RTA Dubai and Next Future Transport launch autonomous pods

The Roads Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai, in collaboration with Next Future Transport, is testing autonomous mobility pods on the sidelines of the World Government Summit as part of its effort under the future accelerators initiatives. The trial also supports the city's Self-Driving Strategy to make 25% of public transport autonomous by 2030. These pods are designed with the intention of travelling short and medium distances in dedicated lanes and can be coupled in 15 to 20 seconds or detached, depen
February 15, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Roads Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai, in collaboration with Next Future Transport, is testing autonomous mobility pods on the sidelines of the World Government Summit as part of its effort under the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external future accelerators initiatives false http://www.dubaifuture.gov.ae/our-initiatives/dubai-future-accelerators/ false false%>. The trial also supports the city's Self-Driving Strategy to make 25% of public transport autonomous by 2030.


These pods are designed with the intention of travelling short and medium distances in dedicated lanes and can be coupled in 15 to 20 seconds or detached, depending on the rider's destination, in five seconds. Cameras and electromechanical technologies carry out the coupling and detaching processes, which can be activated in-motion.

Each pod can carry up to ten passengers and has an average speed of 20 k/h. It comes with a three-hour battery capacity; which is chargeable in six hours.

HE Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA, said: "The RTA has signed an agreement with the American Next Future Inc. to develop autonomous units named NX1 as part of the initial phase of Dubai Future Accelerators. The prototypes of these units are manufactured in Italy and shipped to Dubai to put them on trials. These pods run on a virtual pre-configured and programmed lane and are overseen by the operational system.

“The success of initial tests of these units will bring about a breakthrough in transportation systems that offer innovative mobility solutions and ease snarls in the city. The RTA is keen on ensuring the principle of safety in all services delivered to clients. The autonomous pods have three protection systems in order to ensure full control and avoid crashing into any body. The main system comprises 3D cameras, and the second one is a standby system based on ordinary cameras, and the last is operated manually by the operator.”

Related Content

  • A view of mobility for the next generation
    March 10, 2017
    We wanted to know what mobility will look like for the next generation, so we asked those who would be shaping and using it – the next generation themselves. A group of students studying under Professor Dr Regine Gerike at Technical University Dresden gave us a wide range of stimulating responses. See our website for the full discussion:
    Read More
  • G&D puts Guest of Honour country Brazil in the CIPURSE smartcard spotlight at CARTES 2013
    November 19, 2013
    Giesecke & Devrient and Infineon have joined forces to provide “contactless smartcards compliant with the CIPURSE Open Standard in Volume Quantities” and will be able to discuss here at CARTES 2013 how these new cards “are being used today in Brazil”.
    Read More
  • Fostering ITS Policy and the IRF manifesto
    November 26, 2012
    Fostering ITS Policy, an international workshop jointly organised by TTS Italia (National Association for Telematics for Transport and Safety) and the IRF Policy Committee on ITS, aims to bring together key partners from the public, private and academic sectors in Italy to discuss ITS policy frameworks and developments in ITS university education. The workshop takes place as part of the New World Conference The New World II, the ITS for mobility management convention in Bologna on 5 December 2012 at Savoia
    Read More
  • T3 webinar - Smart Traffic Management
    April 2, 2013
    The next T3 webinar takes place on Thursday18 April 18 at 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm ET, and discusses Smart Traffic Management: Lessons from New York City's Midtown in Motion (MiM) project, kicked off in summer 2011 by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The purpose of the MiM project is to promote multimodal mobility in the midtown core of Manhattan, a 110 square block area or zone from 2nd to 6th Avenues and from 42nd to 57th Streets. The MiM proj
    Read More

Highlighted Content