Florida highlighted a historic first in Tampa from more than a century ago as another step was taken towards a new mode of short air travel intended to avoid ground traffic.
The Department of Transportation held a “flying car” demonstration flight between Tampa and St. Petersburg on Friday as part of its efforts to help the maturing Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) field envisioned to one day move people and goods short distances through the air.
“These can be used potentially as an air taxi service,” DeSantis said at Tampa International Airport. “You think about some areas you want to avoid by car. You can have a situation where these are operating almost like a rideshare, a cargo delivery, medical transportation, emergency response missions. There's a whole host of things that these eVTOL aircraft would be able to do. It’s the closest thing that we have right now to flying cars.”
Friday’s demonstration --- part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s eVTOL and Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program --- was promoted as replicating the path of the world's first scheduled commercial passenger flight. The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was first piloted by Antony Jannus between St. Petersburg and Tampa on January 1, 1914. The open-cockpit flight crossed about 22 miles of Tampa Bay in roughly 23 minutes.
In recent years the state has promoted the development of private battery-powered eVTOL aircraft that have characteristics of airplanes and helicopters, potentially as an aerial alternative to highway traffic.
The simplified version has been to point to futuristic flying cars seen in science fiction.
“This is going to provide a new way for people and goods to move around the entire country,” said Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue.
“It's going to bring regional air connectivity back to the state of Florida and the supporting infrastructure that we're testing right now, with vertiports and technology, connected technology, autonomous technology, air traffic control management software,” Perdue continued. “You can potentially see hundreds of these vehicles flying on a highway in the sky, moving thousands of people between two destinations.”
The technology is still in its experimental phase, with fully electric, certified, two-seater planes available for training. But Florida has worked to become a major testing ground for companies like Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies.
Legislation signed earlier this year allows the DOT to fund 100 percent of the project costs for a public vertiport if federal funds are unavailable (HB 1093). If federal funds are available, DOT may fund up to 80 percent of the nonfederal share.
Vertiports are expected to serve as hubs for short aerial commutes by battery-powered aircraft that have characteristics of airplanes and helicopters.
In 2025, the state designated the SunTrax test facility in Polk County to research and help develop an aerial highway network.
Legislation in 2025 also directed the transportation department to develop a plan for advanced air mobility with the Department of Commerce. The law required advances in aviation technology to be included in the annual transportation work program. The joint department plan is also aimed at identifying “corridors of need and opportunities for industry growth.”
