Area Planners Readying for Advanced Air Mobility

By Lisa Neff
The Florida Department of Transportation is working on a plan to integrate advanced air mobility, which could possibly put urban air taxis at local airports by 2027 and simplify air cargo operations.

Completing an implementation plan for the DOT involves educating and training local officials on the technology, from the basics of AAM to the possibilities.
Education is taking place this month, during a series of meetings for the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, while training will take place this summer.

The MPO guides regional planning and decision-making for transportation. It’s governed by a board that’s advised by a staff and expert committees, including the technical advisory committee, which met May 12 in Sarasota and received a lesson on advanced air mobility.

AAM is defined by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as “an air transportation system that moves people and cargo between places previously not served or underserved by aviation — local, regional, intraregional, urban — using revolutionary new aircraft that are only just now becoming possible.”
The DOT’s focus is on “electric vertical take-off and landing” — eVTOL — aircraft and their support systems to move commercial passengers.
Think of them as air taxis.But don’t think of them as drones.
An eVTOL, according to Michelle Peronto, transit programs administrator for the DOT’s District One, is an aircraft capable of a vertical take-off and landing, powered by electric motors and operating at low speeds, with a pilot onboard.
The expectation is that such aircraft will cruise between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, carrying passengers or cargo, or providing public safety services.
Drones lack onboard pilots and mostly fly at 400 feet or less. They’re smaller than eVTOLs and are used for surveillance or delivery.
“Florida is recognized as the leader in AAM,” Peronto told the technical advisory committee. “That’s kind of a big deal right now.”
She said initially eVTOLs will use existing heliports and airports for operations but a goal of informing local officials on AAM is to introduce them to possibilities in their communities.

The DOT’s District 1 will hold two trainings on AAM for local government officials this summer — July 8 in Bartow and July 10 in Fort Myers.
The training program includes an introduction to AAM and discussions on long-range planning and the site approval process for “vertiports.”
The earliest operations in Florida could be in 2027.

An example of a possible advanced air mobility network in Florida. Courtesy Image