Los Angeles is pressing ahead with plans to integrate eVTOL aircraft into its public transportation network with the launch of its Urban Air Mobility Partnership. In a December 16 announcement Mayor Eric Garcetti said the new public-private partnership between his office, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Urban Movement Labs, “will educate and engage the city’s residents around a new and dynamic transportation technology–the introduction of low-noise, electric aircraft flying in our local airspace by 2023."
That timeline matches the plans hatched by the Uber Elevate platform for Los Angeles to be an early adopter city for its air taxi network. However, on December 9 eVTOL aircraft developer Joby Aviation announced it will acquire this part of Uber, essentially absorbing its project aimed at building an ecosystem for urban air mobility into its own plans for this sector.
