Are We Getting Close To Flying Taxis? (knpr.org)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from public news station KNPR about how close weare flying taxi services: The dream of flying cars is as at least as old as the automobile itself. Bell, which makes attack helicopters for the U.S. Navy, is working on this new project with another high-profile partner, Uber. The prototype, the Bell Nexus, was unveiled earlier this year. Boeing and Airbus also have prototypes of these flying cars in the works. Uber has become the face of the aerial mobility movement as it has the most public campaign touting its work so far. Elon Musk says he'll get us to Mars. Uber says it'll get a millennial from San Francisco to San Jose in 15 minutes flat (instead of the two-hour slog in morning traffic). And its timeline for this flying taxi that does not yet exist is 2023...

NASA is another Uber partner. While Jaiwon Shin, NASA's associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, thinks Uber is being a little bullish -- he'd put the timeline further out, to the mid-2020s -- Shin says it's close. "Convergence of many different technologies are maturing to the level that now aviation can benefit to put these things together," he said. The batteries that power electric cars can evolve further, to power flight. Companies can stockpile and pool data, and build artificial intelligence to take over air traffic control, managing the thousands of drones and taxis in the air.

And Uber, his partner, is really well-connected. While fighting the legacy taxi industry, Uber made so many government and lobbyist contacts, that that Rolodex can help grease the wheels -- or wings.
"While no flying taxi exists yet, Uber has dared to estimate the 'near-term' cost of that San Francisco to San Jose trip: $43," the article reports -- suggesting that could create a new division in society.

"With flying cars, the haves can escape to the air and leave the have-nots forgotten in their potholes."

Comments

We're probably 5 years away from flying taxis

[mykepredko]

And, if you ask me again in 2024, I'll say that we're probably 5 years away.

The technical issues are being chipped away but there are power and autonomy (traffic control) issues that will require decades of work before we will have practical flying taxis.

Re:We're probably 5 years away from flying taxis

[NewtonsLaw]

Yep, but flying taxis powered by nuclear fusion will be 10 years away of course.

The reality is that we already have flying taxis -- they're called *helicopters* but the economics simply don't stack up.

An electric-powered flying taxi (of the type commonly popping up as "real soon now") is woefully lacking in economics -- even worse than a helicopter. In order for a vehicle like this to be operated at a profit it must spend a very high percentiage of the day "in operation". The problem with EVs (of all kinds) is that they have significant down-time whilst being recharged.

A gas-powered heli can be refueled in minutes so can operate at its normal hourly recovery-rate for most of the day. An electric flying taxi will spend as much (or more) time on the ground being recharged as it does actually flying -- hence the economics (by way of the return on capital) will be unworkable.

Please no.

[kurkosdr]

Oh god please no. Since the only way we humans can make things fly is either by blasting air downwards (think Harrier jet) or by making something that looks like a helicopter or an airplane, any flying taxi (big enough to fit a human) would mean unacceptable levels of noise pollution in cities and even in suburbs. Imagine having a helicopter landing several feet from your window while trying to sleep.

Cost and benefits

[JaredOfEuropa]

We're mostly still strapping scaled up drone engines to pods... on the drawing board These things will fly, there's no doubt about that. The real question: how do these things compare to the next best thing, helicopters? Are they quieter? Cheaper to operate? Safer? Faster? There's a few interesting designs like the Bell one that appear to be able to transition from vertical lift produced by the fans to horizontal flight supported by lifting surfaces. But if they do not perform significantly better or run cheaper than helicopters, there's not much reason to believe they'll transform transportation any more than helicopters already have.

Uber says it'll get a millennial from San Francisco to San Jose in 15 minutes flat

That's great. Who's the lucky millennial?

20 years+ if ever

[sdinfoserv]

The article has many intertwined ideas that need to be separated. First, Military air taxis- The military can do what ever it wants if it's willing to take the risk. What the military does has little to no bearing on commercial carriers are allowed to do. The military doesn't work on a cost justification or profit basis
Second - There is a big difference between whats technically possible, vs whats commercially viable.
We're "close" , if not there to this being technically possible. However, for an aircraft - including electric quad type copters - to move beyond private user "experimental" designation to commercial is a huge, long, really REALLY expensive process. Remember "Uber for air planes" got slapped down hard years ago by the FAA. A private pilot is NOT a commercial pilot. This will be no different.
Given all the air checks, balances, engineers, certification of parts, rebuilds required after X hours of air time, the notion of a $43 cost per ride is nonsense.
Factor in Just 1 pigeon causing a crash over a city resulting in ground fatalities will kill the idea permanently, and might financially bankrupt what ever company is pushing this. And Cities will ban flights instantly.
Bottom line.. this is fantasy.