[powderpig]

And I think this is one of the reasons we are seeing so many companies racing to create a commercially viable eVTOL (electric - vertical take-off & landing) product. To me, this transport system only seems to be a solution to the problem mentioned above. I can't see them ever being commercially viable (FAA regulation, power density, etc.) And yet there are a lot of companies trying to make them a reality when really the cities they have renders of with their flashy electric vehicle flying over just need better public transport systems.

[avianlyric]

You could just start redesigning your cities and improving your public transport. America is not unique in it obsession with cars, the Neatherlands used to be the same. Their city centres were mostly parking, and driving a ginormous highway through the centre of a city was once considered good public policy.

For the past 30-40 years, the Dutch have managed to completely transform their urban landscapes into something far more people friendly. Additionally American cities used to be dominated by pedestrians and bike, the car centric city is a relatively new phenomenon. So it quite possible for the US to reverse the damage done by cars, and plenty of case studies to base the work on.

[hakfoo]

I feel the same way with "drone delivery fleets".

There's a logical place for an autonomous delivery vehicle, but wasting 95% of its energy fighting against gravity to carry a six pack of beer is absurd. Make a ground vehicle the size of a Saint Bernard that travels in bike lanes. Big enough to handle a large array of direct deliveries, and probably had a much longer runtime on a charge.

If you want to be really seamless, build dedicated routes for them in underground tunnels.