Under the leadership of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, the city partnered with VHB to bring together regional transportation stakeholders to develop an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Transportation Plan, in order to prepare for new mobility options, including emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technologies.
The AAM Transportation Plan will assess the anticipated transportation, economic, environmental, and community impacts associated with the AAM through a regional connectivity plan.
As part of this effort, which began in September 2021 and will last several months, the city is bringing together transportation agencies, local governments, and private stakeholders to discuss regional transportation and environmental challenges and opportunities.
The development of the AAM Transportation Plan is aligned with Orlando’s vision of becoming the America’s leading future-ready city, staying ahead of the city’s opportunities and ensuring that the City Beautiful remains a global destination where everyone can thrive.
Partnership with NASA
The city of Orlando is one of five government entities (and the only municipal one) selected to participate in NASA’s new AAM aviation research partnership, an initiative that allows NASA’s aviation innovators to work with participating governments to define what it means to be a sustainable and resilient community, with AAM as a new and significant mode of public transportation. The NASA partnership will continue with a series of workshops through the summer of 2022.
Planned vertiport in Lake Nona
The city of Orlando is working with the Tavistock Development Company and Munich-based aviation company Lilium to create the first vertiport in the Americas for a high-speed electric air mobility network. The vertiport will be located in Lake Nona and is expected to launch in 2025 with Lilium’s eVTOL jets.
World Economic Forum Coalitions of Cities and Regions for Advanced and Urban Air Mobility
The city of Orlando is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Coalition of Cities and Regions for Advanced and Urban Air Mobility, which was launched in March 2022 and brings together cities and regions at the forefront of advanced air mobility to collaborate and share knowledge in order to develop a range of solutions that other cities and regions can adopt based on their own circumstances.
The founding cities and member regions include:
- Amsterdam
- Massachusetts
- Orlando
- Los Angeles
- Île-de-France (Paris region)
- São Paulo
The coalition will build on the work that has been done in Europe under the Urban Air Mobility Initiative (UIC2) Cities Community of the European Union's Smart Cities Market.
Source: https://www.orlando.gov/Our-Government/Orlando-plans-for-a-future-ready-city/Advanced-Air-Mobility