At the moment there are a variety of projects in the works, and companies around the world, that are dedicated to bringing about a flying taxi system to the market by 2020.
From Texas to Dubai, it's clear that the trend in the future is pressing toward having passengers fly to their destination rather than drive, by using autonomous flying taxis.
One of the more prominent companies in this space that readily comes to mind when we think about a flying taxi system is of course Uber. And just a few weeks ago at the Elevate Summit held in Dallas, the company announced its aggressive plans to see an urban aviation ecosystem established by 2020.
When it comes to whether or not this is actually something has a good chance of becoming a reality, some say that yes it sure is—despite the regulatory hurdle that is going to be required. They are aggressively ambitious plans for Uber, but they seem well positioned to venture in that direction.
At the recent Elevate Summit, held by Uber, the senior director of regulator affairs at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, admitted that Uber had “the right people in the room,” “[they are working with] the right minds,” and they sure have “the right funding and partnerships” to get the job done.
If they do see their taxi system realized within just a few years, it will have taken a great deal of effort on the part of many people from a variety of different areas. There are many who believe that it is certain that we will one day be able to fly to our destinations via flying taxis, but how far off that is is anyone's guess.
It will be really impressive if Uber can unveil this system, or anyone else can for that matter, by 2020. Other companies in this space are also looking to have their flying drones and taxi systems unveiled within just a few years as well, in Singapore, Dubai, and other areas.
Uber is said to be working along with the Dubai government for this project and they expect to start conducting passenger flights by 2020.
For Uber, they plan to have small, electric aircraft that will be able to land and take off vertically. They will allegedly be quiet enough to operate in the cities and produce zero emissions. Uber believes that one day the flying taxis will become so ubiquitous that the cost of opting for a flying taxi will eventually be much more economical than car ownership.
How likely are folks to opt for this travel option?
Well, according to a recent survey that was conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, 2 in 5 people are interested in owning an autonomous flying car some day.
They asked 508 people from across the U.S. and of the respondents: 48 percent were men, 52 percent were women. They had varied ages.
Roughly 44 percent of those who took part in the survey said that they would be interested in riding a flying taxi some day and 41 percent said they hope to own a flying car some day.
But just because they are interested doesn't mean they feel that this travel method is all that safe yet. Of the same batch of respondents, about 63 percent said that they would be concerned about how safe that sort of ride might be.
To ease concerns, 80 percent suggest that these vehicles should come equipped with a parachute on board.
Using a landing strip or taking off vertically, which is most preferred? 83 percent said that they would rather have it take off vertically. About 41 percent also said that they felt that the aircraft should be able to go at least 400 miles before needing to recharge or be refueled.
Pics:
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Sources:
https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/dubai-looks-to-introduce-a-fleet-of-taxi-drones
https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/google-s-co-founder-backs-kitty-hawk-flyer
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/singapore-looks-to-implement-flying-taxi-system
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/new-futuristic-drone-car-hybrid-unveiled-at-geneva-motor-show
https://www.uber.com/info/elevate/summit/
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-close-are-we-to-calling-an-uber-in-the-sky/article/2622039
http://fortune.com/2017/04/26/uber-dallas-dubai-2020-flying-taxi-launch/
https://www.recode.net/2017/5/6/15569110/flying-car-survey-interested-owning-kitty-hawk