Federal award (DELIVERY ORDER, fiscal year 2023)
Recipient: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE ASSOCIATES
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2018-09-17 to 2019-09-30
Current total value of award: $118415.65
Description: IMPACT OF AUTONOMOUS GROUND VEHICLES ON URBAN AIR MOBILITY OPERATIONS. OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS THE CONCEPT OF UTILIZING ADVANCED, SMALL AIRCRAFT FOR ON-DEMAND TRANSPORTATION AROUND METROPOLITAN AREAS HAS BEEN GROWING IN POPULARITY. SUCH NOVEL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR BOTH PEOPLE AND GOODS HAS BECOME KNOWN AS URBAN AIR MOBILITY (UAM). ADVANCES IN ELECTRIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS, AUTOMATION/AUTONOMY, MANUFACTURING, AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES MAY CONVERGE TO PROVIDE NOVEL AIRCRAFT CONFIGURATIONS THAT ARE AFFORDABLE, SAFE, AND QUIET ENOUGH TO OPERATE AS A PRACTICAL MEANS OF DAILY TRANSPORTATION. IN 2016, THE RIDE HAILING COMPANY UBER RELEASED A WHITE PAPER DESCRIBING ITS PLANS TO BEGIN OFFERING AN URBAN AIR MOBILITY (UAM) SERVICE WITH THE NOVEL ELECTRIC VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING (I.E., EVTOL) AIRCRAFT, AND SEVERAL MANUFACTURERS HAVE SINCE MADE PUBLIC THEIR PLANS OF DEVELOPING EVTOL AIRCRAFT TO OPERATE WITHIN SUCH A SYSTEM.  THE UAM CONCEPT SHARES SOME SIMILARITIES WITH EXISTING PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEMS. SPECIFICALLY, MOST UAM CONCEPTS RELY ON PASSENGERS TO CHANGE MODES TO COMPLETE A SINGLE TRIP I.E., A TRAVELER WILL TAKE A GROUND VEHICLE OR WALK TO A TAKEOFF LOCATION, EXIT THE GROUND VEHICLE (IF REQUIRED), TRANSFER INTO AN AIR VEHICLE, THEN TRANSFER AGAIN AFTER A FLIGHT TO A GROUND-BASED TRANSPORTATION MODE. SUCH MULTI-MODE TRIPS ARE COMMON TODAY WITH TRANSIT SYSTEMS WITH THE AIR PORTION OF THE TRIP BEING REPLACED BY A GROUND-BASED MODE (OR MODES) USING BUSES AND/OR TRAINS. THEREFORE, THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE TRANSIT WORLD MAY BE DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO UAM OPERATIONS, AND COULD HELP INCREASE PUBLIC ADOPTION OF UAM TRANSPORTATION. FOR EXAMPLE, TRANSIT RIDERS MAY PREFER TO HAVE SERVICES, SUCH AS THE DRY CLEANERS, CO-LOCATED WITH A TRANSIT STATION SO THAT THEY DO NOT NEED TO MAKE AN EXTRA TRIP. SUCH PREVIOUSLY EVIDENCED BEHAVIOR MAY IMPLY THAT UAM OPERATIONS SHOULD CONSIDER CO-LOCATING THESE SERVICES AT THE AIR VEHICLE TAKEOFF AND LANDING LOCATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME AS THE UAM CONCEPT IS GROWING IN POPULARITY, THERE ARE RAPID DEVELOPMENTS IN AUTOMATING GROUND VEHICLES. COMPANIES SUCH AS WAYMO (AND MANY OTHERS) ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP SELF-DRIVING OR AUTONOMOUS CARS THAT MAY ONE DAY BE CAPABLE OF SAFELY AND CONSISTENTLY TRANSPORTING PEOPLE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR HUMAN DRIVERS. THERE ARE MULTIPLE VISIONS FOR HOW AUTONOMOUS GROUND VEHICLES WILL ENTER THE MARKETPLACE. SOME ARE CONSIDERING PERSONAL OWNERSHIP MODELS SIMILAR TO HOW MANY CARS TODAY ARE PRIVATELY OWNED BY THE INDIVIDUALS WHO USE THEM FOR TRANSPORTATION.