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Uber and WeRide Launch Driverless Robotaxi Service in Abu Dhabi
A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide and partner Uber have achieved a significant milestone: the service is now officially driverless. This development marks a major step forward in the deployment of autonomous vehicles in the region, with the potential to revolutionize transportation in the Middle East.
The commercial robotaxi service, which will no longer have a human safety operator behind the wheel, is open to the public and will start with routes on Yas Island, a tourist district that is home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 racing circuit. According to Uber, the service will operate similarly to its partnership with Waymo in Austin, with riders able to select Uber Comfort or UberX and potentially be matched with a WeRide robotaxi.
Expansion Plans and Partnerships
Uber and WeRide have announced plans to expand their driverless services to cover additional areas in Abu Dhabi’s city center. The launch comes a month after WeRide secured a federal permit from the United Arab Emirates to conduct fully driverless robotaxi commercial operations. The companies are also working with fleet operator partner Tawasul to deploy the robotaxis.
Uber has been actively pursuing partnerships with autonomous vehicle technology companies worldwide, with over 20 partnerships announced in the past two years. These partnerships span the full range of self-driving applications, including delivery and trucking. For instance, Uber has partnered with Ann Arbor, Michigan-based May Mobility and Volkswagen, Chinese self-driving firms Momenta, Pony.ai, and Baidu, as well as a recent deal to create a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with a self-driving system from San Francisco-based startup Nuro.
Future Deployments and Projections
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has forecast that there will be autonomous vehicle deployments on the Uber network in at least 10 cities by the end of 2026. The company has also announced plans to expand its driverless services to 15 cities throughout the Middle East and Europe, eventually scaling to thousands of robotaxis. WeRide currently has over 150 robotaxis in the region, and this expansion would represent a significant increase in its operations.
According to Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s head of autonomous mobility and delivery, “Today’s fully autonomous launch in Abu Dhabi represents a historic transportation milestone, as the first driverless AV deployment outside of the U.S. or China.” As the autonomous vehicle industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these deployments shape the future of transportation. For more information on this development, visit Here
Image Credit: techcrunch.com