Flying taxis to be trialled in Bristol in two years

[whole diary]

[stuving]

No one has mentioned the really difficult part - just how will this aerial traffic be controlled ?

Well, if you go back to the OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter), it was about a research study led by Atkins. What Atkins say they actually intend to do is examine exactly the question you raise. The rest comes from Vertical  Aerospace and overexcited reporting.

[Clan Line]

Agree with your point about overexcited reporting.

All Atkins have said is a wooly statement about carrying out an "assessment" - which is fine for them, that's their bread and butter. If someone offered you £2.5M to state the "bleeding obvious" in two years time, would you turn it down?  You cannot "hail" a passing flying taxi and say you want to go to wherever. Clearance has to obtained to fly from A to B, what is (apparently) proposed would almost certainly have to operate under VFR, so operational hours would be very limited. Anything other than VFR would require considerable Air Traffic Control input - not available at the drop of a hat (or the drop of a "for hire" sign !) and at a cost. It would be no quicker that hiring a helicopter today - and have you seen how much that costs......? David Beckham might be able afford it - I can't.

I am afraid this whole thing is just a total waste of good money.

I'll see you back on this thread in 2023 - or at Lulsgate and we'll see how many airborne taxis are in the sky that day    Actually, we'll be lucky if we see Easyjet or Ryanair the way things are going 

[broadgage]

I suspect that we WILL one day see flying taxis, possibly even automatic ones.
I therefore see no harm in the private sector investing money in trials, tests, research, and experiments.
It is not in my view a proper purpose on which to spend public money. When eventually achieved it sounds likely to be expensive, and only available to a minority. Therefore should not be publicly funded.

[MVR S&T]

Well an american airline thinks its a good idea.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56020650

United Airlines plans to buy 200 flying electric taxis that it hopes will fly passengers to the airport within the next five years.

The US airline is one of the first major carriers to commit to the purchase of flying taxis.

United Airlines will also invest in flying taxi firm Archer as part of a $1.1bn (£800m) deal to develop the aircraft.

The aircraft need regulatory approval before the purchase can go ahead.

[TonyK]

I thought the helicopter had already been invented?

It has. I tried flying one. It was harder than I expected, and I had expected it to be hard. It remains entirely possible  to build something on the lines of the multi-rotor drone, adding stability, and having it largely controlled by AI using the new 5G network, it just won't be cheap. Or very sensible for general public transport.

I am confused though. It's a WRECA baby, so obviously isn't linked to Marvin Rees wanting another term as Mayor. It can't be the ineffective Mr Bowles, because he has decided officially that things will go better without him, and isn't standing for re-election as the supreme spiritual leader of WRECA. It isn't August, the traditional month for innovative or whacky transport solutions to hit the papers, like the cable cars, pods or monorails. Add to that the company involved - is this the same Atkins that recommended closure of the Severn Beach line and conversion to a guided busway? Working with it, and providing much-needed income during a pandemic, is WRECA, the successor of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership's Joint Transport Committee that took the plans for a network of electrically powered trams capable of carrying 400 passengers at a time, and ended up with a couple of new roads and some new bus lanes.

The real clue lies in what MVR S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) has cleverly spotted - United Airlines' idea for getting passengers from a distant city centre to the airport. This is where a cheap helicopter service will really come into its own. A few helipads dotted around the city and a half-dozen vehicles should suffice, whisking business passengers and rock stars the few miles to their private planes. It could also be used by any future mayor heading for, as an example, Kuala Lumpur. The distance is short and there is already air traffic control in place. It is clever, but of course it would be met with outrage by the green lobby. It therefore makes sense to disguise it as a public transport project. It has been done successfully before - has anyone else spotted that far more buses on the Long Ashton to Somewhere Near Temple Meads segregated MetroBust route go to the airport in normal times than to the park and ride?

[sprinterguard]

I reckon the flying taxis will be flying just before the Bristol Subway and Tram open.

(Maybe the Portishead line will have opened the month before too)

[grahame]

... it just won't be cheap. Or very sensible for general public transport.

Maybe the Portishead line will have opened the month before too

So it might appear that it will not put mass transit schemes such as passenger trains to Portishead at risk as it could not cope with the volumes - hopefully no delay to such schemes while an official study is done to confirm that.