Russia's Transport Ministry expects 50% of vehicles to be driverless by 2050

Russia's Ministry of Transport expects half of all vehicles to be driverless by 2050, Deputy Transport Minister Vladimir Poteshkin said on Thursday.

"Looking ahead to 2050, our projections indicate that around 50 percent of all transport vehicles will operate without drivers. Efforts are currently underway to create the necessary conditions for this," Poteshkin said at a press conference.

Previously, an unmanned truck completed its first journey from St. Petersburg to Kazan in western Russia, operating autonomously with engineers present in the cab covering the 1,600-kilometer route in 24 hours via expressways.

In early April, fully autonomous freight vehicle operations were launched on the Central Ring Road in the Moscow region. Such operations have been in place on the M-11 Neva highway since 2023.

Poteshkin added that about 90 driverless trucks are currently transporting freight on toll roads. "To date, these vehicles have traveled over 6 million kilometers," he said.

"For further advancement, we aim to achieve Level 5 autonomy, where vehicles operate completely without drivers. We are currently developing the necessary regulatory framework and adapting road infrastructure to support this," Poteshkin added.

Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin stated on August 14 that the development of unmanned transport in Russia through 2028 is based on a comprehensive strategy. The starting point for this process will be the federal law on highly automated transport vehicles, which is expected to be adopted in 2026 and come into force in the third quarter of 2027, he said.