06/18/2018

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No, It’s an Uber Flying Car!

Source: Fleet Management Weekly

Dependent upon FAA approval, Uber proposes a service that will depart from drone ports set atop tall buildings, flying customers across cities, starting in Los Angeles and Dallas Fort-Worth by the end of 2023.

Using batteries, motors, and multiple small propellers for lift, Uber wants to build a network of new vehicles with vertical takeoff and landing that should be quieter, cheaper, and easier to fly than helicopters.

“The pace of technological advancement in this industry is faster than anything we’ve had to deal with,”  said the acting administrator of the FAA, Dan Elwell. “When you put passengers on autonomous vehicles, as opposed to delivering a package, you introduce a much, much higher bar you need to get over.” To get past that, Uber is proposing having on-board pilots at first, before eventually making them autonomous (hopefully).

Read the article at Wired.