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I think the real constraint/application Will be in places that don’t actually have good straight line infrastructure from point A to point B (say the airport). In suburbs, I think the rise of self driving cars that can coordinate with all of the traffic on the road, thus allowing for average trip speeds to increase to 40 mph +, will be more realistic and efficient using our current infrastructure. But in places like Manhattan, Washington DC or San Francisco Bay area, where pieces of water prevent straight lines driving, air travel makes sense.Originally Posted by Broccoli Rob
I'm just wondering how they're going to ensure that someone landing in a neighborhood isn't going to land on a car or a person. Air taxis are probably an eventual reality, but I'm curious to see if they could really get this thing approved by the FAA in the next three years. You're talking about a whole new set of regulations and safety rules. Unless they put something like a heliport in the middle of a neighborhood, kind of like a park n ride lot where everyone could drive to it. I guess that'd still be better than driving to the airport. It'll be interesting to see how they pull it off of it ever gets that far.
So, to your point, these more specialized/restricted areas will probably have dedicated VTOL ports, but I would doubt this will pop up in every little suburb.