Air taxis might not be coming to Tampa yet, but the idea is coming to the table.
The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority voted Friday to move forward on discussions with German-based air taxi company, Lilium.
The discussion is part of a $1 million, larger initiative from TBARTA to study innovative transportation, including hyperloop.
The air taxis are pretty self-explanatory: an aircraft that flies through the air, in this case taking a mere eight minutes to commute from St. Petersburg to Tampa. For the cost of $90, four passengers and one pilot can take a ride.
"It really has the incredible potential around the world, including the Tampa Bay area," Marie Masson, part of Lilium's commercial team, said. "But it's much more than that. You have a 360-degree, high-speed connectivity, which comes at a fraction of the cost of any other mobility option you could be considering."
Costs could potentially decease as more landing pads are added, which could be on anything from parking garages to the obvious airport locations. There's also the opportunity to make the vehicles completely autonomous, which could decrease the cost.
"Speaking for the region, I think there's a widespread support for your project in Tampa Bay," Jim Holton, TBARTA board chairman, said. "Especially because we can leverage the water infrastructure and not have to build costly concrete bridges."
The platforms could become available to multiple vendors as well and not exclusively used by Lilium.
Lilium officials stated Tampa could be one of many test sites in the nation, which would tentatively launch in 2025. While details are still rough, Lilium officials also suggested Floridian cities like Jacksonville, Fort Myers, Orlando and Miami as potential sites. Those would be an average of a one-hour commute from Tampa, with the potential to have more riders in a Lilium jet.
"I think there's an incredible willingness from this board and the community move forward," Holton said. "And I would love to see Tampa Bay be the marquee project in this state and maybe even the United States."
While board members were careful to state they simply want to continue discussions with Lilium, the German company will come to TBARTA's board meeting next month with a report that will outline the next steps needed to be taken by the region to secure itself as a pilot test site.
"We don't want to take a long time with this," Kathryn Starkey, a TBARTA board member and Pasco County commissioner, said. "If we want to be a leader and innovator in the country on this exciting mode of transport, I do think we need to act quickly."
