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Solving The Urban Traffic Crisis: Jayant Sinha Proposes Flying “Air-Rickshaws”
Jayant Sinha at the City Data for India conclave (Manoj Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha yesterday (9 January) said that the ministry was actively considering the possibility of an ‘air rickshaw’ concept based on drones to transport people, reports the Hindustan Times. He was addressing the City Data for India Conclave in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
He said that a recent survey showed that the cost of travelling by air was the same as the cost of flying by auto-rickshaws. He however, did not give a time-frame as to when these services would be available.
He added that pilot projects in air service using drones have been operational in the United Arab Emirates and Germany and the technology could have additional uses in mapping, security, defence, surveying mineral sites and delivery services.
Flying taxis have been in the talks for a while now. In November 2017, ride-sharing leader Uber had announced a tie-up with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States to jointly develop its flying taxi concept. Around the same time, it was reported that aircraft charter companies were planning to offer their services on a model similar to ride-sharing.
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