by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Joby Aviation, Inc, a publicly owned company, has announced plans to begin making 500 flying taxis a year at a 140-acre site at the Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio, the hometown of the Wright Brothers. The small, electric aircraft will have the ability to take off and land vertically, like helicopters, and transport a pilot and up to four passengers a distance of 200 miles. In a press release the company said that it envisions picking passengers up from rooftops and transporting them to airports, or perhaps the other way around. The objective would be to avoid congested ground traffic.
The company plans to start production in 2025 and place the flying taxis in aerial ride-sharing networks. It will employ up to 2,000 people. The $500 million project is supported by a large incentive grant from the state of Ohio as well as through partnerships with Toyota, Delta Airlines, Intel, and Uber. The US Department of Energy has also invited the electric flying taxi manufacturer to apply for a “clean energy” loan.
Some might argue that this new technology and transportation option will give the "haves" one more way to rise above having to share space with the "have nots."
There is the world of the future, America. Bumper-to-bumper cars on the ground – many of which will be driverless, air taxis and drones filling the skies, and Starlink satellites jockeying for space in outer space. No wonder Elon Musk wants to fly off to Mars!
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