RTA and Cruise to operate two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles

Cruise, a self-driving car service, will start the operation of two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles (EVs) this month, to prepare digital maps for Cruise’s self-driving vehicles.

The process is before the launch of the actual service in 2023, rendering Dubai the first city in the world to commercially operate Cruise self-driving vehicles outside America.

According to the Dubai Media Office, this comes under the implementation of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, on the lines of the agreement signed between Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Cruise, to operate Cruise autonomous vehicles to offer taxi and e-Hail services in Dubai.

.@rta_dubai, @Cruise to operate today two Chevrolet Bolt EVs to chart digital maps for self-driving vehicles.#Dubai is set to become the first city outside the US to operate @Cruise‘s driverless vehicles by 2030. pic.twitter.com/DyMC51Qk08

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 24, 2022

The two Chevrolet Bolt EVs will be initially deployed on Jumeirah streets and driven by specialist drivers. Cruise’s technology uses a high-resolution map of the physical environment, which is created using specialised mapping vehicles equipped with a suite of sensors including LiDAR, camera, and others, are driven throughout the city to collect data, which is then used to create a navigable map for autonomous vehicles(AVs).

Cruise, General Motors’ (GM) majority-owned autonomous vehicle subsidiary, shares the same vision as GM that AVs can help lead to a safe, less congested future for all. These efforts will clearly advance a vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, said, “We have plans to increase the number of deployed vehicles gradually to reach up to 4000 vehicles by 2030, and enhancing Dubai’s pioneering role in self-driving transport. It is an important step towards realising the Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy aimed to transform 25 per cent of total mobility journeys in Dubai into journeys on various self-driving transport means by 2030.”

Mattar Al Tayer: This initiative enhances Dubai’s pioneering role in self-driving transport. It is an important step in realising #Dubai‘s strategy to transform 25% of total mobility journeys in Dubai into various self-driving transport means by 2030. pic.twitter.com/Dymk3DM5x2

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 24, 2022

In April 2021, RTA signed an agreement with Cruise to operate their autonomous vehicles to offer taxi and e-Hail services, as part of its efforts to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world.

The agreement, which is the first of its kind worldwide between a government entity and a leading company in the field of AVs, is a major step toward realising Dubai’s Self-Driving Transport Strategy aimed at converting 25 per cent of total trips in Dubai into self-driving transport trips across different modes of transport by 2030.

Recently, RTA had also signed an agreement with the Australian bus manufacturer BusTech Group to test the operation of an eco-friendly, zero-emission electric bus to verify its operational feasibility in Dubai’s climatic environment.

Read: Dubai’s RTA signs agreement to trial eco-friendly electric bus