Uber shortlists five countries for flying taxi plan to take off
UBER has moved one step closer to realising its ambitions of launching a fleet of “flying taxis” after it shortlisted five countries that could one day host its uberair services.
The ride-hailing company announced Japan, France, Brazil, Australia and India for consideration as it seeks to introduce a commercial flying taxi operation by 2023.
In 2017, Uber named Dallas and Los Angeles as its initial launch sites to demonstrate its flying taxi capabilities for a pilot scheme in 2020. It will choose a third, international city from the shortlist to join the US cities.
The service would form a part of Uber’s Elevate programme launched in 2016, which aims to create “urban aerial ride-sharing” globally.
The aircraft designed for uberair will be electric, requiring host cities to be committed to investing in infrastructure that supports electric vehicles. It will also make use of vertical take-off and landing to make short flights in busy urban areas easier.
The company has specified that ideal cities for an uberair network have a large local airport and are “polycentric, with multiple dense nodes of development in an urban area, and face significant traffic congestion”. Uber says these conditions mean its aerial service will bring about “time saving benefits at speeds of 150200mph” to users.
The push for aerial transportation comes at a time when Uber is looking beyond its car services.
Earlier this week, Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, announced a longer-term strategy from the ride-hailing company to focus on electric scooters and bicycles. He said the company would seek ways to improve inner-city travel and forecasts individual modes of transport becoming more popular in the future.
According to Jeff Holden, Uber’s head of product, it has signed a Space Act Agreement with Nasa to work on the development of an air traffic control system that would manage Uber’s taxi aircraft.
Uber also said that it will continue to explore the possibilities of delivery drones for its online food delivery platform Uber Eats.