Dubai Will Get Self-Flying Taxis This Year - Smithsonian Mag

[TomSea]

Dubai Will Get Self-Flying Taxis This Year
Bypass traffic with the taxi of the future

By Erin Blakemore
smithsonian.com
February 17, 2017 6:00AM

Flying cars have long been the the hallmark of a not-yet-realized fantastical future. And though it seems we are not there yet, you may want to fasten your seatbelts: As Leslie Josephs reports for Quartz, Dubai will offer self-flying taxis by July.

Okay, so they're not what you might think of as a car—rather, the taxis are drones that propel themselves and a single passenger up to 31 miles at a speed of over 99 miles per hour. But the vehicles might just usher in an era of road-less travel. The announcement came during a government summit in Dubai that was, in part, devoted to the future of traffic.

Dubai’s plan is futuristic indeed: In a release, the city’s transportation authority writes that the city plans to make a full 25 percent of its travel autonomous by the year 2030. The taxis are part of that plan. Called the EHANG 184, they are produced in China. The electric craft can fly to a single point designated by the passenger once they enter the vehicle.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dubai-will-get-self-flying-taxis-year-180962189/#dsCAO3Rm0I2EMByq.99

[GtHawk]

Excellent choice of venue to test them, who cares if we lose a few Arabs. 

[Wingnut]