As congestion increases on Florida highways, state Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue wants lawmakers to envision a world getting closer to the promise of decades-old sci-fi shows.
Perdue expressed support Wednesday for advanced air mobility, which would involve establishing vertiports in urban areas that could serve as hubs for short aerial commutes by battery-powered aircraft that have characteristics of airplanes and helicopters.
“What if there was an opportunity to have what we call vertiports in Orlando and Tampa, and there could be thousands of these vehicles flying back and forth on the I-4 corridor?” Perdue said to members of the House Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee. “So, you can think about movies that you've seen that are science fiction. The Jetsons, yeah, is one of those … that's a classic. This is actually becoming a reality.”
Perdue anticipates technology will advance in the next few years to expand the limited range now available to “eVTOL” — electric vertical take-off and landing — aircraft that can move cargo and people.
“I think you're going to see rapid, rapid development over just a few-year time span, and it will be an efficient and affordable mode,” Perdue said.
Facing industry pressure, the Federal Aviation Administration in January updated guidelines for the design of vertiport facilities, in part putting them in the existing category of heliports. In October, the FAA issued a final rule for qualifications and training of advanced air mobility instructors and pilots.
Attempts to establish regulations and oversight of the industry have struggled in the state Legislature the past couple of years. But lawmakers last year allowed the state Department of Commerce to consider applications for money under a new Supply Chain Innovation Grant Program for efforts to develop vertiports (SB 1420).
A bill (SB 266) filed this year by Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, would provide a sales-tax exemption on the sale or lease of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
