Fantastic article! I was deeply surprised that the Jetsons are becoming commonplace (in the development sphere). But, I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the incredible technological breakthroughs of the last five years. Time to save up!
I was surprised, too! I saw two notes yesterday- LinkedIn and Substack-regarding flying cars and it piqued my curiosity. “Wait— is that really a thing now?” So, I pushed back the research paper I was going to write about and spent the day researching flying cars. I was most surprised to discover some of the companies, like Alef Aeronautics, are a year away from the planned launch of their first model, (the Model A.) While the price point is out of the reach of most, (likely 300K), these costs will come down quickly with mass production. I had to learn new terms for this article, too, such as “vertiport.”
This video from Discover Aviation, although not widely viewed, does a good job of explaining the challenges of vertiports. Admittedly, there is a moment at 2:25 that is chilling without meaning to be. It talks about Los Angeles, the Olympics and “air traffic control challenges.” I suddenly had visions of mid-air collisions and it gave me a flashback of a helicopter getting into the flight path of a passenger airline. When vertiports are set up at airports, it is a whole new level of additional traffic complexity added into the mix. Low altitude is all very well and good, but there is a certain altitude at which planes and flying cars will still cross over. The need for AI in navigation becomes more critical than ever.
I came across the Joby deal with Dubai after we messaged earlier and I was trying to work out where i'd heard talk about flying cars in the last few months. They're going with the vertiport to vertiport solution.
Which is a good idea but, as you explored in the video, i'm also struggling to see the point above and beyond the "it's cool" factor. This hub and spoke model has long been possible using trains (above and below ground), and it's a great idea for helping congestion - the idea that you have spokes out to large stations in the suburbs that are serviced by busses, trams, and/or large amounts of parking. These satellites then allow fairly rapid commuting into the city.
Yet with a few fairly notable exceptions, we don't seem to have spent the political and financial capital to build that sort of infrastructure. Worse, in a lot of places where we previously had that infrastructure (since a lot was built in the late 1800's), we've allowed it to go to ruin in preference for cars.
Something appears to be blocking the sensible solution, I wonder what it is.
You're right that there's definitely a stigma there. I've never set foot on the North American continent, but even as far away as I am I know several things that are common knowledge (or rather, common belief/stereotype) - New York has an exceptional public transit system in the subways, it's used by millions of people every day, and it's a dangerous and terrifying experience to use it.
I've got no idea if any of that is true, like I said i've never been there, but that's definitely the story that has been painted for the world. I wonder if that stigma has extended itself worldwide to subway systems, not just the big Apple? (Or perhaps just being underground is scary...)
Hi Nicholas- I included a link above to Stuart talking about vertiports, and they mention Dubai and China as investing heavily in this infrastructure. China is the furthest ahead in vertiports.
For someone who hasn’t been to the United States, you describe the challenges and stigma very well. In my first job out of college, I worked in New York City. I did take the subway when it was too cold to walk, but it was not my first choice of transport. I haven’t lived there in years, but I can’t imagine it has changed much. The train system was better and was used by everyone without stigma. “Metro north” runs up along the Hudson River and is the best way to get into the city so you don’t have to worry about traffic or parking. The conductors are friendly and the trains run on-time and often.
I was surprised when I moved to California that the train system was not embraced to the same extent. The reaction of my CEO (as described in the video) surprised me. Why wouldn’t we encourage mass transit when our company literally sat next to the train tracks? (Fun fact, the company I worked for shared the campus with a little gaming startup known as “NVIDIA.”)
My son’s university in Santa Clara sits next to the train tracks, yet he’d never ridden CalTrain. This is either a failure in parenting on my part, or a reflection on our car-centric culture. But, last month, we were both in San Francisco checking out a robotics conference and he had to head back to the university early. (He teaches undergrad classes and was called in.) The only option that would get him there on time was the train. So, we took a Waymo to the train station, ran for the tracks and made it with just minutes to spare. The friendly conductors talked him through the process of quickly purchasing the credit card-like ticket and he made it to the university with time to spare. He sit on the second floor of the train, with a table to himself, and graded papers while watching the rolling hills go by. He loved it.
I suppose maybe mass transit in this country has a PR problem.
