Ever imagined chilling in the backseat while your car does the driving? Russia’s Ministry of Transport just dropped a bold forecast: by 2050, 50% of all vehicles on its roads will be driverless 🤖🚗. Deputy Transport Minister Vladimir Poteshkin says they’re laying the groundwork now for a future where AI and sensors call the shots.
Last year, Russia hit a milestone when an unmanned truck cruised from St. Petersburg to Kazan1,600 km in 24 hours on expressways, all while engineers monitored from the cabin. That’s like going from Mumbai to Bangalore non-stop! Since 2023, fully autonomous freight trips have been rolling on the M-11 Neva highway, and earlier this April, they launched on the Central Ring Road around Moscow.
So, what does this mean for us? For tech-savvy cities like Bangalore, Jakarta or Manila, the shift to self-driving vehicles could revolutionize ride-hailing apps and logistics. Imagine ordering groceries on lunch break and watching a driverless van deliver them by evening 🍲📦. Behind the scenes, machine learning algorithms map routes, detect obstacles, and optimize fuel use to cut costs and emissions.
Of course, challenges remain: safety standards, cybersecurity, and new road regulations are key puzzles to solve. But if Russia nails its 2050 target, it will join the ranks of global leaders in autonomous mobility1 joining peers in South Korea, the U.S. and beyond.
Fasten your seatbelts1 our commute of tomorrow is gearing up to be a wild, self-driving ride! 🌏✨
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
