Imagine flying Ubers zipping through the air above clogged highways around Florida. A legislative committee heard this week that it’s no longer science fiction.
The idea of flying past gridlock traffic isn’t just possible, it’s inevitable.
"We are looking at this from a transportation perspective as the age of flying cars.”
State transportation leaders say advanced air mobility, known as AAM, is close to happening – maybe next year.
You hear a lot of things, you know, are these drones that you can ride on? Is this gonna be like The Jetsons? Is it flying Ubers? Is it air taxis? I think you can actually probably say yes to all of those," said Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Secretary Jared Perdue.
He opened a panel discussion about the state’s advanced air mobility business plan. He told the House Transportation & Economic Development Budget Subcommittee this could soon be a reliable way to get around.
"It could potentially have a very big impact on congestion relief and safety for transportation in the state of Florida," Perdue said. "We have fully embraced the concept of the state of Florida FDOT really truly being a leader in this space. We want to be the first where these commercial vehicles take flight.”
Florida lawmakers passed a bill last year directing FDOT to start incorporating AAM flights into the state’s aviation system. That includes building vertiports. These are facilities for aircraft known eVTOLs, which stands for Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing.
FDOT Assistant Secretary Will Watts says they still have to figure out how to manage airspace, like how high these aircraft will fly and how they’ll deal with existing air traffic.
“We recognize the need to develop the roadways, right? We’ve got to develop the network that they need to fly on," Watts said. "So the business plan rollout -- we announced our recommended corridors with the nation’s first aerial highway network, which is unlike anything ever established before.”
First, they’re focused on connecting key metro areas, beginning with the I-4 corridor through central Florida, followed by Port Saint Lucie to Miami. Other pathways in phase one are Tampa to Naples, Miami to Key West, and Pensacola to Tallahassee.
Charlie Hillis with the regional carrier Republic Airways says he sees a ton of potential routes.
“Cities, towns, airports that are not connected today that could use this and make everyone’s life a little bit better, a little easier," Hillis said explaining that these aircraft could fly from Tampa to Tallahassee "in 41 minutes.”
Republic Airways is looking to be a partner in bringing AAM to Florida. Hillis says the aircraft will range in size from 4 to 30 seats.
Separate travel networks will be designed for passengers, freight, and emergency management.
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach is already preparing students for this industry.
“We’ve set up a center for advanced air mobility, which we did directly in support of this initiative," said Rodney Cruise, senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer of Embry Riddle. “This is an investment by our organization. You know, we think that this is a game changer for us. The need that you’re going to have from a talent perspective for engineers, maintainers, is absolutely huge.”
Last September, the Trump administration announced a new pilot program within the Federal Aviation Administration to accelerate the deployment of AAM vehicles. Watts says Florida is well-positioned to be chosen for the pilot.
"We anticipate by the summer of 2026 we’ll negotiate what our integrated partnership will be with the FAA and probably have demonstration flights by the end of this year,” Watts said.
FDOT is now testing aircraft at the department’s Suntrax facility in Polk County.
