Dubai Launches Four-Week Trial of Driverless Electric Pods at Bluewaters Island

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority launched a four-week trial of the Glydways automated transit system at Bluewaters Island on October 11, using driverless electric pods that carry four to six passengers along dedicated routes at speeds up to 50 km/h, according to Gulf News, Khaleej Times, and Cairo Scene. RTA Director General Mattar Al Tayer officially launched the trial by taking a five-minute ride in one of the autonomous vehicles. The system operates on narrow dedicated tracks separated from regular traffic, with each vehicle capable of covering up to 250 km on a single battery charge and providing on-demand journeys between departure and arrival points. The trial aims to improve first- and last-mile connectivity across the emirate.

The Bluewaters trial is the first operational phase of a broader network announced at the World Government Summit in February 2026, with plans to connect metro stations to residential neighborhoods, business districts and tourist attractions at four Dubai locations: Bluewaters Island, Umm Suqeim, Al Quoz, and Dubai Festival City. The proposed routes include a 2.8 km link between National Paints Metro Station and Bluewaters, a 1.9 km corridor from Mall of the Emirates Metro Station to Madinat Jumeirah, and a 7 km Dubai Festival City route potentially integrated with the planned Metro Blue Line. The results of the four-week trial will determine whether the technology can be expanded to other parts of Dubai, supporting the emirate's target of making 25 percent of all journeys autonomous by 2030.

Sources

Gulf News, October 11, 2026, gulfnews.com; Khaleej Times, October 11, 2026, khaleejtimes.com; Cairo Scene, October 11, 2026, cairoscene.com; MENAFN via Khaleej Times, October 11, 2026, menafn.com; Emirates 24|7, October 11, 2026, emirates247.com; Electrek, February 13, 2026, electrek.co (Glydways specifications); Time Out Dubai, February 4, 2026, timeoutdubai.com (World Government Summit announcement); AGBI, February 2026, agbi.com (World Government Summit 2026 agreement)