A competition to design and build driverless buses for the streets of Dubai has been shortlisted to 12 finalists — each bidding to win a $1 million prize.

They include entries from France, the UK, China, Taiwan and the US, and have come from academic institutions and private businesses.

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority challenged local and international engineers to solve the first and last mile challenges facing public transport users in reaching their final destinations…

For the automated bus challenge, six international companies qualified for the final stage in the industry leaders category: Adastec from the US, King Long from China, Alexander Dennis from the UK, Navya and Gaussin from France and iAuto from Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the six universities qualified for the finals in the local academia category are Khalifa University of Science and Technology, American University of Sharjah, Heriot-Watt University, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, University of Dubai and the University of Bolton.