Dubai is set to be the first city in the world to start testing them next month…

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has unveiled plans to replace standard metal licence plates with smart ones.

Speaking to the Khaleej Times, Sultan Abdullah Al Marzouqi, the director of the RTA’s Vehicle Licensing Department, said testing would begin next month. Dubai is set to be the first city in the world to start the trials.

The new digital plate, called ‘Tag to Connect’, was unveiled at the Dubai International Government Achievements Exhibition on Monday.

Benefits of the smart plates include automatic renewal of vehicle plates, being able to change your licence plate number, and automatically linking to drivers’ e-purses, so that they can pay fines, fees and parking on the go.

The new Tag to Connect plates will be fitted with GPS transmitters and microprocessor chips that will enable real-time communication between vehicles, as well as constantly sending data to a central system.

The new technology will also have the ability to detect accidents, and automatically notify the authorities in case of emergency. Hopefully, this should mean a reduction in accidents on Dubai roads.

During the testing phase, which will carry on until November, the RTA will see how the smart plates cope with Dubai’s weather conditions, figure out their life expectancy and explore what other technological requirements might be needed to ensure the effective transfer of data.

Could this be another world first for Dubai? We reckon so…

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