Urban Air Mobility: History, Ecosystem, Market Potential, and Challenges

Authors: Adam Cohen, Susan Shaheen, PhD, and Emily Farrar Date: 2021 Abstract: Since the early 20th century, inventors have conceptualized “plane cars” and other urban aerial transportation. Emerging innovations in electrification, automation, and other technologies are enabling new opportunities for on-demand air mobility, business models, and aircraft design. Urban air mobility (UAM) envisions a safe, sustainable, affordable, and accessible air transportation system for passenger mobility, goods delivery, and emergency services within or traversing metropolitan areas. This research employed a multi-method approach comprised of 106 interviews with thought leaders and two stakeholder workshops to construct the history, ecosystem, state of the industry, and potential evolution of UAM. The history, current developments, and anticipated milestones of UAM can be classified into six phases: 1) “flying car” concepts from the early 1910s to 1950s, 2) early UAM operations using scheduled helicopter services from the 1950s to 1980s, 3) re-emergence of on-demand services starting in the 2010s, 4) corridor services using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) envisioned for the 2020s, 5) hub and spoke services, and 6) point-to-point services. In the future, UAM could face several barriers to growth and mainstreaming, such as the existing regulatory environment; community acceptance; and concerns about safety, noise, social equity, and environmental impacts. UAM also could be limited by infrastructure and airspace management needs, as well as business model constraints. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on sustainability, social and economic impacts, airspace integration, and other topics. View...

An Initial Assessment of the Potential Weather Barriers of Urban Air Mobility (UAM)

Authors: Colleen Reiche, PhD, Frank Brody, Christian McGillen, Joel Siegel, and Adam Cohen Date: November 2018 Abstract:  Weather constraints represent a critical and complex component of characterizing the UAM market. Weather can influence many components of UAM, including operations, service supply, passenger comfort, community acceptance, infrastructure, and traffic management. In this study, our goal was to provide an initial assessment of underlying historical weather conditions, or a climatology, which could impact UAM, with a focus on operations. No assumptions were made regarding vehicles or technology, so results could be made more precise by examining specific use cases in the future....

A Legal and Regulatory Assessment for the Potential of Urban Air Mobility (UAM)

Authors: Jacqueline Serrao, Sarah Nilsson, and Shawn Kimmel Date: November 2018 Abstract:  This assessment identifies the legal and regulatory requirements (existing and anticipated) that must be met for three focus UAM markets – Air Taxi, Ambulance, and Airport Shuttle. This assessment also captures variations in requirements observed at the state and local level, international developments, certification issues, and existing opportunities to address legal barriers and gaps....

Urban Air Mobility Market Study

Authors: Colleeen Reiche, PhD, Rohit Goyal, Adam Cohen, Jacqueline Serrao, Shawn Kimmel, PhD, Chris Fernando, Susan Shaheen, PhD Date: November 2018 Abstract:  The Booz Allen Team explored market size and potential barriers to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) by focusing on three potential markets – Airport Shuttle, Air Taxi, and Air Ambulance. We found that the Airport Shuttle and Air Taxi markets are viable, with a significant total available market value in the U.S. of $500 billion, for a fully unconstrained scenario. In this unconstrained best-case scenario, passengers would have the ability to access and fly a UAM at any time, from any location to any destination, without being hindered by constraints such as weather, infrastructure, or traffic volume. Significant legal and regulatory, weather, certification, public perception, and infrastructure constraints exist, which reduce the market potential for these applications to only about 0.5% of the total available market, or $2.5 billion, in the near term. However, we determined that these constraints can be addressed through ongoing intra-governmental partnerships, government and industry collaboration, strong industry commitment, and existing legal and regulatory enablers. We found that the Air Ambulance market is not a viable market if served by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles due to technology constraints but may potentially be viable if a hybrid VTOL aircraft are utilized....

The Potential Societal Barriers of Urban Air Mobility (UAM)

Authors: Susan Shaheen, PhD, Adam Cohen, and Emily Farrar Date: November 2018 Abstract:  Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is an emerging concept ofair transportation where small package delivery drones to passenger-carrying air taxis operate over populated areas, from small towns to the largest cities are being considered. This could revolutionize the way people move within and around cities by shortening commute times, bypassing ground congestion, and enabling point-to-point flights across cities. In recent years, several companies have designed and tested enabling elements of this concept, including; prototypes of Vertical Take-Off Landing (VTOL) capable vehicles, operational concepts,and potential business models. While UAM may be enabled by the convergence of several factors, several challenges could prevent its mainstreaming, such as societal acceptance. For this study, the researchers conducted three key steps to study the potential societal adoption of UAM. First, we conducted a literature review on existing studies that examine trust in automation, perceptions of UAM and other related technologies, and feelings toward the composition and characteristics of flight crews (e.g., gender perceptions, etc.). We then conducted two focus groups to collect qualitative responses and help inform the development of a general population survey regarding UAM across five U.S. cities. Two focus groups were completed in June 2018 in Washington,D.C. and Los Angeles. The participants of the focus groups were engaged on topics such as: familiarity with UAM; their thoughts and impressions of UAM; and views regarding ownership, automation, and safety. In August 2018, we completed an exploratory general population survey consisting of approximately 1,700 respondents in Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. (approximately 350 respondents per city). The survey expanded on the topics covered in the focus groups and included additional questions about willingness-to-fly, weather, and noise concerns. This report summarizes the literature review, focus group, and survey findings....