Commentary: Airworthiness Review of Singapore Air Taxi Dreams

SINGAPORE: Discussions on flying cars as a measure of easing traffic jams in urban areas like Singapore have been around for a long time.

But in Singapore, it has not taken root because of burning transportation problems and cynicism that the city could replace traffic congestion by air traffic or that its extravagant price will limit access, even if cars flying are proliferating there.

But with the announcement that testing for air taxis, as small helicopters using drone technology, could begin in 2019, it seems that this reality is closer.

Nevertheless, for short-haul air travel to be considered a viable means of transportation, larger numbers are needed.

Helicopters have been used in cities for limited purposes in very special circumstances, including personal travel for the rich and celebrities, and for transporting the sick and wounded to hospitals, heliports, or special landing areas. their location.

READ: flying taxis? Bell Helicopter sees such a service take off in Singapore

FASTER, CHEAPER AND MORE SUITABLE?

So how will these air taxis be used? Determine if commuters will find a safe, convenient and economical means of transportation.

The traveler considers the trip as a waste of time and wants to reduce it, which the air taxi accomplishes by avoiding congestion. However, without the widespread availability and use of air taxis, fares will not be competitive enough to attract commuters.

READ: stressful and hurried but the daily commute is not a waste of time, a comment

And how practical could they be? Let's compare the process of moving by air taxi to a normal taxi. On the one hand, you can not report an air taxi.

Even if you book one on an app or over the phone, the air taxi can not get to your location as it has to land in defined fields, landing sites or on the rooftop terrace. buildings closest to you, far from wandering people. .

The number of landing sites can be increased by using specific areas in the many surface parking lots, but the challenge remains to resolve vehicle conflicts in the parking lot.

By being forced to walk to specific landing sites, you are no different from walking to a bus stop or train station and it will take you some time for you return to the landing site and back – which will have to be offset by a faster flight time, hopefully. using the shortest route possible.

READ: In London, it's better to walk than to drive or wait for a bus, a comment

Still, consider this – a taxi station concept for air taxis in key areas of Singapore. These could be allocated space on some popular designated landing sites to park and wait for passengers. You could queue to catch one of these taxis.

All this could be a chicken-egg discussion. With a large number of passengers, air travel may not be as fast. If many air taxis approach the landing site at the same time, drivers will have to line up to land as directed by air traffic control, which may delay your trip.

TRUST IN INDEPENDENT VEHICLES

The key question remains for unmanned air taxis tested in Singapore: do you have confidence in driverless technology?

Let's compare them with driverless cars. Despite many years of testing, the completely unmanned car has not yet taken off significantly.

Knowing that it must evolve in a more complex environment than that of a unmanned drone, whose technology has been proven, it is necessary to cross a critical psychological threshold to make unmanned aerial taxis a commercially viable option.

In case of unfortunate accident, commuters can get away unharmed from an unmanned car, but not from an air taxi. Modern aircraft can use the autopilot for a large part of their journey, but a pilot can take over in an emergency.

However, air safety issues, interference management with other aircraft flight paths, and take-off and landing hazards can be mitigated.

If inhabited taxis are used for low-level navigation in places where they do not interfere with the trajectories of our three airports; and they are subject to strict controls by central air control, these problems can be managed.

A little longer but not too long

Overall, it seems that if technology and new methods can not be stopped, it will take time and effort for driverless vehicles and regulated air travel in cities to become commonplace.

READ: Will my driverless car know what to do when honking? A comment

Many countries and leading companies are already moving into these untapped territories, but with caution.

Although the lack of low-cost manufacturing has made serial production difficult, accelerating advances in this virgin aeronautical technology space can make them more ubiquitous in the future.

This year, Uber organized a second conference on flying taxis, presenting conceptual images that Embraer and Pipistrel Aircraft plan to create for the company's ambitious projects. The airline giant hopes to begin testing its urban air taxis in Dallas, Los Angels and Dubai in 2020.

In China, Huawei has developed the first air taxi to a passenger in the world that can serve as an air ambulance, in collaboration with the Chinese company eHang drones.

The Japanese government is also seeking to create the laws and infrastructure needed to put flying cars in the air over the next decade.

POSITIVE SIGNS IN SINGAPORE

Will Singapore follow? Singapore's experience with land transport shows that we have resisted the trend and adopted new transportation technologies in the past.

Singapore was one of the first to apply peak-rate pricing to congestion management in the city in the 1970s, when it was a simple conversation in other cities.

After a lively and lively debate, the country also built the rapid transit system in the 1980s despite vigorous opposition, and built road tunnels in the 1990s against the conventional wisdom of the time. We are not the worst for implementing these systems.

It is comforting to see the regulations evolve at the same time. In Singapore, after turmoil, laws generally tend to catch up, including in the areas of bike sharing and cycling.

When the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore proposed to strengthen the laws governing their use for public safety, it is expected to issue licenses for drones weighing more than 25 kg – types required by taxis unmanned aerial vehicles – including certification of aircraft airworthiness and aircraft licensing. Operators and pilots suggest that authorities consider safety standards and frameworks for their operation.

"These air vehicles will use dedicated air corridors, with different variants designed for different routes," said then Permanent Secretary for Transport Pang Kin Keong, noting that the government had incorporated them into future national plans. .

READ: Commentary by Pang Kin Keong on the imminent revolution of urban mobility in Singapore

The private sector is also excited to see this vision come to fruition.

Supported by Intel technician and auto giant Daimler, the German company Volocopter, piloting the trials in Singapore, previously announced the establishment of a product design and engineering team to support the projects. expansion.

Local reports also suggest that it seeks to engage real estate developers and mobility service providers to develop an infrastructure that supports in-flight testing.

The advent of self-driving cars and self-driving air taxis in the foreseeable future will likely see the end of our taxis with their talkative and insightful drivers who have been on our roads for more than seven decades.

But there is a lot to wait.

Gopinath Menon is a transportation consultant who is also a senior researcher at the Center for Infrastructural Systems at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.