The Roadmap to a Drone Taxi

A drone taxi can fly you from one point to another, allowing people to get around in ways that weren’t possible until recently. It’s a transportation system that’s being developed by Amazon, Uber, and other tech giants in a race to get drones flying over urban areas as soon as possible.

But before we start using drones to transport ourselves and our goods, we need to deal with a few key issues. That includes a safety system, a regulatory framework, and a way to handle logistics and maintenance.

Luckily, many companies are working on these technologies and making progress. The Ehang 184 passenger drone, for example, has already conducted test flights. But the price tag for the device is a bit high: $200,000.

The other issue is that drones are still very sensitive to wind gusts and turbulence, which can destabilize them and even cause crashes. Researchers are now looking at different building shapes that could minimize this problem, as well as developing flight-stability technologies.

In addition, it’s important to consider how these drones will impact current transportation systems. First, they will require a public system of vertiports, also known as drone logistic hubs, to function properly. They’ll need to be distributed in a density similar to urban railroad stations. And that will add to the travel time for passengers since they’ll need to be transported to and from these sites.

Passenger drones can only carry a limited number of people, and they’re unlikely to replace automobiles as the main mode of transportation in cities. In fact, they’ll likely be used in conjunction with existing taxi services and will only offer a small portion of total city traffic reduction.

The drones will also need a sophisticated air traffic management system to avoid crashing into buildings, human-piloted aircraft or one another. And this will be a major hurdle to overcome before these vehicles can actually make it to our streets. The good news is that NASA has partnered with five states to push forward Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), which will focus on helping local governments incorporate big drones for transport and cargo delivery into their civic transportation plans.

AAM will also look at how these systems can be operated by multiple providers and integrated into the national airspace. This is an important aspect because it will enable the creation of a new network that could compete with existing commercial air service, such as FedEx and UPS’s Next Day Air. This competition is essential to ensuring that these technologies become viable and sustainable. And it will allow a variety of new players to come into the market, which is crucial for enabling mass adoption.