The era of self-driving vehicles plying the streets of Dubai is happening sooner than we think — and it will come not only with safe ride and comfort, but a “little bit of pampering as well.”
When the fleet of Baidu’s Apollo Go self-driving taxis is rolled out next year, passengers will not only book a ride, but they can also get a “free massage”. Yes, passengers can sit back, relax, and enjoy a massage like how this Khaleej Times reporter experienced when he was among the select journalists invited by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Baidu on Thursday (September 25) to trial the autonomous taxi as part of the Dubai World Congress and Challenge for Self-Driving Transport.
It was a pre-arranged route along Jumeirah Road — note that operating autonomous taxis in Dubai is still in the trial stage, and there are only designated areas, including Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim, where the three companies — Pony.ai, WeRide, and Apollo Go (Baidu) — that are collaborating with RTA can test their self-driving taxis.
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The trial started from the parking lot of Jumeirah Mosque and covered a four-kilometre stretch of Jumeirah Road before heading back to where we started. It was midday and road traffic was light to moderate. The Apollo Go taxi was able to reach a top speed of 72km per hour, and it ably changed lanes.
There was still a human driver behind the wheel for safety — but Liang Zhang, Apollo Go managing director for EMEA, said when commercial operations begin next year, there would be no drivers when commuters book the all-electric, on-demand taxi service.
RoboTaxis will be rolled out to the public in the first quarter next year, Khaled Al Awadhi, director of transportation systems at RTA’s public transport agency, earlier told Khaleej Times.
According to Zhang, Apollo Go has a current fleet of 50 RT6 or sixth-generation autonomous vehicles conducting open-road testing in designated areas across Dubai, including Jumeirah, Zabeel and Dubai Festival City, since August this year. This is the first time Baidu’s Apollo Go is operating outside of China, where it has been operating 100 per cent fully driverless operations in 10 cities.
The plan is to expand the fleet to more than 1,000 fully driverless vehicles over the next three years in the UAE, the company said.
How to book a ride with massage
The online platform to book Apollo Go taxi is not yet available. Getting into one is similar to how people use the pay-by-the-minute car rentals in Dubai: There is no key and the car can only be accessed with a pin code.
It’s spacious inside the autonomous taxi. There are four seats but Zhang said Apollo Go can only strictly accommodate up to three passengers — one in front and two at the back — the usual “driver’s” seat is off limits to humans except during the trial phase, when Apollo go is still collecting data.
In China, as Cathy Fu of Baidu told Khaleej Times, Apollo Go is fully voice-controlled and passengers can start the ride by saying ‘Nihao Luobo’. Baidu is still in the process of the integrating the voice command for their UAE fleet.
To start the autonomous ride, Apollo Go will only move when all passengers have buckled their seat belts.
And here’s the best part: Rear seats also serve as massage chairs. Passengers can choose from three levels and three modes of massage, including ‘wave’, where the massage vibrates from the base upwards and back; ‘butterfly’, alternating left and right massage strokes; and the “cute” massage named ‘catwalk.’
Again, in China the massage option is voice-activated, and the one available in Dubai is accessed using the control panel in the rear seat.
Safety first
Zhang said, “Apollo Go brings unparalleled operational expertise and advanced autonomous driving technology, with a record of 200 million kilometers of safe driving, 14 million autonomous rides provided to the public, and 100 per cent fully driverless urban deployment in China.”
Apollo Go has attained Level 4 autonomous driving capability, meaning it can operate in self-driving mode in most circumstances. It has 1,200 TOPS (trillions or tera operations per second) of computing power; as well as 38 sensors (8 LiDAR, 12 cameras) for comprehensive environmental perception. There are also four cameras inside.
In Dubai, daily tests are being conducted in Jumeirah, Zabeel area, and Dubai Festival City. Zhang said Apollo Go taxis have passed intensive testing and validation in China, driving in extreme weather conditions. He is confident the taxis can endure the heat during hot summer months.
The self-driving car is made from the ground up in China by Jiangling Motors, the OEM (original equipment manufacturer). There are no modifications with the hardware, Zhang noted, and they are only modifying the vehicle’s software and algorithm to adapt to local conditions. Zhang said one of the obvious differences between driving in the China and Dubai is the presence of roundabouts.
‘Quite unnerving’
Meanwhile, Khaleej Times also spoke to Emirati road safety expert Dr Mustafa Aldah, who was also one of the first to experience riding the self-driving taxi. He said, “It was quite unnatural to see the steering wheel making a U-turn. The constant correction left and right was quite unnerving to see, as it was not what I was accustomed to see, moving the natural way.”
“The U-turn was not slow; it accelerated quite rapidly. Another notable incident was when a car in front of us stopped, and the Apollo go taxi changed lane, but there was only a small margin of space between the two cars,” added Aldah, noting, “Maybe that parameter can be adjusted when they modify the car’s algorithm. Because you will never know when the passenger in the other car will suddenly open the door.”
“For safety purposes, I would suggest having bigger signage to make it more obvious that the car is in self-driving mode, so other motorists will be more aware of it. There is signage on both sides of Apollo Go, but another distinguishing marker can be added as a best practice,” added Aldah, who is also the founder of Dubai-based MA Traffic Consulting.
Dubai on target
Aldah is confident that the future of mobility in Dubai is positive and the city is on track to achieve its goal of having 25 per cent of transportation smart and driverless by 2030.
He added, “Right now, one of the contributing factors to heavy road congestion is that motorists know how to keep safe distance (thus accidents occur) and they don’t know how to merge properly and safely.
“If we have a fleet of self-driving cars on the road, we can have the most efficient use of road network because we can program it. That is our vision for the future. But to get there, we could not go from zero to 100 overnight. We have to reach there gradually and that’s why setting the target of having 25 per cent of transportation smart and driverless by 2030 is they right way,” Aldah concluded.
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