Uber considers Sydney and Melbourne as test sites for its UberAir ‘flying cars’ project

IT’S the answer to Sydney’s traffic nightmares — an airborne Uber summoned on your smartphone. Sydney has locked in a battle to become the first international location tested for flying veh­icles being promoted by Uber.

AUSTRALIAN cities are locked in a battle to become the first international testbed for flying vehicles you can summon with a smartphone, as Uber executives meet Australian politicians, transport authorities, and property developers about its so-called ‘flying car’ project this week.

The technology disrupter has even identified possible routes for Uber aircraft in Australia, slashing travel time between Sydney’s Central Coast or Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport and the central business districts.

And if either city is selected for the project, the Jetson s-style mode of transport could be tested in Australia as soon as 2020, with passengers able to share short, cheap flights to their destinations by 2023.

Melbourne and Sydney have been identified as promising candidates.

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Los Angeles and Dallas were selected as the first two locations to test Uber’s ambitious urban air transport project last year but the company revealed it was also looking for a city outside the US to trial the UberAir service before it is rolled out widely.

Uber aviation product head Nikhil Goel said the company identified Sydney and Melbourne as promising candidates because of their population density, proximity to airports, and traffic congestion.

“Both cities are set to double in the next 30 years,” Mr Goel said.

“And in congestion costs, both Sydneysiders and Melbournites spend a massive amount of time (in traffic) across the year.”

As such, Mr Goel and aviation engineering director Mark Moore will this week meet transport ministers and regulators, real estate developers, banks, and firms including Qantas, to gauge interest in the UberAir project.

UberAir will change the face of travel.

If successful, Uber would work with local developers to build up to 25 “Skyports” in and around the city for landing and launching aircraft.

Travellers would request an UberAir ride using a smartphone app as normal, and would then catch a car to a Skyport, an UberAir vehicle across the city, and another car from their landing point to their final destination.

Uber’s aircraft would be custom-made, electric, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) vehicles designed to be significantly quieter and more efficient than helicopters, and carry four passengers and a qualified pilot.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority has previously said it would work with companies to “meet those challenges” involved with urban flights.

Mr Goel said Uber had already identified potential Australian flight routes, saying the journey from Melbourne’s airport to the city would “only be about five minutes”.

Longer journeys would also be possible with the flying vehicles, Mr Goel said, and could impact where Australians choose to live.

Despite Uber’s Australian scouting mission, the company is investigating other locations for UberAir test sites, and will announce the successful candidate before the end of the year.

Originally published as Uber considers Sydney and Melbourne as test sites for its UberAir ‘flying cars’ project