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12/06/2019

Test Trials Of Uber Air Flying Taxi To Be Conducted In Melbourne




Test Trials Of Uber Air Flying Taxi To Be Conducted In Melbourne
Uber has chosen Melbourne to test its flying taxi service called Uber Air as a pilot project. The company plans to conduct the test flights next year while the company wants to commence commercial operations for the same from 2023.
 
The company portrays Uber Air to be an "urban aviation ride-sharing product" which it hopes would be able to reduce traffic congestion on roads of cities.
 
"In the long term, the vision is for safe, quiet electric vehicles transporting tens of thousands of people across cities for the same price as an UberX trip over the same distance," Uber said in a statement while announcing its plans for Melbourne tests.
 
Australia, Brazil, France, India, and Japan were the five markets where Uber wants to launch this flying service, the company had said in August last year. The company has also announced that customers in Dallas and Los Angeles in the United States would be able to avail a flight on-demand starting from 2023.
 
Uber was eager to test out its flying services in either Melbourne or Sydney in Australia, the company had told an Australian House Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee in February. The company has also sought the cooperation from the Australian governments to achieve its plans of a flying service.
 
Partnerships with Macquarie, Telstra, and Westfield-operator Scentre Group were also announced by Uber while it made the announcement of Uber Air being started in Australia. The company further said that the creation of infrastructure and telecommunications for this aviation network would be done in partnership with existing partners including Melbourne Airport.
 
The project would require the construction of and electrification of the skyports that would support vertical takeoff and landing and this would be done under a partnership between Uber Elevate and Macquarie Capital, the later company said. The partnership would also identify the best market structures and models that would be required for such infrastructure
 
The nature and quantity of network infrastructure, connectivity requirements, and other capabilities that would be required to support airspace mobility in urban centres would be undertaken through another partnership between Telstra and Uber, said Telstra CEO Andy Penn.
 
"Telstra is excited to be part of a truly momentous point in time for Melbourne on the world stage. Our network strength, coverage and leadership in 5G, along with our ongoing work on drones and related standards, will support Uber's incredible technology and innovation to develop a service we have all imagined would one day be possible," Penn said. "It is a testament to Telstra's network and technology capability that we are part of this exciting future."
 
At the same time, Scentre Group would be an infrastructure partner in the project.
 
"Since we entered the market in 2012, Australians have embraced Uber wholeheartedly," Uber regional general manager for Australia, New Zealand, and North Asia Susan Anderson told Uber's global Elevate (Uber Air) Summit in Washington on Tuesday.
 
He further said that a forward-looking approach that would help to reshape the future of ride sharing and transport technology was adopted by Australian governments. In addition, the unique demographic and geospatial factors and the culture of innovation and technology present in Melbourne makes it absolutely perfect for Uber to choose it as the third launch city for Uber Air.
 
(Source:www.zdnet.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell

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