Dubai’s new driveless pods are now being trialled on Bluewaters

A new driverless transport system has begun trials on Bluewaters as Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) continues to introduce new traffic-reducing ways to get around the city. The Dubai Glydways system, which is a series of autonomous pods powered by AI technology and operating on dedicated tracks, will be trialled for the next four weeks. A post shared by هيئة الطرق والمواصلات، دبي (@rta_dubai) First unveiled at the World Government Summit 2026 in Dubai earlier this year, this futuristic new mode of transport runs on dedicated tracks, allowing it to skip all the traffic by operating in its own dedicated lane. Running on-demand, they allow passengers to travel from point to point as and when they need, without having to follow strict schedules and pre-arranged arrival and departure times. The Glydways pods can each accommodate between four and six passengers, operating at speeds of up to 50km/h. The system can virtually link more than 10 vehicles, allowing up to 40-60 passengers to travel at any one time when fully linked, with the possibility to carry more than 20,000 passengers per hour in both directions. On a single battery charge, each pod can run up to 250km, making it an efficient new mode of transport in the city. The four-week trial will see how safe, reliable and effective the Glydways are in an operational environment, testing the journey times, ease of use and how well the pods move along each route. The results of the trials on Bluewaters will decide how – and when – the RTA rolls out Glydways across the city. Beyond Bluewaters, areas that could see Glydways launch include Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai Festival City, Business Bay and Mohammed Bin Rashid City.