ahlam1399
09-02-2016, 04:33 PM
DUBAI: Dubai has unveiled its first driverless bus service, launching a month-long trial period for the electric vehicle with a view to expanding it across the futuristic Gulf city state.
The 10-seat vehicle made its first trip on Thursday along a 700-metre (2,300-foot) stretch of road in downtown Dubai, near to the Burj Khalifa, the world´s tallest tower.
Developed jointly by French group Easy Mile and Dubai-based Omnix, the minibus is powered by an electric motor and can hit speeds of 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour).
But, thanks to cutting-edge guidance tech**logy, its developers say the bus can adapt its speed to the surrounding environment and even come to a complete halt if a pedestrian were to cross its path.
It can be programmed to navigate between Dubai´s main tourist attractions, including the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Mall, Dubai Opera and the Souk al-Bahar shopping centre, the emirate´s Road Transport Authority (RTA) said in a statement.
Thursday´s test run was "the first and very important stage in our efforts to introduce this type of vehicle into Dubai´s transport network," RTA official Ahmed Bahrozyan told AFP.
Mattar al-Tayer, the RTA´s director general, said it aimed to have a quarter of all Dubai transport automated by 2030.
Dubai is a leading tourist destination in the Gulf, attracting 14.2 million visitors in 2015.
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The 10-seat vehicle made its first trip on Thursday along a 700-metre (2,300-foot) stretch of road in downtown Dubai, near to the Burj Khalifa, the world´s tallest tower.
Developed jointly by French group Easy Mile and Dubai-based Omnix, the minibus is powered by an electric motor and can hit speeds of 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour).
But, thanks to cutting-edge guidance tech**logy, its developers say the bus can adapt its speed to the surrounding environment and even come to a complete halt if a pedestrian were to cross its path.
It can be programmed to navigate between Dubai´s main tourist attractions, including the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Mall, Dubai Opera and the Souk al-Bahar shopping centre, the emirate´s Road Transport Authority (RTA) said in a statement.
Thursday´s test run was "the first and very important stage in our efforts to introduce this type of vehicle into Dubai´s transport network," RTA official Ahmed Bahrozyan told AFP.
Mattar al-Tayer, the RTA´s director general, said it aimed to have a quarter of all Dubai transport automated by 2030.
Dubai is a leading tourist destination in the Gulf, attracting 14.2 million visitors in 2015.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/YEor/~4/OQUm05F0p3k
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/com/YEor/~3/OQUm05F0p3k/147246-Dubai-unveils-driverless-minibus)