number of people will be able to ride in Cruise taxis before it fully launches for business in the second half of 2024.
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