FDOT hopes to have FLYING CARS before GTA VI??

[ElishaGOtis]

Felt like Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) warranted a separate thread for this region. Autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles are currently being tested by FDOT in hopes for future commercial deployment en masse on a reorganized "digital highway" system (which I'm assuming is the low-level airway system but with specific flight vectors assigned for eVTOL? Not entirely sure...). The original plan was to have commercial service for SOMETHING running by the beginning of 2027, but I'm personally not confident. Current test operations are being conducted at the expanded SunTrax facility near Lakeland. Unfortunately, since the SH 1220 FDOT transportation package did not pass this year (which included some very critical items related to AAM, including priority ability for FDOT to buy airports primarily for AAM operations), I'm pessimistic this will happen before the beginning of next year.

https://www.fdot.gov/aviation/advanced-air-mobility

To bring y'all up to speed, while I'm not entirely sure this is the plan, I have suspicions that the following will be important for the implementation of AAM. There exists an independent "highway" system in the sky for aircraft, often referred to as "jetways" or "airways." like the Interstate and US highway systems, although not as strictly obeyed, odd numbers tend to run north and south and even numbers tend to run east and west. There are two levels at which these highways-in-the-sky operate on, with the dividing boundary at 18,000 feet. AAMs will be primarily be operated between 1000-3000 feet, so the primary corridors of interest will be the lower-levels.

These corridors often include 2 prefixes, being Vxxx and Txxx depending on the navigation system type, in addition to some other prefixes. Each of these corridors is generally 8 nautical miles wide.

The initial hope for operating AAM is between Orlando and Tampa, which generally follows airway corridors V152, V441, T492, and V533. Some of these numbers seem familiar? Again, whether or not these will be used is up for time to tell, but I believe using these as a reference would be useful.

https://skyvector.com/ (Use layer "World Lo")

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airway_(aviation)

This is not a perfect nor official explanation, but I thought I'd share this. There are a bunch of details I may be missing or have incorrect.

[Max Rockatansky]

K12 is that you?

[ElishaGOtis]

K12 is that you?

First FritzOwl, now K12? I must be a shape shifter lol 

[Road Hog]

Maybe 100 years from now Florida will look genius, but right now they look .... Florida.

[ElishaGOtis]

Maybe 100 years from now Florida will look genius, but right now they look .... Florida.

SunPass Pro: literally the most overpowered standard-issue toll transponder in the USA
 

Also, apparently FDOT is literally giving guidance to other countries on doing transportation stuff. What that may entail is beyond me, but still
 

⚠️ THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT ⚠️ beep beep there's my own horn hehehehe 


Even then... I'm genuinely wondering how much all this is gonna cost in the end...

[PColumbus73]

Are we sure we want Florida drivers operating any form of aircraft?

[The Ghostbuster]

If flying cars ever come into fruition, I want them to be like the flying cars in Back to the Future Part II.

[formulanone]

Are we sure we want Florida drivers operating any form of aircraft?

Yes, but the problem is those current vehicles only fly once.