Uber appears to be going all out in its effort to transport its commuters. The company recently hired aircraft engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Centre named Mark Moore to lead research into the flying cars technology. The company wants to ease congestion on roads by operating fleets of airborne taxis, reported The Telegraph.
Moore published a white paper back in 2010 that outlined the feasibility of electric aircrafts that could take off and land like helicopters but were smaller and quieter in comparison. His research called “VTOL” (vertical take-off and landing) is seen as the future of urban aerial transport. “It could change cities and how we work and live,” Jeff Holden, Uber’s head of product, said last year. “We want to offer our customers as many options as possible to move around.”
The company said that a 57 mile journey from San Jose to San Francisco, which takes an approximate of an hour and 40 minutes and costs $111 in a regular Uber vehicle, could take about 15 minutes via aircraft. While, the airborne ride would initially cost around $129, Uber said that it will eventually drop to $20.
Uber is already trialling self-driving vehicles in Pittsburg and Phoenix.