Under the leadership of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, the city partnered with VHB to convene regional transportation stakeholders to create an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Transportation Plan to prepare for new mobility options, including emerging electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technologies.
The AAM Transportation Plan will assess the anticipated transportation, economic, environmental and community impacts associated with AAM through a regional connectivity plan.
As part of this effort, starting in September 2021 and lasting several months, the city is convening 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 cityby staying ahead of the city's opportunities, 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 municipality) selected to participate in NASA's new AAM aeronautics research partnership, an initiative that allows NASA aeronautics innovators to work with participating governments to define what it means to be a sustainable and resilient community, with AAM as a significant new mode of public transportation. The NASA partnership will continue with a series of workshops until the summer of 2022.
Vertiporto planned in Lake Nona
The City of Orlando is working with Tavistock Development Company and Munich-based aviation company Lilium to create America's first vertiport for a high-speed electric air mobility network. The vertiport will be located in Lake Nona and should be launched in 2025 with Lilium's eVTOL jets.
World Economic Forum Cities and Regions Coalitions on 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 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 taken place in Europe under the Urban Air Mobility Initiative Community of Cities (UIC2) 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