FutureFlight
Expert Panel Highlights Key Challenges For UAM Infrastructure Development
Safety, noise, and economics will challenge urban air mobility infrastructure development, panelists at Invest in Bavaria's UAM 2020 Conference note.
Hyundair Uber
Hyundai's new urban air mobility division is focusing on ground infrastructure needs as well as developing its SA-1 eVTOL aircraft as a partner in the Uber Elevate air taxi network. (Image: Hyundai)

Safety, noise, and economics are among some of the key challenges in developing an infrastructure for urban air mobility (UAM), according to a panel of experts speaking at a session on infrastructure at Invest in Bavaria's Urban Air Mobility 2020: Future of Aerial Transport & Logistics virtual conference earlier this week.

“We have to have trust among users and community,” said panelist Chad Sparks, Bell’s director of strategic campaigns. “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure vehicles are of a safe design.” Sparks suggested that a digital infrastructure would contribute to UAM operational safety by reducing “human causality.”