Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority on Tuesday announced that its first set of guidelines for the trial of autonomous cars has won a regional traffic award.
The RTA-drafted guidelines are also the first set of guidelines in the world and will be regionally put into force by the end of 2019. These guidelines won the Best Public-Private Project Award during the recent Gulf Traffic Exhibition and Conference. It is primarily based on RTA's attempt to transform 25 per cent of city journeys into autonomous transportation by 2030.
The guidelines aim to woe manufacturers and pursue them to invest in research and trials to help transform Dubai into a regional hub for self-driving vehicles.
Ahmad Behroozian, CEO of Public Transport Agency and Head of Smart and Sustainable Transport Committee at RTA, said, “Winning this award underlines our belief that improvements in the self-driving vehicles rest on carrying out diverse trials on these vehicles. We have therefore introduced the Code of Practice to describe the minimal safety and security requirements of self-driving vehicles to be tested.”
In order to keep up with the guidelines, RTA has announced that it will issue permits to companies to carry out trials within controlled environments to curb the number of potential risks. “RTA has developed this Guide, which is the first of its kind worldwide, to enable manufacturers to test the technology systematically in Dubai,” said Behroozian.
Behroozian concluded, “When the vehicle passes through all stages of testing, a no objection certificate is issued for the use of vehicles on Dubai roads as per the applicable legislation. This guide, which will be implemented by the end of 2019, contributes to attracting manufacturers to invest in researches and trials to transform Dubai into a regional hub for self-driving vehicles.”
Here are the four stages as proposed by the RTA for self-driving vehicles:
Phase I: Compliance and test. This verifies the eligibility of manufacturers to participate in the tests under a criterion.
Phase II: Tests within geo-fenced areas: This aims at ensuring the safety of vehicles for passengers as well as road users along with the fitness of vehicles for driving on the roads.
Phase III: Assessment through Simulators. This phase aims to study the overall impact on the road network.
Phase IV: Trials on streets with moderate traffic movement: This aims at testing trial vehicles with other vehicles.