Delhi, Mumbai to get flying cabs? India among 5 countries for Uber flying cabs
The future is here! Get ready to see cars flying soon as Uber has shortlisted India as one of the first five shortlisted countries that coild soon gets the Uber Air City in next five yeras. After evaluating many countries, Uber’s flying program called Uber Elevate (aerial taxi arm) has said that India, Japan, Austraia, Brazil and France will be the first countries to get the flying cabs at the Uber Elevate Asia Pacific Expo. Dallas and Los Angeles in U.S have alredy been selected and now the fight for the third spot is on.
The statement says that “Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru are some of the most congested cities in the world, where travelling even a few kilometres can take over an hour. Uber Air has a tremendous potential to help create a transportation option that goes over congestion, instead of adding to it,” Uber said. This will not just be restricted to people to commute, Uber Elevate will also experiment with drone delivery for Uber eats and also demonstrated the benefits of Uber Air routes in Asia Pacific cities that will benefit the local transportation systems.
If things go as per plan, Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru will see the first pilot study project soon. Similar to Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop project that is undergoing a feasibility study. In 5 years, Uber customers will be able to push a button and be able to fly says Uber. For faster implementation, Uber will also partner with various automakers and real estate developers and technology makers to make this dream a reality. The company has already parnered with Audi to develop flying cars and flying taxis.
“We are proud to host the first ever Uber Elevate Asia Pacific Expo. We are announcing a shortlist of five countries where Uber Air can immediately transform transportation and take our technology to new heights,” said Eric Allison, Head of Uber Aviation Programmes.
Dallas and Los Angeles were previously announced as the first two US launch cities and at the second annual Uber Elevate Summit in May, Uber announced it was seeking an international city as a third partner.
“We see much potential in flying cars, and we anticipate that flying cars can be used not only to help solve traffic congestion in urban areas, but it will also help with increase mobility between city centres and remote islands and mountainous areas, promote tourism in Japan as well as enhance disaster relief operations,” said Daisaku Hiraki, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan.
“The Uber Elevate team is now inviting conversations with stakeholders across major cities in these countries, and will announce the chosen Uber Air international city within the next six months,” said the company.
Uber Elevate has established a criteria framework to select the third city, anchored around three priority principles: sizable market, local commitment and enabling conditions.
