recognizing, predicting, and avoiding traffic jams as well as by alarm setups,
alerting, instructions, and traffic data for citizens along with statistical analysis and
Big Data to facilitate city planning (Citibrain 2018b). Citibrain's Smart Parking
solution includes “. . .a parking ticket that never expires” (Citibrain 2018c), a parking
system integrating every aspect of parking-space management technology including
sensor-based vehicle identification, Messaging Gateway, Payment Kiosks, Digital
Parking Boards, Mobile Driver Applications, and a parking management system
capturing key performance indicators in real time and transforming them “. . .into
knowledge for better policy and optimised management. . .” (Citibrain 2018c). This
involves informing drivers about the location of free parking lots, decreasing the
operating costs, reducing traffic congestion and accidents, improving parking operations, and decreasing contamination spikes (Citibrain 2018c).
A survey conducted by Deloitte revealed that flying cars are now getting close to
commercial reality – adding a new dimension to an already complex landscape in the
Smart City mobility sector. Various prototypes of flying cars already exist. Most of
them are capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), covering distances in the
range of 65–200 miles. Popularly known as “flying cars” or “passenger drones,”
VTOL vehicles are aircrafts which do not require runways, can accommodate three
to five passengers, and are highly energy-efficient and significantly quieter than
traditional helicopters (Lineberger et al. 2018). Passenger drones and flying cars
already in the air include China’s Ehang; furthermore the prototype of Aurora Flight
Sciences’ eVTOL to be delivered to Aurora’s partner company Uber Air in 2020;
Airbus’s Project Vahana, an electrical self-flying helicopter for people and freight
transportation; and the flying taxi CityAirbus. In 2017, Geely, the parent company of
Volvo, acquired Terrafugia, a start-up for flying cars whose VTOL flying car will
come out in 2023. Due to regulatory challenges regarding flying cars and passenger
drones, some aviation authorities started discussing certification options with some
manufacturers. These vehicles are supposed to be manned in the beginning, then
supported autonomously, and finally transformed into a completely autonomous
airplane. As the technology “is still in flux,” regulatory agencies prefer nonbinding
guidelines (Lineberger et al. 2018). A suitable infrastructure along with an air traffic
management system for passenger drones and flying cars is still missing everywhere.
NASA and UBER signed the Space Act Agreement, regulating the traffic management of self-flying vehicles (Lineberger et al. 2018). Currently, most people still shy
away from taking a pilotless flight. Nevertheless, leading personalities from Deloitte
think that delivery drones from, e.g., Amazon Prime Air, Google, and Alibaba might
“. . .pave the way for VTOL aircraft operations” (Lineberger et al. 2018), optimistically predicting that passenger drones will follow a similar trajectory as parcel
carrier delivery drones, which are currently on their way to commercialization
(Lineberger et al. 2018).
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O. Schwarz-Herion
alerting, instructions, and traffic data for citizens along with statistical analysis and
Big Data to facilitate city planning (Citibrain 2018b). Citibrain's Smart Parking
solution includes “. . .a parking ticket that never expires” (Citibrain 2018c), a parking
system integrating every aspect of parking-space management technology including
sensor-based vehicle identification, Messaging Gateway, Payment Kiosks, Digital
Parking Boards, Mobile Driver Applications, and a parking management system
capturing key performance indicators in real time and transforming them “. . .into
knowledge for better policy and optimised management. . .” (Citibrain 2018c). This
involves informing drivers about the location of free parking lots, decreasing the
operating costs, reducing traffic congestion and accidents, improving parking operations, and decreasing contamination spikes (Citibrain 2018c).
A survey conducted by Deloitte revealed that flying cars are now getting close to
commercial reality – adding a new dimension to an already complex landscape in the
Smart City mobility sector. Various prototypes of flying cars already exist. Most of
them are capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), covering distances in the
range of 65–200 miles. Popularly known as “flying cars” or “passenger drones,”
VTOL vehicles are aircrafts which do not require runways, can accommodate three
to five passengers, and are highly energy-efficient and significantly quieter than
traditional helicopters (Lineberger et al. 2018). Passenger drones and flying cars
already in the air include China’s Ehang; furthermore the prototype of Aurora Flight
Sciences’ eVTOL to be delivered to Aurora’s partner company Uber Air in 2020;
Airbus’s Project Vahana, an electrical self-flying helicopter for people and freight
transportation; and the flying taxi CityAirbus. In 2017, Geely, the parent company of
Volvo, acquired Terrafugia, a start-up for flying cars whose VTOL flying car will
come out in 2023. Due to regulatory challenges regarding flying cars and passenger
drones, some aviation authorities started discussing certification options with some
manufacturers. These vehicles are supposed to be manned in the beginning, then
supported autonomously, and finally transformed into a completely autonomous
airplane. As the technology “is still in flux,” regulatory agencies prefer nonbinding
guidelines (Lineberger et al. 2018). A suitable infrastructure along with an air traffic
management system for passenger drones and flying cars is still missing everywhere.
NASA and UBER signed the Space Act Agreement, regulating the traffic management of self-flying vehicles (Lineberger et al. 2018). Currently, most people still shy
away from taking a pilotless flight. Nevertheless, leading personalities from Deloitte
think that delivery drones from, e.g., Amazon Prime Air, Google, and Alibaba might
“. . .pave the way for VTOL aircraft operations” (Lineberger et al. 2018), optimistically predicting that passenger drones will follow a similar trajectory as parcel
carrier delivery drones, which are currently on their way to commercialization
(Lineberger et al. 2018).
226
O. Schwarz-Herion