Fantastic article! I was deeply surprised that the Jetsons are becoming commonplace (in the development sphere). But, I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the incredible technological breakthroughs of the last five years. Time to save up!
I was surprised, too! I saw two notes yesterday- LinkedIn and Substack-regarding flying cars and it piqued my curiosity. “Wait— is that really a thing now?” So, I pushed back the research paper I was going to write about and spent the day researching flying cars. I was most surprised to discover some of the companies, like Alef Aeronautics, are a year away from the planned launch of their first model, (the Model A.) While the price point is out of the reach of most, (likely 300K), these costs will come down quickly with mass production. I had to learn new terms for this article, too, such as “vertiport.”
This video from Discover Aviation, although not widely viewed, does a good job of explaining the challenges of vertiports. Admittedly, there is a moment at 2:25 that is chilling without meaning to be. It talks about Los Angeles, the Olympics and “air traffic control challenges.” I suddenly had visions of mid-air collisions and it gave me a flashback of a helicopter getting into the flight path of a passenger airline. When vertiports are set up at airports, it is a whole new level of additional traffic complexity added into the mix. Low altitude is all very well and good, but there is a certain altitude at which planes and flying cars will still cross over. The need for AI in navigation becomes more critical than ever.
https://youtu.be/MsWNa0xerkw?si=VjUmtWgoP8GN9cuR
I came across the Joby deal with Dubai after we messaged earlier and I was trying to work out where i'd heard talk about flying cars in the last few months. They're going with the vertiport to vertiport solution.
Which is a good idea but, as you explored in the video, i'm also struggling to see the point above and beyond the "it's cool" factor. This hub and spoke model has long been possible using trains (above and below ground), and it's a great idea for helping congestion - the idea that you have spokes out to large stations in the suburbs that are serviced by busses, trams, and/or large amounts of parking. These satellites then allow fairly rapid commuting into the city.
Yet with a few fairly notable exceptions, we don't seem to have spent the political and financial capital to build that sort of infrastructure. Worse, in a lot of places where we previously had that infrastructure (since a lot was built in the late 1800's), we've allowed it to go to ruin in preference for cars.
Something appears to be blocking the sensible solution, I wonder what it is.
You're right that there's definitely a stigma there. I've never set foot on the North American continent, but even as far away as I am I know several things that are common knowledge (or rather, common belief/stereotype) - New York has an exceptional public transit system in the subways, it's used by millions of people every day, and it's a dangerous and terrifying experience to use it.
I've got no idea if any of that is true, like I said i've never been there, but that's definitely the story that has been painted for the world. I wonder if that stigma has extended itself worldwide to subway systems, not just the big Apple? (Or perhaps just being underground is scary...)
Hi Nicholas- I included a link above to Stuart talking about vertiports, and they mention Dubai and China as investing heavily in this infrastructure. China is the furthest ahead in vertiports.
For someone who hasn’t been to the United States, you describe the challenges and stigma very well. In my first job out of college, I worked in New York City. I did take the subway when it was too cold to walk, but it was not my first choice of transport. I haven’t lived there in years, but I can’t imagine it has changed much. The train system was better and was used by everyone without stigma. “Metro north” runs up along the Hudson River and is the best way to get into the city so you don’t have to worry about traffic or parking. The conductors are friendly and the trains run on-time and often.
I was surprised when I moved to California that the train system was not embraced to the same extent. The reaction of my CEO (as described in the video) surprised me. Why wouldn’t we encourage mass transit when our company literally sat next to the train tracks? (Fun fact, the company I worked for shared the campus with a little gaming startup known as “NVIDIA.”)
My son’s university in Santa Clara sits next to the train tracks, yet he’d never ridden CalTrain. This is either a failure in parenting on my part, or a reflection on our car-centric culture. But, last month, we were both in San Francisco checking out a robotics conference and he had to head back to the university early. (He teaches undergrad classes and was called in.) The only option that would get him there on time was the train. So, we took a Waymo to the train station, ran for the tracks and made it with just minutes to spare. The friendly conductors talked him through the process of quickly purchasing the credit card-like ticket and he made it to the university with time to spare. He sit on the second floor of the train, with a table to himself, and graded papers while watching the rolling hills go by. He loved it.
I suppose maybe mass transit in this country has a PR problem.