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Self-driving and electric vehicles are the future of transportation and offer economic and social benefits, top officials said on Monday.
Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, in collaboration with French autonomous vehicle producer Navya and the Department of Transport, unveiled 'Autonom Shuttle' - an eight-seater self-driving electric vehicle capable of carrying 12 people with a top speed of 25kmph.
Ibrahim Sarhan Al Hmoudi, acting executive director, surface transport sector at the Department of Transport (DoT), said Autonom Shuttle is based on the concept of first and last-mile transportation.
Elaborating by citing instance of passenger taking bus from Abu Dhabi City to Masdar City, Al Hmoudi said: "The public bus will stop at only one place in Masdar City and this vehicle will pick you from the bus stop and drive you to another 4-5 stops inside Masdar City. So this is a last-mile concept and integrates present public transport system. The concept allows for easy movement and encourages people to use public transport."
Reduces fatalities; more family time
Al Hmoudi said autonomous vehicles would reduce fatalities on road.
"Today more than 94 per cent of car accidents and fatalities are due to human error. If we can eliminate the drivers, we can eliminate fatalities on the road. It is about improving quality of life for all of us."
He noted that there are huge social benefits too with the use of technology.
"You will get another 20 minutes to spend quality with your baby. You can even prepare for your meeting in those 20 minutes. You can socialise with others with you in the car. Abu Dhabi will be one of the cities which will adopt the technology the minute it passes the testing period," he said.
Challenges remain
Al Hmoudi added the autonomous vehicles aren't 100 per cent safe.
"Authorities and approval agencies have to still provide the legal framework to answer what if this vehicle meets with an accident. Who is responsible -- the programmer or the vehicle manufacturer. The technology isn't mature yet to be adopted by the mass."
He said that as per multiple researches, by 2025 and 2030 could be a good timing for such technology.
Al Hmoudi said the long hours to charge are a disadvantage but offsetting that challenge will be the dip in price of batteries. "In less than five years, we expect electric car."
On Monday, 'Autonom Shuttle' successfully covered three stations and 1km distance. Yousuf Baselaib, executive director, sustainable real estate, Masdar, said by 2020, the city will expand with malls, hotels and residential areas and then the vehicle will cover 10km.
"We are also going to add six vehicles. We are doing testing on weather conditions and safety aspects in cooperation with the DoT. We are doing lot of research on batteries.
There are 1,500 people residing in Masdar City.
NAVYA deputy COO Jerome Rigaud said the rest of the six vehicles will be finished by end of this year or by mid of next year.
Having successfully completed the pilot phase, the shuttle will shortly begin a regular service linking Masdar City's parking areas with its main podium. The service will be the first operational use of the technology in the Middle East and North Africa.
How it works
The vehicle uses on-board cameras and sensitive LIDAR sensors creating 3D and 2D "perception maps" to detect obstacles and their position relative to the vehicle. GPS technology further allows the vehicle to define its precise location, as well as V2X to communicate with traffic lights.
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