Ride sharing giant Uber has announced it will work with NASA to bring flying taxis to Los Angeles by 2020.
Project Elevate will develop four-person, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, regulated by an air traffic control system to be developed by NASA with a number of industry partners as part of its Space Act Agreement.
The agreement aims to ensure safe and efficient operations of small aerial systems like drones and eventually small aircraft flying at low altitudes, to keep sky traffic orderly.
Uber envisions commuters catching air taxis from the top of skyscrapers, and delivering them to their homes in the suburbs.
It hopes to build a fleet of electric jet-powered vehicles – part helicopter, part drone, part fixed-wing aircraft – running multiple rotors to take off and land vertically, and fly horizontally at 322km, or 200 miles per hour.
Trials are planned for Los Angeles by 2020. Dallas, Texas and Dubai are also possible demo sites.
The company acknowledges the many regulatory and technological hurdles it will face.
“We are very much embracing the regulatory bodies and starting very early in discussions about this and getting everyone aligned with the vision,” Chief Product Office Jeff Holden told The New Daily.
Each day millions of hours are wasted on the road worldwide, says Uber, and with its network of drivers collecting traffic data, it should know.
The company says it has partnered with five aircraft manufacturers Two NASA veterans will run its aircraft vehicle design team and air traffic management software program.
Image: Uber.
Smart cities are boring
City dwellers haven’t been wowed by transformative Smart City applications because they are unresponsive, writes TechCrunch.
“Cities may be getting smarter, but they haven’t noticeably changed from a user perspective,” says Colin O’Donnell, Chief Innovation Officer with smart cities consultant Intersection.
“It seems like most of the digital advances in cities have been invisible and focused on city operations, rather than on the parts of the city that people can see, touch, and use.”
Channelling the data collected from sensors into real-time action will create truly engaging smart cities.
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