As a leader in transportation technology, Los Angeles invests more than $13 billion a year on transportation projects alone and envisions a future with zero traffic deaths, zero-emissions vehicles, and 50% travel by walking, cycling, micro-mobility, and transit. In addition, with the 2028 Olympics in mind, the city is working on 28 transportation mega-projects, such as the purple line subway extension and the LA River Bike Path.
Skyroads joins the growing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Partnership led by UML to ensure aviation technology is incorporporated into urban mobility networks in an equitable, safe, and sustainable way. The partnership looks to build on the work accomplished in its first year, focused on engaging community, government, and industry stakeholders to ensure a collaborative approach to UAM.
Via this partnership, Skyroads will engage in a collaboration with the City, several leading UAM operators, OEMs, and other regulators to evaluate potential applications of its Automated Airspace Management and Vehicle Guidance Systems in Los Angeles. This technology is an essential communication layer for all users of UAM airspace, and it is therefore critical to involve stakeholders at the earliest stage of development. The outcomes will build upon similar testing and deployment already underway in Munich, Germany.
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)* is taking off. In 2021 $7 billion was invested, with most of those funds directed to aircraft manufacturers. In addition, $26.1 billion in orders and letters of intent were submitted for nearly 7,000 aircraft, an order of magnitude more than orders for conventional aircraft.** The digital infrastructure to manage AAM operations is a key enabler for the scalability of this technology that is often overlooked. Skyroads has developed a new decentralized networking system for intelligent infrastructure required to manage air traffic safely and efficiently in busy airspace. This technology integrates the safe operations of the next generation of aircraft, such as drones and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles within urban airspace, as described in their comprehensive whitepaper, “A Roadmap for Flight Automation in Advanced Air Mobility.”
“Skyroads is partnering with UML to support its mission of facilitating new transportation technology deployments. With our technology, we will bring together a holistic group of stakeholders to create a common understanding and action plan for an early embodiment of Advanced Air Mobility and support its implementation in cities like Los Angeles,” said Achim Kostron, Chief Commercial Officer. “In addition to new technology, new methods of multiagency coordination need to be tested to bring all relevant stakeholders to the table and assure that all preconditions for this new transport mode are met. Jointly with UML, we are making sure this happens in a sustainable and socially beneficial way.”
“We are excited to partner with Skyroads, as this technology offers solutions to assist in the management of UAM operations in a way that is safe, efficient, and at scale,” said Sam Morrissey, Executive Director at Urban Movement Labs. “We welcome Skyroads to the UAM Partnership, continuing our efforts to lead the integration of aerial transportation in our cities, hand in hand with communities, the City of Los Angeles and other agency partners.”
* Today Urban Air Mobility and Advanced Air Mobility are often used interchangeably in urban contexts.
** Source: (Mckinsey, 2022) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/aerospace-and-defense/ourinsights/future-air-mobility-blog/a-milestone-year-for-future-air-mobility
