when the idea came Electric air taxi When this technology emerged, Los Angeles was in a race to be one of the first cities to use this technology to help people avoid its notorious bumper-to-bumper traffic. Some city transportation officials hoped to have flying vehicles operational by the 2028 Olympics.
But as air taxi companies are moving towards starting it in other cities as well, As in cities like Chicago, L.A.’s ambitions to open skyways throughout the city have cooled.
Urban Movement Labs, a nonprofit started by former Mayor Eric Garcetti to focus on transit technology. made a primer There will be discussions on how air transport can be integrated into cities in 2022, including taxi services. But after the merger Los Angeles Cleantech IncubatorIt is no longer prioritizing technology, board member Francis Pollara said.
“We were very much involved in supporting the coalition of Archer and other air taxi services,” Pollaro said of UML’s involvement. “That work will not be continued as part of the merger.”
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the Office of City Planning and the Mayor’s Office were part of the initial Advanced Air Mobility partnership with UML to think about how the technology could be integrated into the city. But none of the agencies responded to questions about when Angelenos can expect to see air taxi services here.
“As with any new technology, the City is working with industry and our departments, and our priority is to keep Angelenos safe,” said Press Secretary Clara Karger.
The Air Taxi Booster aims to make flying faster over L.A.’s traffic-clogged streets a breeze: What would normally be a 60- to 90-minute car trip from one so-called vertiport to another could take about 10 to 20 minutes from a drone-like vehicle.
To launch in Los Angeles, an air taxi service needs approval from multiple jurisdictions, including the Federal Aviation Administration, which largely oversees airspace, operations and aircraft, and local and state agencies that set their own rules when it comes to regulation and infrastructure, including permits and design plans for take-off and landing zones. While the FAA continues to give the green light for air taxi operations, there has been less movement at the local and state levels.
Clint Harper, a community advocate in the advanced air mobility industry, said licensing requirements in California are “stringent” compared to other states and any air taxi service “may have to be subject to more rigorous state oversight” before it can begin operations.
FAA approves Santa Clara-based electric Air Taxi Company Archer Earlier this month, the company agreed to operate its planes commercially, likely followed by its official public launch in Newark or Chicago, which the company said could happen as early as 2025.
“This achievement demonstrates our team’s unwavering dedication to safety and operational excellence as we launch one of the world’s first electric air taxi services, providing a safe, sustainable and low-noise transportation solution to communities across the U.S.,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer Founder and CEO.
The pilot-operated four-passenger aircraft will make fast trips with minimal charging times. Archer said it has confirmed two planned routes with United Airlines: Chicago O’Hare International Airport to a destination in Chicago that has yet to be determined, and Newark Liberty International Airport to Manhattan once its service, Midnight, is in use. The company has also identified five vertiport locations for service in the Bay Area, which it hopes to launch by 2025. But that goal is dependent on a number of factors, including local and state regulations and infrastructure capacity.
The company recently signed a deal with a private aviation terminal company to power more than 200 take-off and landing sites across the country. The company hopes to launch Archer in Los Angeles “as soon as possible” and is working with “infrastructure partners,” but did not give a timeline.
The FAA previously approved the Santa Cruz-based company Joby Aviation for test operations. The company, which hopes to launch in 2025 and has created a pilot training curriculum, has agreed to partner with private jet and aircraft company Clay Lacy Aviation to develop an electric air taxi charger that the company will roll out for its pilot training curriculum. The FAA had already identified Air taxi service at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport as a requirement for plans. The company said it has no timeline for an Orange County launch but is discussing plans with area officials and partners, including John Wayne.
The FAA recently authorized the company to develop in-house software that will include a consumer-friendly rider app. It currently has no timeline for a Los Angeles launch, but said it recently submitted a proposal to LAX “with a plan to support initial air taxi operations with minimal impact to existing airport infrastructure and operations.”
The city’s transportation department said it is working with mobility groups to plan for new transportation technology and previously warned that it could take years to evaluate and resolve challenges related to new air technology services. Transportation experts have said equity, accessibility, emissions and noise also remain major concerns to address.
“Nobody likes the idea of rich people flying over their heads, and spewing their noise and emissions at them when they’re stuck in traffic,” said Harper, who helped write the UML primer.
Harper said there are opportunities, such as emergency use operations, that could allow the technology to serve a broader public. But that process will take time.
In Paris, Verocopter will test its air taxi service during the Olympics, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete recently told Le Parisien. This test, which will not be for public use, will surely be studied closely.
