The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said trials of the service are expected to start by the end of the year.

The start of the future of urban transportation is here, and Dubai is embracing it wholeheartedly as the city will start its driverless taxi service by the year 2023.

Announcing on Sunday, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said trials of the service are expected to start by the end of the year before an official launch in 2023.

The trials will take place across Dubai and by officially launching next year, it will gradually expand its services to reach 4,000 vehicles by 2030.

To execute the services, the RTA has signed an agreement in partnership with Cruise Company — a majority-owned autonomous vehicle subsidiary of General Motors, to operate Cruise autonomous vehicles in the Emirate. The company will provide taxi and e-Hail services in the Emirate.

“Human errors are responsible for more than 90 per cent of accidents,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General of the RTA, adding, “Autonomous vehicles are environmentally-friendly electric vehicles and can serve considerable numbers of customers, particularly senior citizens, residents and people of determination.”

Though the RTA hasn’t announced what routes the driverless taxis will take or how much the service will cost, the company has started running driverless taxis in San Francisco for trails. They currently only run at night and in designated areas only.

While Dubai gears up for driverless taxi services, Abu Dhabi also recently conducted trials of the very concept. The streets of Yas Island saw a convoy of driverless cars steering on their own and obeying the speed limits while safely transporting passengers. The Abu Dhabi authorities are soon planning to roll out the services in near future too.