Baidu and Uber will begin offering Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing trips on the Uber app in Dubai next month.
Launched in partnership with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, the fully driverless vehicles will initially operate across select locations within the Jumeirah area, with plans to expand coverage across the city based on operational learnings and regulatory approvals.
For eligible trips within the service zone, riders booking Uber Comfort or UberX will be able to get matched with an Apollo Go vehicle, or choose a dedicated “Autonomous” option in the Uber app. Fleet operations will be overseen by third-party operator New Horizon.
The deployment supports Dubai’s target of making 25 percent of all transportation trips autonomous by 2030.
“As a key deliverable of the strategic partnership between Apollo Go and Uber announced last July, this deployment officially brings our autonomous ride-hailing service to Dubai, utilising Uber’s vast network to turn our shared vision into reality,” said Nan Yang, Vice President of Baidu and General Manager of Overseas Business Unit, Intelligent Driving Group.
“Just as we helped millions of people try out EVs for the first time, we will expand consumer access to autonomous technology in major cities around the world. With more than 20 AV partners already completing millions of autonomous trips annually, Uber is the global platform where the autonomous vehicle industry can launch at scale,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous at Uber.
Entelechy Asia 