Europe is working on future flying tolls to make demonstrations in cities from 2019 onwards. In fact, the flying taxi drivers are in the process of development. Urban transport is changing and the advent of applications and systems for the demand and use of vehicles has led to a revolution in the taxi sector. Air-mobility solutions already working in companies and public-private partnerships can involve a paradigm shift in understanding urban mobility.
Ingolstadt could be the first European city to fly this type of electric and autonomous vehicle. Located in the state of Bavaria (Germany), a few months ago, their orders decided to be a pioneer Urban Air Mobility (UAM) initiative. In this initiative, the European Association for the Smart Cities and Community Innovation (EIP-SCC) has been promoted, with the support of the European Commission.
This initiative aims to add companies, cities and civil society to the development of "mobility in the third dimension". It is proposed to share ideas, combine intelligent cities and define a roadmap about urban mobility, focusing on the air dimension. The initiative is carried out by the Airbus multinational and its members include the European Air Safety Agency (EASA, English acronyms) and the European Air Navigation Safety Agency (Eurocontrol).
"It is a perfect pilot for air taxi projects for travelers, the sick or the body, and it increases our profile as a pioneering city as a digitalized and autonomous mobility." This led to the inclusion of the mayor of Inglostadt in the UAM initiative, Christian Lösel, in June, when he signed an agreement with Airbus, through which he will be conducting test taxi operations.
The challenge is to carry out the results of the pilot in 2019 in different cities and regions and formulate a UAM implementation strategy, as well as a roadmap.
The purpose of Airbus
This is not the only Airbus project in the field of flying vehicles to solve the problems of urban mobility. The company, at the end of this year, is preparing the first flight of CityAirbus, a new electric vehicle capable of launching and landing, designed as a passenger car air transport vehicle.
It can transport four passengers and, at the end of 2017, it has already passed a first phase of the test. Airbus is aiming for this air vehicle to fly over city travelers in 2023.
On the other hand, with Audire, it is already testing its helicopter platform under the demand of the city of São Paulo and Mexico City, called Voom, for helicopter trips designed and accessible for urban transport.
"Automobile connectors, electric and freelancers will make urban mobility more comfortable and cleaner," said Bram Schot, member of Audiko President, with the European initiative Urban Air Mobility (UAM), "will save space, which means that they live in the city people will have a better quality of life. Here is where third-dimensional mobility will make a valuable contribution in the future. "