Uber and WeRide will soon begin an autonomous taxi service in Abu Dhabi, marking a key step towards the emirate's goal of making driverless cars mainstream.

The move is part of a small but continuously growing self-driving service in the UAE, especially in Abu Dhabi. WeRide has already partnered with Abu Dhabi Mobility and taxi company Tawasul.

Uber is in talks with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, with the rest of the UAE also on the company's radar. The National hopped into one of the AVs to test out the future of transport.

What vehicle is being used?

San Francisco-based Uber will use WeRide's van-type Robotaxi GXR that this year received approval for fully unmanned operations in Beijing, using level 4 autonomous technology.

There are six levels of autonomy, from zero to 5, in which vehicles do not require human intervention under most circumstances. Level 5 requires no human attention and vehicles with that status may not even have steering wheels or pedals.

Uber is test-driving WeRide's Robotaxi GXR, which it plans to use for its autonomous Abu Dhabi taxi service. All photos: Pawan Singh for The National A barrier is installed to the right of the 'driving' seat to protect the vehicle from tampering The Robotaxi GXR can accommodate five passengers The autonomous taxi features a touchscreen on which details of the journey are displayed The vehicle is equipped with cameras for monitoring and security pu