The Federal Aviation Administration is releasing new guidelines for transport hubs designed to support new "air taxis" as they become available.
According to Axios, electric, autonomous air taxis may soon be taking to the skies, but they'll need a place to take off, land and recharge. Vertiports, which will serve as transportation hubs for these new taxis, will become critical parts of urban or regional mobility ecosystems, linking fast and convenient air travel to other forms of transit, like airports, buses, trains and ride-hailing networks.
"Major innovation and change is ahead in aviation, and we are working to make sure these technologies develop safely and for the benefit of all Americans," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
The FAA recently released new design guidelines to ensure these transportation hubs are safe, well-lit and well-marked and that they can provide sufficient charging capacity for the new electronic transports, Axios reported. The low-altitude aircraft have yet to be certified by the FAA, but the agency's vertiport design guidelines will help develop the infrastructure necessary to support these air taxis when they become available.
"Our country is stepping into a new era of aviation. These vertiport design standards provide the foundation needed to begin safely building infrastructure in this new era," FAA Associate Administrator of Airports Shannetta Griffin said, according to Axios.
The manufacturers of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) are laying out plans to begin operations, some as soon as 2024, Axios reported.
