Uber Technologies Inc advanced its vision of a network of flying cars by signing an agreement with Nasa on how to safely manage the futuristic systems.
Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning
Uber, Nasa join forces on flying car project
Bloomberg News
Toronto: Uber Technologies Inc advanced its vision of a network of flying cars by signing an agreement with Nasa on how to safely manage the futuristic systems.
The ride-sharing startup has said it plans to roll out an on-demand vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) network in Dallas and Dubai by 2020, and on Wednesday added Los Angeles to the list.
But many regulatory hurdles will need to be cleared before that can happen, including approval by the Federal Aviation Administration, which will have to figure out how flying cars can get along with airplanes, helicopters and drones in the sky.
On Tuesday, Uber took a step toward resolving that by signing an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop new traffic concepts that will enable safe and efficient operations of robotic flight systems, the company said.
Uber is also working with aircraft, infrastructure and real estate partners to operate fixed routes between city hubs called "Skyports."
The San Francisco-based company's vision for the network, dubbed "uberAir," would let customers push a button and get high-speed flight in and around cities, the company said at a web summit in Lisbon.
"This collaboration makes a tonne of sense in order to bring this to market as fast as possible," Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
"With uberAir, there will be an unprecedented number of flying aircrafts in cities,'' he said, and "Nasa's expertise lies in unmanned aerial systems traffic management that can help come up with answers to controlling air traffic.''
